About this episode

Molly Sims discusses her journey in launching YSE Beauty and the lessons learned in building a successful skincare brand.

Molly Sims spent nearly six years modeling in Europe, graced the cover of Sports Illustrated, and starred in Las Vegas and The Carrie Diaries—then quietly spent three years and over $2 million of her own money developing a skincare brand nobody asked for. When she launched YSE Beauty on April 24, 2023, she had no idea if it would work. It did. The brand hit close to $30 million in revenue, is growing nearly 100% year-on-year, landed an exclusive partnership with Sephora, and closed a $15 million Series A with Silas Capital—all in under three years. In this interview, Molly breaks down why she launched DTC before she was ready, how she turned her podcast into a brand-building machine two years before she had a product to sell, and the hard-won lessons on ops, retail margins, and building a team that can survive when things go wrong. What you'll learn in this interview: • Why Molly self-funded over $2 million of her own money into product development—and the Christmas moment she nearly didn't • How three years of testing 100+ formulas to solve her own melasma led to genuine product-market fit in a crowded category • Why she launched DTC-first and treated social media as her…

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