Best Friends' 'Scrappy' Side Hustle Led to a Product on Track for $1 Million Annual Sales: 'Rare to Find Somebody With This Same Passion'

Even though Liis co-founders Alissa Sullivan and Leslie Hendin grew up wrong minutes of each different successful Marin County, California, they didn't meet until years later erstwhile a friend introduced them astatine a wedding successful 2009. The duo instantly bonded complete a communal obsession: fragrance. "We some utilized to cod the small vials and miniature bottles successful footwear boxes," Sullivan tells Entrepreneur. "So that was a really astonishing connection. Back then, it was much uncommon to find personification [with] this aforesaid passion. It was earlier societal media and each that."

Image Credit: Emily Dulla. Co-founders Leslie Hendin, left, and Alissa Sullivan, right.

At the time, Sullivan had conscionable completed her master's astatine ISIPCA, a schoolhouse for post-graduate studies successful perfume, cosmetics products and nutrient spirit formulation based successful Versailles, France, and Hendin was en way to Central Saint Martins successful London to prosecute a master's grade successful design.

Related: Michelle Pfeiffer's Fragrance Brand Took 20 Years (and Plenty of Rejection) to Build

As Sullivan launched her profession moving connected product development for niche perfume brands Penhaligon's London and L'Artisan Parfumeur, she and Hendin discussed creating their ain fragrance statement 1 day. "We did recognize that we were a yin and yang of accomplishment sets," Hendin says. "Alissa pinch her perfume inheritance and maine pinch my creation background."

"But backmost then, we were like, How do you start a business?" Sullivan recalls.

"We want to beryllium capable to show stories that are meaningful to us."

When Hendin moved to San Francisco aft postgraduate schoolhouse and Sullivan to Los Angeles, the brace sewage superior astir their ain brand. It was 2017, and they'd accumulated sizeable acquisition successful the beauty and manner world. Hendin was the 2nd worker and imaginative head astatine Vintner's Daughter, wherever she developed the company's branding platform, and Sullivan was down deed products for awesome brands specified arsenic Hourglass and Iris&Romeo.

Sullivan had crossed paths pinch renowned French perfumer Jérôme Epinette complete the people of her career, truthful the co-founders approached him astir a business for the nascent side hustle — and Epinette agreed. Liis, a operation of shared letters from Sullivan's and Hendin's first names, was born. The marque launched its beta find set, a fragrance sampler, successful 2020; 3 full-size scents followed successful 2021.

Related: These Sisters Started a Side Hustle After a 'Light Bulb Moment' Led to a 'Versatile' Product. Now It's Done Over $45 Million successful Sales.

The co-founders ne'er approached the statement from a spot of What's trending? or What are group buying? Instead, they attraction connected processing scents they'd want to deterioration themselves, successful the type of packaging they wanted to spot connected their vanities. (It took astir 2 years to technologist the click usability connected Liis' spherical achromatic cap.) "We want to beryllium capable to show stories that are meaningful to us," Hendin says. "Everything's coming from, How do we want to definitive ourselves? [All Liis perfumes] show really individual stories."

The brand's caller launch, Choux Choux, exemplifies that ethos: Sullivan's mother is French and called her "chouchou," a word of endearment akin to "darling," but there's a double entendre astatine play — the choux à la crème is simply a French pastry. Liis' Choux Choux features apical notes of whipped pick and citrus zest, mediate notes of caramel, vanilla and salt, and guidelines notes of cocoa, mocha and sandalwood. The scent, priced astatine $175, is connected way to deed $1 cardinal successful unit income this year, per the company.

Image Credit: Courtesy of Liis

"People tin spell into a shop and stumble upon america very organically."

Liis, which has ever been self-funded, is increasing by 60% to 70% twelvemonth complete year. The marque produces 9 fragrances and six candles stocked successful Neiman Marcus, Violet Grey, Goop and much than 125 specialty independent retailers crossed the U.S., Europe and Japan. Liis sustains its awesome momentum by leaning into organic growth — and a distribution strategy that's "really astir discovery."

"We are successful smaller boutiques that we would astir apt shop astatine ourselves," Hendin says. "So that's different large piece; group tin spell into a shop and stumble upon america organically. Then it's very word of mouth, talking astir america online."

Related: How and Why Luxury Brands Should Embrace TikTok

TikTok, successful particular, has been a boon for the brand. Fragrance influencers and perfume reviews abound connected the platform, though the co-founders weren't alert of the space's gold-mine imaginable erstwhile Liis entered the market.

"When we first launched, we had a TikTok spell viral [and] instantly sold retired of our find sets," Sullivan says, "and the funny point is, because we are self-funded and truthful scrappy, we were hand-fulfilling them." That meant putting the perfume into vials and handwriting fragrance names connected each 1 — a process that took astir 8 hours.

The marque continues to spot viral social media success that doesn't travel from PR pitches aliases merchandise gifting — it organically flows to Liis.

Image Credit: Courtesy of Liis

"It's astir looking astatine your business [and] seeing what your needs are."

Despite the early and dependable traction, for illustration astir businesses, Liis encountered immoderate challenges on its way to growth. Between proviso chain, storage and hazmat hurdles, the co-founders had to beryllium unfastened to imaginative pivots and problem-solving. For instance, erstwhile their first storage didn't person the basal level of attraction to item ("We want the package to beryllium beautiful erstwhile it arrives"), they shifted to a different 3PL and moved their products to a different facility.

Related: Creativity Is Your Best Problem-Solving Tool — Here's How to Harness It

"We didn't spell to business school, truthful we don't person a model that we've learned that this is what you person to do," Hendin says. "I don't deliberation that there's a one-size-fits-all. What useful for our business mightiness not activity for different business. So I deliberation it's astir looking astatine your business, seeing what your needs are and past figuring retired what's correct for you and utilizing communal consciousness to put those pieces together."

The business that started arsenic a side hustle is still successful a "transitioning phase" to a full-time profession for the co-founders, but Sullivan and Hendin are well-versed successful balancing their freelancing and consulting activity pinch their increasing marque — and look guardant to allocating much of their clip and resources to Liis. Sullivan and Hendin are excited to proceed Liis' world standard and scope caller audiences pinch their perfumes and fragrance stories.