Girl Power Fuels International Business

Written by Jan Jaben-Eilon Tuesday, September 06 2011

Snapshot: Renee, Lily, and Melanie Sandler, Blamtastic owners

Daughters Lily, left, and Melanie

When her daughter Lily was just 10 years old, she was having trouble finding her lip balm. She said, "Mom, where's my lip ‘blam’?" Lip BLAM? Brilliant! Lily's mom, Renee Sandler, said that would make a great name for a lip balm company, and Blamtastic was born.

As a stay-at-home mother of two bright young girls (then ages 9 and 10), it shocked Renee to read in 2007 that so few Fortune 500 CEOs were women. This made no sense to her when, at the time, the American work force was nearly half female.

Not everyone is destined to run a corporation, Renee realized, but she wanted her daughters to know that anything was within their reach. So, she told them if they ever wanted to start a business she would support them. She thought it would be a simple life lesson that would likely go nowhere. Little did she know the experiment would lead to a thriving international business.

Her daughters, Lily and Melanie, came up with the idea, which they cooked up in the kitchen and sold at the school fair. From there they somehow turned it into an award-winning line of products, which are sold in more than 1,400 stores throughout the United States.

Blamtastic also is exported to Canada and South Korea. The girls now know that they can put an idea into motion with a great deal of determination and hard work.

At the beginning of the school year, Womenetics caught up with Renee and her daughters, Lily and Melanie, and asked them about their company.

	Renee Sandler

Womenetics: Lily asked where her lip blam was. How did that comment lead to going into business?
Renee Sandler: Well, a challenge to my daughters precipitated Lily’s slip of the tongue. In 2007 I had read an article in the Wall Street Journal that spoke about how few female CEOs were heading Fortune 500 companies. At that time the number was 12. Although I had worked in corporate America for many years, I must confess that number shook me to the core.

Women make up more than 50 percent of the work force. That there were so few women leading corporations was alarmingly disproportionate. Though they were only 9 and 10 at the time, I read the article to Lily and Melanie and asked them their thoughts about it.

“That stinks, Mom!” was their reply. I then told them if they ever came up with a business idea of their own that I would support them in any way I could.

Womenetics: Did you do any market research to determine there was a need for the product? Did your daughters survey their friends?
Renee: I knew there was a need for the product because both of my daughters had some 20 lip balms in their bathroom cabinets. At that time, Lily and Melanie were forever asking for lip balm when we would check out of any store. I guess they had a passion for lip balm early on. Those lip balm remnants were the genesis of our research process.

Womenetics: Do you sometimes want to “kill” your daughters for getting you into this business?
Renee: Ha! Yes! Only a fellow entrepreneur would ask that question. Of course it’s been an amazing experience for all of us, and we feel fortunate for the success of our company. But while entrepreneurship is glamorous in concept, the reality is quite different. The definition of entrepreneurship is work, work, and more work. You find yourself pulling all-nighters to get orders out, losing touch with your friendships because you’re just to busy to tend to them, and continually canceling planned vacations because you just can’t get away.

It’s no small coincidence that women often compare entrepreneurship with childbirth. The sacrifice and hard work required to grow a business from the ground up do parallel that of raising a child. Your business becomes your baby, but without the cute factor. But, in hindsight, I believe we’ve all gained so much from the entrepreneurship experience I don’t think I would change a thing.

Womenetics: Do the girls understand the seriousness of the business they built?
Renee: I am not sure if they understand how unique it is for a business like theirs to reach the level that it has. The truth is that across sectors, 44 percent of new companies fail within their first two years and 66 percent fail within four years. To grow a business like Blamtastic from cooking it in the kitchen to international distribution within its first two years is quite amazing. Add on to that we began in 2007 at the beginning of the recession, and it becomes clear how fortunate we have been. We are now entering our fourth year in business. In this economic climate that is akin to a miracle.

Womenetics: How does the business impact your family dynamics?
Renee: The business now has a life of its own. There are times when I must simply put a cap on it and say no more Blamtastic talk. Otherwise it will monopolize our every waking moment. Then we take off our entrepreneur hats and go back to just being the Sandler Family. The girls may be business owners, but they are still in middle school. It’s important for them to have fun with their friends, play sports, and explore new passions. At their age, business should be a part of their lives but not the sum of it.

Womenetics: Where does your husband fit into the picture?
Renee: He has his own business that keeps him very busy. But we joke that his best friends are the folks at the UPS and FedEx office because he spends so much time taking packages and envelopes over there for us.

Womenetics: How much are your girls involved in running the business?
Renee: Early on the girls were so excited about their product that they really overdid it, traveling to too many of our events. It was a fun and valuable experience for them, but we could work nonstop if we didn’t temper it. As is typical for a business owner, a 60- to 80-hour work week is fine for me, but it’s not an appropriate schedule for a 12 and 13 year old. They are middle school students first and entrepreneurs second. So, they are involved as much as they can be. During the school year that means doing press for the company, attending special promotions, and working on new product development.

Womenetics: Why did you think you could sell flavored lip balm?
Lily: In the beginning we never thought about selling it. After my mom challenged us to start a business and I had the idea for the company, we were really just experimenting at first, with no plans to sell it. But as our neighbors showed interest in the product it just snowballed.

Womenetics: How have you been involved with the company over the years?
Lily: Well, in the beginning we cooked up our first batches in the kitchen. Once we realized other people liked it we started coming up with ideas for other flavors and colors. We go to trade shows, do interviews, and promotional events. We also design products all of the time. It keeps us very busy.

Womenetics: How does it feel to know your products are sold all around the country?
Lily: Pretty exciting. The company has grown much bigger now than we had ever planned. It’s fun.

Womenetics: What do your friends think about your business?
Lily: Oh, they’ve always been supportive.

Womenetics: Do you ever feel like your mother expects too much from you?
Lily: Not at all. In fact, last winter I wanted to go to the toy fair with her because that’s a really fun show. She wouldn’t let me go because she felt I had too much going on at school and in my school play. She’s afraid that we’ll feel overwhelmed or feel too much pressure from the business.

Womenetics: Do you think you’ll want to start your own company when you are older?
Lily: It’s a bit early to say. I love a lot of different things so I’m not quite sure what I’ll want to do for a job when I’m finished with college.

Womenetics: I imagine you like to do a lot of different things. For instance, we understand that you like riding horses. Does Blamtastic ever interfere with those interests?
Lily: No. I’m pretty good at prioritizing my activities so I don’t have to give up too much. Plus I like to keep very, very busy.

Womenetics: Why did you think you could sell flavored lip balm?
Melanie: Because it tastes great.

Womenetics: How have you been involved with the company over the years?
Melanie: Now, my sister and my mom do most of the work. I don’t like traveling very much but they do. I just help coming up with new products most of the time.

Womenetics: How does it feel to know your products are sold all around the country?
Melanie: Ummm, it’s pretty crazy. At my sister’s camp the girls come from all over the country, and many of them saw our product in the stores near them.

Womenetics: What do your friends think about your business?
Melanie: They’re really nice about it. Plus they get free lip balm.

Womenetics: Do you ever feel like your mother expects too much from you?
Melanie: No.

Womenetics: Do you think you’ll want to start your own company when you are older?
Melanie: I’m not sure. It’s been fun, but also a lot of work so I don’t think so.

Womenetics: I imagine you like to do a lot of different things. You are in a band. Does Blamtastic ever interfere with those interests?
Melanie: No. We can work as much as we want, but we don’t have to if we don’t want to.

Jan Jaben-Eilon was a founding staff writer of the Atlanta Business Chronicle. Since then, she has been the international editor of Advertising Age magazine and has written for such publications as The New York Times, International Herald Tribune, Washington Journalism Review, and Consumer Reports. She is the author of soon-to-be-published (There is) Life After Cancer. Jan and her husband have homes in Atlanta and Jerusalem.