Stephanie Lee and Kristin Reichert are the owners and co-founders of the baby products e-commerce company, Copper Pearl. Copper Pearl was originally created with the idea and hope to create a line of premium, trendy, and unique baby accessories and clothing. Each product that is sold goes through a rigorous design process to ensure that the designs chosen are both highly functional and fashionable. Stephanie grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah, and has also lived in Austin, Texas, England, and The Netherlands. She grew up playing competitive classical piano, and made her debut at Carnegie Hall at the age of 8. Kristin grew up living in Florida and Texas. She has a degree in clothing construction, and a passion for design, art, and anything that requires creativity. Copper Pearl was started in June 2015 and has been growing steadily ever since.
How has your life experience made you the leader you are today?
Stephanie: I was always starting silly businesses as a little girl—a neighborhood candy store, smoothies stands, a neighborhood newspaper, a babysitting company—and as funny as those businesses seem now, I think they laid a foundation of leadership for me. I loved coming up with new ideas and somehow wrangled my sisters into helping me implement them. As I got older, I owned a piano studio, started a local piano festival, and did a few other entrepreneurial things. Those transitioned into Copper Pearl, as my desire to do my lead further developed. I really enjoy coming up with a vision and figuring out how to make the vision a success.
Kristin: I feel like being a mom has actually been a great way to prepare to be a leader in a business. You have to juggle priorities and schedules all the time. It's taught me discipline, time planning, and how to deal with different personalities. It's fun to run a business and be a mom at the same time and see how challenging and rewarding both can be.
How has your previous employment experience aided your tenure at Copper Pearl?
Stephanie: My previous work experience is seemingly unrelated to Copper Pearl (piano teaching, event planning), but really gave me the organizational tools and the confidence necessary to be successful.
Kristin: Although I haven't had any formal corporate experience post university, I did receive my degree in clothing construction. I've always had a love for creating and designing and it's been so fun and rewarding to be able to use those skills and passions of mine. This has been an incredible outlet for me to express my creativity and never ending ideas for new designs.
What have the highlights and challenges been during your tenure at Copper Pearl?
Stephanie: I’ll never forget our first day we were live. I was checking me phone all day, seeing if we’d sold anything. That first sale felt SO good. There’s nothing like it. It was such a thrill those first few weeks to see our sales gradually increase, and to think—“Woah. This is actually working. Maybe we can actually do this?!” It was such a high. I think the biggest challenges have been related to figuring out how to move forward and progress—what products should we offer? How can we make our products stand out above all the competition? The market is constantly evolving, and it’s a lot of work to navigate it.
Kristin: The highlights of running Copper Pearl have definitely been seeing our products being used by moms and babies everywhere. It's so rewarding when you're at the park or the store and you spot one of Copper Pearl's products. It's been so fun to hear the excitement that moms have about our products and how much they love them. The biggest challenge has been how to continue to stay ahead of the trends and the competition. Like many businesses, if you become complacent, you will become irrelevant pretty quick. We are launching new products and designs almost weekly and that has helped us combat the challenges that come with so much competition in the space.
What advice can you offer to women who want a career in your industry?
Stephanie: I would say—think outside the box. Study the industry. Study companies that do things you want to be doing. Have some guts. Back when we were thinking about starting Copper Pearl, I remember talking to my husband and saying something like, “We can’t just go make our own baby stuff! We don’t know how to do that.” And he essentially said, “Why not?! We can figure anything out.” I think that mindset and confidence has been instrumental in our success.
Kristin: I think that for any woman looking to become an entrepreneur in any industry, my advice would be to figure out what you are passionate about. Find something that you love, that you have opinions about, and that you can continue to innovate. It's hard to run a business if you don't love what you're doing and you don't have ideas on where to take the business.
What is the most important lesson you’ve learned in your career to date?
Stephanie: I’m a big perfectionist and control freak, so I’ve had to learn to let some details go. And to learn that some details matter more than others. I’ve had to learn to trust employees and to be okay with them doing things slightly differently than I would.
Kristin: It's important to move quickly in business. Sometimes I can be a perfectionist and I've had to learn that it is important to get feedback early and often. You can spend weeks and months on a new product or design to try and make it perfect and it still may fail. Sometimes our most successful products have been ones that we created quickly to test the market and people loved it. You never know what is going to resonate with 100% certainty. So my advice is test things out early and often and get as much feedback as possible.
How do you maintain a work/life balance?
Stephanie: It sounds obvious, but I think it works best to put the most important things first and then everything else falls into place. And I’ve come to realize that each day can look different and that’s okay. Some days I’m a super fun mom. Some days I’m a great homemaker. Some days I’m a great business owner. I think it all evens out! It’s impossible to be great at everything all the time, and it relieves stress and pressure once I remind myself of that.
Kristin: I always consider my family as the most important thing in the world to me. I am fortunate to have my husband also working full time on Copper Pearl so I do my best to get my work done during nap times and at night as much as possible. Sometimes it is a struggle to make sure that everything is getting done for the business and I'm still able to be the mom I want to be. What I've learned is that I just need to do my best and it will all work out in the end.
What do you think is the biggest issue for women in the workplace?
Stephanie: I think balancing family life and work is the biggest challenge. There are so many meaningful, important ways women can spend their time, and it’s so hard to strike the right balance. I think that balance looks different for every woman, so it takes some effort to find the right answer for you.
Kristin: I think it's hard sometimes for women to get the recognition they deserve when it comes to generating ideas. I'm a creative type and luckily since I'm an owner of a business I'm able to see my designs and ideas come to life and get credit when credit is deserved. I feel like it's much harder for women to get that same kind of credit in the workplace when they come up with new and innovative ideas.
How has mentorship made a difference in your professional and personal life?
Stephanie: Mentorship has been huge for me. My greatest personal mentor has been my lifelong piano teacher. She taught me from age 4 all the way through my Master’s Degree in Piano Performance. Obviously piano performance is different than running a baby product company, but the foundation she gave me has fueled everything for me within our business. She taught me how to work hard, how to be detail-oriented, and instilled in me the grit it takes to be successful with anything.
Kristin: Although I don't have a formal mentor, I'm always inspired as I look around at other local and national start up companies run by female entrepreneurs. Many are moms just like me and it's been so fun to see many other companies have success as Copper Pearl has grown. I think there is so much room in the world for more women to become successful and start and grow their own businesses.
Which other female leaders do you admire and why?
Stephanie: I’ve always admired Susan Petersen from Freshly Picked. It’s been amazing to see her business explode from humble beginnings. I think her dedication, work ethic, and authenticity are inspiring.
Kristin: I don't have many specific females that have inspired me as leaders necessarily, but I have always loved Ellen DeGeneres. She is such an amazing example of someone with so much publicity who uses is to spread a message of love, happiness and acceptance. She has built an amazing brand herself and has been someone that I have listened to and followed for years. I hope to also use some of the success that we've been able to have to give back to the community and spread positive messages to moms everywhere.
What do you want Copper Pearl to accomplish in the next year?
Stephanie: I’d love to see Copper Pearl continue to grow and become a household name nationally. It’s incredibly fulfilling to be out and about and see moms using our products, and to see that our products are making moms lives easier! It’s the greatest paycheck ever, so I want to see more and more of that!
Kristin: I hope Copper Pearl becomes a household brand in the baby industry. I want to continue to launch new products and designs that moms everywhere are excited for and be accessible to buyers all around the world.