Welcome to the Secrets of… Series — in which I’ve carefully designed a series of thought-provoking questions to tease the most interesting and insightful information out of the best brand builders in the world.
This week, I’m bringing you Part 2 of my interview with Lori Bush, one of the most perceptive, motivated, and caring people I’ve ever had the pleasure to know—both in business and on a personal basis.
Helping people to live better and longer by developing an integrated approach to consumer health and beauty care has not only been Lori Bush’s career but also the source of her passion for nearly 35 years. In May 2020, Lori launched Solvasa, a company inspired by her post-retirement experience with breast cancer and based on recognition of macro trends with unmet needs in the areas of beauty and wellbeing.
In October 2007, Lori partnered with the founders of Rodan + Fields, to lead the company’s pivot out of department stores and into the direct selling channel. As Chief Executive Officer, Lori took the company from re-stage to the largest independent premium skincare brand in the U.S. Before joining Rodan + Fields, Lori served as President of Nu Skin, the global personal care division of Nu Skin Enterprises, worked at Johnson & Johnson Consumer Products Companies as the Worldwide Executive Director over Skin Care Ventures, and served as the Vice President of Professional Marketing for Neutrogena. And today at her welcoming home in Sonoma, Lori and her husband make wine, and olive oil, and own one of the best restaurants in town.
Lori’s endless energy and boundless creativity make her the person we all want to be when we grow up, no matter our age. And I’m proud to call her a hero of mine.
Read on for a mix of incredible stories and insights from Lori. And if you didn’t catch Part 1, be sure to read it here.
5. You're getting put into the Brand Builders Hall of Fame. What do you wish would be forgotten?
From a product perspective, in the very early '90s, I launched a synthetic saliva that I affectionately referred to as Spit in a Can; not its actual name. The product was positioned for older people who are often on a lot of medications that cause very dry mouth. My product was something that you could use to keep your mouth moisturized.
It was actually a good product that could solve a problem for a lot of people. But the marketing challenge was that it didn't fit well with our brand or our distribution channels, so it was more of a distraction than an asset. I'm not terribly embarrassed about it, and it was a great learning for me about how product marketplace fit is not enough if you can’t meet your consumers where they are.
But the thing that I’d really like people to forget is a lesson I learned when I was at a conference about 10 years ago. I had to terminate one of my top team members for behavioral issues. The executive was with me at the conference when I needed to pull the trigger, and it was a rough day.
Afterward, I had at least one too many glasses of wine before a formal evening awards event where my company was a finalist in several categories. The categories would be announced, and we wouldn't win. Finally, on the final award, our name was called as the winner. I went to the podium to accept the award. And later that night as I was lying in bed, I thought to myself, “OMG, did I say what I think I said?” And in fact, I did—from the stage, I accepted the award by saying, "Wow, I'm glad I didn't get dressed up for nothing." After that, it became my policy to never drink during business hours, no matter how late the business goes. I guess even that embarrassment had a lesson built in.
There are very few things that I've done that I totally regret. One of my general philosophies is managing the downside. I subscribe to what Jim Collins would refer to as “firing bullets” to quickly test and iterate an idea for proof of concept before investing heavily. Everything to me is learning.
6. What’s the most controversial thing a brand you work with has ever done—and how did it turn out for them?
There are two things. One was kind of a big deal. I wasn’t involved in creating the controversy, but I had to deal with the aftermath. It was back in my J&J days.
If you recall, Retin A was a breakthrough in skincare that essentially created the cosmeceutical category of beauty. It was really the first time we went from “hope in a jar” to real, scientifically validated proof of reversing the signs of skin aging. Retin A was transformative but also controversial because it was approved for treating acne, not for treating the signs of photoaging.
The FDA does not like it when a company supports the promotion of off-label claims. It's one thing if a doctor does so, but when a doctor who is compensated by the company promotes it and speaks about it, there can be some pretty severe consequences, even when the product is safe and effective for off-label use.
As an acne product, Retin A was modestly successful. As a treatment for the signs of aging, it was a home run. Dermatologists loved it because it brought them new patients seeking a prescription for this breakthrough drug. And because the FDA can only apply a certain level of fine, the financial impact of the penalty was kind of like a speeding ticket.
But what the FDA was able to do was delay the approval of Renova, the version of the drug that the company developed and ran clinical trials for the signs of photoaging. And then ultimately, when the FDA finally did approve it, they applied restrictions on how it could be marketed. So I was involved in the launch of Renova that, due to some unreasonable regulatory limitations, never really broke through as it could have. The irony of it all was that doctors just kept prescribing Retin A for off-label use, rather than prescribing the product that was actually approved for photoaging.
The other controversial event is just one of those cringe moments. It happened during a Rodan & Fields convention in San Francisco. We hired this group to perform what was supposed to be iconic San Francisco entertainment. One act was to be a “gender illusionist.” We expected it to be a drag queen lip-syncing a Celine Dion song or something like that.
Instead, this man with serious razor stubble comes clomping out in high heels, wearing an ugly gown which he ultimately strips off. And he has this bodysuit underneath, with tassel pasties at the nipples. Then he starts rolling around on the stage. Other acts followed that were almost as disturbing.
And it was all done in such horrifically poor taste for an audience with a large Bible Belt contingency. People were actually praying to be saved from the dark place we were taking them to.
I'm backstage at Moscone Center thinking, "Should I kill the lights?"
I ended up writing an apology letter to the sales organization for doing something that was so lowbrow and off-brand.
The other controversial event followed the launch of Amp MD at Rodan & Fields. The product was a huge success, but about a year after launch, we were shut down by the FDA because the agency believed it might be an unapproved medical device—even though we checked all of the boxes as a cosmetics tool.
We went through the required process to have the product classified as a cosmetic, but the FDA came back and basically said, "No, we still think it's a medical device but we can’t exactly say why.”
We decided to hire a law firm to help us navigate a device registration for something that wasn’t technically a medical device. But the firm suggested we first go for a long shot to appeal the FDA’s decision. It was the right decision because we got the reversal and we were cleared to return to market as a cosmetic tool. I was told that this was a rare event and may have been the first such outcome in that current administration. That was a huge win for our company. For me personally, it was so emotional that for a period of time, I couldn’t even share the story without crying. The process was all-consuming and there were times I was ready to let it go, but in the end, it was well worth it.
7. In a world where consumers are more divided than ever, what do you think brands need to do now to engage them?
This weighs heavily on me, and I've had lots of discussions with my Alliance of CEOs group about it.
I've been in a situation where it felt as though everything was politicized. For my company, Solvasa, our manifesto starts with, “We're a community of intentional optimists,” but we launched in 2020 at a time that presented overwhelming uncertainty and change. Then the presidential election happened and I thought, okay maybe now that the election is behind us, everything will settle down. Who knew it was going to go so far in the other direction?
The day after the election, I went on a hike in some hills above my current hometown of Sonoma. It was a beautiful day, so I took a few selfies and I did an Instagram post that just said, "I believe in the power of the human spirit, and I choose to be optimistic about our future." Then I got a call from one of my executive team members, my head of sales, and she asked me to take down that post because it was interpreted as me being happy about the election outcome. It was actually not intended to be political in any way; I was just trying to say that it was time to find shared values and focus on the beauty in the world.
One of the things I believe many of us are experiencing is the pressure on brands to take a political stance, even when there’s no political relevancy. I've been listening to several podcasts about this recently. I’m really appreciative of how Brian Armstrong, Coinbase’s CEO, took a stance and proclaimed that the company would not tolerate the distractions of employee activism.
It's usually a small group of people who apply a lot of pressure, and what I really believe is that you have to know what you stand for and stay true to your brand mission. If doing so keeps some people from using your product or working for your company, so be it. That's how I feel about it, but it’s definitely more easily said than done.
When you think about branding, if your brand tries to appeal to everybody, it risks not really being optimized for anybody. It’s the theme of your business: we identify with brands that get us. In terms of the divisiveness that we are seeing in this country, I step into my share of cow pies—such as naively using the term “tribe” to describe the people with whom you have a special affinity. I was advised that it’s no longer PC to use the term “tribe” unless it relates to Native Americans. I do my best to be respectful of everybody, but it doesn’t mean that my brand will be for everybody.
I was on a roundtable Zoom event with the Direct Selling Association. The moderator asked about the impact of this kind of divisiveness, and one woman who runs a direct-selling company in the Southeast said, "I'm a Christian, I pretty much wear it on my sleeve. But I don't make it part of my business.”
Then, she told a story about how one day she was out hiking … sound familiar? She sat down on a rock and did the Ohm pose. Her husband took a photo, and she posted it on Facebook. She said people quit her business because the photo represented something that was not Christian. So things have just gotten ridiculous. You can't be all things to all people. My approach is to find empathy for others and appreciate the position of those who don't align with us—but to stay as neutral as possible without compromising brand values.
I had more than one executive who was at odds with me over COVID-19 vaccines and whether they should be required for those attending events we were hosting. The crazy part was, that people were quitting the company not because I required vaccination, which I didn’t. They were quitting because I thought we should encourage vaccination and otherwise recommend wearing masks. Of course, there were people who wouldn’t come to the events if vaccines were not required. It was a no-win situation, so I just had to put a stake in the ground and go with it.
8. What marketing principle do you think great marketers overlook all the time?
I think great marketers don't overlook core principles. But a lesson they overlook is what got them here is not going to get them there.
I’ve encountered way too many marketers with a fixed mindset, and that’s a real challenge in navigating a dynamic, volatile environment where consumers are changing more than ever. There are big differences based on generations, and they’re amplified by digital technology.
The thing that also makes me crazy is that far too often when new product managers join a brand, the first thing they want to do is change the packaging. I'm dealing with that now, but the worst-case scenario was at Neutrogena where a lot of time and money was spent on changing iconic packaging with more focus on form than on function. The new packaging ultimately adversely affected sales of that particular product.
The big thing is remembering that to be a great marketer, you have to know your consumer and know that you, yourself, may not be part of your consumer constituency. It's definitely never a one-size-fits-all formula. Marketing is about unlocking secrets, reading between the lines, and finding the blue ocean.
9. What advice would you give your 26-year-old self—both career-related and not career-related?
Don't beat yourself up over things of which you have no control—and get more sleep.
My big pathology is that I ruminate. I ruminate over things that happened years ago, even though they’ve been long forgotten by most and weren’t even all that material in the overall scheme of things. My mantra for a while was “let it go.” I had these little toy bugs that I wind up and literally “let go” when I found myself ruminating.
I’m getting better now, but I wish I had taken things like mindfulness more seriously when I was younger. Just don’t hang on to stuff you can’t change; it's so unhealthy and doesn't get you anywhere.
And of course the sleep thing. I prided myself in being able to function on only four to five hours of sleep a night, believing I was more productive because of it. Now I know better.
10. What’s the most valuable positive feedback you’ve ever been given? And what’s the most valuable negative feedback you’ve ever been given?
The Positive Feedback
The most valuable feedback sounded like a criticism, but it was actually intended as a compliment and has had an impact throughout my career.
I told you about how I had invented a diagnostic test early in my career. I was in my 20s, scurrying around the company’s lab in my little white lab coat while one of the engineers who worked on our medical devices was casually observing. He said, "You know, I've been watching you. I think you're going to be really successful with this because you're too dumb to know that what you're doing is really hard."
What I took away from the engineer’s comment was this: So often, what keeps us from being all that we can be is that we get in our own way. It's that aspect of self-doubt that keeps us from moving forward, whether it's the fear of failure or the belief that something is difficult, and we never get off the starting blocks and take the chance.
And the engineer was right; I was successful. And that has stuck with me from more than 40 years ago.
Another piece of advice was given to me by the Head of Business Development at Johnson & Johnson, who once said to me, "You're never going to be totally fulfilled unless you start your own company." That was right too.
The Negative Feedback
This was a really big wake-up call.
I'd been at Nu Skin for about a year, and we had our first big convention. I had developed all these new products. I took the stage in front of an audience of 15,000 representatives. As they cheered, I thought to myself, “I'm the shit. Look at what I've done for this company." Shortly after that, I was on a national tour and sitting in a train station in Washington D.C. One of the company’s top representatives rings me, and I think she's going to tell me how awesome I am, right?
Instead, she had called to tell me everything I did wrong. She said, "You need to understand that these products and this business are our livelihood. But you spoke to us as though we were the end consumers and not as the salespeople who are going to make a living by selling these products. You didn’t consider the impact this is going to make on the other products we sell and how we sell them. You didn't speak about what is important to us."
At that point, I changed my entire approach to marketing products in that business channel. At the end of the day, when you're dealing in a direct selling business, the sales organization is the heart and the lifeblood of your business. When you win their hearts and minds, the rest is magic.
The thing was, I already knew the importance of KYC (Know Your Customer) even though that term had yet to become a part of our business vernacular. But direct selling was a different beast with a crowd-sourced sales and marketing organization. In this particular circumstance, I missed how their interest was crucial in making things happen. But I learned fast!
11. What motivates you to get up and go every day?
Historically, it's been a need to prove self-worth—but I'm getting over that finally. That's been most of what motivates me and what keeps me cranking, but now I'm pivoting to look into just making the most out of every single day and living in the present because that's where happiness is. I'm motivated to find perfect moments in every single day. But there were probably 64.5 years of getting to this point.
12. Who do you most admire—and what question would you most like to ask them?
I went back and forth between Malcolm Gladwell and Dolly Parton.
With Gladwell, I'd like to ask him about that inspiration and methodology of taking two seemingly unrelated subjects and weaving them together in a really compelling learning exercise and discovery. I find myself often referencing some of the things that he's unearthed—a lot of it relates to overcoming life’s obstacles. I love his thoughts about education and our educational institutions. I would love to better understand what triggers his ideas. Where do they come from?
And with Dolly Parton, I'd have to ask her how somebody so brilliant stays so grounded. One of my favorite quotes is from Dolly. I had it engraved on a paperweight and gave it to people who helped get us through that FDA issue I described. I had pulled together a group of independent representatives who were supposed to be on an incentive trip. Instead, I locked them in a hot boardroom in Mexico. We sorted through how we were going to make up potential lost sales while we addressed the FDA issue. It was a beautiful example of coming together to solve a problem. Once the dust settled I sent them all a paperweight—a glass heart with Dolly Parton's philosophy on it. It says, "We can't direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails."
When she was initially nominated for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, she declined saying that she had never written a rock and roll song. Ultimately she did accept the honor and wrote a rock song for the occasion. She's made herself a caricature in many ways, but she is just unexpectedly brilliant and anchored.
13. Last question—what's a secret?
I have two. One of my major unfulfilled goals in life is to write a romance novel and... I'm a rocker. I love rocking chairs and I have an idea to create the Peloton of rocking chairs for mindfulness. If anybody knows of anybody who wants to take that on and have me as an advisor, I'm game. But I'm gonna write the novel myself.