Evelyn is Co-Founder and CEO of JustUs Skincare. JustUs is the only skincare brand designed specifically for peri- and post-menopausal women, blending powerful ancient botanicals with modern lab actives.
Prior to starting JustUs Skincare, Evelyn has had a marketing and communications career spanning two decades across consumer, lifestyle, wellness, technology, health and personal care brands. Developing and maintaining strategies that address brand critical success factors and drive business has been a priority for Evelyn. Through her career, she has focused on identifying and understanding critical touch points and eliciting awareness and behavior change. Her expertise includes everything from Launching brands, GTM stratetgy and definining targets to PR and social, events, partnerships and brand collaborations.
Evelyn has supported leading companies in their communications and integrated marketing needs across many sectors to meet their business goals. Example brands include: Philips Sonicare and Norelco, NIVEA, Aquaphor, Eucerin, Skinny Pop, Pantene, Snapple, Dr. Pepper, KY, Durex, Lysol, Glidden, Airwick, Caraway, Eli Lilly, Pfizer, Whoop and The HPV Test.
In addition, Evelyn is an active member of the NYC founding community. She is a Sr. Program Lead with Startup Leadership Program (SLP NY — the only non equity founder focused accelerator), Dreamers & Doers and Dream Ventures Accelerators.
Evelyn graduated from Tufts University (Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa) with a B.S. in psychology and studied for an M.Sc. in psychology at Oxford University. She is a regular hiker, painter and is usually seen with her dogs!
What is your typical day, and how do you make it productive?
When you are a Founder/CEO of a startup, your day is often quite unpredicatable. I am fortunate that I had a career in marketing and PR that equipped me to be able to turn on a dime and jump from task to task. This skill set is one that improves with practice and is even more critical as I wear a few hats…from being on the leadership team of some NYC startups (like SLP NYC) and helping other start up brands withe my marketing hat.
It can feel overwhelming. So there are a few principles I live by.
- I always make and keep time for things that contribute to my health and to my joy. For me that is yoga, pilates, drawing. It’s just a non negotiable, because once you make an exception it becomes easier to deprioritize. Which may buy you an hour, but what you lose is far more significant!
- The night before my next day I review my meetings and I lay out my major tasks. Not the biggest – but the ones that have to happen, the ones that are nice to happen and the ones that are evergreen. It helps to set my focus and intentions for the next day.
- I start with the important items. It’s too easy to tick away at smaller, less important things to feel accomplished or to do a “productive procrastination”. If my list is prioritized correctly, I work through it in that order.
- I have a fluid schedule. I don’t work 9-5. If I have a chance to meet a friend for lunch or take a walk on a beautiful day, I do. Then I shift my work to later in the day or the weekend. Sometimes I have days where I work a lot. Some days I don’t. The balance makes me far more efficient.
How do you bring ideas to life?
For any ideation, I like to start with big thinking. Tap other people, take time to have a brainstorm around the potential ideas with NO restrictions. It’s really important not to limit creative thinking. I capture it all in an excel or a document and then I refine, reduce, and hone to the 3-5 ideas, concepts, things that I want to accomplish. I prioritize them based on effectiveness, cost, time to develop and most importantly, my ability to do it really well. Once I have that usually 1-2 bubble to the top and have excitment. From there I break down the steps, the people I need to do it, the content or assets I need and potentially the dollars. And then it becomes a much simpler workflow/project management process.
What’s one trend that excites you?
The growing consumer understanding and interest in ingredients — whether that be mushrooms (in coffee), botanicals in NA or in skincare. But people are excited to try different plants, botanicals, fruits. There is a huge world of natural “actives” in our world so it’s exciting to see people taking advantage of the abundance that is much more accessible now.
What is one habit that helps you be productive?
It’s probably the habit I let go that helped me the most. I changed my mindset from outputs, away from time spent. I used to fill time because it was there. But it didn’t always result in accomplishing anything more. There is an unhealthy perception that busy = important, especially in NYC. At the end of the day, I don’t want to have a check list accomplished. I want to have made changes in my business, spent time with friends and family and taken care of my personal health.
What advice would you give your younger self?
Don’t stress. If something goes wrong, fix it to the best of your abilities. And learn from it so it doesn’t happen. If something goes right, celebrate it and learn from that. Laying in bed awake about things that happened and can’t be changed or worried about a future that is not yet written only keeps your battery running on low. Your worry doesn’t change the outcome. Only action and mindset does.
Tell us something you believe almost nobody agrees with you.
That anyone can learn to draw or do a creative art. Yes, some people are naturally blessed with talent. But learning to be mentally creative is a skill that takes training more than anything!
What is the one thing you repeatedly do and recommend everyone else do?
Take care of your physical and mental self. Work follows. Money follows. Not the other way around.
When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, what do you do?
I need to physically reset when I feel overwhelmed or unfocused. I go back to my list and I re-evaluate. I think about what I HAVE to get done that day, not what I set out to do. And then I figure out one thing that is not work that I want to do — whether that is take a long shower, or do pilates, or read or watch a TV show and draw. And then I readjust the rest of the day to focus on the least amount of must dos and the thing I want. I find that by accomplishing the critical things on my list and allowing the rest to drift away gives me a chance to reset and reframe my brain. Usually the little things you thought you needed to do just go away..
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business or advance in your career?
I prioritize my time on the highest impact actions. And I am ok with a wide range of “good.” Meaning that somethings need to be 100% perfect (very few), most things can be 80% good, many things can be 50% good and lots of things can go away. Just like you pay different prices for different items, all things on your to do list don’t need equal rent. For example, it’s easy to spend hours to make a perfect social post. But that’s a fleeting asset. Did it warrant that time? Or did the phone call with the customer that resulted in a signfiicant sale provide a more meaningful outcome? I have found that if I give myself an hour to accomplish the things I need to do, naturally I figure out how to get it done and the important stuff really appears, and the other stuff also is easy to figure out.
What is one failure in your career, how did you overcome it, and what lessons did you take away from it?
One failure in my career is that I knew I needed to make changes to my career path and my life long before I made them. I got caught in the intense NYC agency lifestyle that prioritized career over everything else. I knew I was unhappy and unhealthy, with stress on myself and my personal relationships. But I didn’t take action, because I felt people relied on me, because I thought my self-worth came from my career ‘success’ as defined by others. It took me too many years to make that change. Once I did, it changed everything about me – my perspective, my demeanor, my priorities. It showed me that I can be successful and happy and that if you feel like something isn’t right for you, it probably isn’t.
What is one business idea you’re willing to give away to our readers?
Invest your time and expertise into startups for equity. Long-term investment with opportunity for higher payout. It comes with risk, but it comes with so many potential benefits!
What is one piece of software that helps you be productive? How do you use it?
Chat GPT. Cliche, maybe. But it significantly cuts down the time spent I have on drafting content and distilling information. I always edit, tweak, make it my own. Im a writer and creative at heart. But, it saves so much time on the set up and culling of data or information.
What is the best $100 you recently spent?
My Doc Martens. Not only a fond memory of my college years… but also so practical. Comfortable, sturdy. Great for rain, snow… long walks, etc. And I can wear them with jeans, leggings or dresses!
Do you have a favorite book or podcast from which you’ve received much value?
It’s an old book — called Culture Code by Clotaire Rapaille. It may not even be in print still — but the used copy is worth it. He dives into this hidden consumer psyche and how that is different across different regions of the world. The brands and cases and very practical and it is so interesting. Changes how you use your brain.
What’s a movie or series you recently enjoyed and why?
The Pitt has been great. Old school ER with more of a current docu feel. Great acting.
Key learnings:
– Take care of yourself first. Work and other success follows.
– Prioritize work and actions that result in meanginful outcomes
– Dont’ stress. Everything that happens has a solution, a learning and a go forward. Worry doesn’t change it.
– Listen to your gut