Before my HSN debut, I had a chance to talk to Michael Henry, SVP Beauty Merchandising at the network. He is one of the first people I met at HSN and I immediately fell in love with him.
He is smart, engaging, funny, and he has seen it all.
So I had a little chat with him to get some advice and words of wisdom. Our conversation, below.
KR: I’m nervous – what is your best, calming tip for me before I go on hsn?
HSN is three days away! Three days. And the proof is on TV. The Guide in my cable, when I scrolled forward, shows Purple Lab on the line up! It’s real! It’s real!
I died when I saw this. Dead. On the floor! A corpse is actually writing this!
Saturday night, I went to a Fashion Week mixer, thrown by the fab Lianne Farbes of The Makeup Girl and Paul Baranda of Beyond Beauty Basics, and I saw my old intern, Lauren, who I would have loved to have hired but I had no salary money.
When I was at HSN on Monday and Tuesday, I got the whole behind the scenes look. It is fascinating.
One of our girls getting made up with Luxury Squared in the hot seat in the “Before & After Room,” which means that there is one room just for B&As!
When we shot our models, we worked in the studio space with the most macked-out equipment and super-duper lighting. Jesse, the photographer reminded me of Ed Norton.
Monday, I jetted to Tampa, which Amber of beautybloggingjunkie.com calls “Glampa” (wish I could take credit for that moniker) for a two day of nonstop HSN prep, which began with a cattle casting call for our before and after shoots. (Amber and me, in front of the building with all the studios – it’s a massive operation there with more buildings than the Upper East Side).
100 women showed up for our “go-see.” I can’t lie. I felt a little bit like Tyra on America’s Next Top Model.
You know that going on HSN was the ultimate goal from Day 1. It was why we went broke, why we took every risk, why we tuned out the naysayers, and why we keep on keepin’ on. (To get an alert when Purple Lab debuts, click here!)
I recently came back from a global marketing meeting in Tampa and performed presented to about 75 people. No pressure! Though I can’t lie – I do love talking about Purple Lab because it’s like a new mom talking about the bebe. I’m in love. Beyond words. And every product is my dream, something I would throw away whatever I’m already using for (I’m picky and I use some good stuff!).
Where were we last time I gave you the business building update (still trying to catch us up to current day and we’re so close, I can taste it).
It was summer. We were on the verge of leveraging one of Todd’s properties in Brooklyn to squeeze out some cash to continue funding Purple Lab’s further product development (there were 50 products in my head that I was itching to get out), production, and overall growth.
So… I’ve been giving you the scoop on the launch event (even though product missed the shipping date – sorry… not yet over it!).
It went exactly as I had hoped it would. The girls were great – and so into it, even the pole dancing! They lived their So Low yoga pants! They got their smooches on. They salivated at Louboutin (I think I told you that Felicia Sullivan won a pair of shoes and I have an adorable video of her shopping moment – will share that next time!).
