#159: René Graham, Founder & CEO of Renzoe Box, a Customizable Beauty Kit and Next-Generation Makeup Platform, on Creating the Amazon of Beauty and Building a Sustainable and Innovative Company

Aug 31, 2020

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René Graham is the founder and CEO of Renzoe Box, the next-generation makeup platform and first makeup storage & pod system designed to replace your entire makeup bag. Renzoe Box is a customizable beauty kit combining your favorite brands' makeup products into one sustainable compact.

A native of Texas, René Graham holds a Master in Architecture from the Rice University School of Architecture, where she completed her thesis work with Eva Franch Gilabert, Director of the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London. Before entering the world of product design in 2017 and founding Renzoe Box, LLC, Graham achieved significant and diverse experience in architectural practice, community development and real estate development.

in addition to leading Renzoe Box™, LaurelHouse Studio and BCS Modern, Graham is a long time Board Member of the Downtown Bryan Association, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the cultural vitality and preservation of Historic Downtown Bryan, Texas. She has held advisory and committee roles for many public and private organizations including City of Bryan, Arts Council of the Brazos Valley, Leadership Brazos, Startup Aggieland, the Texas Bighorn Society, and the National Science Foundation. Of all her roles Graham's favorite is serving as a faculty member and educator at The University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University. Considering herself a "design thinker across many scales," it is at these institutions where she enjoys collaborating with students and colleagues, battling out ideas to investigate new potentials of the built environment. In her spare time she enjoys attending the symphony, exploring new cities, building wildlife guzzlers in the west Texas desert mountains, and snuggling with her niece & nephew, Elise & Grayson, or with her dog, Oliver.

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Some of the Topics Covered by René Graham in this Episode

The moment the idea for Renzoe Box was born
How René actually began to solve the pain point she was experiencing and start the customer discovery process
Pre-selling at Beautycon LA
Figuring out manufacturing and navigating international production
From the first prototype to what the product is today
Balancing being an entrepreneur and her career as an architect and deciding to go full-time with Renzoe Box
Raising 250K through angel investors to get started and the power of networking
Renzoe Box's business model
Navigating the mix-and-match customization component of the product in terms of sourcing and scaling
Customer acquisition and marketing strategies for Renzoe Box
René's advice for utilizing influencer marketing
Building out the team for Renzoe Box and a growing support system
Renzoe's digital curation tool
The big vision for Renzoe Box
A typical day for René and finding balance
René's advice for entrepreneurs

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