Ep 166 | Olivia Landau
Getting Over Perfectionism, Turning a Side Hustle into a Multi-Million Dollar Business, Building a Brand Through Social Media
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Olivia Landau is the Founder and CEO of The Clear Clut, a digitally native natural diamond brand that's revolutionizing the diamond industry.
Although growing up in a family of jewelers, Olivia never thought she’d be in the business and if anything, her family discouraged her to get a job in the industry. After a few years of being lost and confused about her life, she decided to go to the Gemological Institute of America and from there, her path took a turn. She worked for other companies from Tiffany & Co to the Real Real, but realized there was an opportunity to connect with consumers in a different way. The Clear Cut empowers the next generation to design and create perfect hand-crafted diamond e-rings.
In our episode today, we talk about the step-by-step approach she took to turning her educational blog into a business and how she developed the confidence to quit her job & income to go all in. We also talk about how to build your business by being scrappy and doing things that are unscalable, which is so important when starting out, and how she’s created organic awareness & built a strong brand through social media. Olivia also opens up about going against her family's wishes of starting her business with her husband and the pushback they had along the way, and so much more.
Show Notes:
How waiting until everything is perfect can hold you back from taking the first step. [03:16]
Her relationship to content creation and the surprises it brings. [04:47]
Her unexpected path to the diamond business as a fourth-generation jeweler. [06:18]
What she needed in order to leave her job and commit full-time to her side hustle. [12:57]
Pursuing the business despite discouragement from the family. [18:03]
Her experience at the Tech Stars accelerator. [18:54]
Unscalable beginnings of the company and why they still implement new features unscalably. [22:13]
A year-by-year overview of the company’s growth [24:13]
Creating awareness and community in the early days. [25:11]
Key takeaways for creating content on different platforms. [28:40]
Common social media mistakes that Olivia observes others making. [33:40]
Challenges Olivia has experienced as a leader of a larger business. [35:27]
The company’s relationship with investment following their initial seed round. [36:45]
The whirlwind story of Olivia’s 2020 experience. [44:21]
What keeps Olivia sane amidst the challenge of building a business. [46:45]
Advisory and peer relationships that they have maintained since the business began. [48:58]
What’s next for The Clear Cut and what Olivia is most excited about. [50:34]
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Follow Olivia:
Olivia's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/olivialandau/
The Clear Cut Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theclearcut/
