Claudia Sulewski: How I Built A Sephora Beauty Empire (& Why I Might Reject Finneas' Last Name)

Oh my god, I'm gonna get emotional 'cause my fiancee. - Phineas is such a huge supporter. You have 2.4 million subscribers. I've seen a source online that cyclers projected to make $70 million by the end of this year. - So crazy. I moved to Los Angeles when I was 18 years old, making YouTube videos, and my first check from AdSense took it straight to Sephora. - So talk to me about how it feels to have your brand cycler at Sephora. - It is so, so crazy and I cry about it often, but my version of getting to celebrate it is running home and telling Phineas, "I love the smile you got when you get to talk about them." - How did you get to meet? - Oh my gosh, okay, so I was 22, he was 21. - Who are you? - Are you a booger? - I'm a booger. - And he never lets me forget that. He's seen every part of it. So when I'm like, "What am I doing, what am I doing?" He's been so supportive, but I think as a woman today, it is really important to not be afraid to talk about money. You cannot wait for someone to just open a door for you. You might need to build that door and open it yourself. - But if you are trying to build a brand, it's really important to what would you call this season of your life? - Big theme of working hard, big themes of love. We're planning a wedding. - So, are you changing your last name? - Big, huge. - Let's talk about it. - Hi, angels. Did you know that's describing to our channel is free? And it's the simplest way that you can support our show and help us grow. If you do this, we can bring you even more of the content and the guests that you love. All you have to do is just hit the subscribe button below. So please, if you wouldn't mind, subscribe to the channel, and thank you. In case you missed it, you're allowed to be hot, smart, and rich. So let's get into it. (upbeat music) Claudius Luskey, are you ready to get a hot smart rich? - Oh my gosh, I'm so ready. - I'm so excited that you're here. I was a little nervous for this one because you've been online for a very long time. But for someone that's just clicking into this that might not know who you are or maybe they do, what would you tell them that they are gonna learn today to get them to stay? - Well, I'm so excited to talk about so many things today. You know, as a little introduction to me and what I'm about, I'm wearing a few different hats in this era of my life. I'm a beauty founder for the Body Care Company Cyclor. I also grew up making YouTube videos. I'm an actress. I started directing. And so, yeah, I'm just really enjoying all of these different creative buckets and just, yeah, having so much fun with it. I wanna go back to what initially drew you to beauty as a 13-year-old because you launched a YouTube channel under the alias Beyond Beauty Star. - Yes, I did. - What still keeps you in the beauty space as someone who's obviously now grown up on the internet and could do so many other things? - Yeah, I mean, oh my gosh. I feel that I've just been working in beauty for so long, right? So jumping back to when I first started, I was 13 years old. And at that time, even dating back to before YouTube, I was a crafty kid. Like, that's the word I would describe myself. I was always that kid in class that was like laminating handmade bookmarks and like selling them to my friends. And then I started making solid hand soaps and lip balms and like creating just little things. So the little like company that I started in middle school was called Beyond Beauty because my dad, he owns a construction company called Above and Beyond. And he was like brainstorming with me on what it should be called. And he was like, what about Beyond Beauty? And so when I started my YouTube channel, I was like, oh, Beyond Beauty star. - Were your parents always very supportive of you as a 13 year old going online and doing these types of videos? - So they didn't know at first, which looking back now like if my child were to do that, I would be upset. But I don't know, I think I always proceeded with caution and like careful intentions. So I think six months in my mom, like stumbled upon it on my laptop. And she thought he was really cool. And it's, I feel so grateful that they've always been so supportive. I think through this whole journey, they've kind of been like, wait, what are you doing? Wait, wait, wait, what? You're making money now. But I think what they very quickly realized early on was that I was taking this so seriously and I felt so passionate about it. And I think that ultimately, I imagine as a parent, it's what you want to see your kid experiencing. It's just passion and something, right? And so they allowed me to run with it and see where it could take me and I'm so glad that they did. - You did something so revolutionary at the time. You convinced your parents to let you drop out of physical school and go into do your high school through online courses. - Yes. - Which if you think about that concept of selling your parents on the idea to drop you out of high school in person to go online, crazy concept, so crazy. You know, again, I look back at these things and I'm like, what would I have done in my parents position? But I think it was, okay, so for starters, to take us back, I was two weeks into junior year of high school. I have the opportunity to go to New York for a couple weeks for fashion week. And I was like interviewing makeup artists behind the scenes and like doing things for Maybelline New York and coming back to school after missing so much in the beginning. I think I just, for me, I reached this point where I was like, okay, I really wanna keep running with this. There is something happening here. I don't wanna miss out on any opportunities. And so I just started researching and looking up like different online high schools and different options and solutions. And so I created a PowerPoint for my parents and literally had like a slideshow of like, here's what I've been able to achieve. Here is where it could possibly go. And here's why I think I should just start studying at home online and give myself more time to create YouTube videos. - So what we can absolutely guarantee today is that you are an amazing salesperson. You are a visionary because this was not something that people were doing and they were probably creating, they were not creating PowerPoints, 14 year old girls. They were probably like, I was yelling at my mom to take me to Starbucks or I wasn't gonna be cool at school anymore, okay. Looking back at what you've done today, what do you think that that 14 year old girl would say? How much of that PowerPoint came true and how much is even bigger than what you put on that first PowerPoint? - I mean, at this point, I like baby mini Claudia could have never imagined all the things that I'm getting to do today. Like truly I wake up every day feeling so grateful. My journal is sick of me. My journal is just like, I'm so grateful I want to remain present and really just enjoy this season of life. There's no better feeling than feeling like you're fulfilling your purpose, you know? Yeah, it is really hard to wrap my brain around and it's very emotional to think back on that because I went in with open arms not knowing what any of this could lead to and it's just so exciting that it's been able to lead to so much. - For your personal brand, how much of your time do you actually dedicate to thinking through your strategy? Like what is like the perception of you going to be and how much of that is just comes from those organic moments that you just put a camera down and you start filming? - I've certainly taken the organic approach. I think and partially that's just because I've grown up online. I started so young that oftentimes people ask me like, how do you choose what you are willing to share and what you don't want to share and keep private and all those things? And I think when you've been doing this for so long, you create these natural filters and sort of boundaries and barriers, right? And so with time, I've just learned so many lessons on like, okay, you know what? Maybe that was a little bit too much. You know what? I can share more here and I'm really grateful for YouTube and that it always felt like my safe little corner of the internet and having that community and that feedback and response so immediately. It allowed me to like test drive anything, right? Talking about any sort of like going to therapy, talking about my dating life, talking about starting a business, all these different things. So I think my like YouTube upbringing for that kind of gradual organic growth and like coming to in terms of like who I am today and my personal business. - One of the things that I've seen Creator struggle with is this evolution curve that they have because they started out doing one thing and then their life should be evolving. Like it should get bigger. And I think where I've seen people struggle myself included so talking to an expert even selfishly, it's like how have you been able to find that balance of like I started doing this, then my life became bigger, then it's this big. And then it's like how do you morph that into what mar your boundaries and what is something you're still testing or you're willing to talk about? - Yeah, I think well, you make such a great point that the climate online today so different than what it was 15 years ago, 10 years ago, right? Like I think because of short form content, primarily TikTok, Reels, anyone can explode and go viral for a knee reason, right? And what that does is it positions you as suddenly the person that said this, the person that had this moment, the person that you know became viral during this moment of their life, this section. And so, I think what's really important and the thing I always recommend is you need to be consistent if you are trying to have or build a personal brand be consistent to give yourself enough of like a playground to try out different things. Sometimes I hear craters say like you should find your niche and pick it, I think it's okay to expand a little bit more, you know, because also when you think about like the algorithm now, sure yes, your followers are seeing your content, but so much of it is being pushed out to know to people that don't follow you, right? And so I am sort of on the side of like try anything, anything that you want to dabble into, any different conversation starters, how are you going to know like what works until you try it? You know what I mean? So totally. Yeah. I'm so curious, did you ever have like a viral moment like was there one that just super torture growth or was it all just very gradual small steps? It was pretty gradual. I would say in the beginning there are certain videos that still to this day people will call out in the street and they'll be like your braces 101 video, your I made an entire video just talking about like my experience getting braces like that just shows the amount of life I've lived online or I went through a huge phase of like dying my own hair. At home, I went from like dying my hair purple to doing ombre at home full blonde full black hair. So a lot of those videos, you know, garnered some attention, but honestly, I haven't had like a crazy viral moment, which I'm kind of grateful for. I think it allows for like an organic, you know, trajectory and like a real community basis people who are there for you. And I'm so interested for someone like you who's gotten to 2.44 million subscribers over 15 years building a super successful million dollar brand, multi million dollar brand. What do you feel your reaction is when someone says, wow, now you're everywhere. What an overnight success. It doesn't bother me. And it's because I know what it took, right? And at the end of the day, maybe it doesn't matter to me because it's not my goal. It's not what I'm working towards is for someone to say, hey, good job five stars. Like I think ultimately, I'm always thinking about my, in some ways, like my younger self and making her feel like, you know, the work that you put in and the risks that you took early on in your life were worth it. And I'm also looking at like my future self. And what can I do to protect her and make her proud, you know, so she can look back hopefully to her mother and, you know, get to say like, yes, you took those hours in your days that, you know, you had before kids and, and you made them worth it and you worked hard and all those things. And so, yeah, I guess a comment like that, if anything, it's a reminder that like, okay, something is working, I'm relevant, you know, I mean, and, but beyond that, like it's just, it's not where I place my value. I love that. So, you were creating content online for a number of years. You then go into acting, yes. What did you not get from those two mediums of art that led you to want to start your own company? Oh my gosh. Okay. So, this is where we're like throwing on all the different hats, right? So when I first moved to Los Angeles, I, I was 18 years old at that time. I was just making YouTube videos and I saved up enough money to be able to afford an apartment and live with a friend and I came into this city sort of with open arms knowing like, anything is on the table. Anything can happen. I'm down to try anything. So, the first year, I started to do a little bit of hosting. I worked with Teen Vogue and I became their first ever YouTube host and I would interview celebrities and carpets. And then after that contract was up, it sort of gave me like the courage and balls and audacity to hit up my then manager at the time and be like, I don't know how this works. But I have always wanted to act. Like I spent all of my hours as a kid in my bedroom editing YouTube videos and so I didn't, you know, do theater and school growing up but it's something that I always was intrigued by, you know, and so very quickly jumped into group classes and one-on-one scene work and all that stuff and just started auditioning and so that kind of swirled into the picture. But I think ultimately now seeing all of these, you know, avenues that I like to play in, they all kind of check off different things, you know, there's a real sort of like surrender to the moment and your collaborators with acting that's so fun and kind of the opposite of making YouTube videos and owning a business because there's such a lack of control in that, which is fun and it keeps me on my toes and if I can, if I can act forever, I'd love to do that. But it's out of my control as well. So that comes in when it comes in and we're just auditioning and crossing our fingers. But I think, you know, if I'm looking at Cycler and what gave me sort of the inspiration to start a beauty business, that entrepreneurial spirit has always been inside of me from like the kid that was like making bookmarks and like selling hand-so-bet school to then creating, you know, a YouTube channel and I, I think for me, it was something I always wanted to do. But I knew if I was going to do it, I needed to do it the right way and with great intention. And so it was around COVID time and I was in a point in my life in my 20s where I was learning a lot about what it meant to take care of yourself. I think we were all forced to slow down, right? And my love for body care has always paralleled my journey with self-care and just like listening to my body right and understanding that like my version of self-care is taking a few minutes alone before bed or maybe waking up a little bit earlier than my fiance and giving myself like this moment of stillness and taking a bath and resetting like physically having water shower down on my body. And so that's really sort of the why in terms of the category body care and you know from there, I mean my gosh, we've taken so many steps and turns and pivots from the start of like the idea of cycle to where we are today. But I essentially came up with a pitch and a vision for this brand and really wanted to create a body care company that focused heavily on ingredients and high performing formulas that really are worth it. And you know are going to provide actual results while also playing into like the luxury of how the formula feels and how the packaging looks and kind of like the intersection between the two, right? And so when I first started, I just started pitching to different incubators and different companies that could help me turn this you know this idea to life. And so I self-funded my first launch. It was just one product. So we started really, really small and I just wanted to see how you know, it was going to do and the response in the feedback from my YouTube community which was a great way to start a business is you know that I feel very lucky and that I was able to kind of get that immediate customer feedback. It's funny because I at that exact time was actually incubating a lot of celebrity brands. So like I was helping celebrities really identify like what does your audience trust you with like what can we actually do to deliver a product that they are going to trust not just like another celebrity brand. But then I think that there's been a little bit of a turn where people are like, oh another celebrity beauty brand, right? And I'm so interested for you as someone who like obviously is extremely passionate about it. When you get lumped into that category of someone just rolling their eyes and being like a celebrity beauty brand like when you think about what you're building, is it in that category? And then if you're so like, no, why, like why are we so turned off by this word celebrity beauty brand? Right. I have two answers for that. The first one being, I knew from the get go, I wanted this brand to really stand on its own. Right. And so if you go on the Instagram page, you're not seeing my face and my name on it. And that was really important because my net within my audience can only reach so many people, right? And so the goal has always been to build a brand that can, that can exist with me, it can exist without me and it can stand on its own, right? And then also to answer your question, it comes down to just product. Are you creating a product that people are able to connect with and see themselves in and, and I think ultimately a good product will sort of outlast and outshine that debate about whether a celebrity or influencer brand, you know, is going to last or is going to work. You just have to create good product. So you've done a lot of things that I would say are contrarian, which I love being a good investor is being able to think contrarian and think correctly. And one of them is keeping your face off the branding when a lot of people adjacent to your life have done the opposite, right? And then the other one is starting with one product, which is called Crescent, a $58 Body Cream. Talk to me about how you think about risk-reward profile and doing things that go maybe a little bit against the grain and is taking a huge risk because if that one product had flopped or not associating yourself enough to your brand had flopped, someone that's listening to this wants to take a big risk. And it's not what everyone else is doing. So how do you distill down almost like your framework or way of thinking through things to really find conviction in something that is a little bit more contrarian? - I think if you're gonna tackle anything or approach anything with risk, especially starting a business and creating a product, you have to remain nimble and flexible and really treat your business as like a ball of clay. With that first product, I learned so many lessons, right? And just how long it took to create that product to then ultimately decide, wait, you know what? I want to pivot. I want to take in the things that people are loving and the things that people are asking, could this change or, hey, how about this? I think chasing perfectionism as a founder will kill your business. Because through every single stage of product development, like you're putting out small fires and you kind of have to like pick and choose your battles and decide like what is worth actually holding production and holding a launch versus, you know what, we can fix this in a later run. And so I think it's just really important to be flexible to feedback because ultimately you're making this for your customer. You're figuring out what your customer is, who they are, what they like, what they don't like. And you know, otherwise you're in the wrong business. - It's so interesting hearing you say that 'cause I did read something once where you said, my YouTube was like for me and my brand cyclor is for the customer, is that still how you think of it today? - Definitely, you know, when I think about my YouTube channel at this point now, and I've actually always said this is that it feels like a digital memory book, you know, like the video version of a photo album. It is so indulgent to get to look back and see, you know, the last seven years of my relationship and like all the different stages that we were in or get to see family vacations that I've logged with my family, there's something like really pure and wholesome about that and not approach with YouTube. But with cyclor, like the customer for cyclers everyone, I want everyone to feel like they can find themselves, you know, in the different fragrance blends and the formulas and that just requires a whole different mindset and a whole different strategy. Well it's so funny because I spoke I, Greycroft, which is like the who's who of investors, founders, creators, celebrities, and a lot of founders were coming up to me that are a little bit more, let's say like archaic and the way that they've approached content in the past. And I gave some advice on stage. I said, you really do have to think about your content for your brand like a reality TV show. People want founder-led content. They want to be able to see who is behind the brand. - Yeah. - As an expert in that, where do you think that you've done really well with founder-led content at cyclor? And where do you feel like you maybe haven't taken the risks that you could to take it to the next level? - I think what I'm always striving to do more of is education. You know, we put so much time and effort into our formulas and what goes in them, right? The active ingredients, the ingredients that are going to provide, you know, whatever results we're chasing with a specific product. And so I'm always asking myself if I am, I guess, educating at least my own consumer enough on that or specifically how to use a product, you know, I think with our perfume oils, there's one on the table, there are these little guys. - So cute. - And they've been so much fun to create. And part of the story with those oils is that they are lairable and they're supposed to be mixed and matched. And they can stand on their own, of course. And I think that's how they've mainly been enjoyed by our customers. But reminding myself, like, you know, there are different ways to speak to these products. Because I think you're right, people do want to see the founder behind a brand. And they want to hear the story and the wise and all those things and that's very important. But then also creating that clear distinct line because I do want this brand to have its own identity and its own vibe. And getting to sort of just, like, grow with the brand. Like, I look at it as this, like, parallel journey where we're kind of, like, in our own lanes, but we're riding it together. - Well, it's so interesting because I think honestly, I can speak very vulnerably. I, for so long, why I called the company Hot Smite Ranch was because I felt like if I looked a certain way or my voice has a simplection at the end, which everyone hates on YouTube, like, I couldn't be taken seriously. And so my whole content journey has been me trying to take off the mask of, like, having to prove how smart I am because that is, like, the deep-rooted childhood wound that I have where it's like, I know that I'm one of the smartest people in the room, but, like, people for whatever reason don't see that upon meeting me. And so every single content decision that I've made has been, like, will people see how smart I am? Am I proving these people right or wrong? And I think a lot of the time, people don't often think about all of the things that are working against influencer brands or celebrity brands because there is an assumption made where it's like, oh, she's just putting her name on it. She can't be that involved. And I think I'm so interested in how you think about really showing the, like, wow, I had to make a really tough packaging decision because the top didn't match the bottle. And, whoa, we just blew $50,000 on the wrong production run. Like, are you afraid to show those sides of things? Because you also know that you have this fan base that looks as you as like, oh, maybe she's just the influencer that's a part of this brand. I think it's so important to show those things and talk about those things also as a reminder to show that there are people behind this brand, too, right? I think when a brand reaches a certain level of success, it sort of, like, takes a life of its own, right? And I think it's important to remind our customers that there are people behind this brand, we're making mistakes, we're adjusting, we're pivoting, we're learning lessons as we go. And so to get to be able to do a version of that on my own platforms, I think is awesome. And so important, right? And so whether that's sprinkled into like a vlog of mine or an Instagram story or a TikTok or something, I think it is important to show those, you know, little like mishaps and those little small fires, totally. 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If you want this level of health for your puppy, head to Ollie.com/HSR and tell them all about your cute little dog. And if you enter HSR at checkout, you'll get 70% off your welcome kit when you subscribe. Plus, Ollie's obsession guarantee means that if you're not completely obsessed like you are with my show, you'll get your money back. I didn't even really know this about you until I started doing so much research on you. Like you had this original idea from therapy in 2021. You then launched it in 2023, self-funded it. - Yes. - A lot of people have an idea right now. They don't execute on it. What did it take for you to finally be like, I'm gonna go and do this. - Oh my gosh, the like best piece of advice I can give and what I feel that I've really learned with building a brand is like, you cannot wait for someone to just open a door for you. You might need to build that door and open it yourself, right? And so I didn't know what I was doing at all. And in some ways I think that blind confidence is what I needed at the time to just get my, like build the door and step into it, right? Because if I had known now what it takes to run a company and keep it alive and keep innovating every single week, like I don't know if I would have started back then because it is a lot of work. And so I think there was like a bit of blind confidence and feeling like, you know what, this is something that I've been itching at and I really feel like I'm onto something and I feel passionate about this, but you're just gonna regret the things that you don't do and you don't try. - Talk to me about how it feels to have your brand at Sephora. It is so, so crazy and I cry about it often. A funny or like a cute little story that I can share is my first check that I got from YouTube. This was back when I was like 14 years old. my first check from AdSense took it straight to Sephora. We went there, I think it was like maybe $200, bought a bunch of products to then go home and film a haul. So Sephora has always been like my destination for beauty, makeup, hair, all these things, right? And so from the Gecko day one of ideating cyclor, I always hoped and dreamt that it would get to be in Sephora. So it is a dream, dream, dream come true and they are a dream retailer to be collaborating with. Okay, as this is for our connoisseur, how would you describe the body, care aisle from like color cosmetics? I feel like everyone gets color cosmetics, but can you break down the difference between these two aisles? Okay, this is, all right, it's where my brain is going is, is so hilarious because I'm just like less shelf space. These products are bigger. We're often like right now we're having to navigate, you know, new launches going into our end caps and where we're fitting them and how, you know, we're adding certain info cards to then slide them out and have room for other cards. And so I am just thinking about the fact that color cosmetic businesses have physically smaller components so they can fit more on the shelves. And we really have to, the real estate is precious with a body care brand. So if I'm looking visually at the two different aisles, one has a lot of space and freedom to really get crafty. Well, you know, the other, these products are big, you know, these tubs, these bottles, we got to get crafty. Are you attracting the 13 year old girl that's obsessive color cosmetics and skin care the same way that like body care is or is it just like a different consumer? I'm having so much fun with color and and packaging with cycler, you know, we like to kind of stay in like the jewel tone moody colors with accents of gold, which kind of plays into this like 70s vibe that we're trying to like always kind of have running through like the veins of cycler. And, you know, I think that was done for so many reasons. I wanted the brand to feel fun and sexy, but like approachably sexy, you know, and that was something that I learned after my first launch was craving color and craving this like visual story that helped to tell the story that I felt my first fragrance was starting to tell and then my future fragrances, right? And so thinking about like our products on shelves and who's walking up, I'm so grateful and so excited that we decided to, you know, play with color because it's definitely it's fun. It's fun to look at it on shelves and see those bright colors. Do you think it attracts a younger consumer? Maybe a little bit older if anything because the colors are a bit moody or but ultimately I really see the customer as everyone and so I think finding kind of like that middle point of like fun playful while still also feeling chic and luxurious and, you know, picturing like, you know, an adult's anyone of any age having it proudly in their shower or on their bathroom sink. Well, at least 200,000 people have it on their bathroom sink because you've sold that many products just through TikTok shop, which is crazy. So crazy. Do you think that's a fora in TikTok shop complement each other or do they compete a little bit? I think ultimately like as a brand, it's all about brand exposure, right? And so I just think about like what are the platforms that are able to that help support the growth of the brand, right? And so we were on TikTok shop before we launched in Sephora and I think TikTok shop did such a great job and it was such a great vehicle to create that brand awareness that helped, you know, build that momentum and that excitement for people to go into Sephora locations and smell the fragrances that they're hearing about TikTok shop. So I think there is so much support happening everywhere that's like not just in the numbers but just the storytelling of the brand. So you launched in Sephora February 26th. You also signed with WME in this month. Yes. Can you talk to me a little bit about how you celebrate milestones like that? Do you celebrate milestones like that? Oh my god, I'm going to get emotional because this is so such a cute answer that I just thought of as I had, which is the first verse that I tell is my fiancee, like he is such a huge supporter of what I do and I'm such a huge supporter of his and he's seen every part of it. Like he's been in bed with me as I'm like, what am I doing? What am I doing? This was this was the craziest risk I ever took, you know, to then getting to celebrate these insane moments and it's like my version of getting to celebrate is getting to call him or, you know, running home and telling him. So with that story specifically, like I got in the car and I told him, you remind me so much of myself. Like that is the exact answer I would give. Like when you find your person, I feel like everything starts to make sense and I think there's a lot of women that listen to this show that are searching for that. So let's talk about you in finance for a second. I love it. I love the smile you got when you get to talk about them. Okay, let's start with the basics. How did you speak? Oh my gosh. Okay, so that, let's see, we've been dating for over seven and a half years. So this was a long time ago. I was 22. He was 21. We tech. Oh, are you a cooker? I am a cook. For half of the year, I'm like two years older than him and then for the second half, I'm like one year, I'm like, thank God. So he's 28 right now and I'm 30 and he never lets me forget that. So we technically met on Raya, the dating app, but sort of like the cuter backstory is that two of my very close friends had like two years leading up to matching. They had worked with him a few times because they both work in music and he is a music producer. And every so often, like every five months, I'd hear from one of those two friends. I just had a session with this guy and I just kept thinking of you the whole time. Like I feel like you guys would really get along, but I don't know if he's single, he's always out of town. Like I don't know if it's worth it. He's always out of town. And so in my head for like two years, I would hear the name Phineas because who also's name Phineas? So like noted, okay. But there's something about he's always out of town that made me think like, oh, he lives in Europe. He's like some, I don't know. I never thought to look him up. I never thought to inquire about this two years later. I'm out to breakfast with one of those friends. We're complaining about men in Los Angeles. And I'm like, you know what? I haven't been on this happen a while. Like let's just go through. And the third person I landed on was him. And I was like, is this the guy that you've been telling me about for two years? And my friend like nearly did like a coffee spit take. She was like, I'm calling it. You're falling in love with him. He's falling in love with you. This is it. Like we're done. Like this is it. And she fully called it. We immediately matched. He gave me his number. I was hesitant because I'm like a modern love. We're meeting on a dating app. I hate that this is our story. But we a week later, I hit him up because I was going to see a movie with those two friends. And just like, I was like, do you want to come to this movie in a few hours? And that was our first date. And then from then on, I mean, everything moved so quickly. So that's my long winded. How did you guys first start mixing business with your relationship? Well, he's been such a good sport about being in content that you could almost say it happened very quickly. And I think in some ways, it's because we fell for each other so hard and so fast and so honestly, there were no games. Like we just were so straightforward with each other. I think when you know, you just kind of know, there's no reason to like hold off on sending a text message or making them jealous or anything. We just were like, wow, yep. I love you. And so kind of later into our relationship, we've been able to work together a little bit more last year. I directed two of his music videos, one for just his personal project, Phineas, and one for the favors. And that was a dream, dream, dream to get to do. And I'm just so grateful that he trusts me creatively. So many women want that. And I talk very openly with about it with my husband. We do so much collaboration together. But one of the unsexy parts of what we do is like before we start anything, we have a conversation that's super uncomfortable. And we're like, here's what it's going to look like. Here's the splits of stuff. Like here's how we're going to negotiate this. And it's, I think a lot of people were really confused by that at the beginning, because it's like, you guys are in love. You're married. But I'm like every single thing, once you have a more complex life needs to be talked about up front. Yeah. When you're even thinking about like directing his music video, do you have uncomfortable conversations where you're like, I want to get paid for this? Or like, I want to be given executive producer credits or like, how do you have those types of conversations? It can be so unsexy, but it actually protects both people in the end. I think it's important to approach any of those conversations the same way that you would approach any argument in your relationship, which is honest communication being vulnerable and just addressing things as quickly as possible, right? So in the case of those music videos, I was so excited by the idea of just getting to flex that muscle and get to do that. That I was like, you know, I technically got paid for those, but I was like, I don't care what it is. Like, I just want the experience. I want to get to do this. And so it was more so creating an idea and then having to negotiate, okay, how much budget do we have to be able to execute this idea? And that was more important to me than how much money I was receiving. - Do you think that money motivates you or is it impact or something else? - Ooh. I think it's like a blend of everything because you can't just let impact or like creative fulfillment be the only thing that is sort of like your drive because you have to be smart with your finances and you have to understand what is worth pursuing and what is not and what are we doing for fun here and what are we doing that's going to help keep the lights on and keep the bills paid. And so I think it needs to be a blend of all of those things, right? And so that's why any of these risks that you know you're taking, for example, starting cycler, it was so scary because I was understanding that like this is a financial risk that I'm putting money into and so much time into. But the purpose and like it's like a mixture of all the things you just kind of have to pick and choose on like, you know what you feel is the right call to make at any given time. - I'm so happy you said that and I as a thousand percent agree because I think we live in a capitalist society. You need money to be able to live a certain life and I'm so interested now as someone who like self-finance this business, you own your business. This is not just a brand deal. I've seen a source online that cycler is projected to make $70 million by the end of this year. How do the number that big make you feel when you self-financed one product? - It is, it is very, very wild. So that number were estimated to make that this year by the end of this year. And is that total since you started or just for this year? - That's for this year. - Revenue. - For this year, which is, yeah. It is very hard to wrap your brain around. But ultimately, it speaks to, I guess, what is so, so important, which is behind every brand you need to have a well-oiled machine and an operation team, right? And so to me, it's a reminder that like, we really figured it out. We figured out our cash flow and our supply chain. And yeah, it definitely, it is a huge responsibility but it is obviously so exciting because I think my gold cycler is to continue to expand and grow it into different markets. And all of those things require a very strong solid foundation. - Right. - And money. - Yes. - Like to make money, you have to spend money. And I think a lot of the time people here, cycler is gonna make $70 million this year. And you think, wow, it's Claudia making that. And you're like, no, that's going back into running the business that it needs to have to build a globally recognized brand. How comfortable are you talking about money? Like what was the money environment you grew up in? - I'm pretty comfortable talking about money with like my closest friends, but it's tricky 'cause I think you always want to be sensitive to everyone's situation. You know, I think I definitely grew up watching money being like a pain point between my parents. Like my parents worked so, so, so hard to provide a life for us that was comfortable. And I think as a woman today, it is really important to not be afraid to talk about money, to ask about money, to hear from friends what they are doing with their money. If they have any that they can invest, I need a matcha. So we're gonna take a little break and make one with our show sponsor, Peak. They have my favorite sun goddess matcha. I use this all the time, especially when I'm traveling, but also because it's just the best ingredients. It's ceremonial grade organic made from the highest quality tea leaves and the added oxidants don't hurt either. Now we're gonna add a little bit of hot water first. I'm an iced matcha girl, but I'm also a latte girl and to be able to do this the best at home, I use Peak Karara Marine Collagen, which turns my matcha into a latte. Today we're gonna do two scoops because it's that good. Source from Japan with biotin and coconut cream to support radiant skin, stronger hair, nails, joint tails and happy aging within. If you wanna try my recipe at home yourself, visit peaklife.com/HSR. And for a limited time, get 15% off Peak for life with my link. Everyone keeps asking me how I've grown HSR's Instagram so fast with such an engaged community and it has nothing to do with me. It's possible for a few reasons. Number one, this community. Number two, my HSR team. I have very little to do with it because I don't wanna be the type of founder who's approving captions and bottlenecking the team. Number three, because the HSR team has a secret project management tool that helps them plan, manage and approve all social content. It's called Rella and it's now one of our sponsors. Rella was started by an HSR angel founder, Natalie. Shadow Natalie, hello. And it's been such an honor to watch Natalie build this and see how helpful her platform is for social teams, trying to grow, plan, get feedback and approve content quickly. Rella makes it so easy to stay organized and move fast. It is a no brainer for any HSR angel trying to grow their own social channel. So head to getrella.com and use code HSR for 10% off your first three months or annual plan. So many women think about money so scarcity wise and I think the biggest risk that I've ever taken is putting everything I had into my business because I believed in betting on myself. And I don't think that was the best personal finance advice. I actually, some of the networks that initially told me know for my show were like, you should do personal finance. And I said, I am the worst personal finance expert because I put everything I had in juice, staying in America on an e2 visa and like betting everything that I had on myself. But I think a lot of the time we think these things just happen, but to build a brand to what you've built for $70 million, it takes money. It takes investment. It takes hiring people. You're investing back into your community. You're investing into people. What is the best investment you've made for Cycler? Product, people, branding, I mean, people 100%, you need to surround yourself with others that are experts in what they do and that are experts in what you're not, right? Like really understanding your strengths and your weaknesses as a founder, so important. I think also I often like to say this, but like from the outside, anyone that's starting a brand, if you're feeling any sort of pressure to like go flashy with events and traditional marketing and all these things, like there are so many better ways to sort of invest that money into your business that are not that, right? And so I often like to say that like the, I think one of the most important decisions we made very, very early on was like we're going to put a lot of time and money and attention into just getting product into people's hands, right? And so our PR list is large. Wait, I'm so offended, I'm not on it. I'm just kidding. Are you not on it? I'm just joking. Who's getting five? Yeah, production. I'm kidding. We're getting your ad. I have your eyeglasses actually, so you're-- No, but I think it's so important to say that because people often overlook these things and there was actually a question I was going to ask you and I skipped on it, but I really want to ask it because I know so many founders are going to relate to this. When you see a competitor like sold Asian Arrow, do something with like Sophia Richie Grange and Jake Shane and like, is there a part of you inside that's like, damn it, like I wish that I could do that? And if so, what are those other things that you do that like helps build this brand? That's a $70 million brand that you don't need to do those things? Right, that's such a good question. I love seeing when other brands like collaborate with other celebrities, like I think Road has done it to such an unbelievably successful degree. Like, so good, so good. And I think for us personally, even though we're growing quickly, I still really view cyclist sort of this indie brand and so much of what we were doing in the beginning we're still doing today and we haven't really changed that much. We're just consistent. And so sort of like to parallel, you know, maybe our version of that for example, I love building community and putting time and attention into TikTok shop creators. So for example, with every single product launch, like I'm getting on a Zoom and having like a private, little seminar conversation with TikTok shop creators to help them educate on like, here's what the product, here's the new product, here's how I like to talk about it. Here are the different ways that you can start your TikTok to kind of hook in the viewer and sort of like putting time and attention into creators has really been very successful for us. And I think also jumping back to like PR and Gifting, so, so important to focus on all of those different levels from like micro influencers to, you know, traditional celebrities if we can get them onto our PR lists, but like really putting your time and attention into all sizes of different creators. So important. When you're walking around events now as just Claudia, like not the vendor D, are you just constantly thinking of things for your brand? Oh my gosh, absolutely. I, for me, like anything that is interactive, anything that is physical tactile, it's so fun to now get to be in the space and be able to appreciate like those smaller details that a brand will put into an event that I would have otherwise looked over. You know, anything that's branded, anything that's personalized, anything that feels just like an extra added experience for the person that's attending. So it is really fun to be able to like pick up on those things and like take little notes and be like, that was really cute. That is adorable. Okay. Claudius Luskey, I get in talk to you forever. We have to do some rapid fire. Okay. What is the last thing you put on your credit card? Yesterday I was shopping for like nice plates. I think they're called Lennox, like there's my, I grew up with these plates that my mom, I was on the phone with my mom and I was like, I want to get nice plates. We just moved back into our home, we did a renovation. So like everything I'm putting on my credit card right now is just like a home item. Okay, love the next question was going to be what's the most last expensive thing, but would it be the plates? It was certainly the plates. Yes. Does it break your heart a little when you have to spend something that's a lot of money on home stuff now that you're in your 30s or is that like right of passage? I, for me, like Phineas and I love to host. So I can very easily be like plates hosting worth it because they're going to be used so much. It's almost like the cost per wear argument about clothing. I'm like, these plates are going to be on our dining table serving up food for our friends and families for the rest of our life. So I love how you just tied that together. I just started asking people this, credit cards have somehow become a status symbol, but I really want to understand what's your credit card and why did you get it? Like, was it for the points? Like, gosh, what do you use? I have an MX. Okay, platinum. Okay, I think and I think it has good points on it. Like, I'll use it for flights or sometimes it's connected to my like Amazon and I'll and I'll use the points there. I am like not very savvy with like credit card points. I think I could be a little bit better about that. And also like, being loyal to an airline need to get better. Same. The tricky thing is oftentimes like a work trip. I'll have flights booked for me and so I'm not choosing. You kind of have to have an account with every airline to like slowly garner those points, but then it's just like, it's a sad reality that my husband is like the top echelon of every single airlines. I'm like, you're always away. Yeah, like it is horrible. Exactly. We can't compete. Um, we, this just came to me. Just Phineas still travel as much as he used to. When your friends are always like, he's always gone. He's not as much that as much that. So he used to tour with his sister and perform on stage with her. And um, he no longer has to tour with her. And so he just tours for his own music, which at this point now he likes to keep it kind of at a lower volume. Which I love. Yeah, yeah. This is really hard for you. You can only pick one for the rest of your life. Acting creator, founder, your face, brutal, brutal. Oh my gosh, um, founder, founder. Oh, I love that. 100 percent. You can always act in like a short forms film for Cyclar one day. Exactly. Exactly. Um, okay. What is your favorite beauty brand that isn't yours? Ooh, okay. I am really loving MPH. That foundation I'm wearing it right now. I do love the underpainting technique too. Let's just say you can only pick one for the rest of your life. An Oscar, an Emmy, or an allure beauty award. Oh my gosh. Um, well, we have received an allure beauty award. Okay. So now it's, um, I will have the audacity to say Oscar. As you should, don't even say audacity. Like you're just going an Oscar. Um, okay. Coachella or Sephora? Ooh. Ah, I have to say Coachella. I'm sorry. I'm such a fan of music. I truly like going back to the desert. There's something about like, something within my body where I'm like, I'm back home. Which do you prefer? Walking around carpet or doing an in-store demo at Sephora? In-store demo at Sephora. Walking around carpet is weird and stressful and scary because you're just thinking about like, shifting okay and they're like over the shoulder and then someone yells this way. You know what always happens? Phineas and I never dare to look in the same camera at the same time. Every photo I'm looking here, he's looking here. Like we're, because they're just shouting, right? So never do we have a photo where we're looking in the same- But is that intentional? No. But at this point it feels intentional because they're like, over here guys, over, over here. What's the best carpet you've walked? I think getting to walk any of those like, big, crazy ex- Oscar Grammys, those are crazy. But there's something really fun about them too. It's very pinch me. So getting to like, support my fiance and be his guest at those things is really crazy. I'm obsessed. And what would you rather have a song written about you or a product? Oh my god. Oh, what would the product be? I could never make up these questions just so everyone knows. I did not plan myself. Yes. Not chat, not clawed. I think I'm gonna say song because it's so romantic. And also I'm making the products. Like let that be, leave that to the inventor. I'm the inventor. We can, I can be the muse on the side. Oh, I love that. She can do it all. She's hot, smart, rich people. Okay, two more. These are more serious. Okay. I have a very toxic brain. So every day I do these HSR love notes. It's like almost an affirmation to kind of retrain my brain to think positively. Yeah. If you could only tell yourself one thing for the rest of your life to get through anything, what would it be? What's your HSR love now? I'm enough. Is that vague? No, that's amazing. I think I'd say that because so much of my childhood and in my 20s, like I was such a people pleaser and just always so worried about everyone's feelings around me and just making sure that like I was never the reason for any sort of, I don't know, friction or anything in the room, right? And I think growing up is like recognizing that we are all enough. We are all, you know, a full human being. You don't need another person to fill up your other half. And like, yeah. I resonate so much with that. I actually spent thousands of dollars on therapy for my therapist. One day to say you have to change. Am I, am I, am I, am I, too? I am. And I remember when he said that, like I just started bawling because similar to you, I'm just like asking my whole life, am I gonna, am I this? Yeah. And then as soon as you just re-switch that, yeah, everything opens up for you. Can I tell you just, yeah, horny little thing, literally on my way here in the car. I was, of course, a little bit nervous. And I was out loud saying to myself, like, I am excited. I am grateful. I am lucky. I am like, I have something to say. I have, like, I love saying affirmations physically out loud to myself. If I'm like on the way to anything that makes me a little bit nervous. So wait, I'm so happy you said that. Also, just like you did not see nervous at all. You smashed it. Okay. What would you call this season of your life? Okay. It's like this season of like working hard and loving hard. Like big theme of working hard. Big themes of love. We're planning a wedding, right? So I just, I am like a puddle of just, yeah, feeling so in love and excited for that new chapter of my life. And also, like, understanding, don't have kids yet. Not saying that we can't continue to work once we have kids. But like, understanding how much time I have to be able to really hone in on, you know, all my dreams. And so we're working hard. We're letting hard. Love. Big. So are you changing your last name? Big. Huge. Let's talk about it. Let's talk about it. Oh my gosh. This has been like a topic of discussion for all my friends and I. I think what I'm going to do is I think I'm going to like my public name will probably stay Claudio Saluski. It has a good flow to it. I've built a personal brand. But I think legally I'll change it to Claudio Saluski O'Connell. I don't have a middle name. So we're just going to shift the last name into the middle name spa basically, right? It was meant for you. Claudio Saluski O'Connell. Has a ring to it. I love it. I thought I did. I did Margaret Sellers' Ring. And beautiful. Yeah. But call me Maggie because I hate him. I love him Margaret. I'm obsessed. Claudio Saluski, where can people find you and how can HSOR help you right now? Oh my gosh. Well, you can find me of course on just at Claudio Saluski on any. The YouTuber me wants to like I know where you can do it now. I give you permission. So you can follow me anywhere. It's just my name Claudio Saluski. And. And the best way to support is to just try out cycler. You know, the first product that I always love to recommend to any new customer is our Sensorial Body Wash. It's so special. Yeah, it's the big bottle. It has a multi-oil complex in it, glycerin, and it just leaves like the most slippy, hydrating layer on your skin that once you step out, like it just does so much more than just wash your body. It's so special. And that fragrance secrets on tall is addicting. Oh, I can't wait to try this. Yeah. Claudius Liske, thank you so much for coming on Hot Smart Ridge. We absolutely loved you. And congratulations on everything. It's absolutely incredible. Oh, thank you so much. This was so much fun. I don't want to end. [MUSIC PLAYING]