Welcome to Episode 80 of the Indie Business Podcast! Today's Indie Story introduces you to Mindy Cheng of Fyve Beauty, in Cupertino, California. In numerology, the number “five” represents humanity, and Mindy's Fyve beauty brand uses five ingredients in every product, “for all of humanity.”
Mindy started her business in 2011 after creating a simple formula that helped her daughter's skin condition. By 2016, she had gone part-time at her traditional job, and at the start of 2017, she quit her job altogether to pursue her business full-time, and she never looked back. Mindy makes all of of her products herself and has the full support of her husband who occasionally helps her pack and ship out larger orders. You'll love learning about the intentionality with which Mindy leads her business, and how she combines running it while mothering two active children. Enjoy my interview with Mindy NOW!
Click the arrow to enjoy the Indie Business Podcast
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 47:49 — 87.6MB) | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | iHeartRadio | RSS
Episode Show Notes
Here are the topics discussed in this episode, with time stamps to help you find the information that interests you most:
- From motherhood to full-time job to part-time job to full-time Fyve (starting at 2:30)
- Discussing the latest news of women leaving the work force due to the pandemic. (starting at 8:22)
- How Mindy selected her business brand name: Fyve. (starting at 13:00)
- An overview of how Mindy stays so organized, and learns how to do ANYthing. (starting at 15:15)
- Mindy on confidence. (starting at 18:00)
- How Mindy sells her products. (starting at 22:19)
- The products in Mindy's line, and what's hot right now. (see below for a chance to win a jar). (starting 25:02)
- Mindy's approach to packaging her products for that awesome customer experience. (starting at 26:00)
- Mindy's favorite tech tools. (starting at 30:18)
- Who helps Mindy in her business. (starting at 32:20)
- How Mindy manages it all. (starting at 33:30)
- Mindy shares the therapeutic process of making. (starting at 35:45)
- The power of defining your life however you want to define it. (starting at 37:17)
- Mindy's words of advice to product Makers. (starting at 39:48)
Resources and Links Mentioned in this Episode
In this episode, Mindy and I mentioned the following resources.
- Fyve Website
- Fyve on Facebook
- Fyve on Instagram
- Learn anything: YouTube
- Social media scheduler: Later
- Online content editor: Canva
- Membership: Indie Business Network
Important entrepreneurial insights from Mindy
I want to emphasize something Mindy said that I thought was especially insightful.
1. Take baby steps
Mindy started her business with two products in her line. That doesn't seem like a lot, but as you heard her say, even one product is enough to wear you out. There's so much to be done when launching a new brand that making and selling even one product can be exhausting. Starting small allows you to be intentional and careful without wearing yourself out. It also teaches you that baby steps can lead to big results. You don't have to have a ton of products in your line to build a solid brand.
2. You can learn to do anything you set your mind to
Currently, Mindy does pretty much everything in her business, from creating new formulas; to ingredient and packaging sourcing; to most of the product photography; to packing and shipping. She has learned how to do so many things because she has an encyclopedia in her pocket in the form of the Internet on her smart phone. If she wants to learn how to do something, she looks it up and figures it out. These days nothing you need to know to build a business is beyond your reach if you have a cell phone and a WiFi connection.
3. Create the life you love
Over and over, you heard Mindy repeat what she has heard me say so many times over the past two decades: create the live you love. Simply stated, Mindy doesn't do anything in her business that does not feed the lifestyle her business is helping her to create. Do your business how you want to do it, and use it to support the kind of life you want to live. Some super great insights there.
Win a jar of Lemongrass Body Butter
Want to in a jar of Fyve Lemongrass Body Butter? I can tell you from personal experience: you do!
Do these 3 easy and fast things by 11:59pm on Saturday March 20, 2021, to be entered to win!
- Follow @indiebusiness on Instagram
- Follow @fyvebeauty on Instagram
- Tag a friend on this Instagram post announcing this podcast episode
Binge Indie Business Podcast Episodes
If you want to binge listen to previous episodes, you can do that here.
Subscribe to Indie Business Podcast
If you enjoy the Indie Business Podcast, please subscribe so you can get each episodes as it is released. You can subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play or your favorite podcast platform.
Rate Indie Business Podcast, Tell Your Friends and Comment
If you enjoy the Indie Business Podcast, please rate my show on Apple Podcasts, and be sure to subscribe there to receive automatic episodes as they are released.
