Today we’d like to introduce you to Laura Lemon.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Laura. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I suppose it all started with cystic acne in high school, which led me to become a product junkie and ultimately getting a job as a makeup artist at Saks Fifth Avenue. After college, I got a position in buying/merchandising at Walmart and as a first project, led the initial release of natural beauty in Walmart about ten years ago (think Burt’s Bees, Jason’s, etc.). After moving to San Francisco, I switched over into sales & marketing with a smaller natural beauty company most known for their towelettes, Yes To. After Yes To, I delved into product development at Juice Beauty, where I helped with Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop line and all Juice Beauty’s product line. I also took night classes on holistic nutrition at Berkeley in order to deepen my understanding of how nutrition impacts the body.
And I suppose through all of that, I felt uninspired by the beauty shopping experience–ultimately, I wanted to be able to go a beauty store and LOVE it… and frankly, there wasn’t anything out there that achieved that for me. So, with the support of my family and friends, I got the courage and willpower to create what I thought was needed in the world–which is now Lemon Laine.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Perhaps, it is cliche to say, but nothing that is successful is easy. If it was easy, everyone would do it. That being said, for me the biggest challenges have been:
(1) The fact that I moved across the country, from San Francisco to Nashville, and started a retail company and opened the doors less than six months after moving. I didn’t know anyone in Nashville, so not only did I have to recreate my professional network in Nashville, but I also had to recreate my social network (my friends) and my home. It hasn’t been easy, but Nashville has been so warm and welcoming. And it may not be noticed that often, but I’m a firm believer that Houston shares a kinship with Nashville in this–Houston goes toe-to-toe with Nashville with its openness, not to mention its commitment to having a good time.
(2) Another challenge is just remaining open-minded to the reality that something new is going to come at me every day. I’m a bit of a creature of habit (I am a home-body, I have a routine when I get up in the morning, I like my checklists, etc.), but with running a company, and a growing one at that, there are so many new obstacles, challenges, and delights that come at me every single day. So, just keeping my focus turned in the right direction and taking it as it comes has been a challenge, but a welcome one.
Lemon Laine – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Lemon Laine is a natural beauty and wellness retailer with a store in East Nashville and a store in The Heights in Houston (just opened in November 2018). Lemon Laine is committed to ensuring the best customer experience possible, organizing products by use and function rather than brand, helping guests easily identify the correct products for their specific needs and discover new products and brands they wouldn’t have otherwise tried. Lemon Laine stores also feature an in-house Oil Bar, where baristas work with guests to craft custom organic facial oils.
Community building and product education have been paramount to the growth of Lemon Laine’s first location, which opened in Nashville in the summer of 2017. The Houston store has the same focus, offering a wide range of natural beauty and wellness products from local, national and international purveyors in an environment that encourages curiosity and learning. Lemon Laine also hosts educational and community-building events including panels led by industry experts covering topics in areas of health, beauty, and wellness.
Like our Nashville store, for the newly opened Lemon Laine Houston we partnered with the local community when designing and curating the space—partnering with award-winning Houston architecture firm Content Architecture to highlight Lemon Laine’s unique shopping experience, James Dawson Design of Houston in designing the custom terrazzo stone feature at the Oil Bar, and a host of other Houston-based designers and makers to help bring the project to life. The Houston community just welcomed us with open arms and we couldn’t be more grateful.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Hands down it has to be the opening our the second Lemon Laine in Houston. In all honesty, when I opened the first Lemon Laine in Nashville, I was hopeful it would do well, but it all happened so organically that the pressure was somewhat low. With our Houston store, this was my big moment to feel like Lemon Laine was more than just a cute boutique beauty shop–it proved we can carry our message outside of Nashville.
Not only that, with Houston we only had about ten weeks to open the store… from design to front door open for business! Needless to say, this was a monumental effort of my whole team, for whom I couldn’t be more grateful. And it all paid off–on the first day we opened, we had more than 60 people out front waiting to come in. I was floored… and shed a tear or two.
Ultimately, I’m just happy to be a part of Houston and have Houston be a part of Lemon Laine.
Pricing:
- We offer over 600 beauty & wellness products from over 120 brands, with prices ranging from $2-$200 — there’s something for everyone
- Oil bar appointment is $65/person, which includes a facial oil, consultation & complimentary beverages
Contact Info:
- Address: 714 Yale Street, Suite 1K
Houston, TX 77007 - Website: www.lemonlaine.com
- Phone: (713) 360-7756
- Email: hello@lemonlaine.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lemon_laine/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/lemon-laine-houston?osq=lemon+laine
Image Credit:
Molly Peach, @btswithkaela, Emily Dorio
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