Beauty industry vet Amy Liu has steered her company, Tower 28, through turbulent periods not once, but twice since she started the brand five years ago—first the pandemic in 2020, and then the inflation crisis in 2022.
Now, she, like everyone else, is figuring out how to navigate the impending recession financial analysts predict is likely to transpire in 2023. Below, Liu lets us in on her leadership style and how it helps her manage hard times as an entrepreneur.
You started your brand in 2019 and then the pandemic hit and everyone forecasted a huge economic downturn. What was your experience launching Tower 28, navigating through those tumultuous times, and creating buzz so that the brand would really grow and thrive?
In 2019 when I was launching the brand, I was probably thinking less about the economic downturn and more about the fact that I was entering an incredibly crowded marketplace as someone with zero influence. And so the way that I think about product development—and this continues to be kind of the guiding light of the brand today—is I really do think about it in the sense of how can I add the most value for the customer? I just really believe in investing in consumer trust.
I tend to think people aren't gonna buy something because of me—I'm forward facing in a business sense, but I'm not really in a consumer sense—and so no one is looking at me do my makeup and saying, “Oh, I wish my makeup looked like, Amy's.” That's not really what's happening. So then I have to rely on the other things that I'm able to offer, which is that we have really great product quality.
People really want to be seen and heard, and if you can offer them a solution for a problem that they're genuinely having and give them a really great product, I think that's where you get product market fit.
At what point in your business's growth did you add employees? How did you do that with the economic landscape looking cloudy? How do you continue to grow the brand today with the same "uncertainty"?
I started Tower 28 with money I raised from friends and family. And I was really lucky because very shortly after, I met two girls who started as my interns, and they're still with me, which is something that I am really proud of because it's been five years, and they're great.
But essentially, my philosophy around hiring is twofold: I've hired young people that I think are smart and capable and I can train and that can execute. And then I've hired people who are more seasoned, so people at the VP level, and work in the areas that I know really nothing about, like, say, operations. And so I'm gonna hire someone who knows a lot about it and can basically take that off my plate because she's way better at it than I am.
Then the other things I can hire in a more of a fractional way—I'm able to tap into people who are more expensive on a hourly retainer, weekly level. Like, we've had a fractional, basically VP of finance for almost five years; he's been with me from the very beginning. That way, I still have the right talent in the room, and it also gives me the opportunity to almost, you know, lease before you buy.
In your previous career at big brands and now as the founder of T28, how did you successfully lead a team through times like these? What's the roadmap you'd give to other founders?
This actually is advice that I, frankly, heard from a parenting influencer @drbeckyatgoodinside, and listen, I love her. She has this analogy that she talks about and she, and I've said this to my team She basically talks about how if you can have three different versions of a pilot, which one do you want? Do you want the pilot that experiences turbulence and gets on and says there's no turbulence; what you're feeling is not turbulence. You wouldn't like that, right? Because you'd be like, wait, WTF? I feel turbulence. Are you calling me crazy?
The second one is if you're like, “Oh, we're going through turbulance, and I don't know what's happening.” That's terrible too. But the third option is the one that everybody, someone who’s like, “Guys, we're headed through a little bit of turbulence. This isn’t anything that I haven't seen before, and it's gonna be hard for a minute, but we're gonna get through it, and we're gonna be okay.”
So I guess the point to me is, that the worst thing to do is to fake it and to be like, “Oh, this isn't crazy. This isn't terrible and weird and we're not all feeling this.” I mean I think that's tone deaf to be honest with you, and it doesn't feel relatable.
In the past I've been at jobs where you would see these like suits come in and they would go into the little room and you're like, what's happening? And you're like, are we gonna get sold? Are we gonna get it acquired? Like what's happening? I'm really honest with my team, and like I date a lot of investors and I'm like, I don't know if we're gonna raise money or not. If we need to, we will. Like, I don't really think I want to right now, but in general, whether it's the economic downturn or not, I think it's just being honest with people, frankly.
Have you ever had to make difficult decisions such as layoffs during a recession? How did you approach these decisions?
I mean, yes, and the people ones are the ones that keep me up the most at night. All you can do is give yourself the best information, but then trust your gut ultimately to make the right choice.
What do you believe are the most important qualities for a leader to possess during an economic downturn?
During uncertain times, it's so important to maintain transparency, project a sense of calm, and practice empathy.
How do you communicate effectively with stakeholders and maintain their trust during times of uncertainty?
It always comes back to transparency. Trust is built over time, but it erodes in a flash. If you are honest and balanced about sharing both the good and the bad, you build trust with your stakeholders. It's equally important to build confidence, so people feel good about going on the journey with you.
During an economic downturn, so much of the focus tends to be on the core business and keeping it stable. How do you continue to innovate to ensure your brand is growing? How would you suggest others do the same?
Focusing on what we are good at and why people love our products in the first place is always what keeps us growing.