“We truly just started, and never really looked back.”

—Lauren Gores Ireland, Co-Founder of Summer Fridays

Just because a market is saturated doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try to disrupt it. Let’s take the beauty industry for example. It’s a $532 billion market, which might seem too daunting to even attempt breaking into, but here’s the kicker: women are leading the way!

When it comes to gender equality at the highest level, the beauty industry comes out on top. In fact, it officially outranks every other profession in terms of the highest percentage of women seen on the board and in executive positions.

Unfortunately, that number is still only 29%, so clearly, we still have a long way to go. But the good news is that women aren’t waiting for the doors to open; they’re carving out their own niche and taking a slice of that billion-dollar pie for themselves.

Lauren Gores Ireland is one of them. The co-founder of the buzzy skincare brand Summer Fridays broke the influencer mold and turned her online community into brand ambassadors. But it’s the brand’s unique marketing initiatives during COVID that has really set them apart from their competitors.

Knowing that people would be stuck at home for summer Fridays this year, Lauren and her co-founder Marianne Hewitt decided to put the summer back into summer Fridays with comfort house calls.

We’re talking a cake collaboration with Sweet Laurel Bakery inspired by their Jet Lag face mask; a Craig’s Vegan Jet Lag-inspired ice cream called Vanilla Cloud, which comes with a mini mask; and a co-branded limited edition collage kit and photo filter with Tezza Barton. So smart!

At our recent Small Business Summit, Dell Technologies brought the co-founder of Summer Fridays and the founder and CEO of Create & Cultivate, Jaclyn Johnson, together for a conversation on how the beloved skincare brand has pivoted its marketing strategy due to COVID, why networking has been key to their wild success, and what the power of social media marketing can really do.

In fact, thanks to DWEN (Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Network), Dell is enabling women entrepreneurs across the globe to succeed by helping them navigate business challenges. DWEN has a proven ability to facilitate meaningful connections and bridge access to fellow entrepreneurs and advisors, technology, new markets, and resources needed to scale.

If you missed the conversation at our Small Business Summit, you’re in luck. Below, we’ve compiled all the most memorable quotes from the session. So, get out your notebooks because class is now in session!

On launching the business right away…

“We had the idea and, quite literally, that afternoon we were already taking steps toward creating a business.”

“We truly just started, and never really looked back.”

On tapping into your immediate network…

“Once you have an idea and you start asking people, even within your friends-and-family circle, a lot of times, they know someone who knows someone who can connect you, whether that’s to a lab or a manufacturing facility.”

On knowing when it’s time to bring on a team…

“You get to a point where you realize you can’t do everything.”

“Once you’re with a retailer like Sephora, you can’t operate without a proper team behind you.”

On seeking out mentorship opportunities…

“I know that we would not be where we are today without the mentors who really helped guide us.”

“Jen Atkin of OUAI was significant for us. She’s the one that introduced us to Sephora. She guided us when we had big questions.”

“Jamie Kern Lima of IT Cosmetics very kindly sat down with us for hours one day and just gave us so much information and advice, which was so incredible.”

On investing in your own business…

“Before you’re making money, you have to put money into the business.”

On the power of social media marketing…

“It’s remarkable what you can do in the beginning, without a ton of money, on a channel like Instagram.”

“Trying to reach out to the networks that you have, doing gifting, sending things out to people, and investing in getting that product out to people is really helpful.”

“Now that we have grown, whether they’re our close friends or someone that we don’t know, we do pay influencers, and that is now part of our strategy.”

“What Instagram is best for is getting out the message so people can see it and it makes them want it.”