Meet Anastassia Over a Decaf Tea Latté
Anastassia Boguslavskaya, Co-Founder & CMO, Lunata Beauty & Unplugged Beauty | Toronto, Canada
“These business owners are the real deal”. That is the first informal introduction I had to Anastassia and her co-founder, Monica by one of our firm’s Partners after they boldly approached him in a coffee shop and offered him an on the spot elevator pitch. Needless to say, I was intrigued and the rest is history. It is impossible not get inspired by their individual stories and their journey as co-founders of Lunata Beauty and Unplugged Beauty. As an investor by way of our firm and as a current advisor, it was important for me to get to know both Anastassia and Monica on a deeper level. And so our regular coffee meetings began. My Macchiato <> Decaf Tea Latté exchanges with Anastassia always leave me feeling incredibly energized. The passion she has for the businesses she creates and the communities she belongs to is infectious. She is never deterred by the gravity of a challenge, may it be raising a Series A and preparing for endless investor meetings, launching the world’s first cordless hair curler, or planning a wedding in the middle of an important growth phase in her business. She finds a way to make time for everything that is important and helps others do the same along the way.
Anastassia has developed innovative, professional and successful digital marketing strategies for over a decade. Her background in public relations, marketing and social media has fine-tuned the skills needed to strengthen the online presence of her own entrepreneurial ventures. She most recently co-founded Lunata Inc. with Monica Abramov (read her story here). Lunata specializes in wireless and portable styling products, including hair straighteners and curling wands. A disrupter in the hair and styling industry, Lunata’s wireless products gives women gorgeous hair by combining traditional beauty techniques with effortless modern tech. In November 2018, Lunata announced its new partnership with Joe Mimran, founder of Joe Fresh, Club Monaco, and Alfred Sung.
Time for that Decaf Tea Latté with Anastassia. ☕️
What does community mean to you and how has your vast entrepreneurial career benefited from the power of connection?
A.B.: From an early age I learned the power of connection and just how small the world is. I learned that you never know when your path with someone will cross again and where you will be in your life when that happens. I have hundreds of stories of how that power has created beautiful things for me in my life. Here are just a few.
In my business life I met my now business partner Monica through a person I went to high school with. This was not a person I was close to, but someone I would keep in touch with through random Facebook comments on a post or bumping into them on the street. One day we decided to meet for a coffee to catch up and during this meeting he told me about someone he knew who had just started an online bakery marketplace. Someone he felt would be a great connection for me to have and he thought we were very similar. Monica and I met through this person and from the moment we met we realized our paths had crossed many times before, but we had never connected. The power of that connection was only made at the moment it needed to happen.
Years ago, Monica and I had a different business than the one we have now and we went and pitched on Dragon’s Den. Our episode never aired, but in that small 10 minute pitch we were introduced to Joe Mimran. Year’s later, a few weeks after we got Lunata into Nordstrom, and a day after we got into Holt Renfrew, I ran into Joe at a café. Because I felt there was a connection from before, I felt confident to come up to him. He did not remember our pitch, but he still wanted to hear about Lunata. So I pitched to him in the café and he invited Monica and I to come and meet with his team at Gibraltar & Company. A few months later, Joe became our first investor.
When my family first moved to Toronto (I was 6 years old) they only knew a few people here and one of the families they met had a son named Misha. I never really spent much time with Misha, but I would see his success online and hear about it through our connections. He went on to be a very successful business man and I started to update him on my businesses and professional life. Years later he invested in Lunata Inc. and has now become one of our key advisors.
In the first months of working on Lunata, I started to put money into the company and decided to Airbnb my apartment and move in with my mom. I was always scared to rent my place so I would research every person who requested to rent it. Two of those people were Alex Ikonn and Mimi Ikonn. If you don’t know who they are, they are the founders of Luxy Hair one of the worlds most successful hair extension brands. They are also Rockstar entrepreneurs. Funny enough our paths kept crossing as if the universe was telling us we needed to work together or that there was a reason this connection was made. They are now also investors in Lunata Inc. and have been great inspirations when it comes to Monica and our view on work/life balance and direct to consumer marketing.
On a personal level, I’ve had so many moments where the power of connection almost seemed freaky. It’s like the universe is a web of paths and your paths cross with many of the same people some of them you don’t even really ever get to know, some of them are just not on the same path as you at that moment. My now husband met my best friend 6 or 7 years before we started dating and the first thing she told him is that if he was single he should meet her best friend because “we would be perfect together”. But he was not single and then I started dating someone for many years after that. Supposedly our paths crossed a few more times which I don’t even remember and then the times I do remember we were both on such different paths it was not even a thought that this person might one day be my husband. Then one day we were on the same path. We were both single, both in Toronto, living three blocks from each other and both ready for something serious.
I always say, never burn a bridge. Never assume you will never cross paths with someone again as one day the power of that connection will eventually show itself.
“Y
ou never look foolish telling someone about your business and your passion.
No matter how small or large the wins are they should be celebrated and the message should be spread to others.
”
- Anastassia Boguslavskaya
You and your co-founder Monica landed your first investment for Lunata Beauty by doing an improv brand pitch in a coffee shop. How did you get the courage to approach the investor and what advice would you give an entrepreneur at the very early stages of their entrepreneurial venture when it comes to making connections and building relationships?
A.B.: When you have nothing to lose, you go for it. I also have a very supportive and encouraging business partner and husband. They were both texting me telling me I had to do it and if I didn’t, I would regret it.
The advice I would give is you never look foolish telling anyone about your business and your passion. The only people who will make you feel foolish are people who wish they were working on something which is their passion. I’d also say a no is only a door shut, but not locked. Just because someone says no to you, do not fear. Many of our no’s turned into a yes when we showed that we were willing to put in the effort to open the door ourselves.
Even if someone says a hard no you have now passed on your message to someone who might tell someone else about it. There were many moments where I felt embarrassed to tell people about our wins and what we were building because I did not want to come across as someone who was bragging or showing off. But I’ve realized the entrepreneur is the only one who knows how much time, effort and sacrifice has been put into the business and no matter how small or large the wins are they should be celebrated and the message should be spread to others.
Your beauty tech company, Lunata Beauty, is growing fast and is building a strong community of women who love the notion of freeing themselves from cords to have the liberty to multitask. What is the best advice you have received from your community of supporters? What is the worst advice you’ve received?
A.B.: The best advice we’ve received has to do with not assuming everyone has the same hair needs or understanding of beauty products. In our first product we didn’t do as much product knowledge as we do now. We assumed some of these things were common knowledge, but that was very wrong.
I don’t believe in bad advice. I believe we need to dig deeper to understand why the person gave that advice and then we would actually see something we should really focus in on. For example, we’ve received advice on changes we should make to the tools, changes we know are bad for the technology, but if we dig deeper we get to see why this specific function or design was bothering the user and we start to come up with other solutions which do work and make our community very happy.
You and Monica, have been on the roller-coaster fundraising path for Lunata Beauty, Inc. What piece of advice would you give other entrepreneurs going into an angel or seed investor round?
A.B.: Know your numbers, know your business, and be confident. If you don’t know the answer to something you can always say “let me discuss with ______ and get back to you with the exact answer”. Do not make up an answer for the sake of answering.
I’d say one of the biggest mistakes Monica and I made with our first business is we were so quick to pivot to what an investor or angel would say we should do with our business. “You should do a subscription model”, “Yes you are right we should” NOT A GOOD ANSWER. The investor is investing in you and your vision and your confidence in the business model. You should know and be 100% confident in how you will reach the goals and projections you have presented.
It’s very easy to get caught up in the fundraising spiral and forget to actually focus on the business vision. Monica and I are fortunate to have each other where we can divide and conquer and then the focus on the business is not lost. Many people will waste your time, but look at it as pitch practice opportunity. And most importantly, nothing is for certain until the money is in the bank!
There is no perfect deck, financial model or pitch. So don’t over stress and again too much input and edits can lead to never actually going out and speaking to investors. Get out there and start talking about your business!
Congrats on your recent wedding! How do you harmonize your life, between your company, family, friends, and endless commitments?
A.B.: Thank you! Work-Life balance is key. At the start I was prioritizing the business above all else. I realized I was setting a precedent in my business life that made it ok for people to call me at any time of day and expect I would pick up. I would answer emails as soon as I got them no matter the importance. I would say yes to every meeting and always asked the person what worked best for them.
I found myself on a family trip to New York. We were visiting my brother and I was in a cab heading to lunch with my mom. I got what I thought was a super important call and my mom was trying to tell me a very deep story about something very close to her heart. As she was talking I told her “This is a super important call can we just talk later”. When I got to the restaurant I realized what I had done. I prioritized what I thought was important over what was important to my mom. That is when it all changed. I’ve learned to prioritize all aspects of my life and not to set a precedent which is not healthy and also just not productive.
Mindset you live by… go!
A.B.: The people around you can really define the path your life takes so surround yourself with people who make you feel your best, who open your eyes to new things, who make you laugh and who cheer for you when you aren’t even looking.
Connect with Anastassia!
To learn more about Anastassia and Monica’s journey with Lunata Beauty, see below!
https://wwd.com/beauty-industry-news/hair/mimran-invests-in-lunata-haair-1202924983/