Founder, Rhinestone Roxy
www.rhinestoneroxy.com

To make a fashion statement that’s as sparkly as your personality, take a look at all the glittering products that Lisa Kozinn has launched with Rhinestone Roxy. Rhinestone Roxy lets you customize flip-flops, hats, visors, bracelets, pet collars and key rings with rhinestone letters, numbers and symbols, like stars, hearts and flowers.

Can you see it now… your company’s name, in rhinestones?

Lisa started Rhinestone Roxy in 2004, and today her products are sold online and at locations nationwide like beauty shops, pet stores, school fundraisers, NASCAR races and novelty stores.

Two Facets to Her Career in Cosmetics

“My background is in product development and marketing. I worked for 20 years in the cosmetics industry with Wet ‘n’ Wild cosmetics and Revlon, so I had experience in an entrepreneurial environment, and a lot of experience in the corporate environment.

“I saw at my first job the way that Wet ‘n’ Wild was built and started in (founder Stanley Acker’s) garage. From there it grew into a $90-million company. I was involved in the growth of it. I started working there straight from school (at the Fashion Institute of Technology) as an assistant, and ended up as senior director of product development.

“On the flip side, being at Revlon in the corporate environment, that experience and meshing them together has given me a full view of how business runs, and the pros and cons of both the entrepreneurial and the corporate environments.”

Roxy Comes to Life

“At the time I started developing the idea for Rhinestone Roxy in my head, I wasn’t working, which gave me the freedom to think out of the box. I saw a trend in flip-flops as everyone has at least five pairs of flip-flops in their closet, and got the idea to use personalization and rhinestones. I had connections with vendors and started talking with them, trying to get samples.”

How She Launched

“I came up with my first product, which was a plain black flip-flop with slide-on rhinestone letters and symbols. It’s a way for women to say what they want. I launched at the New York International Gift Fair. I had a friend who was a New York sales rep. I went to him with the idea and product and came out with a line of different sayings. We went back and forth about what would be the best way to have the products displayed at the show. We displayed them in February (of 2004) and I have’t had a day off since.”

What People Say with Rhinestones

“People create slogans in rhinestones like ‘bad hair day.’ We get a lot of ‘drama queens’ and ‘beauty queens.’ A lot of times, we get orders for items for the bride and the groom. We do a lot of wedding parties, bridal showers and destination weddings where they’re wearing the flip-flops on the beach.”

Challenge No. 1

‘I feel like every day I’m on The Apprentice. Every day I’m figuring out how to overcome a new challenge. Since Day One… people wanted different colors, so I had to introduce new colors. I’ve had to introduce different items to keep (the concept) fresh and new.”

Challenge No. 2

“One thing that’s been a challenge for me to learn and understand is that I can’t do everything for this company to grow. My strength is in marketing and product development and creative and sales, but it’s not in accounting and bookkeeping and inventory control. I had to go learn QuickBooks. I took a class and my head was spinning throughout the six-hour seminar, so I hired the teacher to do my accounting. I can’t do everything. I’m not an expert in every area.”

Challenge No. 3

“Hiring people and finding the right people to do the job that you can’t do has been a challenge. You have to be able to afford good people, but you’re a small business, so you don’t have much strength when it comes to salaries and benefits. It’s been a challenge keeping people, even though we offer a fun environment, a relaxed environment. I do offer my employees part of my growth for the future.”

Challenges 4, 5, 6, 7, 8…

“I don’t have a Blackberry. I think my husband would kill me. I try hard to be a good wife. I have to stop myself from working, thinking and doing. It’s a challenge managing that balance. Not beating myself up for things that either don’t get done or making a bad decision on a product or idea. Moving forward quickly, trying not to dwell on things. Each day I’m going to face something new, so I try to move on with it.”

Greatest Success

“Building something from nothing more than an idea.”

Selling Through Indie Sales Reps

“I have sales reps throughout the country. Most of them have approached me because they see the potential of the line. It’s a tightly knit small circle of reps, and they see our ability to respond quickly to their needs. My Number One goal is to keep them informed, make sure we’re never out of stock, and ship within two days so that they can get reorders.

“When I started out at the New York gift show, I was careful about not getting involved with too many reps. I wanted to start slow. It’s a challenge to bring on new territories. We’re offering trendy products, so they need to get out there, but at the same time you need to make sure you can manage (each sales territory) and service them all like they’re the Number One group.”

PR Strategy: Outsource

“I realized (PR) was one of the things I couldn’t keep up with on my own. I hired a PR agency, a necessary and important move because… networking, having the contacts that you need (to get media placements)… that’s something that’s not my background. I felt that was one thing that would be important to outsource. Just keeping an editors’ list is a job in itself. My advice would be, find (a PR agency) that you can afford, but keep your expectations in line.”

Entrepreneurial Influences

“There’s something in my blood in my family – my father had his own cosmetics business and retail cosmetics store. My brothers had their own business; my husband has his own business. I’m surrounded by people who have their own businesses. I could always remember people having their own businesses. Because I have the ability to always think of new ideas and product development, I always knew I would be in my own business.

“Another person who influenced me greatly was my stepfather, who introduced me to the world of cosmetic marketing at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT). That really focused me and led me down my path of cosmetics.”

Words of Advice

“One of the reasons I joined Ladies Who Launch (Editor’s note: Lisa is part of the Ladies Who Launch New York Incubator) is that I missed having relationships with people who I could learn from.

“It’s important to be involved with a network so that you don’t feel alone. I have had a lot of support from my husband, who’s also in his own business (a nanny placement agency – www.absolutebestcare.com), but it’s nice to have a go-to place where there are women who are facing the same challenges every day. You don’t have to figure everything out on your own. It’s very isolating to start your own business. With my personality, I like to have a flow of information and ideas, and that helps me to work more efficiently.”