Emille Mendoza built her global skincare business, Boracay Skin, while she was a flight attendant, pouring all her savings into the brand. Now she makes $140,000 a month by selling her coconut-based body oils in Australia and the USA, including the Insta-famous best-selling bronze shimmering oil. It’s not always been an easy journey though, and after working exceptionally hard on her business, 28-year old Emille is keen to share the lessons she’s learned.
Tell us about Boracay Skin.
I founded Boracay Skin in 2015 after discovering the benefits of coconut oil for the skin. We believe in nourishing your skin naturally to give you that summer glow all year round using vegan and animal cruelty free products. I started with one product called the Natural Sun & Body Oil with my own formula.
In 2016, Boracay Skin started to attract retailers locally and internationally such as Urban Outfitters. Boracay Skin gained further exposure in the U.S partnering with other companies such as Bikini.Com and the Cabana Show as well as sponsoring major fashion events such as Miami Swim Week and New York Fashion Week.
Fast forward to today, we have grown to over 4 products in our range with thousands of customers worldwide.
What inspired you to start Boracay Skin?
I’ve suffered eczema all my time and when I was working as a flight attendant, my skin was constantly drying out from the plane cabin air. Lotions weren’t doing a good job so I started using coconut oil mixed with other oils that I found beneficial for the skin. It did wonders to nourish my skin and I felt that I was onto something. I had a bachelor of business degree majoring in entrepreneurship and I never knew what sort of business I wanted to do but then I stumbled upon this idea and decided to go for it. I thought “Well if it works for me, then I’m sure this will benefit somebody else too.” I’ve had feedback from customers telling me it did wonders for their skin as well!
Tell us about your career and background.
I graduated with a bachelor of business in entrepreneurship in 2013 with no idea of what business I wanted to start or if I even wanted to start a business. Whilst I was applying for graduate jobs I came across an ad for cabin crew. I loved traveling and the perks were great so I thought I would work there for a year then do a 9 – 5 job. I enjoyed being a flight attendant so much that I stayed there for 5 years and worked on Boracay Skin on the side. In late 2018 I decided to take the leap of faith and quit my full time job to work on Boracay Skin. I’m glad I did because it paid off!
Describe a typical work day for you (if there is such a thing).
A typical day would be looking at anything that my business needs – I wear a lot of hats at the moment so every day looks a bit different. I start off the day with some exercise before I get into actioning any urgent emails that have come in overnight. During COVID there have been more zoom meetings and less in person meetings which I miss but there’s always a call in there somewhere. There will be a bit of marketing, a bit of general admin, a bit of product development.
Being your own boss means you work whenever you want so sometimes I do work late nights or weekends if necessary!
Has COVID-19 affected your business? How are you navigating that?
Although we are an ecommerce business, COVID 19 has had a great impact on us. Shipping transit times were delayed significantly. There was extra training involved for the customer service team and we also had to explore different shipping options to try and get the shipments faster to the customer without compromising on price too much.
These shipment delays have also affected us with our suppliers – it’s taking longer to get inventory so we’ve just had to plan for things well in advance compared to before.
What advice do you have for those wanting to start a business?
Two words. Just start!
What’s next for you, and Boracay Skin?
We’re working on a new product within the self tanning category – can’t reveal too much yet but I believe it will be a hit with our new and existing customers!
