Samantha Hallal is the founder of KBeauty Australia, a Sydney-based e-Commerce store that provides a large selection of Korean skincare and beauty (k-beauty) products to the Australian market. Samantha has a PhD in the field of biochemistry and has an interest in the Science of skincare, as well as formulation chemistry. This knowledge has equipped her with the ability to provide personalised product recommendations to her customers; to help them to address their skin concerns and to achieve their skin goals.
KBeauty Australia has consistently provided fast and friendly customer service for the past five years and offers the hottest k-beauty product releases.
For more information on KBeauty Australia, visit their website here.
Here we sit down with Samantha, to know a bit more about her journey as an entrepreneur.
Q. Tell us a little more about your journey as an entrepreneur – how did you get started? What inspired you?
Samantha: I’ve always been fascinated by skincare and how active ingredients work together to improve the skin’s overall tone and texture. In the process of deciding whether or not to formulate my own skincare, I came across Korean skincare and was blown away by their extraordinary innovations and amazing products! My goal is to eventually develop my own skincare line consisting of effective top-quality ingredients.
I’ve always wanted to start a business in a field that I enjoy, so it doesn’t feel like work. This is how I feel about running a skincare business.
Q. What’s one thing in your routine that you do consistently that has made a huge difference in your personal or business life?
Samantha: Small and consistent steps are much better than doing too much at once. It helps to make tasks more manageable and makes running a business (or any task in life) much easier to handle!
Q. Who are your mentors and inspiration? and what knowledge or insight did they give to you that was valuable?
Samantha: My main inspiration is Mahdi Woodard – he is very charismatic and has helped me to understand that building a business doesn’t happen overnight. It is a long-term commitment that requires consistent hustling. Also, how important it is to keep moving forward even when things don’t seem to be going the way you want them to.
Q. What has been your most satisfying moment in business?
Samantha: My very first sale!
Q. How do you market your business, and which tactics have been most successful?
Samantha: It is a combination of SEO (Search Engine Optimisation), email marketing, Google Ads, TikTok and Instagram. The most successful one to date has been SEO.
Q. What have been your biggest failures or challenges?
Samantha: Not conducting enough market research in the initial stages of setting up the business.
Q. How did this failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success?
Samantha: Learning the hard way that in order to succeed, one needs to conduct proper market research. Without it, lots of money is wasted on inventory that won’t sell. It is not enough to stock a “promising” product based on that alone.
There needs to be a demand for that particular product. Business is a risk in itself, but that risk can be mitigated through thorough research and a proper understanding of your target market.
Q. If someone was to create a TV show about you, what would it be about and what would it be called?
Samantha: Meeting in My Past. It would be about the main character (myself) using a time machine to travel in time to the past (15 years ago) to revisit the many experiences (good and bad) that were encountered during that time period.
This time machine has a function to reset the past so that this time frame can be modified (by making different choices based on the hindsight of previous experiences). The main character was given this option and ultimately didn’t choose to do it, as they knew that despite the bad experiences, they would lose so many of the ones that they cherish if they chose to hit that reset button. They also came to the realisation that their past shaped them into the strong and resilient individuals that they are today, so why reset it?
To keep up to date with Samantha and her journey, connect with her on Facebook and Instagram.
