“The purpose of Uplink Live is to build a community of like-minded trade professionals who want to work with indies,” Jillian Wright, Co-Founder of the Indie Beauty Media Group (IBMG), tells Cosmetics Design.
The inaugural Uplink Live event took place last August in New York City. And this month, on January 29 and 30, the event will be in Los Angeles, California, and run alongside the popular Indie Beauty Expo (IBE) in the same venue.
How do beauty entrepreneurs build a brand from scratch?
“It is very time consuming to do research to find the best partners for your brand,” acknowledges Wright, who was herself an indie beauty brand founder.
“I speak from experience,” she says, “because when I had my skincare line 5 years ago, all I had was Google and I wasted so much time and money looking for service providers who could help my indie brand grow. As a beauty entrepreneur I never felt confident I had the right partners to help me in my journey to scale my business, especially in those first 18 months.”
“I have many lessons learned,” says Wright, “and Uplink Live is the result.”
“Uplink Live is here to help [founders] tap into the beauty industry and quickly vet and connect with people who know that indie beauty brands are the future.”
Which suppliers and service providers are helping indie beauty brands?
Even just in the past year, the cosmetics and personal care industry at large has adapted to connect with brands in the current indie beauty movement. Still there’s a disconnect; and suppliers and founders have a lot to learn about one another.
Uplink Live is a space for just this sort of learning. And it’s a place to easily find suppliers ready to support startup and growing ventures.
At this month’s Uplink Live event, ingredient suppliers like Croda / Sederma, Evonik, Colonial Chemical, and Noble Roots will be exhibiting. Product manufacturers Strand Cosmetics Europe, Solésence, Pure Beauty Labs, Indigo Private Label Cosmetics, and MANA Products will be on hand. The packaging companies Monvera and Unique Distinctions will be at the show as well.
And, 3rd Party Logistics Group; the marketing and branding business Base Beauty Creative Agency; business operations consultants Martin Kartin and Company, and TenEyck Business Solutions are all exhibiting at Uplink Live this month too.
“These people want to share their expertise and have far reaching networks,” emphasizes Wright. “They are making a commitment and also taking a little bit of a gamble doing business with smaller brands,” she says, “but Uplink Live exhibitors are in it for the long game.”
Learn more about Uplink Live here.
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Deanna Utroske is a leading voice in the cosmetics and personal care industry as well as in the indie beauty movement. As Editor of CosmeticsDesign.com, she writes daily news about the business of beauty in the Americas region and regularly produces video interviews with cosmetics, fragrance, personal care, and packaging experts as well as with indie brand founders.
Deanna will be speaking next at the Uplink Live event in LA this month (save 10% on tickets with code: CD10) and at Green Beauty Night in February.