Susan Beischel, designer, entrepreneur, and founder/CEO of luxury brand Skin, talks about working at Neiman Marcus alongside Stanley Marcus, always listening to what’s inside of you, why it’s never too late to start or make a change, how resilience is an achievement in itself, being "built for challenge", what discipline REALLY is, and why she’s known as the "queen of pleasure".

Susan, it is super nice to meet you. Thank

you for being here.

Thank you, Stephanie. It's wonderful to

meet you.

So I gotta come right out of the gate. So the

big strong question I see you're from Wisconsin. How do you feel

about Aaron Rodgers going to the Jets?

Oh, don't ask me about that. I go back to like

Bart Starr days. And like Vince Lombardi.

I'll let you off the hook. Well, enough about

that back to you. You have such an amazing story. I remember

when COVID hit, there was so much doom, and gloom and fear.

But yet, you would have these people pop up and talk about

just amazing things that were coming out of it and would come

out of it. And I think one of the huge positives that came out

of it is an awareness around mental health, physical health,

all those things. And you obviously had had this company

for a long time prior to COVID. But then there was kind of this

boom created because of that. So just share with me a little bit

about your story prior to that with this amazing company. And

then what COVID meant for you and your company.

Okay, sure. Well, prior to COVID, I actually

started the brand almost 20 years ago now. And it was with a

mission. That skin, the four letter word, which I was able to

trademark, I knew was such a powerful word. If you've ever

thought about it, the skin on your body, the largest organ,

right is so delicate and thin. But yet it holds up this whole

body. I didn't even know how that's possible. If it were a

balloon, and you tried to put your body inside all the blood,

the guts, the bones, the organ, I don't think it would stand. So

it's really incredible. So I knew that I had a powerful

mantra, but I started the company and named it skin

because skin is a container that holds this whole body. It holds

the physical body, the mental body, the spirit body. And I had

a vision that I wasn't just going to be creating a clothing

brand. It everything was much deeper. For me, I had a history

and fashion. But I never cultivated a lot of friends in

the fashion industry. I don't know, I just always looking for

meaning in things. And my vision was always to address the body,

progressively as the brand group. So we started with the

inner most intimate parts with the lingerie loungewear that

touch the body. And during COVID, our company actually

almost doubled. We were fortunate because we had the

kind of clothing people needed to wear then. But we've always

been offering comfort. The number one value of the brand in

the clothing side is comfort. How does it feel on your skin?

We want women to feel comfortable in their skin.

That's again, addressing the body feeling good. First about

yourself is the start to feeling mentally roll and healthy. Why

is this for you? Why this for me? I think we're all born to do

something. And actually, I was studying fashion out of college.

And I ran track in college. And that was my big thing. I really

wanted to go away on the weekends and run meats and go on

spring break to Florida and actually kind of signed up for

fashion as my major because they had an internship program where

you could go somewhere. So I've found that I am a very dynamic

person, I need a lot of things in my life. I'm a problem

solver. I like scanning the world. I like adventure. I like

all the things and fashion gave me that because it involves

finance and numbers and people and creativity and travel and

all the things and then I'm infusing this spiritual

intellectual mental component to it as well. So I guess it's kind

of all the things that I him.

So 20 years ago, or I guess 20 years before

COVID. You go, Okay, I have this idea. I've got a little bit of a

background and this kind of a personal mission, if you will.

Where do you go? How do you do this?

Well, first thing I would say to everyone

and anyone is always listen to what's inside of you. It's there

for a reason, the dream, the vision, the inspiration, it's

planted in you for a reason. And it's not in anyone else. So you

don't need to even look outside and scan and say to someone

already do this, or there's too many people doing this, because

there's a billion people on the planet, and we just need to

connect to our, our group, our tribe. And the second thing I

would say is, it's never too late, I started my company at 40

years old. And I'm still starting things. And I'm just

getting started, in fact, so don't ever think you are too

old, or you can't start again. So starting, you asked, Where do

you start? The first step is to start, you need to start, don't

keep thinking about it, drawing it up on paper, creating all the

plans. Start the idea, who is your customer? How can I get in

front of my customer? What is my product is my product, right for

that customer. So my experience, I always look for the white

space, and I match the product to the customer. So I could walk

into any office and any room and pitch the right product to the

right people. It may not be my product. But if I'm building a

product, you better believe I will find a know who the right

people are, and know why they need my product and present it

thoughtfully for them to understand why they would need

it.

First of all, do you have a skincare line? But

when you said you started the business at 40. And I did the

math, I am thinking oh my gosh, so I'm gonna need some skincare

tips later.

I'm working on it.

That's exciting. What did you do before?

I worked in fashion, I started my career at

Neiman Marcus back in the day when Stanley Marcus was there.

And in fact, it was the only company that I would even

consider working for because Stanley Marcus created an

experience. He created magic in stores. And at a young age, that

was my jam. That's what I was doing. I was always into

creating an experience, which is also part of my brand. It's a

sensory experience. Anyway, so I started my career at Neiman

Marcus, but I have to tell you, when I graduated college, it was

during a recession. And to even get an on campus interview, you

had to put your name in that hat and be picked to interview with

a company. And I didn't get picked for Neiman Marcus, but I

got all dressed up in my business suit. And I went and

sat at the office at 7am. And I waited where I knew they were

going to conduct the interviews and a man walks in dressed with

a briefcase and I said excuse me, are you from Neiman Marcus?

And he said, Well, yes, I am. And I told him the story. And I

said Would you have any time today or over the next three

days to fit me in for an interview? And he said well,

yes, of course. Come on in. Long story short a month later, I got

the envelope in the mail accepting into the executive

training program. So that's where I started, I knew I wanted

to be creating meaningful, detail oriented experiences for

people. So I worked for Neiman Marcus for six years. Then I

worked for a small, not so small, like $30 million company

Mom and Pop fashion company. And there I opened the first Jil

Sander store in America. And then I moved to New York. The

reason why I moved to New York was because we sold the company

to venture capitalists and they required a corporate CEO to come

in and run the company. And that kind of didn't work out. They

didn't have the same value system, same alignment as our

core customer base. So I saw the writing on the wall and I left

and where do you go in in fashion, it's either New York or

LA. So I came to New York, and then I worked on the wholesale

side and learned that side of the business. So I had retail I

had wholesale, I was always itching to have my own company,

but I didn't know what my big idea was. It took me a long time

to figure it a hook. I trust the net will be there, but I need

space to figure it out. So I think I was $50,000 in credit

card debt when I moved to New York are moving here paying like

crazy rents that you'd never seen before. I approached a

couple of designers who were selling lingerie and I said, let

me sell it for you, I'll sell it. You just pay me a

commission. And by being in the lingerie industry selling their

product, I saw white space. And then because I was on the

wholesale side, I had connections with factories. And

then I called them and they said, here's my idea will you

produce for me, and you know, you're a startup. So you need

people to help finance. They agreed, and that's where I

started.

That's an incredible journey. And

honestly, when I was reading through your bio, it can come

across as it just seems so seamless and so easy. But

there's nothing I just heard in that journey that sounded easy

handouts, you pursued what you loved. And you took the risks

along the way. But you also I mean, I love hearing that. And I

think that's something that really sets entrepreneurs apart.

That's what you do. But that's also what gave you ownership,

don't you think?

Well, entrepreneurship is not easy.

Listen, Life is not easy. I'm good at making it look easy,

because I love life. And the way you get through the recession of

2008, the pandemics, the what's coming, all of it. The way you

get through it is just accepting these are the realities. Now

what next step? It's always okay, that happen next. Now,

what do I do next? You know, just the biggest, I think, skill

that entrepreneurs business people need, and certainly the

successful winning ones have. And that's resilience. It's just

the ability to get up every day because somebody quits, right?

When you're ready to launch some, you know, bait calls or

something. There's someone ships late, the internet goes down.

There's always going to be something. It's not easy. I'll

tell you. So when I launched, I went out and sold I created the

collection. The factory was working with me. They didn't

finance me. There was supposed to be a group who was financing.

It was a month before we were to ship it. I called the factory

checkup on them. How's it going? Everything good. We should like

what production What are you talking about? I said, What?

What do you mean? He basically said, Well, we never got the

money. We never started the production. And I had sold to

major stores names you would know of my credibility is

everything. So I got off the phone, and I fainted. I fainted

on a cement floor. I fainted on the floor. I woke up to people

are you okay? Are you okay? I'm fine. Move sighs I went to my

desk. I went to my computer. I cashed out my 401 K. And then

all the factories said, I'm going to be the sole owner. I

will be financing it. Will you still work with me? Will you

produce? They said yes. I transferred the money. I moved

forward. I emailed and called every one of the clients that

purchased from me because obviously now it's going to be

late. The production cycle is late. And that's a big no no. In

retail world you got to deliver on time. So I personally reached

out to every client. Everyone said yes, they would take it

three months late, but it's super easy. I do love

challenges. I do love the ride. I do love the ups and downs. I I

just I think I'm built for challenge.

Where does that come from? And and I want to

touch on the word you mentioned resiliency. I mean, I get that

you're an athlete or newer college athlete. So I know a lot

of it is just in that mentality, but going way, way back, where

does that come from?

That's a really good question. Because I knew a

man he wrote a book are entrepreneurs born or made. And

I've recently had a discussion with some people about your

childhood, and how has it shaped you? And I would say I actually

didn't even think about it until about a year ago that connection

between events in my childhood that may have shaped me. But I

would say a lot of the my brothers and sisters are

similar. We all have a work ethic. We all have respect. We

all were taught to To say hello to people in the room to greet

people to think people to be grateful for things. And I, I

mean, grew up in a small town of 1300 people. And I knew that I

didn't, I wouldn't say didn't belong there. But I knew that I

was different from all the kids around me. And I was a doer and

a participator. And I was thirsty for knowledge for

everything. So I tried everything, all sports, all

arts, all clubs. And I knew that I needed to be a small fish in a

big pond. In fact, I won state champion and stuff like that,

you know, in high school running, and my dad wanted me to

go to a small school near home and be a big fish in a small

pond. And I did not want that. Because even though I won state,

it was all done by class by how big your school was, and I was

in school. So I don't consider myself a winner. And I was not

having that. Like, Dad, I'm going to a big school where I

can get better training, I can get better, I can be around

people who are running better, and I will be better by the

first year might have been the first semester I don't know, I

got full scholarship, and then became an All American national

champion relay member. And that's the whole key, you get in

the room with people who know more, have done more, and you

rise to the level as they say.

I think there's a lot of power in that. Oh, I

love that rise to the level. Yeah. As you think back through

the years, who were some of your key influencers? Either it was,

hey, I want to go be just like that person. Positive or yep, I

see what they're doing. And I'm never going to run my business

like that.

This is a really interesting question. And the

answer may not be liked by everyone. Because, as I said, I

didn't start my company until I was 40. And even when I started

my company, it was head down, nose to the grindstone, and I

had asked myself, who do I look up to? Who are people I aspire

to be like, I honestly didn't know who they were. It's a good

skill to be independent. And it's a good skill to be able to

do a lot, but you can go faster and bigger with others. So it

wasn't until actually the pandemic so during the pandemic,

I actually had time to join masterminds to join Tim Grover

was one of my mentors. He's the coach of Michael Jordan and Kobe

a success coach, a joint Grant Cardone and Elena Cardone. 10

axing everything, just because they're always focused. I was

actually a kind of person that hated the word discipline. I was

always a doer, but the word discipline meant like someone's

controlling me, and I like, roll. But it's you controlling

you. And discipline is really about doing what you say you're

going to do.

Wow. Okay, let's have some fun.

Oh yes, for sure, they call me the the queen

of pleasure, actually. Because I do make things fun.

Okay, so if somebody wanted to wow you, how

would they do that?

Oh, it's everything designed. You walk

into the space and it's amazing. It's gorgeous. It's everything's

put together. It smells great. The food is amazing.

Everything's thought through. That's how you wow me. It's all

every detail because I will notice it.

What do you do for fun? Leisure wise, do you

still run?

I do not run. I got bad knees. But now since

I've laid off for so long. I could probably run again. But I

do everything. I live in New York. Like you cannot leave New

York once you live in New York. I wake up every day. And I'm in

love. You can ask anyone. I wake up and they load to the sun. It

is an amazing place to be. I'm an adventurer and what eyes wide

open. So I actually sing. And I'm not a singer, but I sing

because it's fun and it challenges me. I sing on a stage

every now and then I go to the arts. I go to the plays, I go to

the restaurants I go to the Central Park I have a dog at I

do everything in Manhattan that there is to do there are some

days I just Google, what's there to do today in New York, and I

go and do it.

What is next? And, you know, I think for a lot

of folks, they have these visions and these big goals, and

you've done it. I mean, you wanted to start your company,

you wanted it to have this holistic meaning. Now what?

Well, it's not over. I don't consider it done.

Actually. It's how I approach all things that I do. Some

people have coached me that I need to celebrate more things

that I've done, and I just do it and then go to the next thing.

And where I'm at now with this company, it's not done. There's

still so much I would say, we're only a quarter of the way

through this brands journey a quarter, and that's 20 years. So

there is so much yet to do.

That is very exciting. Your story has been so

interesting, and I appreciate your willingness to share. So I

just thank you so much.

No, thank you so much. It's been a pleasure and

wonderful to be in your presence and to have the opportunity to