Sherrel Sampson, Canviiy - Differentiating and protection through proprietary ownership

Aug 25

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This week, I spoke to Sherrel Sampson, Founder and CEO of Canviiy, an innovative health & wellness brand focused on scalp care. The inspiration for Canviiy came about when Sherrel experienced an unbearable itchy scalp that would not go away. After many disappointments with several market products, Sherrel desired to formulate organic botanical-based scalp care products that address the root of the problem for millions of people.

Canviiy has successfully pioneered the ScalpBliss Collection, which is proven to offer the most long-lasting organic scalp irritation solutions on the market. Canviiy products are currently available in over 300 retail locations, including CVS Stores as well as target.com.

Gradually, Canviiy has grown a customer base that spans 50 U.S. states and international regions, including Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Guadeloupe, and the United Kingdom. Canviiy also has official partnerships with Moffitt Cancer Center®, USF Health®, Tampa International Airport®, and has been featured by renowned media outlets including Forbes, VOGUE, Allure, SHAPE, ESSENCE, Black Enterprise, AspireTV, Cosmopolitan and named a semifinalist in the HSN/Good Housekeeping Entrepreneurs’ Competition.

Prior to founding Canviiy, Sherrel worked in corporate marketing for about fifteen years. Her experience is extensive; she worked in tourism and hospital marketing, manufacturing, and software marketing. While working in software marketing, the company’s owner presented her with an irresistible opportunity to run a personal care luxury brand. She gladly accepted the offer; however, she soon realized that the owner purchased it out of bankruptcy and it would present a big challenge.

Sherrel’s experience with running a personal care luxury brand became a hands-on masterclass. She had the privilege to work closely with the CEO and other C-suite executives and glean from their wisdom. The valuable lessons that she acquired have formed the foundation of Canviiy and have led to its success.

“Before you build anything, the question is, what do you want to achieve?”- Sherrel

Sherrel’s initial goal to create products that resolved hair styling issues has transitioned over time. The mission of Canviiy has been a solution to multitudes; it is now a wellness brand that is not only on retail shelves but can also be found in healthcare and travel retail channels.

“Listen to your customers...your brand isn’t what you say it is, it is what they say it is” -Sherrel

This episode will motivate you to dream big and follow through with those dreams!

In This Episode You Will Learn:

From a mess to a masterclass: (5:40)
The importance of proprietary ownership (15:28)
The genesis of Canviiy: (19:44)
Changing the trajectory of the company: leveraging partnership (26:03)
Growing slow and pivoting into different spaces (39:23)
The importance of data and business expansion (44:35)
Work-Life Balance- Being a boss while managing other relationships (54:04)

Questions Answered:

What are some key experiences from your marketing background that have helped you to build Canviiy?
How does one select a manufacturer for their brand?
What are the pros and cons of working with contract manufacturers?
How does one get their product to be proprietary?
What are the benefits of launching with an e-commerce website initially?
How does one grow their brand without investors?

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