From Model to Beauty Founder: Mari Fonseca on Building Gente Beauty

From Modeling to Entrepreneurship

• 💡 Mari Fonseca left home at 16 to pursue a modeling career, traveling the world and achieving many of her dreams.
• 💔 The modeling industry, while glamorous on the surface, involved significant sacrifices, including financial struggles and being far from family.
• 🧠 A common stereotype she faced was being perceived as "pretty, not smart," making it challenging to gain respect in business settings.
• 🚀 She transitioned from a career focused on short-term cash to building long-term equity by investing in her own brand, Gente.

Building the Gente Beauty Brand

• ✨ Gente, a body care company focused on lymphatic drainage and wellness rituals, became Hailey Bieber's favorite brand.
• 💰 Fundraising was difficult due to her lack of formal business education, an accent, and the novelty of lymphatic drainage as a concept.
• 📈 She learned that smaller, dedicated audiences and word-of-mouth are more effective for growth than large influencer followings.
• 💖 The brand aims to become a daily self-care ritual, incorporating products like scrubs, shower gels, and body butters to enhance the user experience.

Personal Growth and Business Challenges

• 🌟 Fonseca found more confidence and self-awareness in her 30s compared to her 20s, embracing aging rather than fearing it.
• 💧 The brand emphasizes consistency, recommending 30 days of use to see results, and highlights clinical trial data showing significant reductions in cellulite and water retention.
• 🏠 A major low point involved significant product damage due to a ceiling collapse during a rainy season in LA, leading to thoughts of giving up.
• 🤝 Building a strong team and establishing boundaries have been crucial for managing the business and personal life, allowing for time off and reducing the all-encompassing nature of entrepreneurship.

The Power of Ritual and Manifestation

• 🧖‍♀️ Gua sha, a facial lymphatic drainage technique, is highlighted as a transformative and inexpensive way to change face shape and promote self-care.
• 🛍️ Seeing Gente products on shelves at retailers like Nordstrom was a dream realized, stemming from early days of manifesting by placing product packaging on store shelves.
• 🐶 Her "third place" outside of work and home is spending time with her Rottweiler, a shared passion with her fiancé, Drew Taggart.
• ✅ The brand name "Gente" means "people" in Portuguese, reflecting its mission to be inclusive and accessible to everyone.