Maria Karr is the founder of Rumore Beauty - the first Russian beauty store in the US. A former beauty industry executive, Maria spearheaded PR, communications, and influencer marketing efforts for leading global beauty brands for the past 10 years. Born and raised in Russia, she’s been living in the US since 2007. In addition to her career in beauty, Maria has been teaching her signature course on PR and Communications at Baruch College, mentoring students, and running marathons in the US and abroad.

Can you tell our readers about your background?

I was born and raised in a small town in Siberia, Russia, and came to the US at the age of 19. I didn’t have much - $200 in my purse, a one-way ticket, no family or friends in the US, but I had big dreams and I was willing to work hard to make them become a reality. At first, I wasn’t planning to start a new life here, but I fell in love with New York, got admitted into college, and decided to give it a try. After graduation, I found myself working in the entertainment industry but shortly after I made a switch to pursue my long-time passion of doing PR. I landed at an agency with beauty, lifestyle, and wellness clients, and that’s when my career in beauty has begun. Over the past ten years, I’ve worked at various agencies and beauty companies, managing PR, communications, and influencer marketing for beauty brands big and small, until I decided to step away from the corporate world and launch my own beauty company – Rumore Beauty.

What inspired you to start your business?

Being in the beauty world for the past ten years, I’ve had an opportunity to explore and try a variety of beauty products from all over the world – Australia, Asia, Europe. It almost felt like a world tour through beauty experiences, without leaving your couch. And at one point I realized that while I was familiar with many international beauty brands, I haven’t seen a single beauty brand or product from my home country, Russia. When I left my hometown in 2007, the beauty market there didn’t look promising. Most of the country relied on imported beauty products that were expensive and very often they were not the best quality. Domestic beauty offerings were very limited, and they were lacking the allure of the beauty products that consumers expect. So, I wasn’t sure if there was anything that might be worthy of the attention of global beauty lovers at that time, more than a decade later. It sparked my curiosity, and I went on a trip to Moscow to see what the modern beauty market in Russia was like. What I discovered completely blew my mind!

I saw a variety of Russian-born and made beauty brands that were based on Russian traditional botanical ingredients, they had great clean formulas, pretty packaging, and beautiful textures and scents. I was so puzzled as to why no one in the US has heard of those brands and products – actually, I was certain that I must have missed something. When I returned back to New York, I started to listen carefully to the conversations happening in the industry, pay special attention to the coverage in media, and to assortment at beauty stores. Still, there hasn’t been a word of Russian beauty! At that moment, I got an idea: if no one is talking about Russian beauty – which existed and had so much to offer! – I should. That’s when I thought of starting Rumore Beauty. We’re an e-commerce platform giving US consumers access to the best of clean and natural Russian beauty products, for the first time.

Where is your business based?

We’re based in the suburbs of New York City and since we’re an online platform, anyone in the US and Canada can access the site and start exploring Russian beauty products.

How did you start your business? What were the first steps you took?

I started with a lot of research and conversations with beauty experts and consumers in Russia. While I had the pleasure to try a few products on my trip to Moscow, I knew that I needed to have a deeper understanding of the market, the brands, and what they had to offer. I spent time looking into different brands, shortlisting those that I felt would offer the best value to US consumers.

In a parallel path, I ran a consumer survey here in the US asking them if they were familiar with Russian beauty and if they were curious to learn more and try. While the concept was new to all of our respondents, almost everyone was intrigued by it and said they would be curious to explore.

As a next step, my co-founder and I started having conversations directly with Russian beauty brands that we shortlisted. For many, it was their first time expanding abroad and we needed to make sure that they were interested in taking this big step and that also they were ready to partner on international expansion. Once we secured our brand partners and aligned on assortment, we started to build our website and develop content.

What has been the most effective way of raising awareness for your business?

Russian beauty is very new to the US and raising awareness is key for us. I come from a PR background and despite the rise of modern-day communications tactics and tools, I’m a strong believer that the traditional press is what helps move the needle. Getting coverage in media has been very impactful for us so far and we hope that this is just the beginning.

What have been your biggest challenges and how did you overcome them?

Our biggest challenge at this time is awareness. In addition to introducing brands and products that are new to the market, we’re introducing the entire concept of Russian beauty. Most people haven’t heard of it before, and it takes time to build that recognition and get noticed in a very competitive beauty space. While I can’t say that we’ve overcome this challenge (can anyone ever get too much awareness, anyway?), we’re constantly working on ways to reach our potential clients and introduce them to Russian beauty products, whether it’s in media, through social networks or sampling opportunities.

How do you stay focused?

I have a good practice to block time on my calendar and use these blocks of time to work on specific projects. That helps me stay on task and avoid distractions. Also, I found it helpful to turn off notifications on my phone, so I only get notifications about phone calls and text messages, and of course, orders from our e-commerce store!

How do you differentiate your business from the competition?

Luckily, we don’t have much competition when it comes to Russian beauty specifically as we’re the first and only Russian beauty store in the US. However, we have a lot of competition when it comes to beauty and skincare products in general. When choosing our assortment for the initial launch, we wanted to showcase authentic Russian ingredients that have been used in homemade beauty treatments of Russian women for generations and are now part of beauty products. Many of these ingredients are unfamiliar to US consumers, especially in the skincare context – think black, white, and red currant, sea buckthorn, yarrow, nettle, sage, and others. That gives us an interesting angle that makes us stand out from other skincare brands. In addition, Russian skincare offers clean formulas that have been manufactured in compliance with strict European standards, with a focus on vegan and organic ingredients, cruelty-free formulas, and sustainable manufacturing practices, all without breaking the bank.

What has been your most effective marketing strategy to grow your business?

As a new business, we’ve spent the past few months testing a variety of different marketing tactics – from weekly e-mail newsletters to paid ads on Facebook to sampling. At this time, we’re still in the testing stage and are planning to have a more defined picture in the coming months.

What's your best piece of advice for aspiring and new entrepreneurs?

Just go for it! I’ve been choosing the security and stability of a corporate world for so long and now, as I’m learning more about other entrepreneurs and their journeys, I have a feeling that I could’ve started earlier and built a stronger, bigger business by now. But there’s no right or wrong time and I believe that opportunities come to us when we’re ready to act on them and make things happen. However, to spot an opportunity, being curious and open to exploring is key.

What's your favorite app, blog, and book? Why?

It’s hard to name favorites. Over the past couple of years, I’ve been enjoying the Masterclass app – I’ve had an opportunity to take so many great courses by leading experts in different industries. One of the most memorable for me was a masterclass by Sara Blakely, the founder of Spanx. Another master class on negotiation led me to read a book by Chris Voss, titled “Never Split the Difference.” It’s a great resource on learning how to negotiate effectively and I recommend it to anyone, no matter what industry you’re in – it’s really a game-changer.

What's your favorite business tool or resource? Why?

We’ve found a lot of great freelance help through UpWork so it’s been an incredible resource that connected us to great people. ZOOM has been an incredible tool as well. Since Rumore Beauty was launched during the pandemic, we carried all of our conversations with our brand partners in Russia through ZOOM and have been very happy for an opportunity to feel connected and go completely virtual to sign important deals.

Another great tool that I’ve just started to explore is Trello. As an entrepreneur, there are so many tasks that require attention, so many timelines and deadlines to keep in mind, so using a planning tool is essential.

Who is your business role model? Why?

I feel very inspired by female leaders and founders in the beauty industry. I recently read two books by two incredible women, Jaime Schmidt, the founder of Schmidt’s Naturals, and Jamie Kern Lima, the founder of IT Cosmetics. While their stories and their brands are very different, they both started with almost nothing but a passion for their startups and they’ve built them to become so strong and valuable, so they were acquired by leading global beauty giants. And of course, Sara Blakely – I admire her, and her business journey is truly remarkable.

How do you balance work and life?

I have to admit, finding work and life balance as a new entrepreneur is hard! But I know that I need to keep being productive, so taking breaks and short walks during the day are necessary for me to be efficient and continue delivering good work. At first, I found myself working many nights and weekends, and I still do that from time to time as there’s always something to work on and sometimes things come up at the very last minute. Although, I’m now becoming better at setting boundaries and encouraging myself to take breaks or unplug in the evenings for a couple of hours.

What’s your favorite way to decompress?

I like to run - running helps me clear my mind, stay away from my computer or phone, and enjoy the nature around me, fresh air, and my own undisrupted thoughts. Reading also helps me decompress and I always aim to read at least 10-15 pages before going to bed. And of course, playing with my dog Pixie – a six-pound Pomeranian who is the friendliest and the happiest creature who brings me endless joy and positive energy.

What do you have planned for the next six months?

Lots of work! We’re just starting out and there’s a lot for us to do to make Russian beauty the next big thing in the world of international beauty in the US. In addition to raising awareness and identifying the best marketing tactics, I’m thinking of what our assortment may look like moving forward, as now we’re starting to get a sense of what products, ingredients, and categories are resonating the most with our clients. I’m having conversations with beauty brands abroad, testing new products, and doing additional research on what the market looks like here in the US and back in Russia.

How can our readers connect with you?

I’ll be happy to connect on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/maria-maddox-karr-05a80a31/) and Instagram @maria_instalife. Also, if you’re interested in Russian beauty, please follow us on @rumorebeauty and stop by to visit our store www.RumoreBeauty.com

Thank you and I look forward to connecting!