Stacy Blackman earned her BS in Economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and her MBA from Kellogg at Northwestern University. Following business school, she tapped into her flair for invention and began building businesses, launching WebWisher, which is now part of The Knot, a publicly-traded company, and eventually launching Stacy Blackman Consulting, the leading admissions consulting advisory.

Stacy’s latest venture, Stryke Club www.Stryke Club.com launched in January 2020 and is an acne-fighting skincare line for boys. Stryke Club was recently invited to participate in the Target 2020 Beauty Accelerator and has big plans for the coming months.

Can you tell our readers about your background?

After college at the University of Pennsylvania, I moved to San Francisco to work in private equity but itched to do something more creative. I wanted to have a hand in running companies rather than just analyzing the numbers behind them. 

I went to the Kellogg business school at Northwestern to help transition into a marketing role at a consumer products company, but after my summer internship decided that big company life was not for me. During my second year in business school, I partnered with two classmates and dear friends and launched an online registry called WebWisher. We sold that company within a year; it’s now part of theKnot.com and has expanded to a multi-platform business in 15 countries. Next, I started an educational consulting company: Stacy Blackman Consulting, which is now the leader in its field. 

I have a fantastic team in place running SBC and a few years ago started to contemplate building a consumer products company. I wanted to do something meaningful and just needed a great idea.

What inspired you to start your business?

My son was ultimately my inspiration. I was at lunch with a friend; between us, we have seven kids. We were discussing that our girls’ bathrooms are overflowing with products, but our sons had nothing. When the boys started to sprout a few pimples, we realized there is truly nothing developed specifically for a teenage boy. In some ways, self-care for boys was considered to be shameful. Most boys were borrowing pink, highly-scented cleansers from the girls, using embarrassing medicinal zit creams from the ’80s or using nothing at all. In this selfie generation, kids were always online and growing increasingly self-conscious.  We knew our boys deserved better and decided to create something to meet that need.

Where is your business based?

The business is based in Los Angeles.

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

We started before we were even close to “ready” and just put one foot in front of the other. Because I have a partner who is a dermatologist, we knew exactly what ingredients we wanted to use in our formulation. But she is not a chemist or a manufacturer. For that, we started tapping into contacts, asking lots of questions, and hitting up good old Google! We needed to find the perfect manufacturer. It took us well over a year to perfect our formula.

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

We have been very clear about our key benefits: Stryke Club is clean, simple, effective, and “locker room worthy”. The boys and their moms are our biggest advocates. On and offline, they tell and show the results. They are excited to show up in front of the camera and are excited to display our products on their bathroom counters.

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

The biggest challenge was educating myself on consumer products and the skincare industry. That’s still a work in progress. Now, I am also learning about the retail landscape, and the various options and entities. Doing these things meant that I had to overcome self-doubt and just believe that I can navigate anything one step at a time. It’s not a straight line. It’s messy and full of ups and downs and crazy mistakes that we laugh about now. At the end of the day, I now have increased confidence that I can learn and do hard things!

How do you stay focused?

I am a slave to my calendar and very carefully plan out my day the night before. I make room for all the highest priority tasks plus things like a workout and lunch with a friend, or time with my kids. I schedule the work and the play to make sure that both happen.

How do you differentiate your business from the competition?

At this point, there simply are not many options designed with teen and tween boys in mind. When we differentiate from unisex products, we highlight that we are founded by a renowned pediatric dermatologist who developed and tested our formulas and has used these ingredients in her clinic for over a decade and knows they work. Our unique mix of ingredients is not found anywhere else on the aisles you generally browse. They are clean, simple, and effective, and our lifestyle brand is built “for the boys,” and meant to be a point of pride in their routine.

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

At this point, we are only sold on our website and the Internet has been an amazing way for us to efficiently tell our story, reach our customers, and grow our business.

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

“Begin before you are ready”. I am not big on huge business plans and models stuffed with unknowns and made up numbers. And I know that there will never be enough money, time, or knowledge to be truly ready to start. You just have to go. Start right where you are, take one step, and go. 

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

App – these days it’s Shopify. Those “ka-chings” truly are music to a small business owner’s ear! Other than that, I really do like Instagram. I love to refer to Instagram for inspiration surrounding style, entertainment, food, design, etc… it’s just a fun place for me to source ideas.

I don’t really follow any blogs right now – I am much more of a podcast fanatic, as I listen in the car and on walks, or sometimes before bed. Some favorites: Unfck Your Brain, Armchair Expert, Second Life and How I Built This. 

My favorite book right now is probably the “Great Alone”. Such a beautiful story plus great history on Alaska which I visited for the first time a few years ago.

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

My favorite business resource by far is people. I have developed an incredible network through the years and find that the conversations and inspiration I can source from my expanded crew is invaluable.

Who is your business role model? Why?

I admire Jessica Herrin, the CEO of Stella & Dot Family of brands. I worked with her when I first sold my dot-com out of business school and even then, she had that killer energy and instinct.  She continually reinvents, pushes to improve, and just doesn’t stop. She also has a true love of what she is doing and I think that is infectious. I have learned a lot by listening to her over the years.

What is your beauty routine? What are some of your favorite products?

I love playing around with different beauty products for fun and self-care but I am pretty minimal when it comes to makeup. When I find a product that I like, I am crazy loyal!

My beauty routine is to cleanse at night using my Clarisonic and our Stryke Club Face First cleanser. Even though it was created for boys, there is nothing on the market that matches it! It is super clean and simple, anti-inflammatory, unscented, no crazy preservatives. It does not dry or irritate my skin. I like to use Vintner’s Daughter Serum after I wash and I often follow up with BeautyCounter CounterTime moisturizer. 

In the morning: I shower with Stryke Club Everywhere Wash which I use head to toe for a good, simple clean. I follow my shower with Olive & M body oil. So lovely and easy to apply. It just feels good!

And then…sunscreen rules above all: I love the Elta MD mineral sunscreen, on face, neck, chest, hands…everywhere that will see the sun!

How do you balance work and life?

I generally get my work done when the kids are in school or doing homework and am very present and turned off from work when they are around. I’m no Martha Stewart and don’t do a lot of domestic work but will rarely, if ever, trade showing up at a sporting event or a school activity. I prioritize the things that I do when I am physical with my kids as opposed to things that I do for my kids that perhaps someone else can take care of.

What’s your favorite way to decompress?

A walk or a hike, sometimes with a friend or my husband, sometimes with a great podcast, always with my dog.

What do you have planned for the next six months?

We have SO much planned for the next six to 12 months and it’s keeping all of us insanely busy. Unfortunately, I cannot get too specific but it includes new products and new channels for Stryke Club. We are incredibly excited about the company’s opportunities and growth!

How can our readers connect with you?

I am personally on Instagram @StacyBlackman

Stryke Club is www.StrykeClub.com

Instagram @StrykeClub

Facebook @ShopStrykeClub

Twitter @ClubStryke