I’ve always envied the entrepreneurial type who goes searching for a product, can’t find it, and decides the most logical solution is to create it—oftentimes with no experience or expertise in the industry. Tara Simich is that type: her 2019 leap into the beauty industry led to the invention of the Mermade waver, a viral hair tool that has since sold over half a million units.
Serial Entrepreneur Tara Simich experienced viral success in the haircare industry
Twenty-nine at the time, the former PricewaterhouseCoopers employee was no stranger to entrepreneurship. She shares with me on The Failure Factor podcast that at nineteen she started The Jungle Body, a dance fitness company which presently has locations in over 20 countries.
With her global fitness franchise humming along, Simich was ready for a new challenge. And the idea came to her while inspired to wave her hair for a wedding: as a working mom-of-two, she couldn’t find anything that created the modern style she was looking for efficiently. She got her husband Steve on board, and together they went to China in search of what would ultimately become Mermade’s hero product. The couple agreed to invest $20,ooo in units they would store in their garage. They set up a Shopify site, and did a photoshoot with friends as their models. They then turned to Instagram as their sole marketing platform, going “really heavy on influencers.” Simich describes the product as “going viral”overnight—the scenario Instagram e-commerce business dreams are made of.
Searching for a modernized version of her 90's crimper, Simich designed Mermade's hero product: the ... [+]
Yet Mermade wasn’t prepared for the supply chain issues and social media backlash that would ensue. Unable keep up the waver in stock, Simich and her team struggled to get product to customers in a timely manner. When the pandemic hit, the supply issues worsened dramatically. Mermade’s Instagram page was inundated with comments from unhappy customers, claiming the business was a scam. Simich describes the Instagram “trolling” as being even worse to navigate than the supply chain issues:
“One of the most stressful parts was the social media part,” she explained. “Having people trolling saying I haven’t received my product. It can take one bad review or one bad moment to potentially bring down a brand. I would constantly wake up in the middle of the night, looking at my phone waiting for the next negative comment.”
In an attempt to mitigate damage to the brand, Simich and her team made some challenging decisions. They ended up air-freighting product, which cost nearly $9 per unit (in comparison to about fifty cents per unit to ship by water). Simich herself called customers and retailers to explain the situation:
“I would literally call people. If we had someone who was really upset or there was a problem with the product, I would call the random person in Oregon and I would say I’m so sorry, this is who I am. We are not this massive, billion dollar company. We launched 6 months ago and are trying our absolute best. Same with buyers and retailers and it always worked. We would just talk through it—get on a Zoom call and do our absolute best to get a positive outcome.”
Over the course of our podcast interview, Simich revealed the seven spiritual principles that led to Jungle Body and Mermade’s success—and that every entrepreneur (and human!) should harness for success and a joy-filled life:
1. Practice Equanimity
As a therapist and executive coach, one of the foremost lessons I teach my clients is the importance of maintaining equanimity—or mindfulness—in response to the ups and downs of entrepreneurship. Getting swept away by our emotions in response to (what we perceive at the time as) a positive or negative event risks operating from a place of overconfidence or paralyzing defeat. We want to be watching the rollercoaster, not riding it.
“One of the biggest things I’ve learned is that nothing is ever as good or as bad as it seems,” Simich recalls. “You feel like it’s the end of the world, or—likewise, when you get a win, you feel on top of the world.”
She emphasizes the importance of “managing emotions,” which can be achieved by meditation, coaching or therapy, journaling, and other forms of self-care.
“The one thing we know about life is that it will be up and down, and the one thing you can control is how you react: if you can manage your emotions throughout whatever things get thrown at you, you’re always better off.”
2. Be Kind
“Wake up every day and be kind, and your team will thrive,” says Simich. Whether we’re talking about our relationship to team members, vendors, customers, or the relationship to ourselves, kindness is a necessary component for growth and risk-taking. I teach my clients how to practice self-compassion and compassionate leadership, in which expectations are high but realistic and flexible based on circumstances. When we’re not being kind (to others or to ourselves), we create an environment of shame, fear, defensiveness, and ultimately stagnancy.
“My biggest learning was when things go wrong, you need people to help sort it out. The better your relationships are with those people, the easier it is to get through those challenges. If we got closed off and horrible and defensive, we might not have gotten through. I really think that simple act of being kind helped us get through the challenges to where we are now.”
3. Set Boundaries With Your Time and Practice Self-Care
One of the questions I often ask clients is, “Are you currently in a sprint, or is this how you intend to run the whole race?” If they answer with the latter, my follow up question is, “Is this sustainable?” Whether running one’s business or running one’s life, we’re on track for burnout if we’re not protecting the time we use to recharge.
“Try and get daily balance,” Simich advises. “Every single day I fill all my own cups and schedule in my own time. Be disciplined protecting that time.”
4. Compartmentalize (and Surrender to What you Can’t Control at the Moment)
Simich describes a time when—because of the pandemic-related supplies issues—they were getting “hit from all ends.” She and her team were struggling to satisfy unhappy customers, suppliers, manufacturers, and shipping agents.
Simich credits her ability to compartmentalize and prides herself on being able to compartmentalize each issue:
“I visually see the issues in my head, [ask] how I can react to it so it serves me well. Then I visually in my head close the door. Or I’ll write it down, I have a diary and am ‘old school’ when it comes to paper and pen. It was the only way I could get through so many [challenges at once].”
As for issues that are currently unresolvable, she recommends surrendering control and not fixating on them until she has more information or agency. “There was a day when everything really went to shit, and we went to the beach.”
One of my favorite sayings is “Pain x struggle = suffering.” When there’s nothing we can do in a moment to resolve our pain, we create suffering by struggling against it. A better option is to stop resisting, surrender, cope, and trust that the tide will eventually shift.
5. Practice Humility and Discipline
In the ‘founder fetish’ and instant gratification era, we often ignore the less sexy notion of discipline. And yet, this is one of the most important components of success and a satisfying life: doing uncomfortable things. Meditation and therapy often don’t feel good—rather, they’re opportunities for us to practice tolerating what’s uncomfortable and growing those muscles so we can go to new, scary places. Same goes for building a company or following a dream.
“Don’t wish for it, work for it,” says Simich. “It’s hard work. And even if it’s motherhood, that’s just as—actually more important than your CEO life. Anything good in life takes hard work. The personal growth you get from all those challenges is intangible, and the best thing you can do for yourself.”
If we want to be successful, it’s important to accept that there are places where we just have to clean the proverbial toilets.
6. Remember Why You’re Here
So often I meet leaders who’ve placed their entire self-worth in the success (or failure) of their business. That’s a precarious place to be. While it’s unrealistic to detach entirely from outcome of the journey, Simich emphasizes the importance of integrity—acting in alignment with one’s values—along the way:
“Having millions of dollars doesn’t make you happy. It’s the feeling that you did your best that allows you to have that true happiness. Nothing is a given, and as long as you know you’ve done your best and you’re trying your best, that’s all you really need to live with.”
Recounting the time “everything went to shit” and she and her family went to the beach, she leaned on values unrelated to work: family and being present. “When things really go wrong, [what you value is what] you’ve gotta cherish the most.”
7. Enjoy the Journey
When we’re working toward a goal, it can be so easy to be dissatisfied until it’s achieved. But there will always be another goal or area of improvement, and if we’re always focused on what we (or life) lacks, we can’t enjoy all it offers in the present.
Simich shares how her husband’s dad passed away “a couple of years ago, very young.”
“That was such a grounding moment for us to [realize] you’ve gotta enjoy the journey. We’re workaholics. We work seven days a week and we love working seven days a week—but life is so short and so precious and it’s so important you enjoy the journey every day.”
Check out The Failure Factor podcast for the full interview.
