StarBars Goes to a Trade Show
Here I am, right before the show opened
Well, well, well, last week I finally took StarBars to a trade show. I chose the FounderMade Innovation Show in Los Angeles, thinking it would be a great fit for StarBars. We definitely produce a forward thinking, innovative product, right? Salon quality shampoo and conditioner with no plastic waste is something pretty new and great.
The FounderMade Innovation Show was bringing together the newest products, plus buyers from national chains, media, and influencers. The buyers from Sephora, CostCo, Target and Amazon Beauty were coming, plus the producers of Shark Tank.
I recruited my mom and my sister to be my brand ambassadors and come to the show to help me. We talked for hours on the phone deciding what our display would look like, how many samples to bring, and what to wear. I spent weeks making enough product to bring (did you know I make all the StarBars by hand?) I reached out to everyone I wanted to meet in advance via email or LinkedIn or Instagram.
The big day finally arrived. I stayed the previous night just outside LA and then in the morning drove the 50 miles or so to LAX to pick up my ambassadors. And by “drove” I mean sat in gridlock traffic for two and a half hours. I’ve always lived in small, rural towns (currently Mammoth Lakes, CA) and although I had heard of LA traffic I really had no concept, no idea at all what that meant. Well holy hell I sure found out. It was a soul crushing snarl of vehicles. Each lane moved for a minute and then stopped. We would crawl along at a snail’s pace, then stop. Every now and then a lane would move pretty quickly and I would think, “now I’m getting somewhere!” but then it would grind to a halt. And the best part is my car has a manual transmission. I shifted more times in those 2 1/2 hours than I have in all the nine years I have owned my car. Luckily my mom and sister’s plane was delayed so I arrived more or less on time. We drove the six miles (which took 25 minutes) to our cute hotel and then hurried to the venue to set up.
The event took place at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica. We carried in our things and found our booth site. I had thoughtfully chosen things that could be re-used, like my shelving, and bought other things secondhand like a little rug (brand new for $20 from someone who couldn’t use it) and some lovely antique German crystal glasses that I found at the thrift store for $3! I wanted to make sure I didn’t generate any garbage at all. It worked, the only thing I ended up throwing away at the end was a few pieces of tape.
It appears I may have been one of the only ones who cared about my environmental impact at the show. Another family arrived right after we did and started to set up their booth in the space next to me. The first thing the woman did was lay down a hugely fluffy pink 5’x5’ carpet. She said to me, “These rugs are great! They are so cheap that I can leave them behind after each show, or I can just throw them away without feeling bad!” My little zero-waste heart just sank. She then proceeded to set up her display. She was also selling shampoo and conditioner, but each one came in a massive plastic bottle shaped like a mermaid tail or a unicorn. Her product was completely based on the plastic bottle. So. Much. Plastic. When her booth was set up, to me it looked like a multicolored mess of bright pink and green and blue sparkly plastic, barfed out by Satan. I thought my booth looked lovely and natural next to hers. It definitely represented StarBars’ values.
The next morning we arrived at the show bright and early. At 9:00, the doors opened and the crowd streamed in. I was so excited to see other people’s products, and introduce StarBars to media, influencers, and most of all the buyers for some big stores.
The first thing I noticed was that the booth full of plastic next to me was like a magnet. People walked right past StarBars and honed in on those bright, glittery bottles. A lot of the people looked pretty plastic themselves actually. I saw super high heeled shoes, sunglasses worn indoors, long fingernails, and collagen injected lips. Poor StarBars was out of its element for sure.
Everyone had to wear a badge with the name of their company affiliation. I watched as the buyer from Target went right to the booth next to me. She chatted with them for a long time about their shampoo and conditioner, and as she started to walk away, I pounced! “Can I talk to you about my product?” I asked. “It’s also shampoo and conditioner, but in a bar form. People are becoming more aware of their environmental impact and…” I trailed off as she actually turned her head away from me and held up her hand. “I know what shampoo bars are,” she said. “Our customers are not interested. You are ten years too early.”
Surprised, I stood there for a second. Then I said, “Can I call you in ten years?” I held up my phone to scan the QR code on her badge. She kind of begrudgingly agreed, then backed away as I tried to hand her some samples.
The exact same thing happened with the pair of Sephora buyers who tried to walk by my table without stopping. I knew they already had a few shampoo and conditioner bars on their online site, so I thought they might be interested in adding StarBars. Sadly, they told me that bars aren’t “resonating” with their clientele, so they aren’t interested in taking any more. They grudgingly took a few samples; I’m hoping they will use them and realize how great they are.
My favorite interaction was with the Shark Tank producer. Same story - she was all over the mermaid shampoo, telling them they would be a great fit for Shark Tank. As she hurried past my booth, I literally grabbed her to talk about how innovative my product is. She kind of sighed and said, “well, I don’t think shampoo bars are really a fit for the program. We’ve never had any on. I don’t know, I’ll think about it. But don’t contact me, I’ll reach out to you.”
A lot of the people turned out to be really nice and listened to my story about how 900 million plastic shampoo and conditioner bottles are discarded every year in the US alone, and how one StarBar takes the place of two plastic bottles. I passed out a lot of samples, hopefully people will try them. Some people for sure looked like they care about the environment, and understood that you don’t have to sacrifice the way you look to reduce your plastic usage. But I was honestly surprised at how well the booth next to me resonated. I guess people are wired to like plastic. Or they just don’t think about the impact it is having on our poor planet.
After exploring Santa Monica the next day with my mom and sister, I set off to visit my dad in Arizona. As I drove out of town -
HA! I didn’t drive out of town at all. I sat in my car, creeping along the highway, shifting between 1st and 2nd (I may have gotten into 3rd a few times) for hours. After two hours of driving slower than I could have ridden my bike, I almost just started to WEEP when I saw the miles of brake lights ahead. My soul was literally crushed by how slow the whole mess of cars was moving.
So maybe FounderMade was the wrong venue for StarBars. I just want to thank all of my friends and customers who continue to buy StarBars and encourage me to stay strong with my product and values instead of giving up. I know there are a lot of people who care about the environment and stand with me. So please click here and buy some StarBars!
My sister setting up the booth
My sister, me and my mom before the show started
