Starting a product-based business does not require you to have everything figured out. Sometimes, it requires you to be willing to figure it out as you go.
That is one of the biggest lessons from Wendy Kushel, founder of Wendala’s, a personal care brand known for its innovative sugar scrubs.
Wendy did not start her entrepreneurial journey with years of CPG experience, a large team, or unlimited capital. In fact, her career before Wendala’s included wine and liquor sales, acting, stand-up comedy, and other jobs that might seem completely unrelated to building a personal care brand.
Yet those experiences gave her something incredibly valuable: persistence, sales skills, confidence, and the ability to be scrappy.
Today, Wendala’s has made its way from farmers markets and local retailers to national retail opportunities, including Walmart and Ace Hardware. Wendy even earned a Walmart Open Call Golden Ticket on her second attempt.
Her story offers a powerful lesson for product-based founders: you do not need to wait until you're ready to pursue retail. You need to start getting into the game.
Wendy Didn't Start With a Perfect Product
Wendy discovered sugar scrubs when she was around 50 years old. Someone suggested mixing sugar and coconut oil and using it in the shower. She immediately loved the experience.
But her first thought was essentially, "Anyone can mix sugar and coconut oil together."
Instead of immediately turning the idea into a business, she put it on the back burner.
Eventually, she decided to give entrepreneurship a shot.
Her first product was actually manufactured for her. But an unexpected request from a retailer changed the direction of the business.
A store asked Wendy if she could create a eucalyptus lavender and rosemary mint product that would help remove food odors from hands after cooking.
That request became a turning point.
Wendy created the product, debuted it at a pop-up event, and discovered that customers responded strongly to it. Those early products eventually became some of the core products of Wendala’s.
The lesson for founders is important: your first version does not have to be your final version.
Sometimes the market helps you discover what your product should become.
Your Customers Can Help You Find Your Product-Market Fit
One of the most interesting parts of Wendy's story is how much she learned from selling directly to consumers.
Farmers markets became more than a sales channel. They became a testing ground.
Customers would smell the products, try the scrubs, react to them, and tell Wendy what they loved. They would also suggest new products.
Wendy learned to listen.
But she also learned that listening does not mean acting on every suggestion.
Customers suggested products that did not necessarily perform well. Wendy used actual sales performance to determine which ideas were worth pursuing.
For example, some of her products did not sell particularly well, while others consistently gained traction.
That gave her a simple way to distinguish between customer noise and meaningful feedback:
Listen to what customers say, but watch what they actually buy.
For product-based founders, this is one of the most valuable forms of market research you can get.
Before spending heavily on new product development, ask:
- What are customers repeatedly asking for?
- What products do they repeatedly buy?
- What products do they tell their friends about?
- Which products perform well across multiple locations?
- Which ideas sound exciting but have little sales behind them?
Your customers may give you 100 ideas. Your sales data can help you determine which one deserves to become your next big investment.
Retail Buyers Don't Always Want Your Entire Product Line
Another important lesson from Wendy's retail journey is that one assortment does not necessarily fit every retailer.
Wendala's has more than 30 SKUs, but Wendy does not pitch every product to every retailer.
For Ace Hardware, she emphasized products that made sense for that shopper, including Dirt X and Fish Away. For other retailers and specialty stores, she focuses on different products.
That is a critical distinction for founders pursuing wholesale:
Do not ask, "How do I get my entire line into this retailer?" Ask, "Which products make the most sense for this retailer's customer?"
A buyer is not simply looking at whether your product is good.
They are thinking about:
- Their customer
- Their category
- Their assortment
- Their price points
- Their shelf space
- Your competitive positioning
- Your sales potential
- Whether your product fills a need
The more clearly you can show why a particular SKU belongs in that retailer, the stronger your pitch becomes.
Wendy's Scrappy Approach Helped Her Get Into Retail
Wendy's retail growth did not come from sitting around waiting for buyers to discover her.
She went looking for opportunities.
She participated in industry events and trade shows. She built lists of retailers she wanted to target. She sent sell sheets. She cold-called.
And sometimes, she simply walked into stores.
Her Ace Hardware story is a perfect example.
Wendy initially went into a store in Maryland and began working her way through the organization. After several months of referrals and conversations, she realized she was not getting anywhere.
So she found the CEO on LinkedIn and reached out directly.
That connection ultimately led her to the buyer and, eventually, a purchase order for 21 stores.
Her takeaway?
Sometimes you have to stop waiting for the right person to find you and go find the right person yourself.
For founders, that does not mean blindly emailing CEOs at every company you want to work with. It means understanding how a retailer's buying organization works, identifying who has influence, and being persistent enough to keep moving forward.
The Walmart Golden Ticket Came From Being Herself
Wendy had Walmart on her vision board for years.
She applied through RangeMe multiple times, and on her second attempt, she was selected for meetings.
One of the products selected for her presentation was Fish Away, a product Wendy herself wasn't initially sure would be the right choice.
Then came the buyer meeting.
Wendy had learned that her personality was part of what made Wendala's different. So instead of trying to become someone she thought a Walmart buyer wanted to see, she brought the personality of her brand into the room.
At farmers markets, Wendy demonstrates her products using a sink and has customers physically experience the sugar scrub.
She calls the demonstration "mushy mush."
And yes, she did the mushy mush at Walmart.
In a pink apron.
In front of a sporting goods buyer.
And she walked out with a Golden Ticket.
The story is funny, but the retail lesson underneath it is serious.
Your brand has a personality. Let people see it.
Being professional does not mean being forgettable.
If your product is playful, innovative, colorful, luxurious, irreverent, or highly functional, your pitch should help the buyer understand what makes it different.
The goal is not to perform.
The goal is to make the buyer remember you.
Getting on the Shelf Is Not the Same as Winning on the Shelf
Perhaps one of the most valuable parts of Wendy's story comes after the Walmart yes.
She received an order for more than 10,000 jars.
For a small brand manufacturing its own products, that was enormous.
Wendy and her team made the products, filled the jars, labeled them, shrink-wrapped them, assembled displays, boxed everything, palletized it, and shipped it.
The process took months.
And then came another reality of retail:
Getting your product into the store does not guarantee that shoppers will see it or buy it.
Wendy discovered that some of her products did not make it onto the shelf as expected. In some stores, the products were still sitting in back rooms or trailers.
She also learned that merchandising matters.
A product can be sitting technically "in the store" while still being practically invisible to the shopper.
That realization led Wendy to invest in caddies and displays that could help her products stand out.
For founders, this is a crucial mindset shift.
Your retail responsibility does not necessarily end when the buyer gives you a purchase order.
You need to think about:
Will the product actually make it to the shelf?
Will shoppers understand what it is?
Will it stand out next to the competition?
Does the packaging communicate the benefit quickly?
Does the retailer have the right merchandising support?
How will you drive awareness and trial?
Retail success happens at the intersection of distribution, execution, merchandising, marketing, and sales.
Sampling Can Help Shoppers Understand Your Product
Wendy strongly believes in demonstrations because of her background in wine sales.
She knows that when consumers can experience a product firsthand, something changes.
That is particularly important for products where the experience is part of the value.
A sugar scrub is difficult to fully communicate through packaging alone.
You can describe it.
You can photograph it.
You can advertise it.
But actually feeling the texture and smelling the product can create an entirely different response.
This is why founders should think beyond traditional advertising.
Ask yourself:
What would make someone stop and experience my product?
That might be:
- Sampling
- Demonstrations
- Retail events
- In-store education
- Influencer content
- Before-and-after demonstrations
- Interactive displays
- Tastings
- Product trials
The best strategy depends on your category, but the principle is the same: make the product easy to understand and easy to experience.
The Hardest Part of Growth May Not Be Getting the Retailer
Wendy's story also highlights something founders do not always talk about publicly.
Sometimes the hardest part of getting bigger is not landing the retailer.
It is building the infrastructure to support the growth.
As Wendala's expanded, Wendy found herself juggling manufacturing, inventory, retailer paperwork, Shopify, financial tracking, merchandising, marketing, and logistics.
At one point, she openly acknowledged that financial tracking was a weakness and that she needed help.
That realization is not a failure.
It is actually an important sign of growth.
The skills that helped you get your first 100 customers may not be the same skills you need to manage a national retail business.
At some point, founders have to move from:
"I can do everything."
to:
"What should I still be doing myself?"
That might mean bringing in a fractional CFO, operations support, a manufacturer, a salesperson, a marketing partner, or another specialist.
The goal is not to build a huge team overnight.
The goal is to recognize where your time is becoming the bottleneck.
Your Previous Career May Be Preparing You for Your Next One
Wendy's career path is another important lesson.
She did not come from beauty.
She came from wine and liquor sales, acting, stand-up comedy, and other experiences.
At first glance, none of those things appear directly connected to building a sugar scrub brand.
But look closer.
Sales taught her how to sell.
Stand-up comedy taught her how to perform and connect with people.
Acting taught her how to present herself.
Her previous experiences gave her persistence and a willingness to hear "no."
Those skills became assets in entrepreneurship.
This is something founders often overlook.
You may think your previous career is irrelevant because it does not match the industry you are entering.
It isn't irrelevant.
The skills travel with you.
Negotiation travels.
Sales travels.
Communication travels.
Leadership travels.
Problem-solving travels.
Relationship-building travels.
Persistence travels.
Your next business may look completely different from your previous career, but that does not mean your previous experience has no value.
There Is No Expiration Date on Entrepreneurship
Perhaps the most powerful lesson from Wendy's story is that she started this chapter of her life later than many people expect.
She did not have a traditional "young founder" story.
And that is exactly why her story matters.
There are people who have spent decades building careers, raising families, managing responsibilities, or simply trying to figure out what they want to do next.
They may have an idea but believe they missed their window.
Wendy's message is essentially the opposite.
Start.
You do not have to quit your job tomorrow.
You do not need a warehouse.
You do not need a massive team.
You do not need every answer.
You can spend 10 or 15 minutes a day moving your idea forward.
Research a retailer.
Write down potential customers.
Test a product.
Talk to a buyer.
Create a prototype.
Visit a store.
Make a list.
Send an email.
Take one step.
Wendy describes it as building something brick by brick.
That is a powerful way to think about entrepreneurship because the goal is not to have the entire business built today.
The goal is to build the next piece.
The Shelf Talks Takeaway: Get in the Game
Wendy's journey from discovering sugar scrubs to building Wendala's into a growing retail brand is a reminder that there is no perfectly scripted path to retail success.
She listened to customers.
She tested products.
She pursued retailers.
She cold-called.
She walked into stores.
She contacted decision-makers.
She applied again after not getting the result she wanted.
She showed up to Walmart as herself.
She figured out the operational challenges after getting the yes.
And when she reached the point where she knew she needed help, she started looking for it.
That's what makes her story so relevant for product-based founders.
You don't have to know everything before you start.
You have to be willing to learn.
You have to be willing to hear no.
You have to be willing to change what isn't working.
And most importantly, you have to get in the game.
Because as Wendy's story proves, opportunities are much harder to find when you're standing on the sidelines.
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