Today we’d like to introduce you to Sanam Ghaneeian and Lane Harmer.
So, before we jump into specific questions about what you do, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
We both got our start in the marketing world studying Advertising/Communication in college while maintaining various related internships. Post-grad, we met at a digital marketing agency in Dallas, running full-funnel media for luxury beauty and fashion brands (including NARS Cosmetics, Fenty Beauty, Oscar de la Renta and more).
As consumers, we found ourselves supporting direct-to-consumer brands and noticed an opportunity to leverage our experience in a different way – catering to the rise of indie brands. Coming from entrepreneurial families, we both were compelled to take this route ourselves.
We founded Blosm Brands, a digital agency, in October of 2018 and in our first full year have partnered with over 30 companies. We’ve learned a lot, not only about starting a business – but about ourselves, our strengths/weaknesses, and what it takes to create a successful co-founder partnership.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Overall, it’s been the most rewarding, yet an equally challenging journey. For us, it mainly stemmed from understanding the logistics behind starting a business. From filing an LLC, creating a website, to financial structuring, and outreach – there was no shortage of learning curves within our first year. Luckily, we found resources that helped us streamline areas outside of our expertise (including Upwork, Quickbooks, Squarespace, etc). Often times, it was a matter of working backwards until we found what we needed (which more than likely would be applied to a future situation, whether it be internal or related to a client matter).
When you are so motivated to succeed at something, there’s a certain thrill that comes along with overcoming an obstacle. That’s why, when new challenges arise and we ultimately have no choice but to figure it out – it excites us! Sure, it can be scary at times – but we’ve learned to lean on friends/family, podcasts, fitness and most importantly each other when things get tough or don’t go as planned.
Please tell us about Blosm Brands.
Blosm Brands is a full service paid media agency that specializes in luxury, e-commerce, and fashion/beauty industries. We partner with rising brands to help establish their digital footing and achieve their business goals through paid advertising. We run everything from Google/Facebook campaigns, influencer partnerships, to publisher/video buys, and more.
We are most proud of being a large part of the growth in our clients’ business! It’s the most exciting and rewarding feeling to see the progress with our brands, specifically with scale. We’ve had brands double and triple their revenue in short periods of time by increasing spend and maintaining/exceeding return on spend goals.
Working as a two-woman team sets us apart for several reasons. We’re able to dive deep into our clients’ businesses (vs. passing on to different teams), which allows us to work efficiently based on our personal interests and skillsets. With any task that comes in, we automatically know who will own the project which streamlines our to-do’s. As we grow our team, it will be important to maintain this workflow in order to provide the highest level of service and work product for our clients.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
In hindsight, while there are things that could have been done differently to improve the short term scenario, we wouldn’t change it because of what the mistakes have taught us along the way. Whether it’s been a contract clause, the way we position our business or working with people that didn’t align with our values – we’ve learned from it all and have adjusted our business along the way.
At the end of the day, trust has been at the core of our business – in each other, the people we work with and in the journey. Starting a business is no joke – you’re sharing financials, time and goals with someone else and it’s important to feel comfortable and ensure you’re on the same page. Luckily, we already had experience working together, so the transition was smooth on our end. We couldn’t imagine engaging in a partnership that was anything short of 100% transparency.
Self-care is also something we both have prioritized since the beginning, even when things get crazy, which helps us to keep everything in perspective. Ultimately, we can’t work as efficiently if we’re overworked, tired, sick, etc. We do this simply by working out most days, eating healthy, listening to podcasts, and creating space for mental/physical rest. Building longevity is important, therefore we want to ensure we are able to operate at optimum capacity.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.blosmbrands.com
- Email: hello@blosmbrands.com
- Instagram: @blosmbrands
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