Show Notes
When is the bravest move as a founder to step back instead of push harder? In this episode, ILIA cosmetics founder, Sasha Plavsic, shares how letting go of the CEO role became the key to truly scaling the brand and what that decision revealed about growth, control, and identity as a founder.
We go behind the scenes of ILIA’s journey from early experiments in “clean beauty” to becoming one of the most recognisable brands in the category. Sasha opens up about the unglamorous realities of building a beauty business, the emotional cost of growth, and what it actually looks like to hand over the reins to someone else.
In this episode, we cover: How Sasha’s formative years shaped the vision for ILIA The beginning of clean beauty and what it took to stand out in a new category The realities of scaling a beauty brand Raising money as a female founder Why Sasha decided to bring in a CEO, and how she knew it was time to step back Navigating balance as a woman in business, leadership, and life
If you’re a founder, entrepreneur or brand builder who’s ever wondered whether holding on is secretly holding you back, this conversation is for you.
We Are Ladies Who Launch!
CHAPTERS 00:00 Introduction to Sasha Plasic and ILIA Beauty 05:17 School Years and Early Career Aspirations 11:24 The Birth of ILIA Beauty 19:14 Early Business Challenges and Breakthroughs 26:10 Scaling Challenges and Operational Growth 32:49 Balancing Personal Life and Business 35:24 Selling ILIA Beauty 37:03 Bringing In a CEO 44:16 Future Plans and Product Development 46:31 Rapid Fire Questions 56:11 Final Thoughts and Advice for Entrepreneurs
🔔 New episodes every Wednesday — subscribe so you never miss a launch.
FOLLOW SASHA Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sashaplavsic/ https://www.instagram.com/iliabeauty/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@iliabeauty?lang=en-GB
FOLLOW US Instagram: www.instagram.com/weareladieswholaunch/ TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@weareladieswholaunch YouTube: www.youtube.com/@Weareladieswholaunch Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
More from Ladies Who Launch
For our 100th episode, we're doing something we've never done before: our first ever round table. Rochelle is joined by Patricia Bright, Sam Faiers and Isobel Lorna for an honest conversation about why we celebrate women on the way up, then criticise them once they actually succeed.
Millie Kendall OBE has spent more than 30 years shaping the British beauty industry. She launched Shu Uemura and Aveda in the UK, co-founded the iconic makeup brand Ruby & Millie with Ruby Hammer, and now leads the British Beauty Council as its founding CEO. In this episode of Ladies Who Launch, she shares the wisdom, mistakes and reinventions behind a career that has spanned the early days of modern beauty brands.
This week on Ladies Who Launch, we're doing something a little different. Instead of sitting down with an incredible woman, we're taking you behind the scenes of the biggest moment of Rochelle's business journey so far: the launch of her skincare brand, Eulah.
Rochelle sits down with Karlee Zhang, founder of Hello Klean, who opens up about her journey from self-funding an idea that nobody had believed in, to having half a million loyal worldwide customers and expanding into luxury retail spaces.
Connie Nam founded Astrid & Miyu from her flat in Notting Hill in 2012, with a £500 website and a bold £2,000-a-month bet on PR she funded from her own savings. Since then, the brand has grown to 30+ international stores and a reported £50 million in turnover.