Like many founders, Tiffany Staten launched her brand, London Grant, to fill a gap in the market and solve a personal need. In a search to find truly safe products to use during and after her pregnancy, London Grant was created. The brand is rooted in the “less is more” beauty stance with its non-toxic and fragrance-free body care products. Made with effective ingredients like antioxidant-rich jojoba oil and natural exfoliators like coconut palm sugars, the line contains zero frilly distractions so you can feel good about the everyday essentials you’re applying to your skin.
Learn more about the Black-owned brand out of Atlanta below, and shop the key items to add to your beauty shelf at the end.
When and why did you start your company?
“I started making the products in my small Atlanta kitchen in 2016. However, London Grant officially launched in 2018 after I found the courage to walk away from my six-figure tech-consulting and talent-development career. I started to really pay attention to the ingredients in the products I was using after becoming pregnant with my first son. I tried desperately to find products that would be both safe and effective for my baby and me, but after lengthy searches, I found that even ‘natural’ products still contained toxic and synthetic ingredients that I didn’t feel safe using while pregnant.
After realizing this gap in the body care market, I became passionate about making products to help others intentionally care for themselves. I created the Minimalist Collection to be the clean and conscious product line that so many mothers have needed.
This inspired me to create my own body butter, the Cocoa and Jojoba Body Soufflé, and I offered a micro-batch for my friends to try. After using it, they shared their stories of soothed eczema, psoriasis, dry skin, and irritation from sunburn and surgical scars. This body butter eventually became the first product of The London Grant Co. Minimalist Collection.”
I was killing it at work, and for the first time in my career, I knew for sure that I was valued. But, at one point, I started to become really sick and needed to take a step back from work. While I focused on my health, I realized that I was placing all of my self-worth in my career.
After having my son, the world I adored so much didn’t see me as a workhorse anymore. I couldn’t commit to that level of travel or the hours, and I needed to assess what was truly important. My time away from work opened my eyes to the toxic-grind culture I’d been championing. I started to establish my true life passions and align myself with a new career that truly fulfilled me (and made room for my family).”
What’s the core mission of your brand?
“The core mission of London Grant is to create beautiful experiences and trustworthy products that elevate our everyday essentials. We’re focused on purity and simplicity without compromise. I started this company to provide multi-use body products to help my customers glow inside and out. I am impassioned about inspiring others to intentionally care for themselves, and we take every opportunity to educate our community on clean, conscious consumerism.”
What’s your favorite product you sell and why?
“While Cocoa and Jojoba Body Soufflé has always been our hero product and best-seller year-over-year, Sheer Glow Body Oil has become my personal favorite. I love how it conditions the skin, and because it’s fast-absorbing, it shortens my morning routine. I use it from head to toe—to wash my face, tame frizz, and of course moisturize after the shower. I especially love combining it with one of our Body Polishes in the morning for a dewy, baby-skin glow.”
What has surprised you the most since starting your company?
“When I launched London Grant, I was blindly naive to how difficult it is to grow your customer base. I thought that online traffic, repeat customers, and word of mouth would be enough.
Beauty is a very competitive space, so refining my unique value would be critical. I began to cultivate language about our products that amplified a message of honesty and authenticity. The more I told my story, the more I connected with new customers. This type of organic customer-building is hard work and takes time, but you really get to intimately know your audience and their needs. So, I got to know my community really, really well.”
What’s a lesson you’ve learned as a founder?
“London Grant began as a creative outlet meets solution to a personal need. I never intended to start a company. In fact, my battles with ADHD, dyslexia, and major imposter syndrome almost stopped me countless times.
It took about a year to overcome feelings of imposter syndrome. I’d constantly question “Who am I to start a company?” or “Why would anyone listen to me tell them about being well?” I had been hyper-confident in who I was as a consultant, but I didn’t know if I was qualified to run a beauty brand. In that first year, I had to get out of my head and out of my own way. Order by order, I developed the experience and self-empowerment to really believe in myself. Over that first year, I started to own my strengths and really look around at what I was building. I’m so humbled by every customer, but I’m also emboldened by the grit that it took to get to make it happen.”
What can we expect in the future for London Grant?
“I have big plans for London Grant in 2021 that will expand on our core product line of effective and natural provisions. In the meantime, we are gearing up for holiday and have recently made both of our limited-release items, the Chai Spiced Latte Body Polish and Cocoa Jojoba Body Soufflé, available for preorder at londongrant.com.
I’m excited to continue to broaden our collection and continue creating products you love and trust for years to come.”
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