Building a Brand & Raising Babies | Laney Crowell on Motherhood, Clean Beauty & Real Balance

Lo takes a walk through Tribeca with beauty founder and mom of two, Laney Crowell, the force behind Saie, one of the fastest-growing clean makeup brands on the shelves of Sephora and Kohl’s.

They get into it all — from the real challenges of being a founder and mom, to creating high-performance makeup that actually improves your skin. Laney shares how motherhood shaped her founder habits, what makes Saie different in a sea of celebrity brands, and why storytelling might be the most powerful tool in business. This episode is filled with founder wisdom, product nerd moments, and unfiltered reflections on how to build a brand (and a life) that feels good and does good.

Key Takeaways:
1. What Laney did differently to break through in a crowded, celebrity-dominated beauty space
2. Why the "that makes no sense" moments are usually where big business ideas are born
3. The surprising reason Saie’s ingredient list reads like a skincare label
4. How being a mom made her a more focused, efficient founder
5. Why storytelling and team culture fuel Saie's rapid growth
6. What clean beauty really means — and why it’s more complex than just “no chemicals”

Chapters:
00:00 – Welcome to Lo On The Go
00:37 – Walking through Tribeca to meet Laney Crowell
02:00 – Why travel and rhythm fuel her creativity
03:00 – Starting Saie during COVID and scaling fast
04:00 – The problem-solving mindset of successful founders
05:30 – What happens when your clean beauty brand hits every Sephora
07:00 – Why mineral sunscreen matters (and how Saie makes it wearable)
09:00 – Laney’s unexpected journey from editorial to entrepreneurship
11:30 – How her wellness obsession shaped the Saie brand
13:00 – Building a sustainable office that feels like home
15:00 – “That makes no sense” as a north star for starting a business
17:00 – The power of using nourishing ingredients in makeup
18:30 – Why storytelling drives the brand and marketing at Saie
20:00 – Formulating without fillers and fighting for better alternatives
21:30 – How being a mom changed her founder lifestyle
23:00 – Her daily wellness routine (and how she protects her sleep)
25:00 – Are all chemicals bad in beauty?
27:00 – Makeup is always self-care, not vanity
28:30 – Wrapping up — and stocking up on sunscreen

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