In Conversation with Stephanie Tien and Kristina Knox, Co-founders of Arbre
By: Heather For Founders
Tags: Startup Lessons, Sustainability, Entrepreneurship, Skincare, Young Entrepreneur

Combining passion for skincare, science, and entrepreneurship, Kristina Knox and Stephanie Tien are Co-founders of Arbre, a sustainable suncare company. The idea of Arbre stemmed from a sunburn Stephanie suffered during a fun summer trip. The two quickly realized there are no viable sun protection solutions for the scalp, as many people do not enjoy wearing hats either. After realizing this issue, Kristina and Stephanie joined ICUBE at UTM and the Hub at UTSC to develop their first mineral-based SPF product for Arbre. Kristina and Stephanie’s long-term vision for Arbre is a full line of inclusive sunscreen products for every skin type. Arbre also wants to provide something sustainable, as current sunscreens contain ingredients that are harmful to marine life. Kristina and Stephanie joined Heather to discuss their journey as entrepreneurs:

On being an entrepreneur with a science background:

Kristina: “Joining incubators like ICUBEreally helped guide us step-by-step as to how to start a business. Having a science background and doing research for both undergrad and grad school has shown me I have the skills to learn new things and excel at them. It gave me the confidence to try something new and figure out how to do them well.”

Stephanie: “Coming from STEM helps you learn problem-solving. It is valuable in any industry, especially entrepreneurship. Not coming from a business background, I had a bit of Impostor Syndrome at the beginning — I wondered if I actually had the skills to start a business. When we first started, Kristina and I had an idea and a vague understanding of a bunch of different aspects to building a business… but we didn’t know how to piece everything together. Joining an incubator really helped us go from zero to having a business set up. Not everyone needs a business background to be an entrepreneur!”

On juggling entrepreneurship with other aspects of life:

Stephanie: “It takes discipline to be motivated. You need to think of your venture as a marathon, not a sprint. Especially with a lot of tech companies, their path of growth is very fast. In one year, a tech startup can have a good product and many users. You just need to realize this doesn’t happen for everyone, especially companies that are developing new formulas or manufacturing physical products. You need to be patient and your effort will eventually add to the big picture. Just be disciplined and stay motivated!”

Kristina: “Having a co-founder and an incredible supportive network is really important. You don’t need a co-founder, but having supportive people who respect your decision to work on your venture instead of hanging out makes a huge difference. On the co-founder note, sharing responsibilities is incredibly helpful. Sharing the workload helps us balance other aspects of life.”

On working with co-founders:

Stephanie: “It really depends on your personality. Starting a venture is a huge undertaking, it takes a lot of courage to start something on your own. It can get lonely, whereas meeting and working with someone together can be encouraging. I don’t want to discourage people from starting a venture on their own, because many people are successful in that too. It really depends on what type of person you are.”

On working with an external contractor:

Stephanie: “The biggest thing with being an entrepreneur is you’ll realize you can’t do everything on your own and you need to grow your team at some point. When the time comes, you need to be honest with yourself to allow a smoother transition into finding a good team!”

Kristina: “You’ll know you need to outsource when your internal team can’t do it. We started formulating in our kitchen but realized that to perfect the formula we need someone with a specialized background. We looked for formulators and spoke with many to see if their experiences fit our needs and who would work well with us.”

Advice for people who are considering becoming an entrepreneur:

Kristina: “Really reach out to your network and look for mentors and communities where you can find like-minded people who have a skill set you’d like to learn from. This way you don’t feel alone in your journey and you have someone to ask for help!”

Stephanie: “COVID-19 was hard for entrepreneurs but also opened up many opportunities! You can take advantage of workshops and events at different organizations across the world — it helped us a lot without the geographical barrier to access. It’s a good time to get started!”

On Arbre’s biggest wins so far:

Kristina: “One thing I’m the most proud of is incorporating our company this year! The other one is getting our first prototype with our formulator!”

Stephanie: “Connecting with people in the community online who are interested in Arbre has been a big win for us! When we started, we were not sure what the response would be like. But we connected with so many amazing people in this niche community who support us. That has been an amazing experience.”

Arbre is planning for the launch of their debut product in 2022. Keep up to date and connect with them on their Instagram page @wearearbre!