The Interview: Founder Zoe Boikou on Zoeva's journey to success and how she positions it for continued growth
Zoeva celebrates the idea that makeup is much more than just a beauty product, but an expression of individuality, strength and, above all, self-love. The brand, which is known for its makeup and brushes, champions this idea not only through its products but also by creating meaningful connections with its community.
The business was founded in 2008 by Zoe Boikou, alongside her sister Barbara, after she realised that there were no adequate, high-quality makeup brushes on the market at an affordable price.
She began selling her own brushes on eBay from home, which quickly became more successful than she ever anticipated and led to the growth Zoeva has experienced as a global beauty brand since.
In this interview with TheIndustry.beauty, Boikou speaks about Zoeva's growth, the benefits of influencer marketing, how she positions the brand for continued success, and her advice from anyone starting or scaling a beauty business.
What inspired you to launch Zoeva?
Family is at the heart of all I do and all that has driven me to achieve my goals. My mother has always inspired me and my sister and our goal was always to create a life where we were independent and could make her proud.
We loved watching her apply her makeup, watching the ritual and time she took for herself, and how it felt like we were being brought into the sisterhood of artistry as self-care and a way to explore creativity. She sacrificed a huge amount in order for myself and my sister to have a safe, happy life, and our work to build the Zoeva brand is all about passing on the story and journey and leading by example that with hard work and support, independence and success are achievable and that you can change the narrative of your life to whatever you wish.
Did you have a clear vision of what you wanted the brand to be and how does the concept of sisterhood come into this?
I have the privilege of working with my sister Barbara, the other half of myself. Sisterhood has always been our anchor in life and in business and we have been each other’s constant for life. Sisterhood to us means so much more than blood relation, it also is free of gender and relationship and is a feeling we engender in all we do through Zoeva. It is about community, collaboration, honest conversation, and bringing everyone along on the journey of what makeup can do for self-esteem, confidence and self-care, as well as bringing a sense of fun, freedom and independence.
I knew from the start that this was what Zoeva was going to stand for and that the vision of keeping this at the heart and soul of the business was key. It is our difference maker, how we can always anchor our decision making, and how the brand grows and evolves. We always ask ourselves the questions – does this feel like sisterhood, does this speak to our core values? – and if we can say yes, then we confidently know that it is the right move for Zoeva, me, my sister, and our community.
How do you feel about the brand’s growth since launch in 2008? Can you tell me about any highlight moments, plus any challenges and how you overcame them?
Just seeing you ask the question about growth since 2008 fills me with pride. The fact that we are a business celebrating our sixteenth anniversary this year is something I had always hoped for and knew we could do, but to see it become a reality is a real highlight and something we are forever grateful for. Also to see the community for Zoeva grow and the reviews we receive for our products, both in terms of quality and price point, makes me hugely proud. We have done what we set out to do without compromising on our principles or aspirations and continue to offer affordable, high-quality products to our community, who share their love for the brand. It is the sisterhood around the world we had always dreamt of.
Of course, there are moments of owning a business that are always going to challenge. Bringing new people into the business, expanding our sisterhood, and taking on new perspectives is always a risk and definitely felt challenging to begin with because Barbara and I work so intuitively together. However, we always trust our gut and it has led us to some fantastic people and opportunities and we feel so strongly that the challenges are there to lead us to the next phase of the business.
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I remember the brand doing well with the blogging/YouTube community. How do you think marketing, both organic and paid, has changed since those earlier days. What is most effective for the brand now?
Zoeva has always been about sisterhood, right from the start. We are so grateful to the community we built from day one in the blogging/You Tube space and how they continue to support us and celebrate their love for the brand. There are too many names to list, but we hope they have all felt our love and gratitude for them. It meant the world to see them expressing their artistry using our brand.
Absolutely the world has changed and the growth of the makeup category as well as the creator communities means that what we achieved in 2008 is just not possible now, but we are finding new ways to engage communities and introduce them to the sisterhood, which feels like those early days and is really inspiring and exciting.
For example, we adore our nano creator community and watching them explore the brand for the first time and introduce it to their network, whether it's 50, 500 or 5,000 followers. Their power, insight and passion takes us back to 2008 and how personal the conversations felt on a blog or a YouTube channel, and we want to get to know them all as personally as we can!
How does Zoeva perform in the UK in comparison to other markets? Is it an important region for the brand?
The UK is a hugely important market for us. Germany is our home market, but due to the love the brand received in the early days by some formidable content creators in the UK, we feel that gave us a really secure grounding and a sisterhood that makes us feel like we also have a British brand, with German roots. We absolutely want to continue that feeling with the next generation of content creators.
What are your future ambitions for the brand?
Our ambitions are to continue to expand and create a community of sisterhood and produce the best quality, most affordable products for our community. We can see how the landscape is changing and how many brands sadly come and go, so our ambitions are quite focused and singular so we can stay the course and be around to celebrate more milestone birthdays.
How do you position Zoeva for continued success?
We really believe our opportunity is sticking to our core messaging, our core community and continually listening to them and what they need and want from us. That motivates us and inspires our creativity to continue producing the best quality products at affordable prices, supporting as many people as we can to explore their individual beauty and feel connected through the Zoeva sisterhood.
What advice would you give to someone starting or scaling their own beauty business?
My best advice I can give is to believe in what you are doing wholeheartedly, be passionate about it, and love it, as the path to success is not a straight line. The more great and talented people you surround yourself with, the more inspired you get. Strive to create something that is valuable to others, and you will feel it come back to you in the most wonderful ways reflected on you in others’ stories and experiences, the ultimate success.
