Thirteen-year-old Lily Sandler (pictured, right) doesn't shop the way she used to. A few years ago, she thought that things just popped up in stores, like magic. Now she knows how much work and decision-making goes into every single product available for sale, and how many people help it get there. That's because she and her sister, eleven-year-old Melanie (pictured, left), along with help from their parents, are the founders and owners of Blamtastic Luscious Lip Balm, which makes natural lip balms especially for young people.

IML spoke with Lily and her mom Renee about Blamtastic and their journey from a random idea to a successful, growing business. 

IML: How did Blamtastic first come about?

Renee: It all started when I was reading in the Wall Street Journal about how few female CEO's there were in Fortune 500 companies. At that time there were only 12. I know women make up 50% of the workforce, so that didn't square up with me very well! I thought about my two girls, these girls who are going to go out into that workforce. I read the article to them and they said, that really stinks. I told them, "If you ever decide that you'd like to start a business of your own, I will support you, because I think that's the key to controlling your own destiny.

Lily: The idea for Blamtastic was kind of an accident. I was looking for my lip balm one day, and I said, "Mom, where's my lip blam...I mean balm!" And she said, "Wow, that would be a really good name for a lip balm company."

IML: So you had a cool idea. What was the first step from there?

Lily: We started by ordering a bunch of lip balm bases and we cooked them up in our kitchen. We saw what we liked and what we didn't like, then sent what we liked to a manufacturer and they made it for us. It was a really fun process.

Renee: At first, it was really just an experiment. As we started to play around with the product and get it out there to the community, we realized we had a good product to sell. Then the girls and I got together with their dad and decided, are we going to go for this and take it to the next level? Because if we are, we've got to get a business plan together and get funding, and get serious. So we decided to go for it.

IML: How did you first get the lip balms out there to...you know...lips?

Lily: At first we did a test run at the mall. We saw what people were more fond of, what they didn't like so much, and in the end it really did sell pretty well. We saw that this was something that people want and need on the market: a natural lip balm. A product that's been done over and over, but making it even better and taking it to the next level.

IML: How did you put together the lip balm flavors?

Lily: We ordered different scents and sweeteners, and we tried out what we liked out of certain smells. We narrowed it down to five flavors for boys and five flavors for girls. In the end, we had ten flavors we were going to launch in the first run.

IML: Did you invite your friends to try things out?

Lily: In the beginning, we would make a flavor and I would take it to school and see what my friends liked and what they didn't really go for as much. If they didn't like it, then we trashed it. If they did like it, then we gave it a try!

Renee: I think every neighbor on our street has participated in our testing!

IML: So nowadays, who does what in the company?

Renee: This is the girls' business; they started it, but they can't run it at the level we're at now. I work 60-80 hours a week and the girls participate when they can. Melanie is kind of the creative force behind things; she'll come up with ideas and flavors. Lily is the mouthpiece of Blamtastic...she likes to participate in promoting the company.

IML: Lily, do you and your sister get into disagreements about the business?

Lily: Well, aside from me and my sister fighting about normal sibling stuff all the time, we do have disagreements about the business. Whenever we have something we're not so sure about, we'll all talk about it as a family. By the end we always seem to come to a decision about what we've been wondering about and what we can do to solve our problem.

IML: It sounds like you make sure everyone's ideas get taken seriously.

Renee: The biggest conflicts we have about developing the product line is if I come up with a concept that's just not "cool"! Lily will say, "That is just not cool enough and nobody will ever buy that." They pull me back. They know what the customers want because as tweens, they basically are the customers.

IML: You give a portion of your company's profits to causes that you care about. Why do you feel it's important to do that?

Lily: When we started our business, that was always one of our top priorities: To give back to the community and help others in need. To be able to donate something out of your business really does make it more worthwhile and gives you that warm fuzzy feeling inside.

IML: Lily, what have you learned about yourself during this whole experience?

Lily: It's been a great way to help me get in touch with my family. We've had a lot of disagreements and in the end we've been able to come through for each other, and it all comes down to the family and what we've been doing to support our business.

IML: What's your advice to other tweens who would love to start their own business?

Lily: First of all, I would like to say that starting a business is a huge commitment. But if you want to commitment to it and are really devoted, you should go for it. Do what you can to make what you're selling better and more well known to people. Make sure that you are really committing to your product and that you stick by it!

IML: Thanks, Lily and Renee! We can't wait to watch Blamtastic grow!

Lily: Thanks!

Renee: Thank you!

For more information about Lily's company Blamtastic, whose lip balms are cruelty-free, all natural, and feature flavors for boys as well as girls, visit www.blamtastic.com.

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