# Serial Entrepreneur: Marcia Kilgore (2018)

- Show: [How I Built This](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this)
- Published: 2019-08-12
- Length: 54m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2019-08-12-serial-entrepreneur-marcia-kilgore-2018

## Summary

Marcia Kilgore, founder of Bliss, Soap & Glory, FitFlop, Soaper Duper, and Beauty Pie, recounts her journey from a $300 arrival in New York to building five successful companies. She explains how a bad facial experience led to the creation of Bliss, which she sold to LVMH, and how her fitness background inspired the ergonomic shoe design of FitFlop. Kilgore discusses her strategy of launching multiple ventures simultaneously, such as Soap & Glory and FitFlop, to hedge bets, and her current focus on Beauty Pie's factory-direct cosmetics model. The episode also features a postscript on Emma Cohen and Miles Pepper, who developed The Final Straw, a collapsible metal straw, and faced rapid knockoff competition after a successful Kickstarter campaign.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2019-08-12-serial-entrepreneur-marcia-kilgore-2018#t=0) Introduction: Marcia Kilgore and the Serial Entrepreneur Story
- [1:59](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2019-08-12-serial-entrepreneur-marcia-kilgore-2018#t=119) The Bad Facial and the Birth of Bliss Spa
- [19:41](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2019-08-12-serial-entrepreneur-marcia-kilgore-2018#t=1181) Scaling Bliss, Selling to LVMH, and Leaving Starwood
- [35:37](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2019-08-12-serial-entrepreneur-marcia-kilgore-2018#t=2137) Launching Soap & Glory and Simultaneously Starting FitFlop
- [43:39](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2019-08-12-serial-entrepreneur-marcia-kilgore-2018#t=2619) The Philosophy of Beauty Pie and Serial Entrepreneurship
- [51:08](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2019-08-12-serial-entrepreneur-marcia-kilgore-2018#t=3068) Postscript: The Final Straw and Kickstarter Knockoffs

## Topics

- [Starting a product company](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/starting-a-company)
- [Validation & product-market fit](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/validation-and-product-market-fit)
- [Pricing, margins & unit economics](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/pricing-and-unit-economics)
- [Crowdfunding & preorders](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/crowdfunding)
- [Intellectual property](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/intellectual-property)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies, companies scaling up

## Mentioned

- Bliss (product)
- LVMH (company)
- Soap & Glory (product)
- FitFlop (product)
- Beauty Pie (product)
- Soaper Duper (product)
- The Final Straw (product)
- Kickstarter (other)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [006: Customizable swimwear with Kelsey Duffy of Versakini](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2016-04-19-006-customizable-swimwear-with-kelsey-duffy-of-versakini) (Product Startup)
- [Taming the Dragons whilst Saving the Planet](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/its-only-a-prototype/2025-05-01-taming-the-dragons-whilst-saving-the-planet) (It's Only a Prototype)
- [Kickstarter, Copycats, and Comebacks: RiutBag’s Rise](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/its-only-a-prototype/2025-07-01-kickstarter-copycats-and-comebacks-riutbags-rise) (It's Only a Prototype)
- [Against All Odds: Overcoming Huge Setbacks to Sell 5 Million Worldwide](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/its-only-a-prototype/2025-05-15-against-all-odds-overcoming-huge-setbacks-to-sell-5-million-worldwide) (It's Only a Prototype)
- [061: 5 Sales Channels a Home Inventor Mom Used to Launch Her Invention](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2021-02-02-061-5-sales-channels-a-home-inventor-mom-used-to-launch-her-invention) (Product Startup)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2019-08-12-serial-entrepreneur-marcia-kilgore-2018. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to How I Built This.