Meet Belinda Lau | Founder & CEO

We had the good fortune of connecting with Belinda Lau and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Belinda, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
My story in entrepreneurship started at a very young age. Before I was born, my parents moved here from Southeast Asia with $14 in their pockets, and they started a life here on sheer hustle. They opened up a small gift shop in the city, and that is where I grew up. Have you ever been to a restaurant or a convenience store and there was a kid behind the counter doing their homework? Well, that was me. And that was my early taste of running a business. When I was a teenager, my dad started a luggage manufacturing business, eventually employing over 400 people. He was a true entrepreneur and I was lucky to learn from him how to do things in business at an early age. Soon after I graduated from college, my dad passed away from cancer. I spent the next 15 years of my life at a Fortune 500 company. It was a great company and a secure job, but I always felt unsatisfied, to the point of almost having a low grade depression. I am an ideas person, and I have more ideas than I have time in the day! So finally, in 2019, I jumped in with both feet and started Elims, an oral care company rooted in effectiveness and sustainability. I felt compelled by the mission to healthcare and the planet, and by being my own boss. I love it! And never looked back. In fact, once I experienced what entrepreneurship was, I was completely hooked and I could never go back to corporate life. I knew that this was the path forward for me, where I can be in control of my time and my destiny.

What should our readers know about your business?
Elims is an oral care company at the cross section of effectiveness, modern design and sustainability. We are so proud to have created a line of products that the oral care desperately needs: one that puts healthcare AND planet care first. Each of our products are backed by science and clinical data, and they are also much better for the planet than our competitors in this industry. And we have many accolades to prove it. We recently graduated from the Cleantech Open, the largest business accelerator for sustainable technologies where we were the only healthcare company. We also have won over $46,000 in awards from several competitions, solidifying our product-market fit. But it wasn’t easy. We have had several setbacks, from other companies copying our work to founders’ disagreements. We were also set back by the global pandemic, which limited our ability to work with suppliers and vendors (since we could not travel to see them and work on product development). The pandemic also limited our ability to raise funds to keep our business going. Luckily, we are flexible and rolled with every punch thrown our way, and learned to pivot quickly. For example, when one supplier decided to “ghost” us, we quickly went back to our list of other suppliers and found another that was happy to take the job. We have learned to be nimble in our approach, constantly talking to our customers to check if we are still on track and to work only with people who believe in our vision. Finally, we learned that we have to always stay true to ourselves and be authentic, despite what all the (good intended) advice is we get, and to stick to our mission at all costs. Without our mission, we are just a “me too” company, and not different from anyone else out there. I would want the world to know that we have a simple promise. We are human, just like you, and we are doing everything we can with the technology we have to bring the most effective and sustainable oral care to you; we are not perfect and neither is our business, products or processes. But we are definitely better than any other oral care company out there. And, if you join us in this journey, our promise is that we will continue to do better, continue to innovate and to invest in technologies that will bring better oral care and better sustainability to the world.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
If my best friend was visiting, I would arrange a week around delicious food, great company, experiencing something unique to LA, and some good old fashion R&R. I would take her to some of my favorite restaurants, like Osteria Mozza for a phenomenal but unpretentious Italian dinner, and Matsuhisa, Nobu’s OG sushi restaurant. I would also take her to some fancy happy hours, so we can dress up and feel pretty, while grabbing drinks and enjoying each other’s company. We would probably go somewhere around Beverly Hills so she can feel some Hollywood glam! I’d want her to experience some fun things around LA that are unique to this amazing city. For example, I’d take her to hike around the Hollywood sign (can’t do that anywhere else in the world!), and to visit the Broad museum. Finally, I’d bake in a lot of R&R in K-town, going to my favorite Korean spas where we would relax, eat delicious meals cooked by Korean grandmas and get scrubs and massages. That would be the PERFECT week!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I owe everything that I am to the people in my life, so my shoutout firstly goes to my parents who have taught me about grit and hustle in balance with love and compassion, And also to my husband Casey, who is the most supportive partner I could have ever asked for and has made all of my dreams come true.

Website: www.thisiselims.com
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/belindaleelau/