Shopify Masters How One TikTok Creator Built a Brand That Sells Out on Repeat
Nov 27, 2025
Catherine Lockhart, the founder of Shelter Skin and a former management consultant turned clean-beauty entrepreneur, shares her journey from TikTok creator to brand builder. She emphasizes a slow, sustainable growth strategy and discusses the challenges of handling in-house production. Catherine reveals how her DIY approach, including repurposing equipment, has become integral to her success. With a focus on radical transparency, she critiques the clean beauty industry and highlights the importance of trust with customers, while also detailing her ambitions for retail expansion.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Buying Weird Machines To Scale Production
- Catherine purchases unconventional machinery (bakery, brewery gear) to scale production and is ordering a custom $35,000 machine.
- She recognizes the long-term commitment and potential disposal question for expensive equipment.
Labs Said No — So She DIYed
- Labs rejected Shelter's natural, tallow-based formula or demanded massive minimums (10,000 units for $150k).
- Catherine chose to self-manufacture rather than accept infeasible lab terms.
Scale Equipment In Practical Steps
- Buy interim machinery that solves current bottlenecks instead of jumping to huge lab-scale equipment.
- Hedge growth by upgrading in stages and avoid overcommitting cash to tools you don't yet need.