The Art of the Brand People Hated Me - Then My Brand Exploded ft. Isabella Chams
Feb 24, 2026
Isabella Chams, founder of Belah Beauty and builder of Colombia's top premium-local beauty brand, shares her rise from carnival roots to product-first world-building. She talks about two years of obsessive formulation, creating sensory pop-ups and community rituals, pricing choices that sparked controversy, and how backlash surprisingly amplified growth and loyalty.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Wait Two Years To Launch If You Want Luxury Quality
- Do obsess over product development and wait to launch until every detail is perfected.
- Isabella and Ricky spent two years in top European and U.S. labs refining formulas and packaging with no shortcuts.
Own The Gap Between Cheap And European Luxury
- Position between drugstore and European luxury to fill a market gap.
- Bella Beauty targeted Colombian women with prestige pricing, luxury packaging and locally resonant storytelling.
Use Story-First Launches To Create Demand
- Build cinematic launches and keep product mystique before revealing benefits.
- Bella Beauty creates launch movies that show the Bella fantasy world, then explains ingredients and performance.