Say Hello to Female CEO, Cynthia Herrera, from Sun Bum | Behind the Brand
Here at Beachly, there's two things we love - the beach life and female empowerment! We love to celebrate girl power - whether we're creating a box of clean beauty products to make your inner beach babe shine through or curating a coastal-inspired box of style for you to feel your best in, and even partnering with our favorite female-founded and women-led brands.
This week, we're giving a whole lotta love to our Summer box friends, local San Diego brand - Sun Bum, with a fun little Q&A we had with their CEO, Cynthia Herrera. Ready to learn more? Let's get started!
The Sun Bum Brand
In 2010, Sun Bum started creating products to protect their friends and family from the sun. Since then, they've grown and become a lot bigger but their core purpose hasn't changed. They make products the way they like them and hope their community of sun seekers like them too. Everything Sun Bum does is rooted in surf lifestyle, simplicity, and sun.
Trust the Bum - All Sun Bum products offer broad spectrum UVA / UVB protection, are hypoallergenic, reef friendly, oxybenzone free and octinoxate free. They're also cruelty free, vegan, oil free, paraben free, gluten free, and PABA free. Each Sun Bum product flaunts the Sun Bum original scent and is water resistant for up to 80 minutes.
Q&A with Sun Bum CEO, Cynthia Herrera
Life as a female CEO
Q - As a female CEO, you have the opportunity to inspire and uplift other women in business all around you. What would you say the most rewarding thing about your job is? What's the most challenging?
A - "I think the most rewarding thing about my role is being able to work closely with such great and talented people and doing all I can to help them achieve their very best! I love seeing women support each other and lift one another up. It’s such an important part of business and life. I view it as an honor and a duty to support other women. During my career, people took chances on me and supported me, so I want to pay that forward. The most challenging thing I think is just trying to find some sort of balance in life. There is always so much to do that it’s hard to take care of yourself sometimes."
Career transition from a traditional space to the beach lifestyle industry
Q - It looks like your career has transitioned in the last year or so from very traditional brands like SC Johnson, Nabisco, and Nestle to now being at Sun Bum. How has this experience been for you on a professional and personal level now that you work in the beach lifestyle space?
A - "I’ve really been blessed to work for such great organizations throughout my career. Every company, every role and every experience has taught me something and shaped me into who I am today. Coming to Sun Bum has been so incredible for a number of reasons…the culture here that has been built over the years, the brand and products, the team…just all of it really! We’ve been on such a great journey and it’s been so rewarding to feel the love from our community. I really love being part of this beach lifestyle space because there is a sense of family in it. A sense of caring for one another, supporting one another and for appreciating life around you."
The evolving Sun Bum brand
Q - Over the last year, we've watched Sun Bum evolve in so many ways. From social media and the digital world, to new retail spaces and now a new product. What has the driving force behind these changes been and how do you see Sun Bum continuing to evolve in the next year?
A - "It all goes back to where we started. In 2010 we started making products to protect our friends and families from the harmful effects of the sun. Since then we’ve grown and gotten a lot bigger but we haven’t really changed. While we’ve expanded into new markets (mass, international, digital) we still put great effort and thought into supporting the shops that were willing to partner with us back when we started. We continually strive to keep that small “family and friends” feeling alive with our team and within our community and try to leverage that connection to guide us as we evolve."
The heart behind Sun Bum
Q - If you could sum up the heart (mission, vision, and purpose) behind Sun Bum into a few sentences, what would that be? And how can the Beachly community get involved in being a part of what Sun Bum is doing?
A - "Our founding mission has always been to move the needle on skin cancer. It’s core to what we do and it’s why we expand and engage our community the way we do. At the end of the day we want our lives to matter and we want to make a difference. This really drives everything we do and how we do it."
Lasting words for the Beachly Tribe
Q - We would love to leave the Beachly community with some lasting words! If you could give any advice to women in business, passionate about the beach lifestyle and space we are both in as brands, what would that be?
A - "I would say always be true to yourself and build or find a trusted tribe to leverage as your sounding board and support system. I also find that starting from a place of positive intent can be so beneficial and rewarding. But most of all – enjoy and celebrate this ride we call life!"
We are honored to be have been able to partner with such an empowering, beach-obsessed, local San Diego brand as Sun Bum. You can check out all Sun Bum has to offer here and enter the code BEACHLY20 at checkout for 20% off your entire order.
