When Carina Chaz started fragrance brand DedCool in 2016, she had no business plan, no experience in the beauty industry, and certainly no intention of disrupting the $62 billion fragrance market. Armed with an Instagram account, a passion for scent, and what she describes as “the opposite of imposter syndrome” she has turned her scrappy passion project into a multimillion-dollar brand over the course of seven years.
Now, DedCool is carried by Sephora, Urban Outfitters, and Credo. Plus, it is the first ever functional fragrance to have a smoothie collaboration. Perhaps most remarkable is that Carina ran the entire operation alone until 2022—handling everything from product development to customer service and financial planning.
Carina joined the Shopify Masters podcast to share how to build profitable business without a cofounder or team.
Ahead, she breaks down the steps she took to become a multimillion-dollar fragrance company.
How to build a million-dollar beauty brand when your entire team is just you
1. Start with conviction, not a business plan
Traditional perfume houses positioned scent as precious and untouchable. Carina knew that it could be more than a luxury reserved for special occasions. She was convinced fragrance was part of everyday life—it’s in your laundry, on your dog, in your car.
“We never aim to be just a regular fragrance brand,” Carina says. "I always say we’re a scent company. We like to meet the customers where they’re at.”
Carina reminds brands that your unique perspective is your competitive advantage. Take advantage of the fact that large companies often struggle to pivot quickly. As a solo founder, you can move fast and build your brand around insights that incumbents might dismiss.
Industry professionals told her customers would “never trust” her fragrance company to wash their clothes. She launched a scented laundry detergent anyway—it now represents 30% of DedCool’s overall business.
2. Turn rejection into market validation
In DedCool’s early journey, Carina received what seemed like it could be her brand’s big break: Nasty Gal, then one of the coolest fashion retailers, reached out via Instagram expressing interest in carrying her products. There was just one problem—DedCool didn’t actually exist beyond a dreamy Instagram page.
Undeterred, Carina called suppliers, got free samples, and hand-delivered a box of makeshift products to Nasty Gal’s downtown Los Angeles offices. Two weeks later, her father handed her a newspaper clipping: Nasty Gal was out of business.
“It destroyed me because I [felt like] my one opportunity was gone,” Carina recalls. “But at the end of the day, I reflected and I thought to myself, if Nasty Gal is interested in this product, then there’s opportunity elsewhere,” she says.
Viewing rejection as validation that demand exists became central to her approach. Carina used the experience as proof retailers would be interested in her concept. She spent the next several months knocking on doors at mom-and-pop shops throughout LA, asking retailers to carry her products on consignment. When you’re operating alone, rejection feels personal and can be paralyzing, but success comes from pushing through.
3. Bootstrap relationships, not just revenue
Those early mom-and-pop shops that agreed to carry DedCool on consignment became more than just sales channels—they funded the company’s growth for four years. When shop owners called to reorder products and move them off consignment to regular retail terms, Carina knew DedCool had a future.
Without knowing it, DedCool stumbled into a business model that allowed Carina to maintain control while supporting sustainable growth. Rather than seeking venture capital early (which would have required giving up equity and potentially compromising her vision), she used actual customer revenue to fund each subsequent batch of inventory.
The strategy worked because Carina treated these early retail partners as true collaborators, not just distribution points. She showed up at their retail stores, learned from customer feedback in real time, and adjusted her approach based on what she observed.
Solo founders can apply this tactic by identifying partners who are willing to take small bets on unproven concepts. These might be independent retailers, small distributors, or even individual customers willing to preorder your product.
3. Master the art of resourceful growth
Operating as a one-person company for six years meant Carina had to get creative about scaling. Her solution was to be deeply involved in every aspect of the business, from production to marketing to customer service. This hands-on approach, while exhausting, gave her insights that many founders miss.
“My hand was still in all of the photos that we used for DedCool,” Carina says, referencing her early product photography. “Obviously now we have much larger productions, but at the time it was me, a photographer, my hand, and the bottle.”
This level of involvement taught her exactly where money should and shouldn’t be spent. When she eventually hired a fractional CFO in 2021, she was initially offended by the cost of a basic financial project—not because it was objectively expensive, but because she’d trained herself to spend cautiously.
4. Build community as a competitive moat
Despite her solo journey, Carina never tried to scale her community alone. From day one, she used Instagram to build relationships with customers, fellow founders, and industry insiders. This community became one of DedCool’s most valuable assets.
“I always say that when I started DedCool, I acquired 200 new friends,” Carina notes. “We launched one of our bestselling fragrances based on a community and consumer ask.”
While you might not have a team, you can build a network of supporters who provide feedback, amplify your message, and even influence product development.
The fragrance industry has since caught up to many of Carina’s innovations. Social media is now filled with fragrance content, and the “scent layering” concept DedCool pioneered has become mainstream.
Carina’s journey offers a blueprint for solo founders in any industry: Start with conviction, bootstrap through relationships, and stay close to your customers as you scale. Most importantly, trust your instincts—especially when everyone else thinks you’re wrong.
As Carina puts it: “At the end of the day, your drive, your intuition, your instinct is going to lead you to the place you need to be at.” Catch Carina’s full Shopify Masters episode for her door-to-door pitching tips.
