Enterprise: Glossy Boys
What this young gun is up to: A commitment to inclusivity and self-expression has allowed this teenage entrepreneur to win investment on Shark Tank to boost his innovative nail polish business.
Lucas Lane had a very uncomfortable experience trying to buy nail polish in a pharmacy for the first time, one that he didn’t want other guys to have to go through. So, Lucas set about creating his own range of colourful gel nail polishes. He first pressed ‘publish’ on his shopify website just days after his 13th birthday – there are 13 stars on the Glossy Boys logo as a nod to that.
Being an entrepreneur while balancing school, sport, music and family commitments meant Lucas had to change his schedule to make time to learn the ropes. “I wanted to know how to talk to a customer, how to find trends, how to [tell stories] and understand cashflow,” he says, adding that he had no intention of waiting until economics was introduced into his school’s curriculum in Year 11. “I was in Year 8 when I started Glossy Boys, and I wanted to know that stuff [right then],” he avers.
“I know my customers expect and deserve human-to-human interaction.”
Having overcome the challenges of being such a young founder, Lucas hit a hurdle common to entrepreneurs of all ages. “Glossy Boys is a pureplay eCommerce business, so the ability to run my business is entirely in the hands of Meta,” he explains. “Their reliance on AI deeply affected my business.” Lucas attracted the attention of Shark Tank, but just days before the recording of his pitch, Meta’s bots decided Lucas was not 13 and blocked his accounts. “Instantly, all my sales and communication channels with customers were denied,” Lucas bemoans. “My WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest accounts were all locked, and overnight my business tanked.”
Instead of spending the evening after his Shark Tank appearance celebrating, Lucas was stuck on the phone trying to speak to a human – “Meta doesn’t have a customer service line,” he says – and it was only with the help of PR specialist George Hazim that he eventually resolved the situation. “That experience informs the decisions I make with Glossy Boys,” Lucas says. “I know my customers expect and deserve human-to-human interaction, and I wish the rest of the world would work that out, too – it’s all Gen Z want!”
Championing acceptance and inclusivity are at the heart of Glossy Boys so its ethos is to be welcoming, and practical and to accommodate the differences in boys’ and girls’ hands. The company addresses the first aspect by practising open communication and excellent customer service. To make life easier, Lucas has done away with the traditional method of having to make three separate applications from different bottles – he developed a three-in-one solution (base, colour and top coat in one polish). And, in a nod to the fact that boys – Glossy Boys’ main customer base – tend to have larger hands, he eschewed small, fiddly brushes for a strong, simple pen dispenser for his polishes. Alongside his core product, Lucas’ kits include all the items required for nail care. “We didn’t want guys having to go to the shops for polish remover or a nail buffer, so we include everything, all in plain packaging,” he explains. “While my own family are very supportive of me expressing myself through colourful nails, I know that’s not the case for everyone.”
Following his $75,000 Shark Tank investment, a TEDx Talk to a sold-out crowd, and radio and TV appearances promoting acceptance and self-expression, Lucas is well on his way to realising his dream. “I’m laser focused on taking Glossy Boys all over the world, so everyone can feel included and see themselves in nail polish to express themselves and be proudly who they are,” he asserts. “I know my customers expect and deserve human-to-human interaction.”
This article first appeared in issue 44 of the Inside Small Business quarterly magazine
