THE BRAND CAPSULE
We Take Your Brand as Seriously as You Do
tHE LITTLE BRAND BOOK
Sheo brings experience from global beauty brands into a small studio where we can work closely with the women making the decisions. We’re interested in why you started, what you want your business to become, and what’s getting in the way of the sales you want.
We’re Sheo®
Good Taste Belongs in A Serious Business
Your commercial ambitions and your distinctive sense of style both deserve to shape the business you build. There’s pleasure in discovering a brand whose founder thought carefully about what they’re making and how they present it. We want more businesses that people enjoy buying from and feel proud to recommend.
A Founder’s Brand Must Feel Unmistakably Hers
Your brand should have your taste all over it. The products you make and the collaborations you choose are chances to turn your ideas into something people can fall in love with. As the business grows, your vision should keep setting the direction.
The Sheo Standard
Creative Instinct and Evidence Belong Together
A strong creative idea should show real signs of commercial potential. We take your investment seriously, and believe building something original takes a willingness to experiment. Evidence helps us decide where to be adventurous, giving promising ideas a chance to prove themselves before you put more money behind them.
Always Consider the Woman Behind the Purchase
We see your brand as part of the wider world your customer loves—a beauty brand with the warmth of a favourite café, or a fitness studio with the style of a fashion label. Knowing her well matters more to us than guessing what she wants or copying the competition.
Women are building some of the most interesting brands on the market right now, often with smaller budgets and less access to strategic advice than their established competitors. The people deciding which brands get funding and attention don’t always understand the women those brands are built for.
Sheo exists to give female founders access to experienced strategic advice, grounded in what their ideal customers actually value.
MEET THE STRATEGIST
Lara Kristina
I’m an enthusiastic shopper and a fairly sceptical one. Beautiful packaging gets my attention, but I still care about whether the product delivers results that are worth the price. That’s what interests me about working with brands: understanding what persuades someone to buy and what makes her feel it was money well spent.
Customers ask why it costs so much or leave your products sitting in their basket. You know what went into it and why it costs more. You’re less sure your website and packaging are making that clear, and you don’t want to keep relying on discounts to make the sale.
2016
For my final project at Istituto Marangoni London, I developed and pitched the business plan for Sheo. I wanted to create an agency for women building brands, with an education charity linked to Mozambique alongside it. Having to work through the finances and research the market made the idea feel like a business I could actually build.
2020 ∙ The Original Idea
I’d started freelancing while studying, working on social media strategy and campaigns. I also developed positioning and customer profiles for premium skincare and luxury handbag brands, and worked on pre-launch plans. Some launches sold out shortly after going live. One skincare brand I worked with later won at the 2022 Get The Gloss Beauty Awards.
2019 – 2021 ∙ The First Client Projects
I joined a creative agency as a Midweight Strategist and progressed to Senior Strategist. I led strategy for beauty product launches and ongoing brand campaigns, turning customer research into briefs for creative teams. My involvement continued as the work developed, through to reviewing campaign results and deciding what we should change or try next.
With one longstanding client, I felt almost part of its in-house team, working across quarterly evergreen activity and new launches. That taught me how to keep introducing new ideas while building on what customers already knew and liked about the brand.
2022 – 2025 ∙ Agency Life
I was headhunted into the Beauty & Wellbeing division of a multinational CPG group. The brief was to bring my experience with independent beauty brands to an established name, helping it compete as customers’ tastes and buying habits changed.
I helped rethink who the brand needed to reach and what would give those customers a reason to choose it, drawing on customer data and cultural research. Working with teams across the UK, Europe and Latin America, I helped adapt the brand’s messaging and creative direction for local audiences.
2025 – 2026 ∙ A Move to In-House
I returned to freelancing after my contract ended, working behind the scenes with strategy teams in Los Angeles and New York. Audience and community research became a bigger part of my work. I developed my skills in analysing online conversations at scale, helping teams decide which ideas and partnerships made sense for the people they wanted to reach.
Alongside client work, I continued setting up the Sheo Foundation, a charity for the education of girls in Mozambique that had been part of my original business plan. Working remotely also gave me the chance to travel. Making summer last as long as possible became a bit of a personal project.
2026 ∙ Working Independently Again
I’m launching Sheo as a boutique brand strategy and consumer insights studio, bringing together what I’ve learnt throughout my career so far. Research has become a much bigger part of what I can offer. The original ambition is still there: working directly with women building brands, with a studio of my own.
I’m keeping the studio small because I enjoy working closely with the women behind these brands. I lead each project personally, bringing in specialists when we need their expertise. I want to be there debating a product name with her and sharing in the excitement as her next out-of-home campaign gets ready to launch.
2027 ∙ Launching the Studio
THE ORIGIN STORY
How Sheo Started
Let’s Talk About Your Brand
SAY HELLO
Tell me a little about your business and what you’re planning. We’ll discuss where you’d like support and whether one of our services is a good fit.
