The October 2016 POPSUGAR Must Have box is on sale now! (If you sign up for a subscription, this should be your first box.)
And we have an exclusive new spoiler that's a Special Extra for the October Box! Each box will include:
Power Your Happy by Lisa Sugar - Retail Value $25
FYI - This book is a "Special Extra" in the October box and is in addition to the standard monthly value.
And with this book release, I was able to interview Lisa Sugar and ask about the POPSUGAR Must Have Box and Power Your Happy!
POPSUGAR Must Have has been one of my favorite subscription boxes since it launched in 2012. When you first started POPSUGAR Must Have, no other subscription company was doing anything like it! What inspired you to create a subscription box?
At POPSUGAR our editors love testing, recommending, and writing about our favorite products every day! At the same time, my kids were getting a monthly craft box and their excitement around this package and the fun we have working on it together made Brian and me realize how wonderful it would be if we could deliver this form of happiness to our POPSUGAR audience. We wanted to cover the variety of categories our editors write about and we wanted the items to be full size. We wanted it to be a surprise each month and feel like a gift to yourself or the perfect gift to give someone else.
What goes into the curation process each month? How far in advance do you plan out boxes?
Our head merchant gets lots of ideas from trade shows, relationships with brands, and of course working closely with the POPSUGAR editors. She and I meet weekly to set big themes, test new products, and brainstorm. We are constantly emailing each other new products we can't wait to try! Our meetings are so much fun. In between sampling five different chocolate bars, I will be testing lipstick swatches on my arm. I come out of the meeting looking silly, but it's such a blast!
We have to plan the boxes several months in advance, so we really have to be on top of trends before they hit the mainstream. We like to think of the process as a fun puzzle; we have a theme we want to make great for the subscriber and a budget we have to balance, so sometimes we have to move products from one month to another so we can make it all work.
What’s been your favorite collaboration box to date? Any hints on future collaborations?
Asking me to pick a favorite collaboration is like asking me to choose a favorite daughter. Can't do it! We've been so fortunate to kick off partnered boxes with Neiman Marcus for holiday. Curating with their fashion director Ken Downing has been such a pleasure. For future collabs, we'd love to do something with a celebrity. 🙂
What’s one Must Have subscription item that you always have in your purse?
Currently, it's the Unplugged phone screen cleaners from the August box. I also always have a That's It bar, one of my favorite on-the-go fruit snacks. There is also an incredible lip gloss in the September Must Have box that is always in my purse!
Your first book, Power Your Happy, is about to be released. What is one thing you do regularly that makes you happy?
Smile, which may sound cliche, but when I smile and my kids, a co-worker, or even a stranger on the street smiles back at me, it makes me happier. 🙂
What do you think of this Special Extra Spoiler?
If you haven’t signed up yet, use coupon code MUSTHAVE5 to save $5 off your first box. (Check out our POPSUGAR Must Have reviews to see what has been in past boxes and our POPSUGAR Must Have spoilers to see what will be in future boxes!)
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