Blueland CEO Sarah Paiji Yoo says she couldn’t do her job without ditching a habit that hindered her first startup: trying too hard to get everything done.
Paiji Yoo co-founded Blueland, which makes eco-friendly cleaning and personal care products, in 2019. Her company surpassed $100 million in sales within three years and became profitable last year, according to an announcement in January.
But before Blueland, she was the CEO and co-founder of Snapette, a fashion-focused photo sharing app. That company, founded in 2011, was acquired in 2013 by PriceGrabber for an undisclosed sum — and in those two short years, Paiji Yoo found herself gravely overworked, she says.
“With my first startup, I was spinning my wheels along,” Paiji Yoo, 40, tells CNBC Make It. “I was just working 24/7 because I could always find more work to do … [Now, I’m] forcing prioritization, and it’s a lesson I’ve had to learn over time.”
Pulling …