Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Tori Gill was still cutting hair on weekends when she sold her first 20,000 sunscreens. A former hairdresser with two kids, no e-commerce background, and a product that took two years to develop, she launched Sun & Daughter on Boxing Day 2024 and hasn't really stopped since.
This is the follow-up episode - and a lot has happened. Tori gets real about what scaling from $100K to a million-dollar brand actually looks like from the inside: the stockouts, the 54-hour Facebook ad account lockout, the $20,000 orders she had to back herself on, and the retail decision that could either be her smartest move yet - or, in her own words, "the biggest mistake of my life."
What you'll learn:
• How a consumer watchdog report on failing SPF tests became an unexpected growth moment
• Why she packed every order from her spare room for a full year before finally moving into a warehouse the week before Christmas
• How a Choice magazine article turned into a sales spike - and why independent testing can become your most credible marketing asset
• How a low-budget, trending-audio ad outperformed every polished campaign she'd run
• Why she treats Instagram like a reality TV show, and what that means for UGC and brand consistency
• The AOV lesson from Foundr that pushed her average order value from $75 to $111
• Why she skipped Black Friday, never ran a sale in year one, then sold 1,000 sunscreens in 24 hours the first time she did
• What she's learned from changing her entire ad campaign structure three times in 15 months
• How Instagram Stories polls let her community choose colours, designs, and packaging
• The real costs of going into major retail - and why she still doesn't know if it was the right call
If you're building a product brand and juggling ads, stock, manufacturing, and retail all at once, this episode is worth your time. Tori doesn't have it all figured out - but the way she thinks, tests, and keeps backing herself is exactly what turns a spare-room operation into something real.
SAVE 50% ON OMNISEND FOR 3 MONTHS
Get 50% off your first 3 months of email and SMS marketing with Omnisend with the code FOUNDR50. Just head to your.omnisend.com/foundr to get started.
WANT TO GROW YOUR BRAND WITH META ADS?
Join the Foundr Operators Waitlist → foundr.com/operators
HOW WE CAN HELP YOU SCALE YOUR BUSINESS FASTER
Learn directly from 7, 8 & 9-figure founders inside Foundr+
Start your $1 trial → foundr.com/startdollartrial
PREFER A CUSTOM ROADMAP AND 1-ON-1 COACHING?
→ Starting from scratch? Apply here →
foundr.com/pages/coaching-start-application
→ Already have a store? Apply here →
foundr.com/pages/coaching-growth-application
CONNECT WITH NATHAN CHAN
Instagram → instagram.com/nathanchan
LinkedIn → linkedin.com/in/nathanhchan/
CONNECT WITH BY TORI GILL
Instagram → instagram.com/sunanddaughter_/
Tori's Instagram → instagram.com/@torigill__/
Tori's Barber Instagram → instagram.com/torigill_barber/
Website → https://www.sunanddaughter.com.au/
0:00 From Hairdresser to $1M Brand: 20,000 Sunscreens in Year One
0:56 What Happened After $100K in the First 90 Days
3:12 Packing Orders From a Spare Room as a Full-Time Mum
5:39 Moving Into a Warehouse and Making the First Hire
6:31 How a Viral Magazine Article Accidentally Doubled Sales
8:17 Running Out of Stock Before Christmas
9:55 Why Founder-Led Content Beats Every Polished Ad
13:04 Test Ads Organically Before Spending a Dollar
15:56 The Unit Economics Lesson That Pushed AOV to $111
18:16 Why She Runs Her Own Facebook Ads
20:22 Locked Out of Meta for 54 Hours Mid-Season
22:37 Her First Ever Sale: 1,000 Sunscreens in 24 Hours
26:10 Building an Email List That Actually Converts
29:42 Why She Treats Instagram Like a Reality TV Show
30:44 Using Community Polls to Make Product Decisions
35:08 Gifting Content Creators Instead of Paying Influencers
35:30 12 Months, 4 Manufacturers, 25 Samples for a Body Wash
40:32 The Real Cost of Going Into Retail
43:34 Final Thoughts and Wrap Up
FOLLOW FOUNDR FOR MORE BUSINESS GROWTH STRATEGIES
YouTube → bit.ly/2uyvzdt
Website → https://www.foundr.com
Instagram → instagram.com/foundr/
Facebook → facebook.com/foundr
Twitter → twitter.com/foundr
LinkedIn → linkedin.com/company/foundr/
Podcast → foundr.com/podcast
Tori Gill was still cutting hair on weekends when she sold her first 20,000 sunscreens. A former hairdresser with two kids, no e-commerce background, and a product that took two years to develop, she launched Sun & Daughter on Boxing Day 2024 and hasn't really stopped since.
This is the follow-up episode - and a lot has happened. Tori gets real about what scaling from $100K to a million-dollar brand actually looks like from the inside: the stockouts, the 54-hour Facebook ad account lockout, the $20,000 orders she had to back herself on, and the retail decision that could either be her smartest move yet - or, in her own words, "the biggest mistake of my life."
What you'll learn:
• How a consumer watchdog report on failing SPF tests became an unexpected growth moment
• Why she packed every order from her spare room for a full year before finally moving into a warehouse the week before Christmas
• How a Choice magazine article turned into a sales spike - and why independent testing can become your most credible marketing asset
• How a low-budget, trending-audio ad outperformed every polished campaign she'd run
• Why she treats Instagram like a reality TV show, and what that means for UGC and brand consistency
• The AOV lesson from Foundr that pushed her average order value from $75 to $111
• Why she skipped Black Friday, never ran a sale in year one, then sold 1,000 sunscreens in 24 hours the first time she did
• What she's learned from changing her entire ad campaign structure three times in 15 months
• How Instagram Stories polls let her community choose colours, designs, and packaging
• The real costs of going into major retail - and why she still doesn't know if it was the right call
If you're building a product brand and juggling ads, stock, manufacturing, and retail all at once, this episode is worth your time. Tori doesn't have it all figured out - but the way she thinks, tests, and keeps backing herself is exactly what turns a spare-room operation into something real.
SAVE 50% ON OMNISEND FOR 3 MONTHS
Get 50% off your first 3 months of email and SMS marketing with Omnisend with the code FOUNDR50. Just head to your.omnisend.com/foundr to get started.
WANT TO GROW YOUR BRAND WITH META ADS?
Join the Foundr Operators Waitlist → foundr.com/operators
HOW WE CAN HELP YOU SCALE YOUR BUSINESS FASTER
Learn directly from 7, 8 & 9-figure founders inside Foundr+
Start your $1 trial → foundr.com/startdollartrial
PREFER A CUSTOM ROADMAP AND 1-ON-1 COACHING?
→ Starting from scratch? Apply here →
foundr.com/pages/coaching-start-application
→ Already have a store? Apply here →
foundr.com/pages/coaching-growth-application
CONNECT WITH NATHAN CHAN
Instagram → instagram.com/nathanchan
LinkedIn → linkedin.com/in/nathanhchan/
CONNECT WITH BY TORI GILL
Instagram → instagram.com/sunanddaughter_/
Tori's Instagram → instagram.com/@torigill__/
Tori's Barber Instagram → instagram.com/torigill_barber/
Website → https://www.sunanddaughter.com.au/
0:00 From Hairdresser to $1M Brand: 20,000 Sunscreens in Year One
0:56 What Happened After $100K in the First 90 Days
3:12 Packing Orders From a Spare Room as a Full-Time Mum
5:39 Moving Into a Warehouse and Making the First Hire
6:31 How a Viral Magazine Article Accidentally Doubled Sales
8:17 Running Out of Stock Before Christmas
9:55 Why Founder-Led Content Beats Every Polished Ad
13:04 Test Ads Organically Before Spending a Dollar
15:56 The Unit Economics Lesson That Pushed AOV to $111
18:16 Why She Runs Her Own Facebook Ads
20:22 Locked Out of Meta for 54 Hours Mid-Season
22:37 Her First Ever Sale: 1,000 Sunscreens in 24 Hours
26:10 Building an Email List That Actually Converts
29:42 Why She Treats Instagram Like a Reality TV Show
30:44 Using Community Polls to Make Product Decisions
35:08 Gifting Content Creators Instead of Paying Influencers
35:30 12 Months, 4 Manufacturers, 25 Samples for a Body Wash
40:32 The Real Cost of Going Into Retail
43:34 Final Thoughts and Wrap Up
FOLLOW FOUNDR FOR MORE BUSINESS GROWTH STRATEGIES
YouTube → bit.ly/2uyvzdt
Website → https://www.foundr.com
Instagram → instagram.com/foundr/
Facebook → facebook.com/foundr
Twitter → twitter.com/foundr
LinkedIn → linkedin.com/company/foundr/
Podcast → foundr.com/podcast
