This former Wall Streeter turned down $2 million and pays herself less than her interns in order to build her company on her own terms

Evereden

• Kimberly Ho is a former Wall Street investor who launched her own direct-to-consumer family skincare company, Evereden.
• Ho turned down $2 million in funding from venture capitalists.
• Ho also said that she's currently the lowest paid employee at her company.

Kimberly Ho is building a skincare company that she hopes will someday be just as ubiquitous as Johnson & Johnson. To do so, she's thinking longterm. Ask the CEO what her primary goal for her organic, family-focused skincare line is, and she'll answer without skipping a beat, "To be here in 100 years."

Ho's company, Evereden, is a skincare line that's almost entirely self-funded by Ho and her husband, who both worked in Wall Street's investing scene. Ho says that their knowledge of investing led them to turn down $2 million in unsolicited offers from venture capitalists.

"There's no such thing as a free lunch," said Ho. "With VC funding, strings always comes attached."

In turning down the cash, Ho said that she hopes to lead her company on her own terms. Crafting a skincare line that's safe for babies isn't easy, and Ho has enlisted the help of pediatricians and scientists from Stanford and Harvard to create a product that uses ingredients she says are typically found in women's luxury skin products.

Ho said that most of the money she's put into her company has been spent on research.

"When we talk about re-building children's skincare, we're talking about reformulating everything from the ground up," said Ho.

Ever-eden.com

A screenshot from Evereden's website

While Ho said that the unsolicited offers from investors were flattering, she believes she and her husband made the right choice in turning them down.

"It's nice to have investors believe in your vision and your mission," said Ho. "But as a consumer startup, VC money comes with expectations of astronomical growth. In the end, we didn't think it would be sustainable to take on a load of VC money and grow quickly without sacrificing our customer's experience."

For Ho, bootstrapping means cutting costs wherever possible, which includes turning down a salary for herself.

"I am the lowest paid employee at my company," said Ho. "I pay my interns more than I pay myself. For me, it's not about money - it's about the vision. In my mind if I pay myself like, $50,000, that's money that I'm not putting into the company."