We had the good fortune of connecting with Carly Sun and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Carly, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I grew up in my family business in Orange County, California. My father has owned and operated a Tuxedo Rental business for the last 52 years and watching him interact with his customers from a young age, helped me know that entrepreneurship was for me. It took me until the pandemic to realize I’d need to shift from Software to my passion, coaching and skincare to make this a reality.

What should our readers know about your business?

RadiantSelf is a method that ties in mental health into skin health, giving you better skin, through better days. We do this through a subscription model that combines monthly facials and coaching. Our approach integrates breathwork, relationship coaching, and/or integrating structure and routines, all of which optimize joy.
I am really proud of how our business model has not slipped into the sameness of skin treatments alone. We have taken the road less traveled with mental health being our path to improved skin and it is our non-negotiable. It is really exciting each time the brands mission is validated. Through our partnerships, reviews, and results, we are so proud to bring an experience that connects people’s skin to what’s within.
From the beginning, I have wanted to be a calm founder. I engage with lots of exciting brands and many of them are focused on a successful exit or aggressive raising of capital. That route is amazing. However, we chose to take the slower and more mindful route over the last 3 years. I believe that conscious entrepreneurship is a transformative way to do business. I believe that team-members, clients, and most importantly every single person we meet along our journey, benefit from the choice to engage mindfully.
As a first-time founder, the most challenging aspect is believing I have everything I need. The accelerator programs, the business school, the funding opportunities, it’s all great if I’m very clear that those are the tools that are essential to my model today. With lots of optimizing tools out there (and being very efficiency driven), it’s important for me to cut out the noise. I overcome this through putting things out into the world and taking action to see what lands. I know it will help someone, so why keep that hidden?
Often, with all there is to learn, and our necessary, and sometimes exhausting need for growth, a cycle I can fall into, is absorbing information without letting it flow out of me. Overcoming limiting beliefs involves presence, gratitude, and action. How many people can our light reach if we aren’t afraid to let it be seen?
RadiantSelf is on a mission to help people’s inner and outer Radiance be seen by the world. We are brave enough to be in relentless pursuit of what makes us come alive. While our faces will inevitably change, and there will always be someone better looking, we want the world to know that the inner self, will always Radiate outwardly.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?

Living in West Los Angles, anytime I get to put my tourist hat on, I get excited. To know me is to know that I have a deep, deep love for Los Angeles.
Monday
We would walk to Equinox and take an Iyengar Yoga class with Jennifer Edwards. We would grab lunch after at the iconic Beverly Wilshire Hotel (sitting outside of course) and then we would read the hotels history and walk to Saks Fifth and the surrounding stores
Tuesday:
We would grab Joe and the Juice before heading to Franklin Canyon. We’d do a hike and pack sandwiches, eating them by the lake or the lower grass. We’d see a movie either at The Grove or at IPIC Theater on Wilshire.
Wednesday:
Hollywood history is the theme. We’d hail a celebrity home tour bus on Hollywood Blvd. and negotiate our rate. We’d be whisked through Mulholland from the Hollywood sign all the way to Bel Air. We’d hang by the pool at the Roosevelt hotel for the rest of the day to get some work done before crossing the street to madame Tussauds. The Griffith observatory is ours as the day transitions from light to dark.
Thursday:
we do Pilates on the rooftop of natural Pilates west Hollywood as the city starts getting going. We have breakfast in the lounge of the 1 Hotel on Sunset. If we know the right people, we may get into the magic castle later!
Friday:
We need some ocean air! Time for Alfred in Marina Del Rey! For lunch, we grab shrimp burritos from Benny’s Tacos on Lincoln and head to Playa Del Rey, There’s always parking by the playground! If we have bikes, we ride through Abbot Kinney, the Venice canals, and of course, checkout the skaters perfecting their tunnel surfing on main street.
Saturday:
Museum day!
The Getty, The Getty villa, Petersen Automotive, The Tar pits, Holocaust Museum, Or, we can head to Pasadena, to see the iconic Colorado bridge, and visit the Huntington Library and the Simon Norton Museum.
Sunday:
Church day! Afterwards we explore downtown with no agenda and if there’s enough time, we go to universal studios or six flags!
(option to see orange county this day and have a different beach experience in Laguna or Newport).

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My neighbors growing up, Mike and Mary. They expanded my mind beyond the Orange County bubble by taking me to museums, introduced creativity through whole foods, taught me that earth could really use our help, and that helping other people do those things too, is what keeps our legacy going.

Website: https://www.radiantself.co/

Instagram: @radiantself.co

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutSocal is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.