THE ORIGIN STORY OF BEAUTYCOUNTER
Beautycounter founder and CEO Gregg Renfrew didn’t set out to create a beauty company. She wanted to lead a movement.
After learning about the toxic chemicals used in many beauty products, Renfrew decided to take on the industry with a new brand of safe, non-toxic cosmetics.
“Our job is to show that regulation won’t stifle innovation and there is a future where all beauty is clean beauty,” Renfrew says.
She’s determined to create a world where consumers can trust that the products they are using are free of harmful chemicals, and her first stop is Capitol Hill.
For the past six years, Renfrew has met with lawmakers to push for stricter federal regulation over this massive industry, which last saw a legal update in 1938. She sees the European Union, which has banned over 1,300 ingredients, as an example of the difference this kind of legal action can make.
“The U.S. has banned only 30 [ingredients] to date,” says Renfrew. “I think you have a right to know what you’re putting on your body.”
In response, Beautycounter created the Never List, which includes ingredients linked to cancer, reproductive toxicity, and endocrine disruption, that will never appear in their products.
“I think the future of commerce is in companies that are doing well and doing good simultaneously,” Renfrew says. “We can’t afford not to.”
In this episode of How Brands Are Born presented by Cardone Ventures, see how Renfrew is using beauty products to spark political action.
KRISTEN ALDRIDGE: You are a pioneer when it comes to the clean beauty movement. As the founder and CEO of Beautycounter, you now have over 40,000 consultants leading the charge for change. When you were just a kid, did you ever see yourself doing the extraordinary things you are now?
GREGG RENFREW: I don’t think I could have ever imagined leading 40,000 women who are part of a movement that I created in changing an industry. There were a number of things that contributed to me wanting to start Beautycounter. I was looking at the fact that we were doing all these things that were detrimental to the earth, and simultaneously watching all these people around me being diagnosed with different types of illnesses, and I started to connect the dots between things that were harmful to the earth and things that were harmful to our health. I was washing my children with a natural foaming oatmeal body wash, and I thought I was doing all the right things. I was shopping the local farmers market, eating organic when I could afford to do so, I thought I was taking care of my family. So I was quite surprised when I found out that this particular product rated an eight out of nine for toxicity. I was outraged, and I started to unravel the secrets of the beauty industry. What I learned was the ugly truth, which is that we’ve been using chemicals of concern in our products for decades, and people know about this but they haven’t really taken action. I felt that we needed to expose the truths, and I decided that I would be the person who was going to disrupt and lead the beauty industry to a better place.
KRISTEN ALDRIDGE: The cosmetics category is one of the least regulated. What did you learn about this and how surprised were you?
GREGG RENFEW: The United States hasn’t updated major federal law regulating the cosmetics industry since 1938, and that law encompasses all of personal care, all of cosmetics, skin care, the entire industry. So we have an 81 year old law that is insufficient, that still allows known carcinogens and endocrine disrupting chemicals to be put into the products we use every single day, and sadly, most Americans are still unaware of this fact. They believe that the FDA has the ability to recall cosmetics. They believe that the government is actually screening ingredients for safety before products are put on the shelf. I think you have a right to know that the EU has banned over 1,300 ingredients and the US has only banned 30 to date. And I think you have a right to know what you’re putting on your body, and that there should be complete transparency on the products we’re using. So we really focus on education, formulation, and then advocacy because in the absence of cosmetic reform, all Americans will still be subjected unnecessarily to harmful chemicals. We’re really focused at Beautycounter on what we call our Never List. We’ve looked at chemicals that are linked to cancer, that can cause reproductive toxicity, or endocrine disruption and we make sure that we don’t formulate with those ingredients. We hold ourselves to the highest standards in the industry because as leaders we want to make sure that we’re always focused on safety. We’re always striving to go up and down our supply chain to uncover the truths and to understand what’s going on out there, and to bring high-performing products that are significantly safer into the market.
KRISTEN ALDRIDGE: Besides using your products as a form of activism, you’re also sparking political change in more traditional ways. Tell us about your incredible work on Capitol Hill.
GREGG RENFREW: When I started Beautycounter, I think I was the first person to say that the world didn’t need another beauty brand, what we needed was a movement for better beauty. I kept telling everyone that I wanted to take this to Washington, we need to change the laws. And immediately people would say, “Don’t tell the investment community, they’ll never invest in your company,” to which I said, “Well, then they shouldn’t invest in Beautycounter. If they don’t believe in this movement, if they don’t believe in disruption, then this isn’t the place for them to invest.” We’ve started from the beginning using our voices, participating in our democracy, mobilizing our network of independent consultants and our community at large to tell members of congress that we demand comprehensive and updated legislation. We’ve spent an incredible amount of time in DC, and on the state level, advocating for cosmetic reform. We’ve held almost 1,000 meetings on the hill since we’ve launched, and I’d say that our advocacy is fully ingrained in who we are. It’s everything to me because at the end of the day, I’m a woman who wasn’t really focused on the beauty industry. I’m focused on change, and I’m focused on leaving a lasting impression on generations to come.
KRISTEN ALDRIDGE: Along with your mission, you have a powerful business model. Why has direct selling become such an important part of your go-to-market strategy?
GREGG RENFREW: First and foremost, I felt that this story was best told person to person. Movements are powered by people. And that wasn’t going to happen at point of sale, or any other channel of distribution that wasn’t direct to the consumer. On a macro level, if you look at what’s happening in the consumer marketplace, people are buying from peers. Whether they’re bloggers or independent consultants, people are listening to each other rather than stores. So we decided to build this movement with primarily women who really were impassioned with the mission, really wanted to affect change on both the local and national level, but who also wanted to make money. I think at the end of the day, we all need to earn an income, and it’s nothing to apologize about. I think that the work world is still unfavorably biased against women who are mothers. It’s challenging, and so this is an opportunity that affords you flexibility. You can build your business in your own way, in your own time, while simultaneously either holding a corporate job or being a stay at home mom, and that’s amazing. We should applaud that. The reality is, it’s really hard work and it’s a job like anything else, and what you put into it is what you’re going to get out of it. If you look at the Beautycounter consultants, they’re not what you think of when you think of a quote unquote “independent consultant”. They’re lawyers and doctors and they have MBA’s or they’re stay at home moms with four kids and that’s amazing, and they’re focused on our mission. To be able to see them join forces and focus on something they believe in, to me that’s really powerful.
KRISTEN ALDRIDGE: Conscious capitalism has gained tremendous momentum in recent years, but very few organizations know how to actually live it like you do. Doing good and doing well have traditionally been mutually exclusive goals. You argue they don’t need to be. Why?
GREGG RENFEW: I think the future of commerce is in companies that are doing good and doing well simultaneously. We can’t afford not to. I feel like we’ve sold our souls in the name of capitalism. I’m pro-capitalism, but I don’t think it that it needs to be done in a way that’s detrimental to the earth and to people, I think there’s a way to do both. Consumers are increasingly demanding that of us as companies. They’re saying what’s in my products? Who’s behind my products? How are you treating the workers, how are you treating the earth? We need to be investing in the future. There are companies out there that are being rewarded by the consumer marketplace and that’s because we’re doing the right thing. And so we’re constantly talking about the mission, how do we improve, how are we more sustainable, how do we focus on more chemicals of concern in our products, how do we share that information openly, how do we fund research so we have more answers? There are so many unknowns. I think everyone knows we’re totally dedicated to it, but it doesn’t mean that it’s easy. It’s our job as leaders to help lead the way and to show that regulation won’t stifle innovation and that there is a future where all beauty is clean beauty and people can still have really successful companies.
KRISTEN ALDRIDGE: Your tenacity to fight for what you believe in is incredibly inspiring. What would you say to anyone out there who might be struggling to find that same courage?
GREGG RENFEW: We’ve talked a lot over the past several months about what it means to be a fearless leader. It doesn’t mean that you’re not scared. I think you are scared, all the time. It’s scary to step out of your comfort zone, it’s scary to take a position or to build a business on a platform like ours. But I do believe that you should have confidence. You’ve got everything you need to be successful and if you really want to affect change, you’ve got to step out. You’re going to make mistakes. I’ve made millions of mistakes, but I feel like people have been there to catch me every step of the way. I’m so glad I did. There’s no time like the present to make a difference. I think the thing that I’m most proud of is the empowerment of women which was truly a by-product of what I set out to do. I set out to lead a movement, to change an industry. To be able to work side by side with tens of thousands of women who have gained confidence, helped pay the bills so they could be home with their kids…I’m proud of that. When I look to the future of Beautycounter and putting the world in a better place, it’s a world where my children and your children and everyone else’s children don’t have to read the labels on the products that they put on their bodies every single day. I think we’ve had an impact on so many levels in so many people’s lives, and that’s just been the silver lining of it all. It’s been amazing.
