Greg Starkman – Hair Ceremonies

Is clean beauty important to you? Then you do not want to miss this episode of RadioAMB where show host Patty Schmucker interviews Greg Starkman, co-founder of Innersense hair care. Greg started from an early age working in his mother’s beauty salon and helped her bottle her own products, so when we say he has worked his way up from the ground floor, we mean it!

Greg discusses how their daughter’s birth changed the way his wife and Innersence Co-Founder, Joanne looked at toxins in our environment and in our beauty products. They wanted to learn how to live an organic and healthy lifestyle. They began to discover the relationship between toxins and certain types of cancers, leading them to create Innersense in 2002. Greg explains his method for sourcing ingredients and how the beauty industry is making strides in the natural and organic category.

Listen in as Patty and Greg talk all things clean beauty and why this topic is not only important for our own health but the health of the planet as a whole.

Transcript:

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pretty is pretty important in all things

in beauty welcome to radio a and B were

which is designed for people who want to

live a long and vibrant life I’m patty

smoker a licensed cosmetologist you’ve

been in the business for over forty

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beauty calm now we are going on three

years and one hundred and sixty two

hours here at Radio AM B and there are

times as I think about the work involved

in preparing for the show each week and

getting to know the guests I feel a

little overwhelmed I always think I know

the people we have selected to be on the

show and then I begin to read the

stories behind the stories and the

guests and and you know it’s very

touching to me that

gasps like the one I have today I makes

me remember that life is not about the

amount of breaths we take it’s the

moments that take our breath away and

that’s what I felt like when I read

Greg’s story and I hope you will too my

guest Greg Starkman and his wife – an

own inner sense Beauty you’ll hear today

how Greg and Joanne got started and some

of the unique things that they’re doing

to define and shape clean beauty of the

future their leadership is evident in

their brand vow of transparency

something that you rarely see with

brands but their leadership goes beyond

that in many ways from their product

development their education program so

there’s something called hair ceremonies

that I’m loving to hear about and their

inspiration for people through love both

in and outside of their business and the

beauty industry welcome Greg I’m

delighted to have you with us today

thank you for having me so um our

audience always loves to hear the human

interest story so tell us a little bit

about your background and Joanne’s

background and how you got started in

the business well for myself I think it

was really born to be in the business my

mother Believe It or Not broke water

with me in the Skinner salon and he said

I’m on my way and she said at that

moment wait my hair’s not finished I’ve

always been around Beauty as a child my

mother owned a very successful cosmetic

company in Beverly Hills

Emily startling cosmetics back in the

50s 60s and into the 70s and out of

salon on Wilshire Boulevard and so I was

always remembering myself as a kid

hanging out at the salon and the spa and

I kind of also was very exposed to the

lack of hairdressers back in the day and

believe it or not it was of the likes of

genes Chekhov Larry Bowser the DAO

Sassoon

own as well as many others but it was

always very impressionable and it was

definitely hairspray right but you know

and also early memories was filling my

mother’s bottles from that that she

would bring in from Europe so lo and

behold flash-forward what you know a

good 20 years I found myself in beauty

school and really fell in love with the

art of doing hair and then programs and

pursued a career behind the chair for

about eight years and really kind of

fell into a love of Education which also

propelled me into sales marketing

product development working for a number

of very large traditional beauty brands

and that’s where I met my bride Joanne

Joanne also is the offspring of two

educators and always has just how to

love of educating but more important she

also had a love of hair and she often

also tells the story of corralling all

of her girlfriends on the playground at

school and always doing here

and she forever has always had a passion

for doing hair and was a very successful

stylist educator as well as platform

artists where we met on the show circuit

she worked for a brand I managed and we

traveled kind of through the shows

circuit for a few years before say the

spear hit us right yeah

[Laughter]

was really it but we both shared a love

passion for hair and beauty and we’ve

been together now going on 24 years

believe it or not Wow

and so in that in that process I

understand that once you got together

then you began a family and that also

sparked some of the next steps in your

career

sure absolutely Morgan our daughter who

is just an absolute joy in our life you

know at 22 months she was diagnosed with

a rare genetic disability called

Williams syndrome mm-hmm and like any

you know any parent you know it’s like

life is perfect and then all of a sudden

you’re you’re you’re subjected to you

know quite a shock and you know is

anything in life goes there’s always

gifts and you’re one of the things that

we pursued greatly was really

understanding what cost us unfortunately

you know it’s not anything we did it was

just you know one of those things that

happens in life and but it really sent

Joanne on a pursuit of learning better

about organic living and lifestyle she

was born and raised in Northern

California so she’s definitely my

fillmore hippie really about you know

having a better healthier lifestyle and

I think that one of the things that she

also began to understand and really

inspire us to was to understand about

toxins in the environment and this was

again in the mid 90s and at the same

time there was just so much energy

around toxins in the environment and

body burden and if you remember back

then it was Mad Cow the country’s

becoming more motivated than ever to

understand about the rates of increases

in cancers and other ailments that were

really beginning to

you know is be inflicted upon

populations and really where the amount

of toxins in the environment were really

coming out and the information that was

leading to that and so one of the things

that Joanne had said to me at one point

was you know how can I go back in the

salon knowing the rate of exposure of

the chemicals that I’m being involved

with supposed to and really the numbers

associated with the rates of cancer say

in the professional beauty industry

among some of the highest believe it or

not I along with you know many other

trades but in the beauty industry we do

have a high rate and with that being

said I also began to understand the

green movement relative to chemistry and

it was pretty much being driven out of

the movement out of the Europe

especially as the US manufacturers

started getting EU directives relative

to the types of ingredients that they

were identifying as violates or

industries disruptors and then of course

that just kind of sparked a whole new

movement I became really fascinated

passionate and it turned into an

obsession for myself and at that point

in time Joanne and I really decided that

there was a need for a product that was

truly cleaning in toxin-free and we

really felt that we wanted to bring the

products of these efficacies to the

marketplace and more important than the

professional being industry so it was

about I want to say 2002 that we decided

that it can be done we wanted to do we

wanted to do it and we made the

commitment and since innocence hence

intercepts was born and so at the core

of of the ones who began putting this

together

what were some of the obstacles that you

had to overcome in terms of you know

being able to really put something

together that was both sustained

Abell clean green but functional so you

know unfortunately the the beauty

industry works on a paradigm and it was

about breaking through paradigms and

really identifying not only ingredients

not only the sourcing of ingredients but

more importantly was also in the manner

in which ingredients were processed

because you know I can I can go anywhere

and buy fifteen different grades of say

shea butter hmm

but it’s in the manner in which that

shea butter is actually processed

whether its raw ethically refined or if

it’s commercially processed and then

hypothetically it could be adulterated

or you know with other ingredients that

dilute it enhance its performance and so

it was really not so much about the

chemistry it was also about well it was

the chemistry and the sourcing and the

processing and the manner in processing

of the ingredients that really was

probably the biggest challenge because

at that time there weren’t a lot of

haircare brands in the marketplace that

really focused on the quality of

ingredients the industry that was really

focused on the quality of ingredients

was really more so skin care and so we

really kind of took the lead or follow

the lead of skin care companies that

will really focus on the production of

ingredients and it was utilizing

ingredients that would go through a

distillation process to maintain the

purity and the full efficacy and potency

of an ingredient rather than sourcing it

from a commercial source where it’s

going through what we call a Fox related

processes whether it’s being exposed to

solvents and other types of chemicals

that bring it to marketplace at a less

efficacious level and then therefore

companies also have to use a lot of I

call

cosmetic based ingredients that really

enhance the performance so then what

happens as those ingredients tend to be

there more so for label claim rather

than an epic Asia’s performance level

and in Greg goes back to I kind of

jumped ahead of myself the paradigm

right because the paradigm in the beauty

industry is you know you use really good

performance ingredients that provide

lather shine volume all the all of the

key ingredients and all the key things

that consumers want from a product those

ingredients tend to be very inexpensive

synthetic petrochemical and based the

resin silicones plasticizers and then

you know again thread in your marketing

claim ingredients that really help

glamorize your story so to speak in

breaking that paradigm and really

focusing more on the ingredients that

provide a performance value to the

product and that’s really the uniqueness

of innocence

and just so that my our audience really

understands this a lot of them are

consumers again the paradigm of that’s

existed has been the basic providing of

shine and lather and those types of

things but the ingredients that do that

are relatively inexpensive and mostly

synthetic and then they are surrounded

by ingredients that have been processed

in such a way that aren’t necessarily

healthy for you but they’re sort of

stuffed into the formula for what we

call vanity ingredients okay right and

so what when you went to the skincare

pharmacy if you will of ingredient and

one of the things that’s different in

skin and skin care is that there is a

real focus on the sourcing of the raw

materials give us an example of a raw

material that can be really really

beneficial and healthy to the skin if if

handled properly in the raw material

State

and and it and how it would be handled

where wouldn’t be so healthy right so

you know again I use shea butter because

it’s a it’s a fairly widely used

ingredient skin body in hair mm-hmm and

again I can go and purchase shea nut

that go through a cold pressing they’re

actually cold-pressed and then basically

the the shea is extracted and it goes

through a very ethical cleansing process

it removes the foreign matter from act

and then then at that point it’s at its

full raw state it’s at its cleanest

state right or I can buy shea butter

that’s gone through a process where

they’re subjecting it to solvents that

break it down and begin to delete that

as a product or as an ingredient and

then they thread in other ingredients

and we call it lacing in its rabbit in

the beauty industry or in the cosmetic

ingredient isn’t where they’re lacing in

other types of ingredients whether it be

poly Clarion’s or silicones or resins or

other types of ingredients that enhance

the performance of the of the ingredient

but when you read it on the label

there’s no difference between shea

butters mm-hmm

because there’s absolutely no standard

to that no it really is in the manner in

which the ingredient is processed and

you know I kind of go back to and I’m

dating myself and I don’t want to date

you patty you can I’m I’m proud that’s

right mm-hmm was the product of the

seventies and it was an amazing shampoo

I mean really I think put rawa on the

map in the u.s. mm-hmm but really it was

a shampoo that really kind of changed

things because most shampoos before that

very astringent they were very harsh

this came in of course it contained a

lot of those same ingredients that were

very traditional but it was loaded with

paraffin wax and so you know of course

it had wonderful flip it gave great

shine it just was beautiful but then

after a week or a month all of a sudden

your hair became life lifeless dull it

the coating on your hair you know you

could iron it off right right you know

and in really that is the paradigm that

continues now of course the ingredients

today are far better but at the same

time it’s that same paradigm they’re

very inexpensive they provide great slip

and shine but I also often say sometimes

they give you the false impression that

your hair is healthy and shiny and clean

and hydrated

but if all you’re feeling is the

cosmetic piece of it you as a consumer

or as a beauty and wellness professional

should really feel it you can feel it in

your hands you can feel it on your hair

and there’s a film there then there is a

cosmetic ingredient that’s in that

product to enhance its performance right

right and so as you began looking at

being able to bring in ingredients like

that was there a huge difference in

price and the pool of people who were

willing to work with those high quality

ingredients yeah it was very limited

especially back at that time it was

really difficult to identify formulators

that really wanted to work with us who

were equally is committed to what what

our mission was because again it was

that paradigm of you know the

conventional and you know the dusting

and then it was also very difficult to

find processors and these are very small

organic processors who could also begin

to process the yields that we would need

to make the product scale we’d need it

at it was not here in the US in fact in

the very beginning

about 90% of our ingredients came from

overseas and because these tend to be

very small farms and you know and then

you have to also rely on your your

supply chain to align with your values

to make sure what you believe you’re

getting you’re getting so it is a

full-time job

even to this day especially as we

continue to scale and grow our business

to maintain our standards we refuse a

lot believe it or not if the product or

the ingredients are not coming in at

spec we refuse a lot and and and we’ve

we have to to just make some hard

decisions along the way as well

especially as we’ve grown and the demand

for our products has grown the demand

for those these raw ingredients have

grown you know we were with family

organizations that you know did this

primarily you know they were used to

doing five gallon drums and now we’re

asking them for 500 gallon drums they

can’t do it and and not have the

relationships with these other companies

regulars as well so it’s always just

kind of kept us on the search

maintaining developing new relationships

as we scale making sure that we have the

supply chain our ingredient partners who

continue to to meet our growing demand

and our standard right all right well we

are going to take a break and when we

come back we’ll talk a little bit about

what actually is the definition of clean

beauty and what is inner sense today so

stay with us we will be right back

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healthy life dotnet hi there it’s patty

Schmucker and you’re listening to radio

a and B on healthy life dotnet I’m here

with the co-founder of innocent greg

Starkman and we’re talking about his

brand that is really revolutionary

revolutionising the market in a space

called clean beauty you know I was at

the very beginning with one of the

pioneers that began the conversation of

the options and the things that were

available way back then with Aveda was

very different but I do remember that

same philosophy greg in terms of being

passionate about what came through the

door and actually watched him as he

dumped a 50 gallon barrel of Bulgarian

rose oil because it came in and was

supposedly it met a certain

specification and we got the analysis

back it wasn’t and he was so angry he

just literally dumped it in the parking

lot so first hand I understand that

passion tell us what is the definition

of clean beauty Vic today’s you know the

consumer awareness of toxins in the

environment which is being fueled by

healthier cleaner lifestyles everything

from meat poultry agriculture and really

has kind of bridged over into personal

care products really today you know

clean indie brands are really focused on

source and efficacies of ingredients but

it’s also the elimination of anything

that’s toxic or unsustainable and you

know those primarily are ingredients

that are thiolate based or Oris oxalates

you know even though it might be coconut

again in the manner in which it’s

processed if it’s exposed to chemicals

it therefore is

Fox allayed which is a 1 4 dioxane and

well as other types of you know

ingredients which would be everything

from fragrance or wasn’t silicones

plasticizers other types of pets or

chemical compounds so it’s really the

commitment of the elimination of all of

those types of ingredients and really

solely focused on ingredients that are

sustainable efficacious and and clean

right and considered to be clean and

really addressing the needs of a much

more empowered and informed consumer you

know to your point

I mean horse was very much at the

forefront of this and of course as a

hairdresser myself I was always in awe

of his vision but I think that you know

through his vision through Veda that

springboarded with his vision through

and into intelligent nutrients which is

daughter Nicole today continues to carry

on that vision and you know I think one

of the things I’m equally is proud about

is that you know our missions are very

much aligned as well as our chemistry’s

are very much aligned in in believe it

or not we came out I introduced our

lines I think within about 24 months of

each other and I was like if I can feel

like it I’m right there with him I’ve

done all right I’ve done good right

exactly

and so it makes sense that that part of

this process and we did in the early

days in terms of empowering and

informing consumers tell us what it what

is the inner sense range today number

one and number two how do consumers read

labels so that they can discern between

something that like your brand and and

other items on the that are available

yeah I mean it’s very it’s kind of a

trek first and foremost you know you

know our product line was initially

developed for

and by the hairdressers I mean this is

you know who we created in ourselves for

and so a range of products of course is

care baths conditioners as well as

styling products that meet the needs of

the natural consumer right is looking

for good style support the other they’re

not looking for high performance

hairspray but you know I think that you

know trying going back to your point is

at how you decipher I think the thing

that consumers me to learn to look at

ingredients is that even though a

product might look natural and beautiful

and it’s got some pretty flowers on it

you’ve got to look for the key

ingredients like PGS meas poly

quaternions EDTA is you know there are

even natural products that have poly

quaternion I’ve even seen natural

products that that make that claim that

have silicones or other dimethicone in

them which you know to me it’s like you

wouldn’t buy a hybrid car and speech

holes you need to put super unleaded in

it why would you buy natural or a clean

product that has any type of a synthetic

or a toxic ingredient in it so I think

it’s it’s twofold this one it’s really

learning to pick out those key

ingredients that I just mentioned as

well as understanding preservatives and

the importance there’s a lot of free of

products right now and I think the

consumer confusion is a lot of consumers

see the buzzwords of silicones free

paraben free sulfate free and those are

the least of the three that you need to

worry about because pretty much

everybody is free of those today right

it’s everything in between that I was

just speaking fuel for PGs MEAP EAS

there’s brands out there that continue

to use your Rios and which are very

harsh toxic preservatives and you know

their claim is well we use it a very low

level no level is safe and it’s a toxic

ingredient and you know these consumers

are becoming very empowered and there

are resources today and I think that one

of the things that’s really fueled

consumer empowerment is the internet

because of the amount wealth of

information that’s available in

resources whether you go to the think

dirty app that you can have on your

phone that really rates products the

ingredients as well as the sum of the

whole which is a very powerful consumer

tool of course the ewg and skin-deep is

always a great resource not as well

updated as you should be there are other

ultimate you know resources that a

consumer can get on if you have

questions you an ingredient too simply

google it

it’s the wealth a plethora of

information that will come up and then I

think more importantly if you get on a

brand’s website and they’re only listing

out the key ingredients what are they

not wanting to tell you all right they

have to be able to list out all the

ingredients and we we list all of our

ingredients as well as most

manufacturers via the International

nomenclature so unfortunately these

aren’t pretty sounding words sometimes

because these are scientists creating

these ingredients and they’re not

marketing right but you know understand

what they are so you know if if if it

doesn’t sound so natural well if you

google that you’ll find that maybe it is

and maybe it’s not as bad as it sounds

and looks and I think that’s where you

need to be as a consumer and more

importantly as a beauty and wellness

professional you need to become your own

advocate I think the biggest challenge

is that today again you can treat just

the fun of the label you need to be

willing to read the back of the label

and a salon stylist or a beauty wellness

professional can’t just take the word of

the sales rep I’m walking in going this

is all natural you’ve got to really

unpack it yourself and decipher it

absolutely all right well we’re going to

take a break and when we come back we’ll

learn a little bit about what are

haier ceremonies stay with us we’ll be

right back

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your way healthy life net heythere’s

thanks for staying with us this is patty

Schmucker and you’re listening to radio

a and B on healthy life net I’m here

with Greg Starkman the co-founder of

inner sense hair your inner sense beauty

products hair care brand and I’m Greg

we’ve been talking about the the

painstaking process you’ve gone through

in terms of selecting the ingredients

that go into your product and I

understand that it is a range of

haircare products that are designed for

both a professional stylist but for

clients to use at home and I was

captivated by something that was on your

website called hair ceremonies tell us a

little bit about that so you know we’re

not just about products were also very

rooted in self care and ritual of some

care care ceremonies is really Joanne’s

love because she believes that being

with the beauty guests is a ritual and

it should be treated as a ritual and so

she has really kind of created care

ceremony around the philosophy of being

present with one’s you know consumer or

customer our beauty guest is we prefer

to call them in which it buting wellness

professionals is really conducting more

of

a ceremony in the sense of in the manner

in which they conduct this service and

you know it’s also utilizing a range of

products as well one of the things that

we promote in our education is a

practice called sacred geometry which is

something that Joanne has really been

advocating for many many years as a

being one is professional and that’s

really in the manor is that you know

your hair is an extension it’s live it’s

living and it basically is an energy

force and when it’s cut in a manner that

protects that energy force and creates a

balance as well as creating beautiful

style it’s really you know kind of a

much different philosophy but that’s

really you know the whole kind of the

piece around ceremonies I mean we offer

ceremonies on our web page in the sense

of a collection of products that give

someone an option to to select products

their goods to them not just a shampoo

and conditioner or hair bath and

conditioner but other products and so

you know it’s kind of part of that and

so we are just now watching a national

education program in salons throughout

the United States there really is

promoting this ritual I think the

beautiful thing Patti is that you know

you know consumers they want more than

just coming in and having a haircut you

really they want an experience and this

is what this is helping promote is it’s

amazing the beauty wellness

professionals that that are approaching

on so excited about a new way of looking

at what they do day in and day out there

almost re-energized absolutely it talks

is a little bit more about on the sacred

geometry and you said something about it

hair has energy and the way that it’s

cut preserves that energy it does is

when there

the sacred geometry of the geometry of

the scalp and the parties in which the

hair is drawn from in the angles to

support that when they are balanced

correctly then your hair maintains an

order to balance so it’s almost like an

orca cleansing and an orican salad Wow

and then that process is part of this

new education program that you’re

rolling out across the country

absolutely great it’s really a beautiful

experience and so when how are you

developing the education team around the

country so we are actually at the middle

of this month going to be launching we

we have over 25 selected hairdressers

who will be joining us in Dallas for a

national training and this is the first

of many and it’s the first step and many

of them will move on to become masters

with us in which then they will also be

available to conduct events throughout

the United States and then we will also

then conduct national events we will

invite beauty and wellness professionals

to come and join us for really wellness

weekends where they’re learning about

self-care they’re learning about self

preservation and they’re learning the

art of sacred geometry and so the

education goes really way beyond just

how hair is treated it goes sounds like

it goes way beyond just that customer

experience why do you feel that it’s so

important that you also include this

aspect of how the hairdresser takes care

of themselves because they are

caregivers right I mean that’s probably

one of the biggest pieces that Joanne

speaks to is the fact that you know she

recognized that she is a care giver that

she cares for her customers we as

wellness professionals take on so much

when we’re with customers and we forget

about the importance of taking care of

ourselves and you know Patti you were

hairdresser you imagine you can probably

sit back and remember the days where you

will just emotionally deplete it right

right right so it’s also about learning

techniques that feed you to take care of

you because unfortunately we are always

the last ones to care for ourselves

right and you know it’s interesting that

I’ve always felt that way of course I

grew up in the Aveda world and it sounds

like that our paths really crossed in

that way and you had that admiration but

do you find it interesting that so much

of the beauty world doesn’t consider

themselves part of the wellness world

oh I mean absolutely mom but I really

think it really happens as being

wellness professionals or hairdressers

I wouldn’t say get older but you know I

think when they they probably get into

the midpoint of their career hmm they’re

at a point where I want more I want more

I’m starting to care more it’s not about

you know if there’s more to this than

just cutting hair for eight hours a day

and six to eight clients in a day right

I think it as their mind shifts as

they’re starting to take on other types

of rituals like soft care through diet

through yoga all of these things really

mount up just about taking it to the

next level and such at that point to

your question though is this that I

think the beauty and wellness

professionals need to elevate themselves

is that they are part of the wellness

revolution because it is a multi-billion

dollar business it’s continuing to grow

it’s not going away

consumers are spending exponentially for

being healthier and being in a better

healthier place and I think hairdressers

need to understand that there is a

sumer seeking this and by doing so you

put yourself in a position to elevate

yourself and therefore elevate your

level of professionalism and it relates

to income yeah and we’re going to take a

break and when we come back I want to

talk a little bit more about this

because this is really not only are you

leading in terms of developing products

that are defining what green is but also

bringing hairdressers into a phase of

understanding that they are part of the

wellness community so stay with us we

will be right back

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[Music]

thanks for staying with us this is Patti

Schmucker and you’re listening to radio

a and B on healthy life net I’m here

with Greg Starkman who is the co-founder

of inner sense of beauty and it is a

range of haircare products that is

really defining what clean Beauty is all

about Greg we talked about this whole

concept of not only the innovations that

you’re making in the product that you’re

bringing to the market I call it

oftentimes goop but also in the way that

you are framing the relationship between

the hairdresser and the customer we just

tell us a little bit more about that

whole wellness philosophy so you know I

mean I think again it’s just about how a

salon and so on owner and a salons and

stylists present themselves to their

community into the beauty gas and you

know the difference you know when you

walk into a salon environment or a

beauty environment and you’re welcomed

and you feel like this is a place where

I can come for rejuvenation and this is

what we want to help promote and we’re

inspiring leading wellness professionals

to really see that there’s a new

different way of performing their

service and what we hear too is it’s

becoming far more enjoyable for them

mm-hmm

you know there’s a there’s a lot of

programs out there that promote you know

how to become a successful salon owner

through programs which are great but you

know then there’s also the cultural

piece and we as a business focus a great

deal on our culture of our people and

you know so I think it’s really kind of

all-encompassing it’s just a you know

strong mind

strong body strong business right and so

that’s what we’re really trying to note

and it’s much different you know I’m not

a traditional company in the sense that

I’m won by CPAs or banks or investors

that’s the beauty of what we’re doing

I’m living my dream and and we’re able

to make decisions that are about doing

what is right for us and not worried

about sign product I know that’s really

hard to hear because everybody wants to

sell product and I do too because it’s

what fuels us but at the same time I

believe that that will come right people

get us and that’s why our salon partners

are really loyal people and we’ve great

relationships and we do business direct

in and those relationships are are

fumbling right in it but it really is

it’s so beautiful to hear you say strong

mind strong body strong business and

that that those are driving forces over

and beyond profitability not that it’s

not important but that that that ethos

is really what is putting you into a

leadership role again in the product

that you’re producing but also this

philosophy of wellness are you as you’re

as you’re bringing that message into the

marketplace where where have you found

success where is the brand being sold

today so you know we’re sold throughout

the United States and so on and spas and

we’re really beginning to see that

salons are really embracing the clean

beauty movement they’re really beginning

to hear that consumer we have salons and

carry high-end luxury products you know

that are beginning to really understand

the need to offer a product like

innocence in their portfolio products so

that they’re able to meet the needs of

all the consumers but then they’re also

becoming very engaged with our

philosophy and want to integrate that in

with what they’re doing

and then you know we’ll also sold in

some of the the growing green beauty

boutiques throughout the country and

this is an emerging trend which you have

companies like credo and detox market

and full lane and Elia in citrine’s

these are beauty boutiques that are

committed to the green beauty movement

and it was really a wonderful complement

and of who we are and demonstrates you

know our commitment to the clean beauty

movement to be sold in these

environments as well right right and so

as you grow what are some of the plans

for growing the the range of products

you know I the line Believe It or Not as

really short we’ve got 16 SKUs we’ll

probably round out somewhere in the

neighborhood of between 18 to 20 I don’t

have you know products that are products

especially our styling products are

highly available and we really promote

that because I don’t believe in over

saturating the salons with a lot of SKUs

I believe that also when customers

understand how to cocktail and make the

types of products they’re looking for it

gives them flexibility as well and it’s

it’s very manageable so really we are

working on a few other styling products

and we have some exciting launches in

the pipeline for the balance of this

year and we really are focused in

staying in our lane and I think that you

know again that’s a refreshing – I don’t

drive new products for revenue I Drive

new products that make sense

right right that makes them and total

totally makes sense and so with regards

to partners to grow your business who

are some of the partners that you’re

looking to grow with and pen

touch that you’re not touching today

well you know it’s you know as an ad

brand who is really direct to salons

it’s sometimes very tough to gain the

level of exposure especially when you

look at the traditional channels of

distribution so we really look for

salons that really want to get committed

to the movement we see that clean beauty

is really an important part of consumer

trends that they need to offer

I often sometimes say that if I have to

go in and talk you into it we’re not

going to be really good partners right

now I’ve learned not to kind of go there

when we really get a salon owner or

files within a salon that is getting

very educated and committed to this and

they get inter sense that’s when there’s

a mutual courtship that occurs and our

relationship fosters and becomes very

strong and it makes sense though to that

whole idea that that some of that a lot

of your growth eye has been people

coming to you because they get what

you’re about yeah we have consumers

literally telling their address remember

they’re contacting us right so you know

we really kind of have a less-is-more

philosophy and you know of course look I

want to grow a business I have employees

and I want to provide a sustainable

workplace and environment for them as

well and we’re doing that and you know

but we want to be in the right salons we

don’t need to be in every salon right

and you know Patti I turned business

away and a lot of great opportunities

but you know we’re in a position where

we can make the right opportunities we

don’t we don’t have to make every you

know every option or every opportunity

work we look for the opportunities that

maintain the integrity of who we are

supports the business and really sees

this value and intercept is great and as

we grow and become more broadly known

you know of course you know everybody

picks up the phone but again it’s about

making the right decisions right I think

that you know as long as people are

partnering with us they’ve seen us try

to manage growth organically and not one

hard right well Gregg thank you thanks

for taking the time to share your story

with us and for the amazing work and the

way that you’re showing up to be such a

leader for a healthier planet and people

in our industry thanks for taking the

time thank you and I invite everybody to

join us at www.hsn beauty comm check us

out and if you have questions info at

inner sense beauty comm we’re always

here great and Cuddy thank you you’re

welcome you’re welcome all right that’ll

do it for us today next week join me as

we dip into the sweetness of beauty with

bond Blissett eeee I’m patty Schmucker

thank you for listening to radio a and B

where we think pretty is pretty

important in all things in beauty

[Music]

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