EB. Dear Jane,
It was great to listen to you speak during the “Powering Your Legacy Through Business Success” panel at the NAWBO/AWBC National Conference in Washington DC. Your presentation was very inspiring!
Could you please tell us about your background prior to starting Dermalogica and The International Dermal Institute?
Jane Wurwand
EB. How did you spot the opportunity to start your business?JW. First came The International Dermal Institute, then Dermalogica, the skin care brand. Most of my 30-year career has been spent developing and expanding these two brands, and more recently our third brand, CLEAN START by Dermalogica, our much-imitated line for teens. In fact, I began in this industry when I was 13 myself, working as what is called a Saturday Girl in Britain, sweeping up hair-cuttings from the floor of the local salon. Just a couple of years later, I worked as a makeup artist for the legendary Mary Quant in London, which was very exciting and glamorous. But once I got my hands into professional skin care, versus beauty, I knew there was no turning back.
JW. It began with the school, The International Dermal Institute (IDI), which is now acknowledged around the world as the gold-standard for advanced education among skin therapists. Quite honestly, it didn’t take much to spot the opportunity, or rather the crying need. I had come to Los Angeles from my native UK, by way of South Africa, where I was working with Takara-Belmont. And I was immediately struck by the disparity between the training that the American skin therapists received in contrast to their British and European counterparts. These were people who had received a license and were working. So, I created the IDI. As soon as I began teaching our advanced skin care program, I was struck that there were no products which were suitable for our curriculum. Read more