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. All of the professional skin care lines at that time were packed with artificial colors, fragrances, petroleum ingredients, lanolin, S.D . alcohol, all bad for the skin. Again, if the opportunity had been a snake, it would have bitten me. We did not have to look far, or engage in much soul-searching. It was obvious what needed to be done. So we did it.
EB. How did any outside advisors make a difference in your companies?
JW. Outside advisors made a difference when we were starting, because they flatly told us that we were crazy, that what I wanted to do was impossible, and that we may as well give it up and get a job. Every prominent cosmetic chemist in Los Angeles at the time told me that the criteria for Dermalogica’s formulation—excluding all of those irritants I discussed earlier—could not be done. Well, I’m an Aries. “No way!” was all that I needed to hear.
EB. That’s right, I’m an Aries as well! What were the most difficult challenges you faced as your businesses started to grow nationally and internationally?
JW. The most difficult challenge for the brand has been to keep the vision pure. We are continually approached with offers to diversify into areas like makeup and hair care, for instance. We did consider doing a baby or children’s line. But really, the sweet spot in our market is what I call the “peak” woman who is peaking professionally, financially and personally, in her early 30s through her late 40s. Our brand speaks to many people, but this is really where we find the greatest resonance. Peak skin care, peak performance for the peak of life. It’s easy to get distracted—for instance, we eliminated our self-tanner several years ago, because I believe that even a faux-tan sends an unhealthy message. But we have successfully kept our focus upon delivering great results based on professional prescription.
EB. Could you tell us about your businesses and their products/services?
JW. We are an educational company which manufactures great professional skin care products. Our postgraduate education curriculum offered through IDI, is a must for every professional. It’s how the skin therapist stays in touch, and I mean that literally, not so much with trends, but with new product technologies and marketing strategies which keep our industry vibrant. We also offer the strongest education to the businesses which support our brand and carry our products in 51 countries around the world. The Dermalogica products speak for themselves. We create products which truly become a lifestyle, and this explains our passionate following around the world.
EB. During your presentation in DC, you mentioned the work of your Foundation in the U.S. and overseas, how is it empowering women and children? And how can people learn more about it?
Elisa Balabram and Jane Wurwand in DC. Photo by Kristina A. Block
JW. The Dermalogica Foundation is our way of reaching out to women everywhere, and you can see what we’re up to via our website, www.dermalogica.com. What is unique about the skin care industry is that it is almost entirely owned and supported by women. 98% of all Skin Therapists are women.
Skin care is powerful for women on so many levels. First, a woman can become proficient and earn her license in a relatively short time. And she can establish her own business with a comparatively small capital investment. Professional skin care makes financial independence accessible with even the leanest, most scant of resources. Skin care is also so important because it relies upon human touch. Touch is personally and globally healing, and women are the ones to carry this hands-on healing to the world.
In 2010, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Dermalogica’s founding, The Dermalogica Foundation will launch a women’s initiative where we will award 25,000 microloans, to women around the world. Not all of the businesses which will be created with these microloans will be skin care businesses, but the initiative demonstrates our commitment to bringing women into a position of autonomy through entrepreneurship.
EB. A microloan can make a huge difference! The theme of this month’s issue of WomenandBiz.com is “What Really Matters”. What is the most important reason to be in business in your opinion?
JW. Feeling connected to something larger than just your paycheck, ironically, is the best reason to be in business. What really matters, and the most important reason to be in business is, beyond providing for yourself and your family, to join a community, or create a new community.
Alienation and loneliness is a withering fact of modern life. Working with your hands and touching human skin every day is becoming a rare experience. I feel lucky to have found my way into my profession so immediately in my own career. I’m always looking for ways to build connection and communication into profitability, because this places a product or service into the realm of becoming meaningful and relevant.
All of the greatest brands, from Apple to Harley-Davidson, understand this idea of connecting with something larger, something emotional, authentic, intimate, and highly personal. Some higher purpose permeates every expression of their being. These companies now are known as “lovemarks”, versus mere brands, and they inspire a customer-loyalty which borders on passionate devotion.
EB. What advice would you give an aspiring entrepreneur?
JW. My advice is this: make sure that you really ARE an entrepreneur. It’s a little bit like saying you want to be a writer. Are you sure? Entrepreneurs, like artists, must be willing to endure discomfort, disappointment, and lots of ambiguity. The paychecks aren’t as steady as a 9-to-5, certainly in the beginning. You will have sleepless nights. Working for someone else is much, much easier, unless you’re the sort of person who would rather die than do the same thing every day. You have to have a generous attitude toward risk, and a wide streak of optimism. You also have to be willing to smile politely and walk away when people try to talk you out of it.
EB. Are there any other questions you wished I had asked, from which you feel Women and Biz’s readers could learn valuable lessons?
JW. Just this: tough times are actually great for entrepreneurs. In essence, all bets are off. All of those smart people who had the really “good” jobs—I don’t mean for the air-quotes to seem snarky—are out of work along with millions of less conventional achievers. So, although banks aren’t lending generously at the moment, there has never been a better time to decide to pursue whatever it is that feeds your blood, as the expression goes. If not now, when?
EB. Thank you and Congratulations on the upcoming opening of the Dermalogica Academy in New York, NY.
For more information about Jane Wurwand and her businesses, please visit www.dermalogica.com.