On a sunny day in Los Angeles, Jane Wurwand stands in front of the first storefront of her skincare logo, Dermalogica. In 1983, he had the idea to create an educational program for the industry. “I really wrote down my first kind of intention: the overall global domain of professional skincare,” he says.
That humble beginning paved the way for a monumental breakthrough in global business, one she had envisioned from the start. In addition to his education academy, Wurwand also created the Dermalogica skincare line in 1986. Its products are now sold in more than 80 countries. – and Dermalogica is one of the most recognizable brands in the industry.
The cosmetologist-turned-self-funded-entrepreneur joins BBC correspondent Katty Kay on Influential, her unscripted interview series, which features iconic guests including Ina Garten, Misty Copeland and Michael Lewis. Wurwand discusses her business empire, and how she learned to prepare for the unknown from age four.
After moving to Los Angeles from Scotland, South Africa, Jane Wurwand and her then-boyfriend, Raymond Wurwand, a recent graduate of a business school, saw a transparent opening in the 1980s skincare market: bridging the gap between salon experience and self-confidence. Healthcare education, data reserved at the time for plastic surgeons and dermatologists.
Without the necessary financial history in the US to take out a line of credit from an American lender, the two bootstrapped the business with a modest sum of $14,000 (£11,040) – a combination of their personal savings and early investment funds gathered from friends and family.
“With our own funds, we’ve never taken out a loan,” Wurwand tells Kay. “When we built the business for an acquisition, we owned it 100 percent, we never gave capital, we never took out a loan, there was no debt to pay off. ” The first school they set up was 1,000 square feet (92. 9 m²), for which they paid £1,000 (£789) a month.
Some 30 years later, in 2015, Wurwand, then 57, sold his logo to multinational customer products conglomerate Unilever for an undisclosed amount. In 2016, she was appointed Ambassador for Entrepreneurship by U. S. President Barack Obama.
Wurwand learned ambition and independence at an early age. His mother was widowed at the age of 38 and had 4 children. When Wurwand was 4 years old, her mother slipped a space key into her sweater so she could walk home alone after school — an experience, for her. He says, that fueled the bravery. ” As scared as I am (and I was scared, of course) to know I can do this, start bringing your confidence to life. “
Determined to forge her own path, Wurwand has become a “Saturday girl” in a salon. At the age of 13, she pulled her hair off the floor and continued her studies in aesthetics. By replacing classic school study rooms with living room interiors, Wurwand began to develop a widely applicable skill set, a technique his mother emphasized during his childhood.
“Every time I pass by somewhere, Katty, whether it’s where my circle of relatives lives in Moule in the Hebrides, or wherever in the world I’ve traveled (Vietnam, South Africa, Norway, New Zealand, anywhere in between), the first thing I see I take a look at in any small town or village: ‘Do you have a salon?’Wurwand told Kay, “And if I see a salon, and I do, I’m profoundly confident that I can paint there. “
While upskilling and career, Wurwand began to see opportunities to innovate and grow the private care industry, adding through competency-based education, a technique that remains relevant.
“We can’t resettle immigrants if we don’t have learning systems and systems to integrate them. . . We’re talking about climate replacement and we’re talking about political replacement. We are on the verge of the greatest human migration our planet has ever experienced. How, how and where are we going to deal with all those other people who have come to our countries with other languages, other ethnicities?If they have a skill, we can use it,” he says. Dermalogica’s “The main focus has been skill exercise. We train 100,000 skin therapists. That’s the total engine of the back. And that was the engine of my back, that was my exercise. “
She’s happy to take credit for her success, but she also gives it to her husband Raymond, with whom she has two children. “It’s possible that Dermalogica wouldn’t have existed without Raymond. And it’s possible that none of us would have done it alone,” he says. “He’s the smartest user I’ve ever met. And if I were to start some other business, which I don’t aim for, I wouldn’t do it with anyone but Raymond. “
They have passed on the culmination of their success: in 2020, the Wurwands introduced the Small Business Recovery Fund Grant Program, a £1 million (£790,000) fund in partnership with Pacific Community Ventures and TMC Community Capital, to help small businesses in Los Angeles. Angeles is suffering financially from the pandemic.
After 3 decades of building a company, Wurwand has noticed the change in the generational landscape. But while the debate revolves around the progression of synthetic intelligence, she is convinced that nothing can update human contact in the service sector. (“I can make bikini shaves in less than 4 minutes,” she jokes. ) Don’t worry, it’s in smart hands. “)
“Is it possible that these skills won’t simply be replaced by, I don’t know, AI or robots in your industry?Don’t you think that will happen?” Wurwand acknowledges that many jobs will be replaced, as has been the case with any business revolution.
Still, he believes this will bring a new wave of innovation.
“With technology being our current revolution, the equal and opposite reaction to that high-tech is high-touch,” she says. “Our industry is booming. We’ve got, right now, 40% job growth in our industry. I’ve never seen more spa salons, medical spas, massage, nails, hair, you name it. Look at your high street. It’s a service business. And a lot of it is salons. A lot of its restaurants. But they’re service-oriented businesses where humans are doing things that humans do best cooking, caring, touching, kindness, compassion, talking. I’m not in the business of just skincare products. I’m in the business of human connection. And no, a machine is not going to replace us.”
Ultimately, while Wurwand’s initial ambition was to “totally dominate the world of professional skincare” (anything he achieved through his empire), that wasn’t his literal intention. She says, “It’s not about global domination. It’s about how I can do the best I can to influence and help improve the lives of others. “