When Beauty Pie, the brainchild of serial entrepreneur Marcia Kilgore, first burst onto the scene in 2016, they set out with the mission to change the beauty industry. Marcia was already the force behind iconic beauty brands such as Bliss, the spa and skincare brand, which she sold to LVMH at age 30. But she had a vision to change how shoppers could get access to luxury beauty products—without having to pay for the ridiculous markups that were commonplace in the industry. We recently took the magic of AllBright stateside with a Live Well day in New York, in partnership with Beauty Pie, where Marcia took to the stage. She told the crowd how she has built so many thriving businesses (including Soap & Glory, the shoe brand FitFlop and beyond) and why doing things differently can be the key to success. Here’s an overview of Marcia’s empowering talk.
The why behind Beauty Pie
The Beauty Pie origin story begins when Marcia was at the airport coming back from a trip to an Italian lab (one that produces the best cosmetics in the world, from brands like Tom Ford to Charlotte Tilbury). Staring at the products on offer at the airport, Marcia started putting the pieces together that the moisturizers in front of her were retailing for $60 and beyond, but cost just $2 to $3 to create at the factory she had just been at. While she was lucky enough to have a bag full of free products from her visit, she wished that she could’ve brought her friends along so that they could get in on the value, too. And that’s when the spark of an idea was ignited.
Marcia shares that traditional beauty markups are 10 to 12 times their manufacturing cost; so a product containing raw materials and packaging worth just a few dollars could end up with a final price tag of $45…or higher. On top of this, some brands are forced to water their products down so they can meet their hefty profit margins, which means consumers are not getting effective formulas that actually deliver the results they want to see. Enter, Beauty Pie.
Beauty Pie is a members’ club that sells directly to the consumer, with markups that hover closer to 3 times the manufacturing cost. The brand sources products from the world’s leading skincare, makeup, haircare, fragrance, and supplements labs, and gives their members a bigger piece of the Beauty Pie. So their money goes further and they get better results from their products. Win, win.
Changing a hypocritical industry
One of the driving factors behind Marcia wanting to do things differently is how insincere the beauty industry has become. Marcia believes that when doing your daily skincare routine or practicing self-care with your favorite products that “it’s the time to be human with yourself,” an experience that is essential for our wellbeing.
“The part of the industry I really loved was how it makes [people] feel empowered,” she says. Yet, Marcia notes that paying extortionate markups for beauty products, the same ones that are supposed to make you feel good, didn’t sit right with her because “[i]t should never be a choice between rent or face cream.”
Her motivation with Beauty Pie was to give every person who loves skincare fair access to it. “Beauty is supposed to be fun! Like a kid in a candy store, you shouldn't have to feel guilty,” she explains.
The reality of being a disruptive brand
Beauty Pie has only gone from strength to strength since its launch, but getting to this point was no easy feat for the direct-to-consumer brand. They now boast hundreds of thousands of members across the US and the UK, meaning they have a voice in the beauty industry, but Marcia admits that before launching she was worried about how the industry would receive her disruptive business.
After all, she was setting out to totally change the way consumers shop for beauty—and how much they paid for their luxury products. Turns out, she didn’t need to worry! She (and the business) have not received backlash from the industry, as no one can claim “that’s not true” when it comes to the brand’s philosophy and the demystification of the cost of beauty products.
Nuggets of wisdom from Marcia
Now you’ve heard the story of the success of Beauty Pie, but what other advice does Marcia have to share when it comes to scaling a business?
- Any good business is a mix of 50% magic and 50% logic.
- Think of your business like a bus; you need the right person driving and everyone seated in the right seats. Remember, smart people can’t do everything.
- The worst thing to do if you have a problem is to sit at your desk and try to figure it out. Just get up and move. Walking connects different neurons in your brain which will help you think more clearly than if you just stayed seated.
- You're never too senior (or junior!) to have the confidence to ask a lot of questions. Always be curious.
Exclusive to the AllBright US community, Marcia and the Beauty Pie team are offering a free 3-month membership to Beauty Pie! Shop member prices without the commitment - Join Beauty Pie today.
*This offer is currently only available to US based community