Carrie Gross discusses how she and her husband Dennis funded their skincare brand's growth by living off his dermatology practice income.
Disclosure
Carrie Gross: Selling out 30-day take-home peel kits proved the brand concept
“So between 1995 and 2000, Dennis had his clinical peel, his doctor's peel, which was the strongest, and then we went to a contract manufacturer and asked them for pads in jars, a thirty-day supply, which was sort of a go-to-market strategy that you go into the…”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Carrie Gross: Early MD Skincare never advertised, relying entirely on beauty press
“The beauty press were Dennis's patients. We never advertised. We just had articles in Elle, and Vogue, and Harper's, and”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Carrie Gross: Dennis Gross Skincare broke even around 2006 without e-commerce
“I think we hit break even around 2006, but we didn't even have an e-commerce site until 2007.”
Disclosure
Carrie Gross: By 2019, the profitable brand sought governance over capital
“And so, by 2018, 2019, now I'm starting to feel like, oh my god, I actually don't need capital. We're successful, we're profitable, we're making money each year, but I need A board of directors.”
Assertion Supported
Carrie Gross: Main Post Partners minority investment deal closed in June 2020
“About three months into the pandemic, I got a phone call from main post and like, we want back in. We figured out a way to make the deal happen. And so we got the deal done in June of 2020.”
Assertion Supported
Carrie Gross: The brand launched in 17 European countries in 3 months
“We actually, in 2023, launched into Sephora Europe, so I think we opened something like 17 countries in a period of, like, three months.”