IN CAREERS How I became a skin care guru
Tiffany Masterson, left, runs Drunk Elephant.
From starting little businesses while her children were young to eventually being the founder and chief creative officer behind one of the fastest-growing skin care brands in the industry, Tiffany Masterson has always had a knack for growing a brand, even though she never expected to do so. After developing a personal interest in product formulation and the science behind skin care and clear skin, Masterson built the brand Drunk Elephant based on the six ingredients that she found interfered with skin. Just a few years later, the neon lids and clean products she created can be found on vanities and in Sephora stores everywhere.
USA TODAY caught up with Masterson to talk about everything fromcatching the entrepreneurship bug to building a brand based on following your gut.
Question: How did you get your start with entrepreneurship?
Tiffany Masterson: I was a stay-athome mom, and my youngest was around 6 or 7 at the time. I was kind of trying to find ways to start a little business here and there, and the businesses I tried to start were hilarious. I tried to start a business cleaning out people’s pantries where I would go and eliminate the bad things from their pantries and replace them with good things, called Holy Pantry. I did that, and then I started a meatball and lasagna catering business for a while, and then I started selling a bar cleanser at some point.
That woke up this passion in me for ingredients – I already had it, because I had it with food and with my diet and the way I ate – but I got super interested when I started selling this bar cleanser. I started studying products and studying the roles of ingredients, trying to get to the root of why people’s skin acted the way it acted and responded. What were the potential ingredients that caused certain skin behaviors? It was just this organic path that I took.
I had rosacea and typical skin issues that people have, acne-prone, sensitive skin, and an elimination diet for my skin is kind of what I ultimately did, identifying ingredients that my skin didn’t like and studying what they were and why – trying to find supporting evidence that that could really be why. I started trying to help people choose products based on that. I was selling this bar cleanser and telling people, use this oil or this serum, trying to find products that would help people’s skin.
Q: What was the process like with starting Drunk Elephant?
Masterson: Through that whole process of being interested in that and the function of skin itself – reading about how it functions best and what it needs to function – I met with my brother-inlaw, who was the investor behind the bar that I was selling. I said, ‘Look, I think that I’ve learned enough ingredients and I think that we could do this ourselves. I think I could design some products myself based on the ingredients I’ve learned so much about, and let’s do this!’ kind of thing. He was in.
I didn’t know the typical process because I’m a housewife in Houston, but I actually wrote down in my computer all of the ingredients to each product. I had six products I wanted to launch at the same time – to me, instead of launching one product I wanted to launch a full skin care solution for people that wouldn’t have to look around at all – because my philosophy was so distinct. I was trying to avoid these six ingredients that were out there in kind of everything. I couldn’t find a brand that didn’t contain at least one of them, and I really believed that these six ingredients were at the root of people’s skin issues.
We launched the six (products), and it took a long time, and it was a lot of trial and error. I had the products made, and we launched our own website in late 2013 – drunkelephant.com – and for about a year, I listened to feedback. I wanted to really be an open book: here’s what we are, this is what we use, this is what we avoid.
I did that for a year, really learned about the products a little more and tweaked a few of them, tweaked some packaging, and then went to Cosmoprof in 2014, and that’s where I met Sephora. They were attracted to the bright colors, I believe, and they told me at the conference, “Look, we’re not picking anybody up for 2015.” It was kind of a bummer, maybe they’ll change their mind type thing – and they did. They called me two weeks later, and said they’d tried the products and really felt strongly that it was a line they wanted to support.
They brought me in in January 2015, and now we’re almost five years with Sephora. That’s really how it all started.
Q: What does a typical day look like for you?
Masterson: I am more involved in product development, social media, very heavily involved with design and marketing. I’m here in Houston with my design and marketing team, and I do a combination of helping to manage the social accounts, take conference calls, and do creative off-sites at my house. I don’t go into the office right now. We’re moving into a big office because we outgrew the office that we had, so I stay at home. My creative juices really flow at home.
A typical day is taking conference calls, working on new products on my computer in my family room. If I need to cook dinner, I’ll cook dinner and sit back down; if I need to drive somebody somewhere, I’ll go do that; and a lot of times I’ll take conference calls while I’m exercising. It’s really working all day.
Q: What is your favorite thing about your job?
Masterson: It’s really fun. I love what I do so much because it doesn’t feel like a job. It’s one of those things that you wake up for and you get out of bed for. I mean, I get out of bed because I have four kids, a husband, and a dog, but I’m excited every day to open up my email; I’m excited every day to go on social media and see what’s going on with Drunk Elephant, and I’m excited to work on new projects.
Q: To what do you credit your success?
Masterson: I followed my gut from day one. One, the products work – in my opinion, they work. We have a cohesive brand and a brand with a strong DNA – we really know who we are. I don’t look around at what other brands are doing; I don’t look around at trends.
Q: How do you balance work, life and such a busy schedule?
Masterson: I find (balance) because I really try to do this from my home. I try to spend quality time with my children, even if it’s just a five-minute, face-toface, going in their room and sitting on their bed because everybody’s had a hectic, busy day. They’re older now, and they’re busy, too.
Q: What advice would you give to someone who wants to follow in your footsteps?
Masterson: Follow your gut and be yourself.