Ask any successful entrepreneur how they got to where they are, and they are likely to say hard work and a bit of luck. Pacifica Beauty Founder and CEO Brook Harvey-Taylor would agree.
 
Her 100% vegan and cruelty-free beauty brand has been out front in the clean beauty scene since 1996—well before the idea of “clean” moved into the mainstream.
 
Back then, the perception was that natural was less effective, according to Harvey-Taylor.
 
“Especially in cosmetics, consumers didn’t believe the products could work as well. There were so many brands that had done it a disservice,” she told Happi in a phone interview. “Overcoming that perception was difficult.”
 
Building a company from the ground up is difficult, too.
 
“Fortunately, I was young and dumb,” joked Harvey-Taylor about building Pacifica Beauty along with and her husband Billy Taylor. 
 
The company’s early investors were their moms, said Harvey-Taylor. After that seed money was repaid, Harvey-Taylor and team went it alone until 2016 when Alliance Consumer Growth (ACG) took a significant minority investment in the company.
 
“I really believe in building a brand first,” she said. 
 
Back when the deal was announced, Harvey Taylor said that ACG saw not a “hero SKU, but a true lasting brand.”
 



Brand building is always an uphill battle, even in the best of times, much less economic uncertainty. 
 
Harvey-Taylor led Pacifica through the shifts in the US economy in 2009 and 2012, and while times were tough, she never thought of throwing in the towel.
 
This year has proved challenging for the beauty sector. Sales of US. prestige beauty products were down 14% compared to Q1 2019, according to The NPD Group.
 
Pacifica is bucking the trend; the privately held company says it is on track to finish with double digit sales growth— continuing a five-year trend of double-digit growth. (Industry estimates place Pacifica’s revenues around $100 million a year.) 
 
That history of success could very well be a reason why Harvey Taylor was recently named to the Goldman Sachs list of the 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs of 2020.
 
Harvey-Taylor credits the company’s current success to weathering previous storms as well as to its position within the overall beauty market. 
 
“We have done really well; we could have done better if COVID didn’t hit,” she told Happi. “We are one of the lucky brands to be at the right price point, and be nimble and pivot.” 
 
According to Harvey-Taylor, digital has been a big driver in this year’s success, too. 
 
“We are pleased with where we are landing,” she insisted.
 
The brand's ability to tap into current trends has played a role in the success, such as addressing wellness, like how stress and lack of sleep impacts skin.
 
Pacifica’s wellness-focused launches include Wellness Drops ($14), which debuted late last year. The ingestible beauty items that add flavor to water include Happy Beauty Drops, which contain lavender, L-theanine and vitamin A, and You Slay Beauty Drops, which are infused with hyaluronic acid and biotin. The brand also touts Dream Sleep Beauty Gummies, which contain melatonin, chamomile, elderberry and L-theanine.
 




Pacifica is growing in other ways, too. This quarter, the brand entered Shoppers Drug Mart stores in Canada. Pacifica can already be found at Ulta, Target, Whole Foods and on Amazon.
 
According to Harvey-Taylor, there has been an uptick in consumer interest in ingredients during the COVID19 shutdown. For brands like Pacifica Beauty that have been focused on “better for you” ingredients from the outset, that’s a good thing.
 
“Consumers have enough time right now to ask about ingredients,” she said. “We have seen so many questions, so much interest and concern around whatever ingredient it is, and how much more they are digging into products. That isn’t going to change.”
 
Harvey-Taylor has also been leaning in. During the stay-at-home/lockdown, she said has been interacting with other brand founders, learning and sharing information. 
 
It all benefits the clean beauty space, she insists.
 
“We learn from each other. I don’t think there’s one way to solve to an issue. No one brand has gotten it perfectly right,” she said.
 
Recently, Harvey-Taylor made tough calls to shore up Pacifica’s long-term prospects. In late 2019, for example, the company outsourced warehousing and production and reduced its staff.
 
With almost 25 years to look back on, we asked Harvey Taylor what has been the best part of journey so far? She said it is knowing “that I set out to make things better—that I pushed supplier to make something better; pushed someone to make a better formula. These are things that affect our industry. The more indie brands push for, the better. We push our industry together.”