9 Takeaways from 20 Years of Brand Growth

This year, Alchimie Forever turns 20. I love this brand, I love helping people with their skin, and I love working with our wonderful partners. This project has been, and still is, a passion for me, and I thought I would take some time to write about the journey these last 20 years have been.

A Science-based Foundation

Ada Polla and her father, Luigi L. Polla, MD.Alchimie ForeverBefore I talk about the lessons I have learned, let me briefly outline how Alchimie Forever came to be.

We did not decide to launch a skin care brand, sit in a board room to strategically identify “white space” in the industry, or conduct focus groups.

Our origin story begins with two medical doctors, the leading dermatologist in Switzerland (my father, who played a pioneering role in the use of lasers in dermatology) and a Harvard fellow (my mother, a leading researcher in the field of antioxidants and iron chelation).

Our brand only came to be when my parents and a compounding pharmacist set out to create a post-procedure product to help heal the skin of children being treated with pulsed dye lasers for their port wine stains and hemangiomas.

That treatment, known today as the Kantic Brightening Moisture Mask, is still our hero product, and was the start of this beautiful journey.

Now, I’d like to share some lessons learned between the creation and launch of that product and the present.

1. Boostrapping and Timelines

Our origin story begins with two medical doctors, the leading dermatologist in Switzerland (my father, who played a pioneering role in the use of lasers in dermatology) and a Harvard fellow (my mother, a leading researcher in the field of antioxidants and iron chelation). Pictured are pre-launch Alchimie Forever product concepts.Alchimie ForeverWe are family-owned, family-funded, and have bootstrapped our business from the beginning. This means we don’t have money to make big mistakes; we have grown carefully and sustainably, without squandering cash on marketing experiments that did not work. We have had to use a lot of financial discipline and show a lot of restraint.

Being self-funded has come with the advantage of looking at our business with a long-term perspective. We can remain true to the soul of our brand, which is providing the highest quality clean products steeped in clinical science.

A very successful and very well-funded beauty entrepreneur once told me, “Time is your enemy.” I disagree.

We are building a brand that we want to last for generations. This requires patience and time, which is not in alignment with the objectives and speed of private equity. Ownership has enabled us to take a different approach to time.

2. DROOM: Don’t Run Out of Money

This is an acronym coined by Marla Malcolm Beck, the co-founder of Bluemercury. I remember reading about this in one of her early interviews and it stuck.

Yes to being bootstrapped, yes to restraint and financial discipline. And if you run out of money, none of that matters anymore.

This rings even truer today given the beauty brand closures of the last 18 months, both large and small, both bootstrapped and well-funded.

Whether you have a little or a lot of it, don’t forget: DROOM.

3. Growth vs Profitability

What matters most, high growth rates or profitability? This is like the chicken and egg question equivalent of our industry.

There are strong, passionate arguments on both sides. And there is probably not one right answer, but the right answer for each brand, each situation.

Luigi L. Polla, MD, pictured with the brand's Skin Repair Gel.Alchimie ForeverGiven our bootstrapped status, we have had to focus on reaching breakeven. Refer to DROOM above.

It took us a few years to get there, and once we did, we held on to that profitability at all costs. As a result, our growth has been thoughtful and sustainable.

About 10 years ago at an industry event, I was speaking about my brand to an investment banker well known in our industry. He had discovered our Skin Repair Gel and was a fan.

Being an investment banker, he asked me about our sales and financials, and I answered truthfully. He said, “Your products are better than your revenues.”

I decided to take that as a compliment. We were smaller then; we are still small today. And we are profitable.

4. Productivity Drives All

Don’t be seduced, or distracted, by huge opening POs. What matters is sell-through.

Focus on productivity at the point of sale. This is true both online and in brick-and-mortar.

The first order is the easiest one. Getting customers or wholesale partners to repurchase is the proof of concept.

We have built long-term relationships with our consumers: many have been purchasing our products for upwards of 15 years. We have built long-term relationships with our wholesale partners: I can count on one hand the retail or spa partners that have broken up with us (not counting the few that have closed—always heartbreaking).

5. Risk On, Risk Off

Alchimie Forever packaging, circa 2004.Alchimie ForeverA multi-brand marketer with whom I had the privilege to meet told me that the key to running a business for the long term is to understand if we are in a “risk on” or “risk off” moment.

Risk on is for when the economy is growing, macro-economic factors are positive, consumer spending is up. The first half of 2022 is the last time I remember the feeling of “risk on.”

Since then, wars, inflation, high consumer debt, low consumer savings and continued supply chain disruptions have contributed to a “risk off” feeling.

The key is to be in tune and aware, and to pivot quickly, to invest or to save accordingly.

6. New Product Launches

Everyone always asks, “When are you launching a new product?” Or, “What’s coming down the pipeline?”

Our industry thrives on newness—we overemphasize new and underemphasize core.

We have not given in to this frenzy, partly because we never want to launch anything that feels frivolous and partly because launching new products is expensive, in both human and financial resources, and we can’t get it wrong.

We launch products thoughtfully and selectively. Our launches are fewer and far between, and thus more special.

7. Tik Tok Sensations

"What matters most, high growth rates or profitability? This is like the chicken and egg question equivalent of our industry," says Ada Polla (second from left), pictured here with her sisters.Alchimie ForeverI woke up on a Saturday morning in July 2021 and checked my email, per normal. Confession: I still get a copy of every online order anyone places on our website. Without looking at them specifically, this gives me a general sense of whether our online sales are up or down.”

That morning nearly three years ago, I was scrolling and scrolling and all I saw were online orders, 99% of them for our Firming Gel for Neck and Bust— about 100x a normal day.

My first thoughts: we have been hacked, or our website broke. Upon further investigation, I also had several emails from key wholesale partners asking me about their spike in sales for this product and sending replenishment POs.

It turned out that a video of our Firming Gel for Neck and Bust had gone viral on Tik Tok. This might have been one of the best weekends of my life—until I realized two things: 1) We were not yet on Tik Tok and missed out on all of those followers, and 2) We sold out of 6 months of this product’s inventory in three days and were out of stock for 4 months.

Was going viral the end all, be all of success? It was not. It did make for great July sales numbers however.

8. Things Happen for You, Not to You

After COVID, I decided it was time I look for a permanent home for my brand. A home where it would be nurtured and given the fuel and expertise I could not give it on my own.

Author Polla, standing second from right, pictured with her sisters, as well as her father Luigi L. Polla, MD (seated).Alchimie ForeverI reached out to my network and had conversations with investment bankers, private equity leaders, family office founders, brand incubators and owners who had sold their brands.

Throughout these conversations, I found “the one.” I found the company that I became convinced would be the perfect home for Alchimie.

Over the course of the following year, the CEO and I had a few Zooms. We hit it off, talked clean science, discussed how my brand would strategically complement his current assortment, reviewed products, and began ideating a path forward.

Then abruptly, the conversations came to a halt. “It’s not the right time for us,” he said.

I would be lying if I didn’t say I was disappointed. I pivoted and went back to focusing 100% on growing my business, trusting that the timing would work itself out.

Twelve months later, “the one” filed for Chapter 11. Most of the brands under its umbrella were shut down. A couple were sold for pennies on the dollar. Had things happened the way I “wanted” them to, I would most likely not be writing this article today.

9. Redefining Success

"In business school, they teach you to define your exit when you launch your business," writes Ada Polla, pictured at center in 2017 with two interns. "In the industry, success is defined as an exit where the founder cashes out, selling to a strategic or private equity firm."Alchimie ForeverIn business school, they teach you to define your exit when you launch your business. In the industry, success is defined as an exit where the founder cashes out, selling to a strategic or private equity firm.

While that might be a sexy definition of success, success can look different. In my world, success looks like building a profitable business for the long term, retaining control and ownership, improving people’s skin one at a time, creating jobs and participating in the economy, and mentoring and growing a happy team.

Success looks different for different people, for different brands. I wish, as an industry, that we spoke about this more.

A Moment of Appreciation Before the Next 20 Years

Alchimie Forever products and packaging, circa 2024.Alchimie ForeverWhile we have 20 years under our belt, it often feels like we are still a startup. Our world and our industry are widely different than they were 20 years ago. That is what keeps things interesting, and I can’t wait for the next 20 years.

This year, however, I celebrate. We have built trust and credibility with our wholesale partners and customers. We have remained authentic and true to our origin story. We have made it through economic crises, wars, and a global pandemic. We have continued to grow.

We have stood the test of time, and that, that is worth celebrating.