How One Bar of Soap Turned Into a Global Beauty Business
Fresh co-founder Alina Roytberg’s route to beauty is an unlikely one: A retail store in Boston via a high-end dry-cleaning business via studying fashion design in New York City. The Parsons School of Design graduate and her husband, Lev Glazman, borrowed $10,000 and created one bar of soap, and it led to their creation of international beauty brand Fresh. LVMH purchased the brand in 2000, but Roytberg and Glazman remain co-presidents of the company. Here, Roytberg shares how her definition of success has changed, the challenges and rewards of building a business and the advice she’d give her daughters.
The dry cleaning business was a transition into our roles in beauty; it was our first retail space. It was a good lesson in customer service! After running our beauty store for a few years, Lev and I were ready to put our signature on a product: a line of soaps. Soap is like the bread of personal care, a commodity product we wanted to make special with a moisturizing formula, compelling scents, and aesthetically pleasing packaging.
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Our biggest challenge was funding. Lev and I borrowed $10,000 from our parents to pay for initial inventory and rent. We did cosmetic renovations ourselves, and my architect friend helped build the checkout fixture, which was important for gift wrap, hospitality and sales. Another challenge: Our location was a destination venue, so traffic in that area was slight. We later relocated to Newbury Street (a major retail area), and are still there. Our dream for Fresh was bigger than one store location, and we were unstoppable in finding ways to grow it.
I was in my 20s in the 1980s and wore a punk look, so eye makeup and lipstick were a big part of my beauty ritual. I regret wearing eight eye shadow colors at once! Every decade of your life comes with its own adventures. Now, it’s about skincare and minimal makeup. I really enjoy going without makeup on many days in my office in Boston.
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Success in my 20s was more about the individual, whereas now, I am proud of our teams and having built a community of passionate, dedicated people who enjoy their work. The response to our products is so rewarding. People recommending them and giving them as gifts to their friends and families confirms the need for our concept.
Photo: Courtesy of Alina Roytberg
In my 20s, I wanted to be a fashion designer. There was a clear path from an assistant designer to a designer for a fashion house to possibly starting my own label. However, seeing how my work life turned out, I’d advise being open to anything. Design opportunities came from everywhere. At Fresh, I designed graphics and packaging. I was fortunate to have a good design education, and a designer is a designer regardless of field. I would advise my two daughters [Thais, 21, and Dalia, 7] to value themselves, do the best they can and believe in their individual beauty. Knowledge and experience are the best ammunition for having confidence in anything you do. Always try to learn more than is required; there is no such thing as useless information.
