In this episode of Beauty and the Brand, Aggie sits down with clean beauty pioneer and product development expert Amy Galper to chat about what it really takes to launch a standout beauty brand—without spending years in R&D
Amy shares her insider strategies for accelerating product development, avoiding costly formulation mistakes, and ensuring your brand stands out in a crowded market. They also get real about the evolution of clean beauty, why some brands thrive while others fade, and how founders can balance sustainability with profitability. If you’re looking to scale smarter, position your brand powerfully, and get your products into the hands of the right customers faster, this is an episode you don’t want to miss.
Chapters:
- 00:00:00 – Cracking Open the Clean Beauty Conversation
- 00:01:03 – Amy Galper Enters the Chat
- 00:02:26 – The Unexpected Spark That Started It All
- 00:06:13 – A Shopping Cart, A Vision, and a School
- 00:08:29 – The Highs and Lows of a Brick-and-Mortar Business
- 00:11:01 – From Idea to Bookshelf: Writing on Aromatherapy
- 00:13:00 – Back When Clean Beauty Wasn’t a Thing
- 00:22:05 – What Is Clean Beauty Anyway?
- 00:28:05 – Science vs. Sentiment: The Retail Dilemma
- 00:35:58 – Getting a Product to Market Faster
- 00:36:33 – Why Your Chemist Needs a Roadmap
- 00:38:57 – The Real Work of Defining Your Customer
- 00:43:14 – Ingredient Research: The Skill Every Founder Needs
- 00:46:54 – From Kitchen Experiments to Shelf-Ready Products
- 00:50:28 – Clean, Sustainable… and Still Profitable?
- 00:55:49 – The New Frontier of Beauty Ingredients
- 00:58:49 – What It Takes to Last in Beauty
- 01:02:05 – The One Thing Every Founder Should Know
- 01:04:49 – Where to Find Amy & What’s Next
Links and Resources
- New York Institute of Aromatherapy | Amy Galper
- Amy on LinkedIn
- Beauty Accelerator Program for Entrepreneurs
- Plant-Powered Beauty by Amy Galper
- The Ultimate Guide to Aromatherapy by Amy Galper
- Aggie on LinkedIn
- AB Creative
- Aggie on Instagram
Thanks so much for joining us this week. Want to subscribe to Beauty and the Brand? Have some feedback you’d like to share? Connect with us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube to leave us a review!
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