GOAT TO MARKET: BRENT RIDGE, MD, Founder, BEEKMAN 1802
In this episode of There Is No Alternative, Tina Bou-Saba, founder of CXT Investments, speaks with Dr. Brent Ridge, co-founder of Beekman 1802, bestselling author of Goat Wisdom, and champion of kindness and community, to talk about building one of the most distinctive and purpose-driven brands in beauty over the past 18 years.
Brent and his partner Josh did not set out to build a beauty company. They bought a farm in upstate New York, said yes to a neighbor who needed somewhere to graze his goats, and when the 2008 recession wiped out both their incomes simultaneously, they Googled what they could make with goat milk. What followed is a journey from soap bars wrapped at the dining room table to a nationally distributed brand with a Harvard Business School case study, landmark deal with Ulta Beauty, and private equity partnership with Eurazeo.
In This Episode:
How a note in a mailbox from a neighbor with 100 goats became the founding act of kindness that started Beekman 1802
Why Brent drove three and a half hours every day for eight weeks to sell soap at Henri Bendel: and what he learned from watching master saleswomen work the floor
How one Instagram post asking "Ulta vs Sephora" got the CEO of Ulta to fly to Albany and drive an hour to the farm
The midnight phone call that changed everything: firing their CEO the night before a major deal closed
How they navigated the pandemic after investing millions to launch in Ulta, then watching every store close
Why Brent believes the world does not need another beauty product, and what brands actually need to offer instead
What the convergence of beauty, health, and wellness means for the next generation of consumer brands
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