How One Founder Took on the Gray Hair Industry and Won With Science, Not Hype

0:00Allison Conrad:We weren't the first people to come up with a concept for a supplement or topical for gray hair, but we were the first people to actually do it effectively. Welcome to Shopify Masters, your companion for starting and scaling a business. I'm your host, Serena Smith. When Allison Conrad spotted her first grays, she went looking for a way to prevent them and found that nothing existed. You start early for your skin. Why are you not also doing that for your hair? So she built Array, a brand taking on something most of us have accepted as inevitable with a patented, science-backed approach to slowing and reversing gray hair.

0:33Allison Conrad:Nobody has ever done a study on how fast you get gray hair. It's never been done. Allison's here today to talk about what it actually takes to build a category from scratch, the science that makes Array unlike anything else on the market, and how she's growing the brand without losing what makes it special. Allison, thanks for being here today. What a great intro. Thank you so much for having me. Amazing. I feel like there are the brand of entrepreneur who sees a problem in the market to be solved. And then there's the brand of entrepreneur who goes after something that seems basically unsolvable.

1:03Array and you are in that latter camp. I can't think of how many times I've sat in the stylist chair as he's pouring gnarly chemicals onto my head. And I'm thinking to myself, I eat so clean. I'm avoiding microplastics. but like, this is what I'm doing to my head. You know, surely there must be a better option. But I think for so many of us, we just accepted there isn't one. This is the only way. Or you go gray and you accept it. What gave you the gumption to actually think that you could tackle this?

1:34Allison Conrad:Every entrepreneur has a little crazy in them. I think you have to, to do something. The real reason we went after this was after looking into what causes gray hair. And my hairdresser, who's my co-founder for the last five years, He was like, yeah, the only options are dye your hair or accept the gray. And I was like, God, there's got to be a better way. So we found out there's only one gene that causes gray hair, and it accounts for 30 % of why we go gray. And there's so many other factors, nutrition deficiencies, oxidative stress from the sun, pollution, the things we eat. There were so many things that we did have some control over.

2:11Allison Conrad:So that gave us the hope that there was something we could be doing and something we could internally put into our bodies. That's why we started with the supplement and something we could topically be doing to counteract the oxidative stress that we're experiencing from hair dye, sun exposure, all these things. So yeah, I think it was a little bit like, why does this not exist? It must not actually work if it hasn't existed in the past. But you have to also understand that hair dye is a huge industry. And we're not here to replace hair dye. Okay, we're not saying that this can completely solve your grays.

2:50Allison Conrad:A lot of people use hair dye in conjunction with our products. But the hair dye industry doesn't really have an incentive to create something to slow that process down. So, yeah, I think we just looked at it differently than anybody had before. You had spent years advising other brands, including Vegamore, right, for a couple of years prior to starting Array. Was there something that you saw there that began to seed the idea for you? The idea sort of was seeded from Nutrafol and Vegamore of hair loss being affected by a pill, right? And something topical, obviously, minoxidil has existed for many years.

3:33Allison Conrad:So hair loss was trying to be fixed more proactively, too. Like, that's also something that you can't have total hair loss and then be like, I need to fix the problem. You need to get on top of it earlier rather than later. Same with gray. And so I literally thought to myself, why can't I just take a pill to solve this problem? And so the first step in this was researching ingredients. Our medical advisor at the beginning was my dad. He still is one of our medical advisors. He's a clinical pharmacologist, internal medicine doctor, and my mom's a dietitian. So that also helped. But I personally was just for myself searching for ingredients I could be taking to slow this process.

4:13Allison Conrad:and we identified these 13 ingredients. I was individually taking many of these on their own. My Amazon cart was ridiculous in the amount of vitamins I was taking and minerals and antioxidants. And it was like, why can't there just be one pill to solve it? So yes, I think people had been approaching hair loss, obviously for many years prior to what we were doing, but nobody was thinking about gray hair in the same way. I love that both your dad and your mom are a part of this operation. Was that a no-brainer for you? Was there any reticence to bring your parents on to the team? No, because it wasn't originally for a company.

4:54Allison Conrad:It was originally just for me personally. I was like, guys, can you find things I personally, just myself, Allison, can take to solve this? And then it was like, okay, Jay, I'm doing this thing. And he's like, yeah, but you're not the only one who's coming to me with this question. I'm like, many people have asked me this and I've never had a great answer for them. And so that was when we were like, huh, maybe this is beyond just for myself. And then my reticence was like, is this for men and women or is this only a woman problem? And Jay was like, no, it's definitely men. They just don't talk about it to others.

5:31Allison Conrad:So, yes, it wasn't like I was like, I have this idea for a company. Let's bring in my family to solve it. And it was actually interesting because I've always been the black sheep of the family. My sister's a doctor. I didn't take science in college. It was like back in the day when you could not take, they were like, one subject you don't have to take. I was like, science, I'm out. Like AP chemistry was the worst class I ever took in high school. So full circle, we came back and my sister was like, wait a second, you're working with our parents? Like, I'm the doctor. What is happening? So it was quite fun, but it's been really nice.

6:06Allison Conrad:And obviously when you start with your family, you trust them. You know they have your back. My dad is the most risk-averse person probably on the planet. So the fact that he started digging into this and he was like, this is a really good idea. You are onto something. That also gave me the confidence of like, okay, maybe we're onto something. And yet you were trying to solve something that there was really no precedent for in the market, right? It's not like you were taking something that already existed and then trying to improve upon it. You were a true disruptor in the industry. Can you talk about some of the early things that felt promising that turned out to be dead ends as you were trying to find the right ingredient mix, the right formulations?

6:49Allison Conrad:A great question. One ingredient that we came across was catalase. And there were some supplements. You could search on Amazon, gray hair supplements. When I was searching for it, they were very strange looking and not trustworthy. And they had catalase. If you look into that ingredient, again, I'm not the scientist. I'm not going to be the one who's going to explain the science here effectively. But it does nothing. It was not effective. All these people were including it. And there was no scientific evidence. So we weren't the first people to come up with a concept for a supplement or topical for gray hair.

7:26Allison Conrad:but we were the first people to actually do it effectively with science-backed ingredients. My parents looked into every ingredient of what actually had scientific evidence to be doing something for cell regeneration and recoloration. And it wasn't like, oh, in theory, that should be doing something. It's like, no, it has to actually be doing something. And then once we did our clinical study on our products, of course, that was the extreme validation of this actually works. You're talking about ingredients that for some reason were included in everything and actually don't do anything. Similarly, on the flip side, were there specific discoveries or insights where things clicked, like a sort of eureka moment where you're like, oh, this is it?

8:12Allison Conrad:I think the big moment was thinking about the inside out, outside in approach. The best analogy is like proactive, the ActiCare brand. You know, it was like, oh yeah, the body itself, it makes such a big difference, the nutrients that we're putting into it. And then topically, of course, you can get to the sources as well, but the most effective thing is to do it from both sides. And then the other big unlock was we use Eastern ingredients and Western scientific ingredients. The Eastern ingredients were not my parents' forte, so we brought in a chemical engineer from MIT to help with that. And that was another one where, like, for generations, Eastern medicine has been using Foti black sesame extract, ingredients that here in the West we don't use all that often, aren't familiar with, but other countries have been relying on them heavily for anti-aging.

9:03Allison Conrad:So that was another really interesting insight and a bit thinking outside of the box. You were the initial guinea pig, I reckon, right? This started, as you said, not because you thought you had a big business idea, but just because you were trying to tackle a problem in your own life, which is where so many of the best business ideas, I think, come from. What did you see in your own hair that indicated to you like, okay, well, we've got it? Yeah. Yeah. So it's more what I don't see. I've been using this product now for six years. So it's so interesting to think of like, I don't know how gray.

9:38Allison Conrad:I would be at the, I don't really want to know how gray I would have been. Like, I'm good with not knowing that. But once we did our clinical study showing our placebo group had 10 % more gray hair over a course of six months, nobody has ever done a study on how fast you get gray hair. It's never been done. Our active group had 13 % less gray hair over six months on average. That's 23 % delta between the two groups. I mean, for me, that, I'm like, that's the validation. That's what I need to know. And so it's just knowing clinically that this also works. And then I have the confidence knowing, okay, I'm doing something good for my hair.

10:17Allison Conrad:And it's going to age as gracefully as humanly possible. Totally. Something that's so interesting that I was thinking about before we got on, which is like skincare. And it feels like psychologically as consumers, we've all kind of accepted a more preventative approach when it comes to skincare. People are doing Botox before the wrinkles pop up. They're using retinol in their 20s before they really see signs of aging. And yet, hair care feels like it's in this very reactive, symptom-driven place. Oh, your hair is dry, you use a deep conditioner. Your hair is gray, you use dye to cover it up. So you're asking people to engage in a very real psychology shift.

10:58How hard has it been to shift that mindset?

11:01Allison Conrad:It's hard. It's not impossible. And we're definitely seeing it shift. and our customer is getting younger, which is so encouraging to see. And I think once we give the information, like for example, your scalp ages six times faster than your skin on your face. So it's like, oh crap, it is really aging. People think your hair is dead. You can't do anything to that. Well, the roots of your scalp are not dead. They are very active and like little tiny microcosms of worlds inside of every hair follicle. So there is so much that we need to be doing. the skin on your face regenerates every 28 days when you're in your 20s it gets longer as you age everything slows down as you age it's a great great thing it's not great um so it's so interesting to me that we're doing so much for our face which is rejuvenating so quickly and our hair we're we're just damaging it and it's on our heads for years and years and we're just expecting it to be great all the time and look beautiful and luscious and vibrant.

12:05Allison Conrad:It kind of blows your mind when you think of it in that way. Like, oh my God, no, we need to be nurturing and caring for it from the roots. And then while it's on our heads and like keep it when it's vibrant and beautiful in your twenties and thirties, like that's what you want to hold on to. It's like, that's when you need to start the process of preserving. You gave yourself a lot of uphill battles with this company, right? You were creating a solution that truly didn't exist before you decided to go after both men and women who are generally marketed to differently. You're asking consumers to engage in like a pretty broad psychology shift in the way that they think about hair.

12:47And also, as you brought up, cellular renewal happens every 28 days with skin. It slows down a little bit as you get older. But generally, part of what also makes skincare so sticky for consumers is that like within a month or two, they're going to see a result. With Array, you're also asking for like a longer term investment potentially before they see a result and also a long term commitment, right? You have to stay on the products for them to continue to work. That is a lot of things to try to get the consumer to understand and buy into. What have you found from a messaging perspective, from a channel perspective, from a brand building perspective that has really broken through?

13:34Allison Conrad:Yeah, I think the skin analogy has been our best way of explaining to people. You know, you do all these things for your skin. You start early for your skin. Why are you not also doing that for your hair. And you have to also think like hair is the least essential part of your body. You do not need hair. You want hair. It does not care about being on your head. Your skin is the biggest organ in your body. Like it, you, that is essential. So when your body doesn't prioritize hair, you need to prioritize your hair. Like your nutrients are not going to your head. So I think once people get that education and information, like, oh yeah, that makes sense.

14:14Allison Conrad:You know, this is going to take time. It's fine. It takes time to change behavior. But we also think, can't believe like this hasn't been done before. Like how have we not taken care of our hair better? And then in terms of channels, I would say, you know, right now our biggest channel really is Meta and TikTok. We were launching TikTok shops and Connected TV. We're also advertising on. But it's a universal, I won't say problem because I don't want it to seem like a problem, but it's a universal experience to go gray. It happens to everybody. And so speaking to that, people get that, right? And everybody remembers the moment they found their first gray hair.

14:55Allison Conrad:It's such like a pivotal moment in everyone's life. So, yeah, so these are battles and it's hard, but we also see it's such a huge opportunity. and I used to get so annoyed in the beginning when we would explain this like oh this is so niche like this is not niche this is huge like it's a huge market it's universal actually yeah it's maybe it's specific maybe that's a better word for it that you know we're solving for the gray but we also do so much more than the gray it helps with thicker fuller softer shinier more vibrant hair. So it's, again, I hate saying the word anti-aging because we're not against aging, but that's the best descriptor that people can then understand.

15:37Allison Conrad:It's anti-aging for hair. Yeah. It's interesting, right? I think a lot of people also in the skincare world have a reticence to use the word anti-aging because of what it connotes. And yet like that's where the SEO is, right? That's what people are Googling and searching for. So if you decide not to use a term like that, you're to some degree putting yourself behind the eight ball. And also with a company like Ray, you know, you're trying to reach customers when you're solving a problem that people don't even know has a solution. So how are you getting to them in the first place when, for instance, for me, like I didn't know that grays was like even an issue that could be tackled in this way.

16:20Allison Conrad:I know this is the challenge because nobody's really Googling, how do I prevent my gray hair? They're Googling, how do I cover up my gray hair? How do I fix my gray hair? How do I solve my gray hair? So we have seen in the last five years too, like I mentioned, our cohort is going down in age. So people are getting that. It does start with that person who's experiencing, you know, maybe like 25 plus percent gray hair, which is not our ideal time to start the product, but it can work. Those customers came to us first and are still coming to us because they're acutely feeling the problem. But we're starting to see this younger demographic understand it.

16:59Allison Conrad:That's why we're very excited about TikTok Shop and being able to explain this in a platform where this audience is captive to understand what we're doing. Because it's also a challenge. Everybody has a one-second attention span, and you're like, how do you explain all the science and everything for this concept in one second? It's tricky. So, yeah, all the different hooks we're trying and ways to get people to even come to the website just to learn more, to understand more. And, like, can you give me an example of one of those hooks that you have found really works? We just hired a new head of growth, so we're still developing that.

17:37Allison Conrad:But a lot of it is, like, slowing gray hair is a hook that works a lot for us. So it's not even, like, reverse your gray hair. You know what I mean? Yes, we can do that. But if you're just expecting all of your grays to be reversed in the next month, that's not what's going to happen. So we don't want to overpromise and underdeliver. So it's really the messaging of, you know, see your first gray hair, do something about it. You're doing all these things for skin care. Why are you not doing them for hair care? So it's like these different ways of getting people in that is not, you know, reverse your gray hair in three months.

18:15Allison Conrad:That is so not our brand. And we've seen other competitors come up and position it that way. And we're like, oh, gross. And technically it's repigmentation. So it isn't, reversal is not even the right way to speak to it. So yeah, so we're still developing that. It's always a work in progress of how you get people. But these facts of like 30 % of your gray is genetics. Your scalp age is six times faster. Like these are all things that we're seeing people are resonating with. It speaks to a dedication to a particular degree of patience. So much of this company and what you're describing, it's really brick by brick.

18:56This isn't about flash in the pan or super quick overnight success. You're building something for longevity.

19:01Allison Conrad:It sure is. And I'm the least patient person ever. So it's been very tough for me.

19:11Allison Conrad:I'm learning a lot about myself through this process. But Jay, who's my business partner, is very patient and he still sees clients. So he's a therapist. He talks to people about all their problems, including mine. All hairstylists are. Yeah. That is his job. And so it's a very good balance because he's like, this is a marathon, not a sprint. And I'm like, I was literally a sprinter in high school. Like that is what I did. That was my track and field game. So it's been, it's been interesting, but I think it's a good balance because I pushed the team to like work fast, test and iterate and go, go, go.

19:47Allison Conrad:And he's more of like, okay, let's, let's build, it's okay. Let's build this thing in the right way. It's a very difficult and nuanced component of being an entrepreneur because you hear time and again, you got to kind of keep your blinders on and keep your head down and just be focused on the race that you're running, your personal sprint or marathon as it were. And at the same time, you kind of have to keep an eye and an ear open to what else is going on in the landscape. Over the course of the last six years, have you developed any strategies that have helped you hold that tension? I mean, funny story.

20:24Allison Conrad:Just yesterday, I was literally doing a headstand in my yoga practice. I was watching a YouTube yoga video, and I got served an ad for a competitive product that had recently launched by a massive brand. And I pulled out my back. I was like, what the? I was so pissed. My kids were like, oh my God, it's mom. Okay. What is happening? And I immediately called Jay. And this is why it's such a good partnership. He was like, oh, my God, Allison, relax. Like X, Y, and Z reasons why ours is so much better. The science, the clinical, blah, blah, blah, blah, all those things, of course. The IP. But also just like look at the brand.

21:06Allison Conrad:Look at the packaging. Like do you want to use that product? No, I don't want to use that product. So you have to know what's aware. You don't live in a hovel. Like anywhere, you're going to be hit by ads no matter where you are. But it's understanding, keeping core to what we're doing, always staying on top of the science. We just launched a new product that has an ingredient that we're the second brand that's ever had this ingredient in it. And people are coming to us for ingredient development and R &D. And so it's a very interesting now space to be once we become the leaders in here. But you can't take it for granted.

21:40Allison Conrad:You have to always be working and improving and making things better. but you cannot be so focused on what other people are doing because nothing comes from that. Be aware, but focus on what you're doing. Comparison is the thief of joy. That's just, yes. I feel like that may be somebody famous. Yeah, no, I didn't make it up. Did you just make that up? Because if you did, that you need to trademark that. Please do. Please do borrow it. You did something else. that I think is super fascinating and can feel like a little bit of a black box for people, which is that you got a patent, which creates at least a degree of protection, right?

22:25At what point did you recognize like, oh, this isn't just a product, this is actually defensible IP?

22:32Allison Conrad:Pretty early on. I mean, we knew early on that we would have to go down that route and should go down that route. And that's more from my advising of other brands and understanding from like an investor VC perspective of what you look for in a brand. So we knew that very early on, because it's not cheap to get a patent. So what is worth investing in and developing this patent for? We have another one pending. And so that took, of course, some guidance from legal folks as well, right? Like we couldn't just go into that. We surrounded ourselves with the right people to give guidance on that as well.

23:10I mean, for founders who are listening and thinking to themselves, like, I'll just patent it. What part of the process do people tend to underestimate or get wrong?

23:21Allison Conrad:Well, you definitely have to search what is already patented first, like, because you could be going down a rabbit hole of trying to develop something that somebody already has ownership of. So I think the, and now it's, it's a bit easier with AI and everything. You can look that up, but you have to understand the playing field that you're in to make sure that you're not spinning your wheels for nothing would be my biggest advice on that. You launched D2C and you were solely in that world for a period of time before what feels like very strategically transitioning and expanding into retail. Your first retail partnership was with Credo, which is like a clean beauty retailer.