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After struggling with severe eczema for much of her life, Harvard-educated Alicia Yoon left investment banking for the skincare industry. Previously, Yoon had attended esthetician school in Korea to learn how to leverage K-beauty technology and wisdom from trained chemists and heal her own skin. That healing experience left Yoon determined to make the innovation, efficacy, and quality of Korean skincare accessible to all. She spearheaded the creation of skincare company Peach & Lily and brought the 鈥済lass skin鈥� movement to the US, providing resources for anyone hoping to improve their skin鈥檚 health.
Tune into this week鈥檚 episode to learn more about Yoon鈥檚 journey and how she invented an entirely new lane for the beauty industry.
Turning skincare into a career was never part of her 鈥渕aster plan.鈥� She decided to go to esthetician school in South Korea, not with a career in mind, but to learn how to heal her own skin. Working with chemists in Korea, Yoon learned that skin transformation comes from 鈥渉olistically treating skin through a number of different pillars.鈥�
Yoon explains to Powell, 鈥淏ack then [in the early 2000s] there was no internet. So [my research involved going through] the stacks in the library and reading clinical studies and hands-on trials 鈥� all of that 鈥� to figure out how to transform my skin. [And] after a few years, eventually I was able to. 鈥hat skin transformation came from holistically treating skin.鈥�
Unbeknownst to Yoon, the principles she learned for treating her eczema would one day provide the foundation for Peach & Lily to provide widely-accessible products that treat anyone鈥檚 skin holistically.
While still studying Korean skincare on the side, Yoon enrolled in university, earning a bachelor鈥檚 degree from Columbia University and later a master鈥檚 degree from Harvard Business School. But after beginning her career at Boston Consulting Group, entrepreneurism called to her, and she left to launch Peach & Lily in 2012. The brand quickly became popular, but it wasn鈥檛 until premiering the glass skin serum that Yoon began to change the skincare industry itself.
The idea of 鈥済lass skin鈥� evolved from Yoon鈥檚 own skincare techniques and what she learned from South Korea. After she figured out how to replicate the effects in a serum, it became one of the most popular skincare trends in the world. 鈥淲hen we created this product and launched it five years ago, it鈥檚 so funny because the term 鈥榞lass skin鈥� was not even a thing,鈥� she says. 鈥淣ow there鈥檚 over a billion hashtags on social media about it.鈥�
It鈥檚 hard to believe, but when Yoon first branded the concept, she wasn鈥檛 sure people would understand it. She tells Powell in the episode, 鈥淚 was so nervous that people were going to think 鈥極h my gosh, is my face going to turn to glass 鈥� like fragile 鈥� and break?鈥欌��
[1:31] Yoon鈥檚 personal skincare journey and how it led to the founding of Peach & Lily
[5:59] Peach & Lily鈥檚 zero-compromise approach to skincare
[6:30] How Yoon consciously set her brand apart from competitors
[7:50] What it means to be the first versus being the best
[8:40] The impact of Yoon鈥檚 Korean background on her approach to skincare
[20:38] Why it鈥檚 so important for brands to educate their consumers
[23:50] The story behind Peach & Lily鈥檚 name
[25:29] Challenges Yoon faced as a female and minority CEO
Listen to the bonus episode to learn how Yoon protects her mental space and what her vision is for the future of Peach & Lily.
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