The stateside skincare industry is more saturated than ever, but there are some key players who got in on the ground floor and aren’t simply riding out the trend. Sofie Pavitt, founder of Sofie Pavitt Face and owner of the results-driven Sofie Pavitt Skincare Studio in Chinatown, is one of these people. After building a promising career in accessories design working for brands like Abercrombie & Fitch, Gap, Tory Burch, and Michael Kors, she pivoted in her 30s to pursue her love of skincare, enrolling in school and training to be an aesthetician while keeping a full-time fashion job. Fast-forward to today, and she’s developed a tightly edited line of skincare products that recently launched in Sephora, positioning her among the beauty industry big dogs.

Tune in to hear about Sofie’s fascinating journey, including how she got recruited by Abercrombie right out of college in the UK; how trips to Seoul several times a year for her accessories design job helped her fall in love with skincare culture; the insane budgets fashion companies had 20 years ago; what it was like going back to school and starting a whole new career as an adult; how giving virtual skincare consults during the pandemic was a lightbulb moment for her; why “acne positivity” is a scam; how a DM from Zendaya in late 2020 snowballed her career as an aesthetician; whether beauty people are nicer than fashion people; the process of getting your product into Sephora; why personal brands are more important than ever because people want to feel connected to the products they buy; realizing that you can train technique but you can’t train kindness or empathy; why sometimes it’s valuable working for free, and much more.

This episode was recorded in the podcast studio at The SQ @ 205 Hudson.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thenewgarde.substack.com