When Katherine Ruiz launched Folks Haircare, she didn’t tiptoe into the market.
She went straight into over 800 Coles shops nationally. No mushy launch. No boutique trial. Simply premium, high-performing haircare on the cabinets of certainly one of Australia’s largest retailers – proper from day one.
“From day one, Coles was a part of the imaginative and prescient,” she says.
“If we needed to make high-performing, inexpensive haircare actually accessible, we needed to be the place individuals already store.”
That concept – of accessibility with out compromise – sits on the core of the Folks Haircare mission:
“To make premium, high-performing, and ethically made haircare accessible to all individuals with all hair sorts, giving them the boldness to appear and feel like themselves.”
And that’s what makes Katherine’s story so vital – not only for the haircare area, however for each lady questioning if she will construct one thing daring, industrial, and uncompromising on her personal phrases.
As a result of she has.
Constructed from id, not trade
Folks Haircare wasn’t born in a lab. It wasn’t spun out of a advertising and marketing playbook. It got here from Katherine’s personal expertise – years of navigating self-image, id, and her relationship to her pure hair.
“I’ve at all times cared deeply about my hair – it’s at all times been a giant a part of my id,” she says. “However for a very long time, I struggled with my very own self-image.”
Folks Haircare slick styler
In her twenties, she felt like she was performing who she thought the world needed her to be. Now in her thirties, embracing her pure curls has been a part of returning to herself.
“My curls at the moment are certainly one of my favorite options; they make me really feel assured and actually ‘me.’ However that wasn’t at all times the case.”
Rising up, the embarrassment was actual. Katherine remembers the second when her hairdresser would ask what shampoo she used – and the way she’d quietly want the query away.
“The reality was, I used to be utilizing one thing from the grocery store as a result of I couldn’t afford salon-quality merchandise. That feeling caught with me.”
So, she determined to resolve it.
“I needed to debunk the stigma that you would be able to’t purchase high quality hair care from the grocery store. I noticed a chance to create a model that was high-performing, fantastically designed and accessible.”
And when she couldn’t discover the merchandise she wanted?
“I had been trying to find salon-quality outcomes with out the worth tag – and after I couldn’t discover it, I made a decision to create it.”
From AFL to retail
Katherine’s journey didn’t observe a straight path – however it at all times had momentum.
“I wasn’t a giant tutorial, however I cherished topics like enterprise administration and psychology.”
She tried promoting at RMIT, walked away after six months, and jumped into full-time work earlier than giving uni one other go. Ultimately, she took a task at Richmond Soccer Membership – and from there the whole lot began to alter.
“I at all times had the sensation that I needed to run my very own enterprise and be my very own boss.”
That imaginative and prescient grew to become clearer as she stepped into the function of Managing Director and part-owner at Anatomy Studios, the place she spent years constructing manufacturers for fast-growing client firms like Roll’d, Soul Origin, and Kings Area Barbers.
“These experiences taught me easy methods to spot market gaps, scale shortly, and create manufacturers that resonate with on a regular basis individuals.”
However even whereas constructing for others, she observed one thing lacking from her personal world.
“When it got here to haircare, one thing I’ve at all times personally cared deeply about, I couldn’t discover something inspiring on grocery store cabinets.”
And so she created it herself.
How she landed Coles
Folks Haircare didn’t take the standard startup route of sluggish and regular development. It went daring.
“Going straight into Coles… it felt dangerous on the time, however it’s been the largest driver of our development and allowed us to scale shortly.”
So what made the pitch work?
“Preparation and persistence. We had a transparent imaginative and prescient, a robust model technique, and high-performing merchandise that stuffed an actual hole out there.”
She knew they wanted greater than a product. They wanted to indicate up retail prepared.
“Retailers see numerous pitches, so it is advisable present up not solely with a terrific product however with a model that feels thought-through.”
“The formulation needed to arise – that was non-negotiable. However equally, the model story was clear, genuine, and aligned with the place shoppers had been heading.”
And he or she did all of it from her lounge room.
“Our very first pitch to Coles occurred over Zoom, simply post-COVID. I keep in mind holding up pattern bottles and packaging mock-ups to the digital camera, making an attempt to ensure the workforce may see each little element.”
“It was nerve-wracking… however it additionally compelled us to be actually sharp about our story and why Folks Haircare deserved a spot on the shelf.”
Development with out compromise
Huge retail comes with huge calls for. Scaling with out sacrificing high quality wasn’t simple – however it was potential.
“It got here down to 2 issues: being resourceful and being uncompromising the place it mattered.”
They made trade-offs – labels as a substitute of display printing, for instance – however by no means on formulation.
“We by no means compromised on formulation efficiency. We partnered with nice native producers and leaned on robust provide chain relationships.”
That core product integrity is what’s pushed repeat buy—and earned shelf area alongside international giants.
Standing out in a saturated area
Haircare is crowded. So how did Folks break by means of?
“We stand out by providing high-performing haircare that’s regionally obtainable and genuinely inexpensive.”
It’s a full system – wash, deal with, type – that meets a variety of wants throughout numerous hair sorts and textures. And it’s obtainable nationally.
“Not like many manufacturers that target one area of interest, we’ve created a whole system that’s simple to make use of, fantastically designed, and works throughout the board.”
However most significantly? It really works.
“Efficiency was non-negotiable from day one. If the merchandise didn’t genuinely work, no quantity of branding or advertising and marketing would maintain us.”
Model with spine
Earlier than visible id, Katherine invested in one thing else:
“Model technique earlier than launch. We invested closely upfront in defining our imaginative and prescient, values, and positioning.”
That readability formed the whole lot – from packaging to PR to inner selections.
Folks All-in-one shampoo and conditioner
“Whether or not it’s our packaging, our social content material or how we present up in PR, the whole lot ties again to our mission of constructing haircare accessible and empowering individuals to really feel extra themselves.”
The identify Folks was additionally no accident.
“Hair is as distinctive because the particular person, and we needed the model to really feel human, approachable and common.”
Even the emblem?
“The P in our brand was impressed by the gender-neutral image – a refined design alternative that reinforces the concept that our merchandise are for all individuals.”
Founder gasoline: what retains her going
Katherine’s definition of success is deeply human.
“When a buyer tells me that our merchandise made them really feel extra assured, extra seen, or just made their mornings simpler – that’s success.”
However she’s trustworthy in regards to the challenges too. Like retail promotions:
“I didn’t realise at first how central promotions and advertising and marketing calendars are to retailers and to prospects.”
“Wanting again, I want we had invested extra closely in promotions in our first yr. It might have accelerated consciousness, trial, and repeat buy.”
Nonetheless, she’s simply getting began.
“The phrase I’d select for this yr is evolution. This yr is about getting into a brand new chapter, constructing on what we’ve created, and evolving the model in ways in which set us up for the long run.”
And as for the pinch-me second?
“Strolling into Coles for the primary time and seeing Folks Haircare on the shelf. After all of the technique, late nights, to see the model we created sitting alongside international giants was surreal.”
What Katherine Ruiz proves is that this:
You don’t have to observe another person’s roadmap.
You don’t have to play it protected to scale.
And also you completely don’t want to attend till it feels “prepared.”
You want a terrific product, a robust model and braveness.
So in the event you’re a lady with a product in your head and a hearth in your intestine – construct the factor.
Do your homework.
Personal your model.
Lead with proof, not permission.
And present up such as you already belong on the shelf. Since you do.
Tracey Warren is CEO & Bree Kirkham, COO, of enterprise capital agency F5 Collective.
