Nutrafol’s Approach to Destigmatizing Hair Loss (2024)

Nutrafol cofounder and chief executive officer Giorgos Tsetis touched on a number of key topics, including the genesis of the brand, its retail strategy, finding the right partners and breaking down the taboo of hair loss, during a wide-ranging conversation withWWD’s senior editor, beauty, Kathryn Hopkins.

To kick-start, Tsetis spoke about his personal experience with hair loss. He was in his early 20s working as a model and studying engineering when he started to notice his hair was thinning.

“It was falling out in clumps, which was a terrifying experience as you can imagine,” Tsetis said. “I knew I was genetically predisposed, so when you combine genetic predisposition with excessive stress, it’s a perfect recipe for a hair disaster.”

Tsetis ultimately opted for prescription drugs, a choice that resulted in a slew of negative side effects, including sexual dysfunction, over the course of nine years.

“I was addicted to the drug essentially because every single time I stopped using it, my hair started to fall out so I had to choose between my health and my hair. That’s how everything really started,” he said.

Upon moving to New York City, Tsetis met his future cofounder and chief innovation officer of Nutrafol, Roland Peralta, who’d experienced hair loss of his own due to rheumatoid arthritis and thyroid cancer. The duo, along with cofounder and chief medical officer Dr. Sophia Kogan, M.D. and a team of scientific advisers, set out to create a nutraceutical, an all-natural alternative to the hair loss pharmaceuticals.

“The approach was pretty simple because I believe that we’re dealing with a lot of complex problems in the world, and in order to solve them, we need to approach it in a very simple way. Otherwise you’re not going to get better. That was one of our strengths because we’re not doctors and we’re not scientists, but we’re incredibly curious and extremely motivated to actually find a solution that was healthy and safe,” Tsetis said.

Years of research and testing lead to Nutrafol’s current medical-grade, plant-powered formula, which targets the key causes of hair thinning and loss, including lifestyle, stress and nutrition.

“We believed there was a multifactorial approach. That was the original hypothesis,” Tsetis said, explaining that hair loss isn’t entirely based on genetics. “We pursued that and it was our mission to prove to the world that it’s possible.”

While Nutrafol has created a solution to thinning, destigmatizing the conversation around hair loss is a key tenet for the brand, which was acquired by Unilever in May 2022. While conversations around hair loss are more common now — especially following the COVID-19 pandemic — he believes there is still a taboo, especially for women, that needs to be addressed.

“We need to do our best to raise awareness and allow for a conversation. That’s what we do as a company,” he said, pointing to examples like the brand’s Shed The Silence Facebook group for women to discuss their experiences. “We’ve made progress, but there’s still a lot of work to be done.”

Community building, thoughtful marketing and supporting the customer through their journey are three ways in which the brand is thinking about breaking down the taboo.

“We’re not approaching the problem from a place of fear. Fear tactics are very easy to apply in order to convert customers because out of fear people act. Our approach was never about doubling down on that type of emotion. We’re always coming from a place of empowerment and education,” Tsetis said.

As the brand continues to promote conversations around hair loss and growth, it recently entered about 80 Sephora doors marking its first major retail partnership. While science and results are at the forefront of the brand — leading to a successful direct-to-consumer, in-salon and health care provider business — simplification was necessary in retail.

“We’re very proud of our science because it’s a part of our DNA, but the everyday consumer is not memorizing any of that. If you’re not able to convey your message in a very simple and concise way and make it memorable, you do yourself and the world a disservice,” Tsetis said.

As with Sephora, supportive partnerships have been necessary for Nutrafol’s success from the beginning. For example, Tsetis discussed how early investors, like Unilever Ventures and L Catterton, supported the brand in the midst of a data breach in 2019, following a $35 million raise.

“It was bad news. I’m sharing confidential information but the reason why I’m doing this is because they stood by me during that time,” he said, noting that intuition is key when seeking the right investors. According to Tsetis, the brand turned down several investors over the years.

“There’s a lot that can go wrong when it comes to fundraising. It can make and break your company,” he said. “We said ‘no’ to a lot of money during very difficult times, times where we were actually out of money and we were about to potentially even go out of business and we had the strength to say ‘no’ to funds that just didn’t feel right… You just need good people that care during difficult times.”