Brand Spotlight: cocokind

We interviewed the CEO and founder of cocokind, Priscilla Tsai.

How did you come up with the name cocokind?

I wanted the name to reflect our usage of superfoods in skincare, but also communicate the consciousness that we would bring to the beauty world in terms of sustainability, transparency, and quality of ingredients. 

What drove you to start your business?

After years of using severe prescription acne treatments and antibiotics, my skin and gut had developed an extreme amount of sensitivities, and I realized that the traditional approaches to fighting skin concerns were unsustainable, unhealthy, stigmatizing, and irrationally expensive. I wanted to provide a solution in the beauty industry that was clean, affordable, and empowering. 

What has been the most satisfying part of your business?

Seeing so many people have incredible skincare journeys through cocokind – not just physically, but also mentally. We’ve had so many people open us to us about how much more empowered they feel in their own skin. 

What was the best and worst job you had before founding your own brand?

My best job before founding cocokind was working as an equity research analyst at JPMorgan. I haven’t really had a “worst job” thankfully, but my first job was working as a table busser at Fuddruckers. #neverforget

You’ve always maintained an affordable point while maintaining great quality ingredients. How has this impacted your business? Do you find the volume of sales higher that make up for the lower margins? 

We’ve baked affordable pricing into our DNA since day 1. The beauty industry is a high margin industry, and we also benefit from that – even though we use extremely high quality formulas and sustainable packaging. For us, it’s not about charging what we can. We charge what we think is fair for the consumer and try to keep prices down as much as possible. Of course, with having a price point that is always under $25, we can reach more people who typically can’t afford a $60 serum and $40 cleanser. 

What is your superpower and your spirit animal?

My superpower is that I’m extremely efficient. I get things done! 

My spirit animal is a zebra. I love how they all have unique stripes. 

Your brand is very accessible and you are sold in pharmacies, whole foods etc.. Do you find this helps your online sales or hinders them? 

Our brand reaches customers first and foremost online using our social channels – so our online website is super complementary to our retailers like Target, Whole Foods, and Shoppers Drug Mart. We communicate with customers online, and they buy us wherever they like! We do have a super close knit community of customers that love interacting and purchasing new products through cocokind.com though!

Any upcoming launches you can share with us?

We just launched our celery duo – which consists of our pore refining concentrate and texture smoothing cream! Our pore refining concentrate ($14) reduces the look of pores immediately with increasing results over time. Our texture smoothing cream ($20) is a daily moisturizer that helps smooth the appearance of fine lines and rough patches, and offers lightweight hydration with a silky feel. 

Both of these products center around celery seed, which helps firm, tone, and support the structures that hold pores tight, keeping them from appearing enlarged and promoting smooth skin. 

When developing new products how long does it take to go from concept to shelf?

It can take upwards of two years!! The celery duo took us 1.5 years to develop. 

In 5 years, where do you see yourself and the brand?

We want to keep growing our incredible community and be able to reach more and more people with our clean and accessible beauty products! I also see myself continuing to help other female entrepreneurs come up and create amazing, conscious businesses. 

Other than your own brand, what are some of your favourite beauty brands?

There are so many great beauty brands these days. A few that I think are doing an amazing job are Kosas, Ilia, and Kinfeld. 

If you could only choose 1 product from your range which one would it be and why? (I know it’s hard!)

That’s super hard but if I had to choose one, only because it’s our newest, I’d choose the Texture Smoothing Cream made with celery seed. It’s incredible and so easy to use and love.