A row of labels in the shampoo aisle at Target on 300 W. Salt Lake City claim to promote SadieB, a new hair care line by young Utah entrepreneurs Sadie and Abby Bowler. was.
That wasn’t what the sisters found on the shelf Friday afternoon. Last week, for at least the third time, the Bowler sisters went to the store at 1110 S. 300 West to look for newly launched brands and were met with disappointing results.
“That’s a shame,” Sadie said, staring at a shelf that should hold specially made shampoos and conditioners “by girls, for girls.”
The new hair care line, SadieB, launched last week at about 500 Target stores and on the Target website. The founding sisters had seen photos and videos of their shampoo and conditioner on shelves at other Targets, but as of Thursday afternoon they had not yet seen it for themselves. Targets in the Salt Lake area are experiencing stocking delays, employees told Bowler and Tribune.
They learned that setbacks like this are a reality for business owners.
“This week has been emotional whiplash,” Sadie said. “We celebrate, we put out the fire, and we celebrate again. It’s been a roller coaster, but it’s been really rewarding.”
The SadieB product launch is the result of years of love and hard work, Bowlers said Thursday. Sadie, who just turned 21, and Abby, 22, started their company as teenagers with the encouragement of their entrepreneur father and the University of Utah’s Lassonde Institute for Entrepreneurship. The brand launched in May 2022. Less than two years later, it was stocked at major retailers in the United States.
“SadieB is a great example of what students can accomplish as entrepreneurs at the University of Utah,” said Troy D’Ambrosio, executive director of the Lassonde Institute for Entrepreneurship and associate dean of the Eccles School of Business. stated in a news release. “(Sadie) went from having an idea to launching the product in stores across the country in just a few years.”
“By girls, for girls”
Their product wasn’t on shelves yet, but that didn’t stop the sisters from promoting it to shoppers browsing Target’s shampoo aisle.
One of the women who was shopping with a young girl asked them if they had any recommendations.
“Actually, we just launched a product. We’re local to Utah,” Sadie told the woman. “(SadieB) is specifically aimed at girls and focuses on their activities and achievements.”
That marketing is the foundation of SadieB’s brand. As an aspiring hairstylist as a teenager, Sadie said she was frustrated by the claims she saw on shampoo bottles and in the beauty industry as a whole. Many products, she said, make big promises to “fix” her body problems. And when that promise wasn’t fulfilled, Sadie said, she felt like it was her fault. It’s like there was something “problematic” about her.
“We’ve really reimagined a brand that doesn’t have unrealistic and unfair beauty standards imposed on it,” Sadie said.
According to the sisters, SadieB’s goal is not to “fix” girls’ hair. It is about complementing the achievements and identities of girls.
“We said, ‘What if we had a brand that spoke to girls about who they are and who they’re becoming, rather than what they need to fix about themselves? ’,” Abby said.
The “Adventure” line is for young women who like to hike, camp and play outside, and who like to moisturize their hair by adding moisture to it. Women like Sadie.
“Athlete” is for young women like Abby who sweat or swim and want extra cleansing power from their shampoo.
“We designed our products to change the conversation in the beauty industry,” Sadie said. “And we started personifying these products that connect with Abby and parts of me and other girls.”
(Francisco Jolses | Salt Lake Tribune) Labels in anticipation of the new SadieB hair care line targeted at Gen Z girls at Target at 1110 S. 300 West in Salt Lake City on Thursday, February 29, 2024. will be displayed.
“Okay” girls
As young female founders, the Bowler sisters said they have been overall overwhelmed by the support and encouragement they have received from industry leaders, both male and female.
Most people “get it,” Sadie said. But not everyone.
Abby remembered an entrepreneurship competition she and Sadie entered for students at the University of Utah. Most of the judges were men. They didn’t “get it”. According to Abby, the sisters “got the highest marks on all the judges’ rubrics, but the sisters kept insisting that we weren’t careful enough, that we needed to make connections, etc.” He said he found out about it. And because of that judge’s bias, we couldn’t win the contest. ”
Both sisters emphasize that they had great male mentors, including their entrepreneur father and Davis Smith, founder of Utah-based outdoor gear company Cotopaxi. They said Smith taught them how to build a business based on social impact.
But they were particularly inspired by the women who paved the way for them, believed in their mission and offered to help.
“Our whole story is really about women lifting women up,” Sadie said. “The women who supported us made our dreams come true, and we can’t wait to support other female founders and girls chasing their dreams.”
Women are the strongest economic engine. Economists say they influence at least 80% of consumer spending. But they hold only a fraction of the leadership positions in the companies that market to them. So selling products made “for girls and by girls” is no easy task, Bowlers said. That phrase was almost a brand name.
They suspect that their focus on girls is what got them on Target’s shelves.
“Our product really fills a void,” Sadie says. “We are the first and only brand in stores today that specifically targets Gen Z girls.”
But their messages can also “resonate with mothers,” Abbey said, often mothers who actually have the purchasing power.
By the way, the brand name comes from the sisters’ names. But this is a partnership of equals, they said. Sadie said she wanted to become a hairdresser from an early age, and is in charge of work such as product development and marketing. Abby said she always wanted to be an entrepreneur and work in an “impact-driven” business, so she handles logistics, accounting and social impact.
“We found that we were able to take on these different roles within the company very naturally,” Sadie said. “It’s kind of amazing.”
(Courtesy of SadieB/University of Utah) The SadieB hair product line, founders Sadie and Abby Bowler say, is built around girls’ interests, not their flaws.
mental health
Sadie and Abby said they want their products to inspire confidence, not fear. They consider hair care to be part of a health routine rather than a beauty regimen.
Mental health is also central to the brand’s mission. SadieB is a public benefit corporation and is committed to B Corp certification. Its first nonprofit partner is Girl Up, a project of the United Nations Foundation chosen specifically for its new mental health education program.
“Mental health issues are something Sadie and I have experienced personally, something our friends have struggled with, and we were very aware that it was a national crisis,” Abbey said. spoke.
Abby said much of mental health care focuses on crisis situations. She and Sadie say their contribution is to take a more preventative approach to care: “By taking care of our mental health every day and taking care of ourselves on a daily basis, we hope that fewer people will fall into that crisis.” I thought it might be something to support the idea.
“What we offer girls is as much about girl care as it is about products…it’s personal care and it’s mental health,” Abby said. “This whole routine is about taking care of yourself, your body and your mind as a whole.”
Target is just the beginning for the brand, Sadie said. The company’s products are now on or near the shelves of about a quarter of Target stores nationwide. They hope to increase their presence and expand into other stores to become famous.
“Our vision for SadieB is to be the number one personal care brand for girls,” says Sadie.
Shannon Sollitto reports for members of the American Legion covering business accountability and sustainability for The Salt Lake Tribune. Your gift, matched by an RFA grant, will help her keep writing stories like this one. Click here to consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today.
