When Ali Webb found herself in Florida running Nicole Miller shops with her brother, she knew it wasn’t for her. She and her brother (whom she loved very much) were fighting constantly and had begun to grow bitter with each other. They decided to sever their professional relationship and Webb went on to pursue her passion for cosmetology at beauty school.
Fast-forward five years and Webb was a stay-at-home mom. She began offering friends blowouts at their houses to get herself out of her own, and that’s when Webb noticed a gap in the market. “There were full-service salons way overcharging for blowouts, and there were Fantastic Sams, which were not a great experience,” Webb tells Inc. And finally, Drybar was born.
Of course, Webb wanted her brother, a seasoned businessman, involved. “This time, it was my idea. He understood business in a way I didn’t. And Cameron [my husband] is a creative genius. I could tell we were going to be equals. I was going to run the store, Michael (who put in $250,000) would do the back end, and Cameron would do the branding.”
When their first location opened in 2010, there was a line out the door. In 2016, the company was said to be worth $70 million.
For the full story, head over to Inc.