While imitation might be the sincerest form of flattery, it can be devastating to a beauty brand with a genuinely unique, game-changing idea. Just ask Ryan Margolin, CEO and co-founder of Professional Hair Labs, which markets the much-imitated GHOSTBOND, a toxin-free, water-based wig adhesive. Developed by Margolin’s father after Margolin’s mother—a master technician and expert in hair replacement developed career-ending chemical poisoning—it launched in 2010 and marked a new era for the 30-year-old, Ireland-based company.“The industry was full of toxic products,” Margolin recalls of the pre-GHOSTBOND days. “A lot of the adhesives were formulated with solvents such as xylene, toluene, and hexane, which ultimately are derivatives of gasoline. So, my dad wanted to formulate a water-based solution that was safe.”After deciding to commit to the family business just as GHOSTBOND was getting off the ground, Margolin built a spreadsheet of all the hair replacement studios in the US and helped develop a simple, two-sided postcard mailer. The phone started ringing after that direct mailer went out, and the ascent was steady. “We’d get phone calls ordering a bottle to try,” says Margolin. “And after four weeks, we’d get the feedback and an order for two to three bottles,” which invariably climbed to up to 25 bottles per client and a tripling in revenue in the 18 months after the innovative product’s debut. “We started to grow exponentially,” says Margolin. “From 2015 to 2019, we went from a company doing about $1.1 million a year to over $10 million in sales.