Launch Date: January 2014
Geography: Joshua Tree, CA, US
Founders:
Executive Team:
2025 Full Year Projected Revenue: $5M - $8M
Primary Category: Skincare
Other Categories:
Funding: Self-Funded
Primary Distribution Channel: DTC
Other Distribution Channels:
Key Retail Partners:
2025 Projected Offline Distribution Points: 600
In 2014, Wonder Valley was founded around one product: California extra virgin olive oil. This was a time when olive oil wasn’t trendy, and we had one goal: to spark a conversation around domestic olive oil, bringing it to a new audience. We became a cult-favorite for our disruptive packaging, strong branding, and exceptional product. Wonder Valley is the perfect union of backgrounds between myself and my husband, Jay. I was the former Marketing Director for the California Olive Oil Council, where I oversaw the annual extra virgin certification program for the state. Jay has a background as a brilliant Creative Director, the former Head of Global Concepts at Levi’s, and Partner and Lead Design at El Rey Court.
We’ve since used this antioxidant-rich superfood as a hero ingredient in a growing collection of skin, body, and haircare. From a formulation perspective, there can be no greater potency and quality control than producing the key ingredient yourself. And like olive oil, our collections are foundational, timeless, inclusive, and universally beneficial. We believe in the intrinsic link between internal health and external beauty and aim to educate and empower customers.
Insights: Alison Carroll, Co-Founder + CEO
Why now and why you?
Right now, the world is very noisy. We are digitally exhausted and oversold to. We have shorter attention spans and shorter trend cycles. We have shorter efficiencies on marketing strategies. It’s a time of extreme and universal overwhelm. I feel that deeply on a human level.
Wonder Valley brings a strong point of view, a strategy for longevity, and perhaps most importantly, timeless design. We believe these are not only meaningful but disruptive in today’s landscape. Wonder Valley is the antidote to the shelf full of products. We aim to be the enduring, life-enhancing, health-enriching rituals in your day. We aim to take these foundational moments—washing your face, moisturizing, taking a shower, cooking food—and make these moments sublime. It’s what we call “Grandeur in Simplified Living.”
What fuels your competitive advantage?
Olive oil is the heart and soul of the company; there’s passion, expertise, and tangible storytelling around this world we are building. Ten years in, we’ve created trust in our core customer base. They have trusted us to provide transparency and a healthful extra virgin olive oil. We became a touchstone in their day, and they’ve followed us into skincare and now haircare. We’ve been able to expand into new categories and capture new audiences, while feeling the forward momentum of having such a solid customer base.
What are you most proud of accomplishing to date?
I am proud that we’ve found such success in multiple verticals: food, skincare, bodycare, and haircare. It has bolstered our success and longevity, when it could have easily diluted our brand if we were not strategic with our storytelling and distribution. This year alone, we’ve launched our olive oil in half of the Whole Foods locations while also launching a fragrance line and hotels amenities program. Each opportunity has opened us up to new audiences, new points of entry, and added more depth to our brand.
What is the one thing you wish someone had told you?
There’s this myth that success can be automated; that you’re just one app, one integration, one influencer away from sitting back and watching the money come in. As enticing as this is, it’s nonsense. If anything, it can distract from making the meaningful, value-adding decisions key to running the business. It’s an on-going practice bringing in the amplifiers and filtering out the fluff. But it all requires involvement and a steady hand on the wheel.
What would you tell your past self before starting this journey?
“Who, not how.” I suffer from the same condition as many strong-willed creatives: I try to do too much myself. It’s taken me years to understand the value in discernment and delegation.
What does success look like in the next 3-5 years?
"Success, on a high level, looks like financial growth while maintaining our creative vision and connection to our core audience along the way. Success is securing a strong major retail partner for our skin and haircare. We’ve found that partnership through Whole Foods for our olive oil; we’re looking for a great partnership with a retailer to champion the brand and reach a more mass audience.
June 2025 marks the introduction of two very strategic SKUs: body lotion and hand wash. This allows us to round out an amenities program for hotels, as well as help us reach a larger audience with accessible price points. I can’t think of a more meaningful way for our customers to experience the products than directly in a design-forward space while experiencing vacation euphoria! Success looks like growing that program as a strong marketing play and as a revenue driver.
Success looks like growth in the European market. All of our products are EU-certified, and we’ve set up a warehouse in a centralized location in Poland for ease of distribution through the UK and EU. We are securing strong accounts and see a lot of promise in these markets.
Personally, I want to have Wonder Valley find more offline opportunities to build community and grow our audience. For instance, retail, events, pop-ups, and stockist education. For me, this is the stuff that fills my cup and is very joyful. We also believe it’s meaningful to develop personal connections. We see a financial return through a high rate of word-of-mouth customers and engaged stockists. The launch of our skincare line was solely funded by the profits of our former OIL SHOP, a retail space in Joshua Tree blessed with low overhead ($400/month rent) and high traffic (3.3 million visitors to the area annually). I’d love for us to have a new approach to well-placed experiential retail stores. Success looks like having more support and opportunities to reach existing and potential customers offline.
What's one industry trend that is overhyped, and what's being overlooked?
The “morning shed”— all the face tapes, chin straps, eye masks …. it’s too much. I can barely stand the burden of wearing my mouth guard to sleep. I genuinely don’t understand this one.
What’s being overlooked is simplicity. The core of our company is a strong belief in the connection between internal health and external beauty, and we offer a collection of products to support you holistically. I’m all for Marie Kondo-ing your beauty routines and product assortment into a tight edit of functional and performative products for your particular needs—and hopefully bringing some joy to touch, use, and look at each day.
How do you think the industry needs to evolve?
Sustainability is a big one for me. The industry needs to evolve towards truly sustainable supply chains; transparency and education on the impact of packaging choices, less pressure for single-use packaging, and ideally, some version of a tax credit or financial upside for brands making responsible and costly sustainable efforts.
If you could wave a magic wand, what one wish would you make for your business?
Hotel Wonder Valley!
