Launched: 2015
Founder: Calvin Quallis
Key Executives:
2024 Full Year Expected Revenue Range: $20 to $30 million
Offline points of distribution projected for 2024: 65,000
Primary Category: Personal Care
Other Categories: Haircare
Key Markets: United States
Retail Partnerships:
Primary Distribution Channel: Mass
Other Distribution Channels:
Funding Rounds: Venture Capital
Accelerator: Target Accelerator Program
Please share the inspiration for your brand and how it meets a need in the beauty industry.
I’ve always been passionate about solving problems. My passion for helping men to feel their best was born out of observation and my firsthand experience as a barbershop owner and a kid in my mom’s beauty/barbershop. There, I watched my mom and the other stylists transform the customers that walked into the shop. The customers would walk out feeling more confident than when they entered. The barbers and stylists had this unique ability to help people feel better about themselves. That experience really stuck with me. After years of working in the corporate world, I kept going back to that feeling and those experiences and ultimately, that is what inspired me to create Scotch Porter.
What continues to be special to me about this brand is that it is all centered around doing good and helping our customers and community to show up as their best.
What are some of your key business initiatives for 2024?
There will be a focus on continuing to build brand awareness, while building a good and profitable business. There is also a huge focus on driving efficient, profitable growth in 2024, lasering in daily/weekly/monthly on benchmark goals like AOV, ROS, discounts as a percentage of net sales, and channel contribution margins.
What are you most proud of having accomplished since the business has launched?
I started this business as a little hobby many years ago trying to solve some of the grooming issues that our customers had in our barbershop, but as the business has grown, and I’ve grown personally, I now understand that business doesn’t have to be self-serving, and that it can be a tool leveraged to change your life, your family’s life, and also have impact on others’ lives. That said, what excites me the most about the future of Scotch Porter is our opportunity to play a part in making millions of people’s lives better, with our products—including our launch into category adjacencies like skincare and others—with services and with the information that we provide our customers daily. And to have given more than we’ve taken by adding real value to our customers and communities lives by way of our Social Impact Fund. Since our launch in 2022, we’ve donated over $340,000 and impacted roughly 76,000 lives through partnering with forward initiatives in the areas of job and education training, entrepreneurship, and recidivism.
What has been the biggest surprise since the brand was founded?
The biggest surprise is the time, effort, and resilience that it takes to build a great brand with impact and staying power. At the start of building Scotch Porter, I could not have imagined the discipline, effort, capital, and human resources needed to build a successful brand.
What aspect of your brand DNA fuels your competitive advantage?
What separates Scotch Porter from the competition is that we are more than just a men’s grooming brand; we are intentional about accomplishing our mission to help men feel great and show up as their best by focusing on their internal and external wellness journey. We do that by not only investing in causes like education, job training, entrepreneurship, and recidivism, but we also tap experts and professionals to provide playbook points on how to live healthier lives financially, in our relationships, physically, and so on.
Not only do we make products that our customers rave about, with over 50,000 five-star reviews, but we have eliminated over 1,400 ingredients from our product line and produce healthy, nontoxic products that the entire family can use.
Please share your insight on the future of the beauty industry.
Consumers desire products that are highly efficacious, with active ingredients that are proven to work, and younger consumers do not feel represented by modern brands and expect more than just great products from their brands. They expect their brands to have a soul, authentic point of view, and that they feel seen and heard by. There aren’t many brands with an authentic point of view that champion individuality. Also, the fundamentals of business continue to be important, and creating products with good gross margins that allow you to reinvest in the brand but remain affordable for the average male consumer is key. Men are willing to spend a little more on products that work—from brands that have a soul and they feel aligned with.
What is the best piece of advice you’ve been given?
First piece of advice: No one man is an army. If the dream or thing that you’re working on doesn’t involve or need others at some point, it’s probably too small. Big dreams, big goals, big ideas can’t be executed and survive in the mind or by the work of one person. It takes a team. In terms of finding that team, table stakes, but I think you must be super passionate about what you’re building and working on. You need to have a compelling “why” and communicate why you think what you’re building can help solve a real pain point. You have to be able to sell your team on the vision you have, how big this thing can be, be able to communicate how you’re going to get there, and what part they play in the big vision.
Second piece of advice: Get really clear on your personal mission, your “why” and make sure it aligns with your business’ “why.” Building a business is so hard and can be draining on your finances, your mental and physical health. Having a compelling “why” can be the fuel you need to be recharged on some of the toughest weeks and months, and when your personal “why” is aligned with your business’ “why,” they never seem to compete. It brings a level of focus and clarity. Showing up every day, for years, and putting in the hours and effort is how you achieve business success. To do that day after day, through good and bad times, requires a strong, very personal reason.
What is the best mistake you've ever made and what did you learn?
On the experience front, in those early days, we didn’t have the capital or traction to bring on an experienced team. I likely spent too much time working on everything, from customer service to sales and marketing, to operations. I have since brought on a senior leadership team with big beauty experience to help manage the day-to-day operations and to install better processes to ensure our continued fast growth. I have gotten really clear on what I am good at and what I am not and have hired folks that complement my weaknesses.
Paying it forward, what advice would you give to someone contemplating launching a beauty brand?
Business is tough. This is a sprint not a race. Take the time to enjoy the process and lessons along the way. You’ll come out much stronger and be a far better leader each year. Success doesn’t happen overnight.
Be kind to yourself. We’re all trying our best to navigate this life and all its challenges. No one has it all figured out. No one. Almost all entrepreneurs suffer from impostor syndrome. It helps knowing we’re not alone in this.
Figure out what you’re great at and do that. Stop doing the things that you hate and don’t come to you naturally.
Get crystal clear on your “why” and make sure that your business aligns with your personal “why.”
If you could change one thing in the beauty industry what would it be?
For retailers, investors, and the larger beauty industry as a whole to stop pigeonholing brands founded by people of color and boxing in said brands as brands that exclusively serve people of color. Most brands, just like most people, aren't monoliths. Brands can target and over index in serving a specific community, but have larger, more diverse appeal.
