Gregg Renfrew, who helped spark the clean beauty revolution with Beautycounter, reflected on the highs and lows of entrepreneurship during WWD’s third annual L.A. Beauty Forum.
“Total insanity,” she joked when asked what made her return to beauty.
Renfrew originally founded Beautycounter in 2011, reaching a $1 billion valuation at its peak and building a loyal community of advocates around its mission to create safer, high-performing beauty products and push for ingredient transparency in the industry.
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In April 2021, private equity firm The Carlyle Group acquired a majority stake that valued the brand at $1 billion, before letting it go into foreclosure in early 2024. By April of that year, Renfrew had bought it back, with only 48 hours to make the decision — and changing the name to Counter.
“When I sold Beautycounter and then subsequently was asked to leave by the person who came on as CEO…I felt like there was a lot of work that still had yet to be done in terms of protecting the health and safety of people,” she went on.
Of its new identity, she said: “I felt like it needed to be reimagined. I didn’t think we could just come out as Beautycounter 2.0. That brand was done.”
Renfrew said her biggest lessons center on humility and self-awareness.
“Arrogance has no place in the business world,” she said. “And the minute that you think that you’re important, you just should remind yourself you’re not.…You come back as a stronger founder and CEO the second time around.”
Losing her company and buying it back gave her the opportunity, as she put it, “to start a clean slate, to be a better leader, to lead with more humility, to ask more questions, to respect others’ opinions more.”
She admitted that earlier in her career, insecurity sometimes kept her from seeking advice; this time she’s balancing confidence in her instincts with a willingness to learn from others who bring different expertise and perspectives.
Renfrew also reflected on the importance of due diligence in business: “We sometimes forget in partnership, whether that’s in marriage or in business, to read the fine details, the fine print.” She advised founders, “Really understand what you’re doing and be ready for the change. Because if you’re not ready for the change, it’s going to feel extremely uncomfortable.”
She spoke candidly about the emotional side of selling a company. “Money is great, and selling is great…but sometimes you wake up the next morning and you kind of feel nothing, and so this baby that you bore, that you loved, is no longer yours. And that’s hard.”
Her focus now is on community, which she views as the foundation of both her old and new ventures. “I don’t think that brands and communities are independent things. They’re one and the same.”
As the clean beauty market has become increasingly crowded, Renfrew acknowledged the challenge of differentiation: “I see opportunity in setting a definitive standard for clean. I think it would be helpful for all of us, as brands and as consumers, to understand what clean means.”
Next, Renfrew hinted at a more refined and bold approach for Counter, emphasizing a direct-to-consumer model.
“You’re going to see less products, but done exceptionally well,” she said. “And we’re going to be really focused on personalization.”
