Cathy Kangas
US brand PRAI Beauty recently celebrated becoming Marks & Spencer’s most successful beauty launch of 2018, with its hero product Ageless Throat & Décolletage selling out and boasting high repeat purchase figures.
But what does it take to go from fledgling beauty brand to sell-out success?
Here, Cathy Kangas, founder and CEO of PRAI Beauty, talks to Cosmetics Business about why she swapped a career in law for beauty and how her passion for animals goes far beyond cruelty-free certification.
What was your first-ever job?
Working for Revlon. They hired me in London and brought me to the US as an intern on a special programme that was supposedly only for six months! I worked across all of their disciplines including sales, product development, marketing, it was such an eye opener to see how the business worked from every angle.
I eventually secured my Green Card and became Director of Sales & Training. It was 11 years on the best training ground ever; they forced me out of my comfort zone and I learnt every single area of the business.
When did you first become interested in beauty?
Definitely during my time at Revlon. Originally I studied Law and wanted to become a barrister – I only went with Revlon to eventually become part of the legal team.
However, it was during that time that I became excited and inspired by the whole beauty business and my Law aspirations went out of the window!
How did you start your brand?
It all started in the basement of my house! I recognised that the beauty industry was shutting out women 50+ by targeting them with younger women in their marketing campaigns, it didn’t make sense to me. Every single woman should have access to luxury skin care that’s affordable.
My mission was to give real women, real results, real fast, so I gathered a team from some of the most respected beauty brands and started to turn the industry on its head.
Tell us something about PRAI that few people know...
The brand name PRAI actually originates from
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