From a One-Bedroom Startup to a National Brand: The Fairy Tales Haircare Story
“I wanted someone to take my photos who was a bit unconventional. I wanted my personality to come through, & Alissa nailed it.” That is what Risa Barash, Founder & CEO of Fairy Tales Haircare, said about her recent photo session.
“I started Fairy Tales Haircare in 1999 & built slowly, the epitome of a self-funded, word-of-mouth startup. I didn’t even really know what ‘brand’ meant back then. I was looking to build a great company to make bath time easier on parents. Working out of a small apartment, our growth was slow and steady. Today, we have 25 employees.
Hands-on, then, I built my first website when my son was a baby. (He is now a young adult. I recently showed it to him, & he laughed.) I was learning how to develop my business while being a young mom. I saw a niche need, & I wanted to meet it, fueled with the desire to keep bugs out of my children’s hair. My first product in children’s hair care was something that parents still need and want: lice repellent.”
Risa did a lot of research & talked to moms. “I put good ingredients into a bottle & took it to a manufacturer. It is called Rosemary Repel. The shampoo includes peppermint, rosemary, & other natural ingredients that have been shown to repel lice. The lice don’t like the smell of it, so they stay away from kids who use that line of products. I also made a conditioner and a spray.
In 1999, hair lice were everywhere. The family salon on Long Island was out of product, so at one point, I was handing out bottles to hairstylists on the street. Stylists & parents loved us. Before long, big box stores were calling us. Fairy Tales Haircare is in CVS, Target, Ulta, Walmart, and Walgreens.
A lot of brands develop to have a big exit, but we are here to stay, offering products that are healthy & wholesome, & do jobs needed by parents & children alike. As I often say, ‘If (a product) doesn’t fix a problem, we don’t sell it!’” As a national company sold to most retailers across the country, over time, Risa & her team have addressed other needs parents have, such as tangled hair & swimmers’ hair, & their newest product line, TBH Kids, a line for tweens.
“Tween kids today want to get into personal care. They are learning self-care that includes washing their face, & since their tween bodies are in overdrive, we chose ingredients that will help dry up the oils on their scalp, address puberty, deliver good-for-them products, & reassure parents because our brand longevity and trust factor are already there.”
Fairy Tales & TBH products appear in best of lists in magazines & online platforms all over the country. Risa often meets customers who say, “My mom used this on me.”
“It is reassuring. I love that our original customers have grown up & had their own children. It is a joy that we are on our 2nd generation of customers, a nice testament to hard work and enjoying the journey.”
Asked what is next, Risa answers, “Continue to grow the brand, develop new products, find new distribution, connect with new retailers, & we are working on that!” Her favorite part of daily work life? “All of it,” she says & adds, “Owning a brand for as long as I have & being a boss for as long as I have, I strive to offer & receive the most out of employees & to make sure they are happy. I like to lead with culture.
Alissa & I grew up in the same town, & her husband has known my boyfriend for years, so we share all of these crazy connections. We live five minutes apart. Besides headshots, I needed some branding photos because I am being interviewed by a magazine, so Alissa did those as well. The journey was lovely, and the results are wonderful!”