The Happi Podcast

Frequent traveler Kimberly Currie knows the ick factor that sometimes comes with travel.

Traversing customs at the airport on a recent business trip, the licensed esthetician, Oui Beauty Founder and new product consultant was lost in a daydream about washing her face in the comfort of home, when it hit her: what if she could lather up with a beloved facial cleanser on-the-go?

Enter Wanderluxe, and its dissolvable, paper-thin “petals” which – when mixed in water – deliver on-the-go facial care.

 On this Happi podcast, Currie explains why her invention may just be the globetrotter’s new “holy grail” of personal care this travel season. 

Aromatherapy has a new nose. 
Consumers summon Alexa to play their favorite song and answer a question. The virtual assistant can even comfort lonely seniors. Now, Alexa is consumers’ right-hand device when it comes to filling their home with the aroma of their preferred fragrance blend at their chosen intensity level. 
Enter Atmos. 
The new tech-savvy device – born out of a desire to find calm amidst the anxiety-inducing lockdown during the covid era – promises to create uplifting lifestyles, say company executives. They insist Atmos can make fine fragrance enthusiasts out of practicing connoisseurs while mastering the perfect scent for every time of day depending on mood and energy level. 
On This Happi Podcast, Kristen Knight, cofounder of Atmos, sit downs to discuss a futuristic approach to home fragrance. 

Past Pfizer executive Keith O’Briant — now CEO of Lacerta Life Sciences — saw the “remarkable” benefits that its Lacertamatrix Hyaluronic Acid Foam Dressing had on patients with severely compromised skin. 

Feeling a “moral obligation” to capitalize on the benefits of hyaluronic acid used in this capacity, he sought to find his own company, Hydrinity Accelerated Skin Science. On this Happi Podcast, O’Briant discusses its role in wound healing and the story behind the company’s name, which means “hydration to the power of infinity.” 

Esthetician and entrepreuneur Justine Kahn cultivates botanicals on her mircro farm in Sausalito, CA to create her organic skincare line, Botnia, inspired by her favorite book, "The Chronicles of Narnia."

Paula Pennypacker's Just for Redheads celebrates its 30th year anniversary. The color cosmetics line has a range of products suited for the ginger-haired consumer from lipsticks to henna to its flagship ginger-brown mascara that started it all in 1994.

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. And Chinese-American beauty entrepreneur Alicia Zeng sat down with HAPPI to share her eyelash extension brand Lilac Street. 

Named for San Francisco's street art hub, Lilac Street provides smudge-free lash solutions to achieve a desired lifted look with wear-time lasting a week. 

The beauty enthusiast — who brings experience from organic period care brand, This Is L Inc — willed to create a solution for her self-described “stick straight lashes” characteristic of her Asian heritage. Lilac Street makes ultra-light, cluster lash sets that are available in a variety of styles for a daytime and nighttime look. 

Sadie and Abby Bowler, Gen Z-aged sisters and founders of hair and personal care brand Sadie B, have respect for the middle-age male CEOs running beauty and personal care brands. But for their brand, authenticity means being made by the girls for the girls.

Sadie B launched in 2022 and in 18 months landed on the shelves of Target, thanks in part, to Cherie Hoeger, founder of Saalt period care, who helped the Bowlers find a broker at the retailer.

Sadie B has four core collections—the Go-Getter, Athlete, Adventurer and Creator. Each consists of a shampoo, conditioner and body wash that are formulated with ingredients to protect hair from the elements doing the most damage. These include sun, chlorine, ocean water, color and heat styling tools. 

A conundrum in a North Carolina factory in the 1970s to remove oil from yarn spools set the stage for the creation of Charlie’s Soap. Bags of the brand’s Natural Powder Laundry Detergent for which its currently known, can be found on the shelves of Whole Foods, Walmart, Kroger and others. Taylor Sutherland, the grandson of Charlie, for which the soap is named, sat down with HAPPI to discuss the brand’s humble beginnings in the textile mill industry to becoming a household name.