Performance First: Scaling a Challenger Beauty Brand

Join Molly Baker and our guest as they explore what it takes to scale a challenger brand in today’s competitive CPG landscape. From balancing performance-driven marketing with purpose-led storytelling to educating consumers on entirely new product formats, our guest shares candid insights on focus, agility, and strategic discipline. Together, they unpack how modern teams can leverage AI, streamline operations, and build meaningful momentum without losing sight of mission. Whether you’re refining your marketing strategy or building in a crowded category, this conversation offers a thoughtful look at growth, innovation, and winning on what truly matters.

MB (Molly Baker): What’s one thing you’re currently learning about?
CP (Clare Premo): I actually took an AI class during maternity leave since I had so much free time and I loved it, so I’ve been trying to figure out ways to apply what I learned back into work.

MB: What was the class?
CP: It was called Scaling Agentic AI Systems through Maven. The two instructors were fabulous and there’s a whole community. It’s really, really good.

MB: If you could swap lives with any celebrity or famous person for a day, who would it be?
CP: I would love to be in Michelle Obama’s shoes. I feel like her wisdom, but also pretty sweet friends and jet setting it these days.

MB: Without telling us who you are, what are you thinking about professionally?
CP: How do you scale a beauty brand that has a lot of consumer love, a huge amount of potential, some really good momentum, but it’s difficult to get people to understand how to use it and how to try it.

MB: What are you really good at? Brag about yourself.
CP: Connecting the dots between people, teams, and ideas. Making sure everything stays in sync and giving structure, strategy, and process to all of those different inputs.

MB: How do you think you built those skills?
CP: I’ve always been a huge reader. That curiosity takes me down rabbit holes. I’ll learn enough to have fluid conversations even if I’m not the expert. And I like things to come together in a way that’s cohesive and executable.

MB: What has been the most pivotal moment in your career?
CP: Starting at Talenti Gelato right after it was acquired by Unilever. I got exposure to big company frameworks and also the agility of an independent brand. It was sales, finance, demand planning, media, marketing. It helped me realize I loved the product and brand strategy ecosystem and that I could do it.

MB: Did you expect to have that broad exposure?
CP: Broad exposure, yes. But the level of ownership surprised me. It was basically you and three other people running a $200 million brand. It was a lot, but I loved it.

MB: Can you share a time you had to make a tough leadership call?
CP: We had a huge SKU set across many countries. A lot of products sold well but didn’t make money and distracted the team. I cut down to a core 20 SKUs and exited several countries so we could focus. It hurt short term, but it was the right long term move and it worked out.

MB: How do you keep growing as a leader?
CP: Investing in relationships and understanding what motivates people. Asking about their kids, vacations, sick parents. We’re people first. That empathy and interpersonal bond-building has been a big growth area for me.

MB: What made you decide to prioritize that?
CP: My boss is a master at it. Watching her do it authentically was impactful. And I also had an experience where I realized someone on my team didn’t understand what I wanted or how I wanted to work. It showed me I needed to invest upfront in relationship and clarity before being hands-off.

MB: What relationship has been most impactful professionally?
CP: That same boss. I reached out in business school, asked if I could intern with her, and we stayed in touch for five years. Eventually she hired me, and I’ve learned so much.

MB: Tell us who you are and what you do.
CP: My name is Clare Premo Perez, and I’m the VP of marketing and strategy at Ethique Beauty.

MB: What is Ethique?
CP: Ethique is a solid shampoo and conditioner brand. Ultra concentrated. All the good stuff like oils, butters, active ingredients, and none of the watered down filler. It lasts three to five times as long as liquid shampoo and conditioner. There’s no plastic and no water.

MB: How do you apply it?
CP: The shampoo goes along the curve of your head. You swipe it like a crown and it lathers beautifully. Then you rinse. The conditioner melts into your hair with the heat of the shower. Once someone explains it, it’s really easy.

MB: What’s been your biggest learning since joining Ethique?
CP: Trying stuff and moving with agility. There’s so much opportunity to run with ideas. Check that it aligns with strategy, try it, and if it works, scale it.

MB: Do you ever find tension between sustainability and marketing communication priorities?
CP: The product is so inherently sustainable that you don’t need retroactive purpose work. The tension is actually not over communicating sustainability. People buy haircare for performance and value first. Sustainability is a halo. If we only broadcast sustainability, we won’t reach the larger goal of attracting more customers and reducing plastic.

MB: How do you see AI providing a competitive edge in CPG?
CP: It’s a huge advantage, especially for smaller brands. It helps you scale quickly and do more with less. We use it for predictive analytics in supply and demand planning, and we’re building an AI chatbot to improve briefing so teams don’t waste time on incomplete briefs and revisions.

MB: What tactics are working to educate consumers about solid shampoo?
CP: Creating a flywheel across channels. Start with influencers and events to borrow credibility, get usage rights, repurpose content on owned channels, use it in paid ads driving to retail and e-commerce, and put those videos on PDP pages. We’ve also experimented with a scrappy field team. In-store education creates an enormous lift because once someone explains it, people get it.

MB: What type of content is performing best right now?
CP: Often the most lo-fi content. Goofy, authentic team content like holding up bars and dancing can outperform full shoots. Sometimes polished studio content is actually the opposite of what works.

MB: What’s one thing you wish you knew earlier in your career?
CP: Let yourself off the hook more. It’s not all on you. Things aren’t life or death. Trust the process and keep showing up. I know it, but I’m still working on living it.

MB: When you were 21, did you think you’d be doing this now?
CP: No. I thought I’d be in government in Washington DC. I loved public service and politics. I interned at Newsweek. I considered law school, but that ended quickly. I ended up in New York and stayed. Now I’m grateful there are ways to do good through business, not only public service.

Find Clare on Linkedin and Instagram or visit the Ethique website!

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