The Retail Pilot28 Loka 2025

Clean Beauty Movement: Gregg Renfrew on Reinventing Beauty with Counter

In this episode of The Retail Pilot, Ken Pilot sits down with visionary entrepreneur Gregg Renfrew, founder of BeautyCounter and now Counter, to explore what it truly means to disrupt an industry—twice.

After building a billion-dollar brand and selling it to The Carlyle Group, Gregg faced the highs and lows of leadership, loss, and redemption. When BeautyCounter collapsed, she made the bold move to buy it back—relaunching as Counter with a renewed focus on transparency, high performance, and sustainability.

Gregg shares her personal journey of reinvention: from navigating private equity to reclaiming her mission, empowering women entrepreneurs, and redefining what clean beauty means today. She also reveals how Counter is using modern tech, authentic storytelling, and a new direct-to-consumer model to reconnect with customers who care about purpose and performance.

If you’re an entrepreneur, founder, or creative leader determined to rise again after setbacks, this episode offers a masterclass in resilience, reinvention, and leading with vision.

Show Notes:

The environmental wake-up call that sparked Gregg’s clean beauty mission
How BeautyCounter grew into a billion-dollar global movement
Lessons from losing control and the courage it took to buy it back
The strategy and heart behind launching Counter
Why she dropped “Beauty” from the brand name and what it symbolizes
The evolution of community-driven commerce and micro-influencer partnerships
Using AI, tech, and storytelling to deepen customer relationships
How Counter is reshaping clean beauty standards with integrity
Gregg’s advice for women raising capital and owning their power in male-dominated rooms
The importance of humility, courage, and knowing when to reinvent

Listen if you love: stories of comeback, entrepreneurship, clean beauty innovation, and women redefining leadership on their own terms.

Subscribe to The Retail Pilot wherever you get your podcasts and visit counter.com to explore the new collection. Use code PILOT20 for 20% off your first order—exclusive for our listeners. Follow @theretailpilot for more founder stories shaping the future of retail.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Tämä jakso on lisätty Podme-palveluun avoimen RSS-syötteen kautta eikä se ole Podmen omaa tuotantoa. Siksi jakso saattaa sisältää mainontaa.

Jaksot(113)

Shea Jensen, President of Urban Outfitters North America: Inside the Brand's Comeback

When Shea Jensen took over as President of Urban Outfitters North America in February 2024, the brand was posting double-digit comp declines. Eighteen months later, it's posting double-digit comp gain...

18 Elo 50min

Neil Saunders, Managing Director of GlobalData: Inside Retail's Winners, Losers & the Back Half of 2026

There's a common assumption in retail right now that the top of the market is the only thing growing. Neil Saunders, Managing Director of GlobalData Retail and one of the industry's most-followed anal...

4 Elo 1h 4min

Vuori Founder Joe Kudla: From Garage Startup to $5Billion+ Activewear Brand

When Joe Kudla launched Vuori out of a Southern California garage in 2013, he was betting against his own track record. He'd already tried the apparel business twice and failed both times. He had a co...

21 Heinä 58min

James Reinhart, Co-Founder & CEO of Thredup: Building the Future of Resale

When James Reinhart walked into a Cambridge consignment store with a bag of business school clothes in 2008 – a J.Crew cashmere sweater, a Brooks Brothers coat – and was told they had no resale value,...

7 Heinä 56min

Denise Incandela, EVP of Walmart Fashion: How Walmart Became a True Fashion Destination

Walmart just named Denise Incandela a Sam Walton Entrepreneur of the Year — one of the highest honors inside the company, and one rarely given to merchants. It's a fitting recognition for the EVP of F...

23 Kesä 46min

Tanya Golesic, CEO of Mackage: From Canadian down to a Global Luxury Brand

When Tanya Golesic took the helm of Mackage in July 2021, she inherited a Canadian brand with extraordinary product and almost no story. "The minute you put the product on, you wouldn't want to take t...

2 Kesä 55min

Pete Nordstrom: From public to private, Nordstrom’s gains momentum.

In this episode of The Retail Pilot, Ken sits down with Pete Nordstrom – Co-CEO of the 125-year-old fashion retailer – to unpack the eight-year journey to go private, the strategic partnership with Li...

19 Touko 45min

Retail Legend Mickey Drexler: From Building Gap & Old Navy to Running Alex Mill Like a Startup

Retail icon Mickey Drexler doesn't do retirement. At 80, the man who built Gap into a $14 billion empire, founded Old Navy, and revitalized J.Crew is running Alex Mill like a scrappy startup, and lovi...

6 Touko 1h 9min