Podcast 309: Could you start a beauty brand with your family?

What does it really take to build a beauty brand – and could you do it with your own family? In an industry that often celebrates solo founders and rapid growth, this episode of Green Beauty Conversations explores a very different entrepreneurial path: creating a business rooted in trust, shared history and deeply aligned values.

In this episode, Formula Botanica CEO Lorraine Dallmeier sits down with mother–daughter duo Angela Gargano and Kathy Griswold, co-founders of Lola Arnao Beauty, to uncover how a personal skincare struggle evolved into a purpose-driven beauty brand for ultra-sensitive skin.

From kitchen experimentation to handcrafted formulations made in a converted barn workshop, their journey challenges conventional ideas of success in the beauty industry and reveals what happens when lived experience shapes formulation from the ground up.

But this conversation goes far beyond product development. It also explores resilience, slow beauty, navigating business during life’s hardest moments and redefining growth on your own terms.

If you’ve ever dreamed of starting a beauty brand – or wondered whether you could start a brand with your family – this is an episode you won’t want to miss.

“The business will come and go, but the family relationships have to come first.” — Angela Gargano & Kathy Griswold

In this episode with Angela Gargano and Kathy Griswold, you will hear:

• The reality of building a beauty brand as a family: Angela and Kathy share how their mother–daughter relationship became the foundation of their business partnership. They explain why working with family requires deep trust, honest communication and shared values, and how their long history together helps them solve challenges differently from traditional co-founders.
• From chef’s kitchen to skincare formulation: Kathy discusses how her 50-year career as a chef shaped her approach to skincare formulation. She applies a food-first philosophy to ingredients, focusing on simplicity, sourcing and necessity – much like creating good bread with only a handful of essential ingredients.
• Sensitive skin as the starting point: The family-led beauty brand began when Angela struggled to find plastic-free shaving products that didn’t irritate her ultra-sensitive skin. After experimenting at home, Kathy created a shave bar that transformed Angela’s skin, inspiring them to share it with friends and eventually launch a business.
• Launching during life’s hardest moments: Angela opens up about being diagnosed with breast cancer the same week the brand launched. Rather than postponing their dream, they chose to continue, supporting each other through treatment while building the business. The experience reshaped their perspective on resilience, purpose and what truly matters in life and entrepreneurship.
• Defining success through slow beauty: Instead of chasing retail expansion or rapid scaling, Angela and Kathy intentionally pursue slow, sustainable growth through direct-to-consumer sales and word of mouth. They explain why maintaining control over formulation and production matters more to them than rapid expansion, and how this approach aligns with their vision of authentic slow beauty.

Key takeaways include:

• Success doesn’t have to mean scaling fast: Angela and Kathy challenge the dominant narrative that every beauty brand must aim for massive retail distribution. For them, success means helping the right customers rather than reaching the largest audience. By focusing on meaningful impact and manageable growth, they’ve built a business aligned with their lifestyle and values.
• Simplicity can be powerful in formulation: Drawing parallels between cooking and cosmetics, Kathy emphasises that effective products don’t need long ingredient lists. Her research into ingredient sourcing and function led her to remove unnecessary components, including fragrances that can irritate sensitive skin. This approach demonstrates how restraint and intentionality can improve both product performance and consumer trust.
• Personal stories create deeper emotional customer connection: Customers respond strongly to Lola Arnao Beauty’s authentic origin story and family-run identity. Angela explains that many buyers feel emotionally connected to the brand because it was born from real challenges rather than market trends. Word-of-mouth growth, gifting and shared experiences among sensitive-skin communities have become key drivers of success.
• Collaboration works best with clear roles and shared values: Although they live and work together, Angela and Kathy maintain clarity around responsibilities – Kathy leads formulation and production, while Angela focuses on marketing and business strategy. Their shared upbringing in family businesses helped establish a strong work ethic and collaborative mindset. They demonstrate that disagreements are inevitable, but mutual respect and aligned goals make resolution easier.

Meet our guests: Angela Gargano & Kathy Griswold, co-founders of Lola Arnao Beauty

Angela Gargano and Kathy Griswold are the mother–daughter co-founders of Lola Arnao Beauty, a sustainable skincare brand creating fragrance-free bath and body products for ultra-sensitive skin.

The beauty brand was born from Angela’s personal struggle to find plastic-free shaving products that didn’t irritate her sensitive skin, inspiring her to build the business alongside her mother.

Angela, a former sommelier and founder of digital marketing agency Fresh Take Creative, leads community building and brand storytelling, connecting with customers who share their values around sustainability and slow beauty.

Kathy, a chef of more than 50 years, brings a culinary approach to formulation, sourcing high-quality botanicals with a chef’s attention to ingredients and craftsmanship.

Every product is handmade by Kathy in their converted barn workshop in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, reflecting their belief that what we put on our bodies matters just as much as what we put in them.

Find out more about Angela and Kathy, and their beauty brand:

• Website: Lola Arnao Beauty
• Social media: @lolaarnaobeauty

Special offer: Sign up for Lola Arnao Beauty‘s newsletter today to receive 15% off your first order!

Related episodes you might enjoy:

• Episode 87: Selling skincare while sinking carbon – is this possible?
• Episode 237: Rethinking skincare – The slow beauty revolution

Thank you for joining us for this episode of the Formula Botanica Green Beauty Conversations podcast. If you enjoyed listening, please share, subscribe and review this episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Youtube so that more people can enjoy the show. Don’t forget to follow and connect with us on Facebook and Instagram.

Lorraine Dallmeier

Lorraine Dallmeier is a Biologist, Chartered Environmentalist and the CEO of Formula Botanica, the award-winning online organic cosmetic science school. Read more about Lorraine and the Formula Botanica Team.