In its first year of operation in 2020, Evolvetogether quickly became known for its celeb-beloved KN95 masks, worn by the likes of Rihanna, Justin Bieber and Bella Hadid.
That helped put the brand on the map with little advertising efforts. In turn, the brand hit $12 million in sales in its first 12 months.
But in recent years, Evolvetogether has wanted to be known for more than just masks, as it has launched a slew of sustainably-made personal care products ranging from sanitizer to natural deodorant. This year, the company has taken major steps to become a more widely-known brand by venturing into wholesale. In June, it launched an Amazon store. And this week, Evolvetogether is launching in Bluemercury, starting with around 60 locations. As part of the Bluemercury retail debut, Evolvetogether will offer its entire range of sustainably-made products, along with a new body cream and body cleanser. This represents Evolvetogether’s first major retailer partner, underscoring the brand’s growing ambitions.
The benefits of an early boost
Evolvetogether’s founder and CEO, Cynthia Sakai was previously a jewelry designer and founded the jewelry brand Vita Fede. She said she had always wanted to create a personal care brand, but it wasn’t until the early pandemic days that she was pushed to start Evolvetogether as a side hustle. At the time, Sakai said, it felt natural to start out with masks to help with relief efforts and high demand from the public. She was able to leverage her manufacturing connections to work with a factory willing to partner with the startup.
At one point, the brand had a waitlist of over 40,000 for its face masks, thanks to the various celebrities who had been spotted wearing the brand’s masks. From there, the buzz and sales helped Sakai fund further product expansion.
Evolvetogether’s first product following the masks line was a sanitizer that was released in November 2021. The next month, it launched natural deodorant and hand cream. Discovery and travel sets have also been added over the years.
On its face, cleansers and deodorants seem to fall in a very different category compared to protective face masks. But Sakai said the through line is offering elevated, effective daily essentials that still fall under personal care. As the company grows, Sakai said the goal is to be known as “a gender-neutral fragrance-led personal care brand that’s made of Earth-friendly ingredients.”
“I wanted to create a personal care brand from the very beginning; it just so happened that our first product was also our way to help people at a time of need,” Sakai said. “But that also helped us responsibly finance the business.”
Sakai said the company became profitable early on, which enabled it to reinvest in product development in the last couple of years. She said some of the personal care products were already in the works prior to her officially launching Evolvetogether, but they were on hold while mask production took precedence. The startup spent the first year or so fulfilling demand for PPE when masks were consistently selling out.
“My biggest concern was people thinking we’re launching new products because our masks aren’t selling anymore,” Sakai said.
A transition to omnichannel
Sakai said the early revenue bump provided from the masks meant that Evolvetogether was under less pressure to rush into wholesale. The company was self-funded until last year when it raised a seed round to fund its expansion.
“We’re still growing 60% to 70% month-over-month on our DTC site,” Sakai said. “We took our time to find a partner who can stand behind us and we can support.” Currently, the conversion rate on the brand’s site is 7% to 8%, she said.
Surprisingly, Sakai said, the face masks remain popular SKUs on Evolvetogether’s website. “The masks are still selling, every month we look at the numbers and realize people are still wearing masks,” she said.
But now, as the company continues to see positive momentum, it has decided to experiment with new sales channels. “[Amazon] has been outperforming our projections by 50%,” Sakai said. “And we’re selling out of a lot of products on Amazon and DTC, so right now we’re just trying to keep up with demand.” She added that she quickly realized that Evolvetogether’s Amazon store isn’t a place for the company to acquire new customers, but to cater to the people who are searching for the brand’s products on the marketplace and want it quickly.
In regards to marketing, Sakai said the brand still largely relies on organic and earned media. The company began testing digital ads four months ago while still remaining first-order profitable.
“Paid marketing has always scared me, it’s so much money to spend on CAC, especially at a time when money is so hard to come by,” Sakai said. Currently, most of Evolvetogether’s paid advertising is sourced from partnering with creators who make user-generated content. “That works for us because it keeps the ads feeling authentic,” Sakai said.
As many direct-to-consumer brands try to navigate a post-Covid landscape, it can be challenging for those that saw a pandemic boost to keep that momentum going. While this is category-dependent, it also requires nimbleness to meet the consumers’ needs at the moment.
Greg Portell, senior partner and global markets lead at Kearney, said there are cases of brands born out of the pandemic that “became a little bit landlocked” after experiencing hyper-growth.
“But after that, you need the nuts and bolts to build the business long-term,” Portell said. That includes approaching wholesale distribution in a thoughtful way to execute the channel growth effectively. As many brands pivoted their assortments coming out of the pandemic, Portell said, “you have to bring the consumer along on that messaging transition.”
“It’s one thing to say ‘we’re here for your time of need,’” he added, but it’s another to maintain that customer relationship through products relevant to their lives at this time.
For her part, Sakai said that Evolvetogether’s strategy has been to take time to get the products right. For the remainder of the year, the company has plans to launch four new product launches and two collaborations.
As for the long-term roadmap, Sakai said the focus will be on creating a timeless brand versus a trend-driven one. “This is my first time in the beauty industry, so I don’t have a specific playbook,” she said. “It’s about continuing to beat people’s expectations with the quality and value.”
