Talking to… ALICE SAGNIER & BRIDGET HEALY | Pocketmags.com

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Talking to… ALICE SAGNIER & BRIDGET HEALY

The co-founders of EverySkin clinics talk to Lollie Hancock about creating career paths for their employees, how they’ve grown so quickly, and why they’re on a mission to make beauty treatments inclusive

Alice Sagnier (L) and Bridget Healy (R) outside one of the EverySkin Clinics

Since its launch in May 2021, EverySkin has taken over the beauty scene in London, opening six clinics in just nine months. The brand was launched with one aim in mind – to disrupt and democratise the UK aesthetics industry – something it seems to be succeeding in.

EverySkin was co-founded by best friends Alice Sagnier and Bridget Healy, who first met while attending INSEAD business school in 2014.

The pair combined their different career backgrounds in a bid to create an inclusive, accessible and transparent business. Before founding EverySkin, Sagnier was working as head of strategy and insight at Fortnum & Mason, while Healy was a principal at global private equity firm KKR’s retail and consumer team.

The idea for EverySkin was born from a similar model Healy had worked on in Australia. “The aesthetics industry in Australia is quite advanced when it comes to laser hair removal, skin treatments and cosmetic injectables,” she says.

Drawing on her own experiences as a consumer, Healy says it was important to her to create a space where everyone felt they could access treatments, adding, “When I moved to the UK, I didn’t know where to go for those treatments, and when I found somewhere I liked it tended to feel quite expensive and exclusive.”

The pair had been talking about running a business together since 2014, floating ideas for almost a decade before they came up with EverySkin.

The aesthetics clinic route seemed like the most obvious choice for their joint venture.

“When we started talking about it, it all made sense.” says Sagnier, “There was a huge opportunity in the UK, and with Bridget’s experience from Australia, she had understanding of the operational side, while I bring in the customer experience and brand side. Our skill sets really complement each other.”

Inclusive intentions

EverySkin reception area.

Sagnier and Healy knew from when they started that there was one thing they wanted to ensure was at the heart of their brand – inclusivity.

“The purpose of the aesthetics industry is to make people feel great about themselves, which made us question why it feels so exclusive,” says Sagnier. “It’s primarily targeting Caucasian women.

Pricing is opaque and at a lot of places you need a consultation before even seeing treatment menus with pricing. We wanted to break down those barriers, create a brand that’s honest, transparent and welcomes everyone.”

This sense of inclusivity is something the pair wanted their clients to feel before they even set foot in an EverySkin clinic, starting with the webstie. “We use a range of different looks and models, as well as having the prices and all the information you would need on the website, so clients don’t have to come into a clinic or call to find out what they want to know.” says Healy.

The sense of openness is continued in-clinic, with inclusivity underpinning all elements of the EverySkin brand. “We designed our menu to treat all skin tones, and we have a gender-neutral proposition and accessible pricing, using honest and open language. We acknowledge that some customers will not identify as male or female, and we work with partners from all communities,” says Sagnier.

A big part of the way the brand is making sure clients feel comfortable in the clinic setting is through the open conversations they can have with practitioners and therapists. “At the end of the day, everyone has hair where they don’t want it to be,” says Healy. “We encourage our team to share their own stories and journey with skin.

I love Botox, I don’t want that to be a secret.

If you had a treatment and enjoyed it, it’s something you should share. This openness permeates our whole business.”

The open approach to aesthetic treatments is also reflected in the sites chosen for the brand’s six clinics, with locations ranging from shopping centres to high streets in London’s Wood Green,

Walthamstow, Chiswick, Islington, Wandsworth and, most recently, Notting Hill.

Being in busy locations where passers-by could see an aesthetic clinic as a buzzy place with clients from all backgrounds coming in and out was a key requirement when sourcing sites.

Treatments on show

Inside an EverySkin treatment room

“Our clinics have large glass frontages, and we’ve positioned the waiting areas within the retail space, which was very intentional.” says Sagnier. “There’s no reason people should feel embarrassed to walk through these doors. It’s been very well received and there’s been no hesitation from the public to walk in and learn more about what we offer.”

The group has grown at an impressive rate, opening six clinics across London in just nine months – between May 2021 and February 2022 – with the speed of expansion made even more impressive due to the company’s success coming after the pandemic, a time in which most businesses in the industry were struggling to recover.

“When we opened the business in May 2021, we were able to benefit from significant pent-up demand coming out of Covid-19 lockdown; we had a large number of clients very excited to treat themselves after so long,” shares Sagnier. Healy adds, “I think part of the reason we’ve been successful is great service.”

" ONE OF THE REASONS we’re expanding so much is because WE HAVE A FANTASTIC TEAM, and we want to see them EVOLVE IN THE BUSINESS and take on more SENIOR POSITIONS "

EverySkin requests feedback after each visit and currently has more than 95% five-star reviews. “We’re seeing that, as long as we continue to deliver that fantastic level of service, we’ll continue to have returning clients,” says Sagnier.

Understanding employees

EverySkin’s newly opened Notting Hill Clinic

Having so far created 55 jobs ,with a further 10 to 20 roles expected over the next year as the brand continues to expand, Healy and Sagnier understand the importance of having a strong team in order to run a successful business.

“One of the reasons we’re expanding so much is because we have a fantastic team, and we want to see them evolve in the business and take on more senior positions,” says Sagnier.

“We spend a huge amount of our time in the clinics, learning from our team, clinic managers and therapists,” adds Healy. “We just did performance reviews with all of our team members to identify which areas they feel strongest in and where they may need a bit more training.

We have quite a rigorous training programme for the next few months to address all those points.”

Offering a clear career path is something Sagnier and Healy felt was lacking in other businesses, with Healy saying, “this typically can be quite a low-retention industry, with therapists tending to move around. It was superimportant for us that our team know they have a career path at EverySkin, and can work their way up from trainee to clinic manager with training as they move up.”

Sagnier adds, “If we treat the team with respect and help them grow, we get so much more out of them. We’re seeing the benefits from looking after our team – clients are a lot happier as well, which benefits everyone. At the end of the day, your team are the face of your business.”

Looking to the future, the pair say that more clinics are on the cards, with strong potential to move beyond the confines of the capital. “It’s on the table and we’re having conversations,” says Sagnier. “There’s immense opportunity to roll out clinics outside of London. It will be a conscious roll out though – we want to lead with quality and need to make sure we have the right team in place and time to give new locations the attention they need.”

This article appears in May 2022

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