Hailey Bieber isn’t just a global model and style icon. She’s also a beauty entrepreneur. Her skincare brand Rhode is named after her middle name. The brand quickly gained cult status for its minimalist yet effective products like the Peptide Lip Treatment.
This blog maps Rhode’s story, Hailey’s journey, why the brand is a success, and lessons women entrepreneurs can learn.
A Little About Rhode
Rhode was launched in the year 2022 with “One of everything really good” as the brand mission. It meant to bring a curated range of essentials to its audience. The focus was kept on making a range of high-quality, affordable skincare rooted in simplicity, and aimed at improving barrier health.
Peptide Glazing Fluid, Barrier Restore Cream and Lip Treatment – all of its products became viral hits with its target audience – primarily, Gen Z and Millennials seeking ‘less but better’. The brand achieved $10 million in sales within 11 days of its launch and generated over $200 million in net sales by early 2025.
Hailey Bieber’s Background and Why She Started Rhode
Hailey Bieber is a famous American model and style icon who started her modeling career in 2014. She has modelled for high-profile brands like Guess, Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, and Versace.
She has featured on the covers of prominent fashion magazines such as Vogue, Elle, and Harper’s bazaar. She further catapulted into more fame after her marriage to pop star Justin Bieber, and for founding the successful skincare brand Rhode.
Hailey was frustrated with overwhelming, expensive, over-complicated skincare routines. At the same time, she was often complimented for her own glazed, shiny skin. She decided to create affordable, effective, and simple skincare products based on her family’s skincare traditions. She’d always wanted to formulate her own kind of authentic, value- driven skincare rooted in science and accessible to all.
The brand focuses on high-quality, barrier-focused formulas with intentional ingredients. The idea is to be both inclusive and high-performing. The brand has been able to cultivate a dedicated following, and has carved a place for itself in the hugely competitive skincare market
Why Rhode is a Success
Here are some of the key reasons why Rhode has been a success from day zero:
1. Lifestyle Brand with Simplicity and Exclusivity
Rhode established itself as a lifestyle brand by maintaining simplicity, affordability, and high-quality, science-backed formulations. It has ensured loyalty from its modern, aesthetically-focused consumers. Over 700k+ sign-ups before its official launch created exclusivity for the brand.
2. Influencer-Led Growth and Minimalist Product Philosophy
Rhode’s business strategy is based on influencer-led growth, a minimalist product philosophy, and founder-centric branding with Hailey Bieber, product-seeding, and community building. Limited products backed by science, and delivering what they promise instead of flooding an already over-saturated market, has been a game-changer for the brand.
3. Founder-Led Narrative and Emotional Connection
Hailey is known for her skincare obsession, and the brand is an extension of her persona. The brand’s “founder- led” narrative business strategy hinges on fostering a sense of scarcity and hype, leveraging user- generated content, and creating better connection with a younger demographic through relatable visuals, and storytelling.
4. Clean Aesthetics, Accessible Pricing, and Social Media Buzz
Clean packaging, hyping ‘glazed donut’ as a skin trend, and strong storytelling, has given the brand a strong presence. Its products are positioned uniquely as high-quality but not intimidatingly expensive. Mindful sourcing, and recyclable packaging are the other strong points of the brand. Every new launch is hyped through TikTok, Instagram reels, and strong influencer seeding, in a befitting example of social media mastery for business growth.
5. Community-First Marketing and High Engagement
The brand avoids traditional advertising. In its place, showcasing influencers, and users in real- life scenarios for gaining traction has resonated with Gen Z and younger millennials. Amplifying user-generated content, creating a sense of community and making the brand feel more organic has helped the brand feel more relatable to potential customers. The brand makes frequent use of polls, engagement with fans through comments, and interactive stories. Rhode’s community-building is its strong point.
Lessons for Women Entrepreneurs Building Similar Brands
If you’re someone who has been inspired by what Rhode is doing, here are some lessons to takeaway:
1. Lean Into Your Strengths
Remember to start with your strengths – it makes you step into the entrepreneurial world on a sure footing. In Hailey’s case, for example, it was her love for skincare. Sit down to think about what is your strong suit, and then, dress it up, and give it the shape of a business venture.
2. Less Can Be More
Focus on getting the few ‘best’ things rolling out first. Don’t be in a rush to announce a range, or flood the already overflowing market with more of what is not needed, or is easy to miss. Instead, read your own struggles closely in a field you are passionate about, and start to look for ways to address that gap/ difficulty. Create your own niche.
3. Hype is a Strategy
Pre-launch waitlists, exclusivity, and viral trends build demand. Hype your products, create a sense of scarcity, launch them as ‘ exclusive’ or ‘ limited edition’ to rake up curiosity, and spike sales.
4. Personal Branding is Power
Customers buy into you as much as the product. Speak candidly about what led you to the making of the product. Everyone loves to hear a real- life story. Make your brand more relatable to find yourself a loyal set of consumers.
5. Accessibility Builds Loyalty
Luxury doesn’t have to mean unaffordable. Think clean and minimal, for instance, when it comes to packaging. Fix an approachable sale point for your products. Don’t over-ask in the name of innovation. Rather give an assurance of premium quality in less.
6. Aesthetic Consistency
Visual branding is important, be it packaging or your presence on social media platforms. Make sure that you conform to a definitive pattern that automatically speaks of your products/ brand. Anything from a logo, a watermark, the color palette you choose for your posts, the material you use for packaging your products, should reflect your brand.
7. Community Feedback is Gold
Listen and adapt fast. The market is a needy place. Pay attention to what is deficient. Plug the gap, and make your business stand out. Read comments, engage with your consumers, use visuals for guidance, play real- time stories of those who have experienced your products, and at the end of it all, keep adapting to the changes required to make them better.
8. Global Mindset
Take baby steps and launch in stages but design a brand with international appeal. This will require you to collaborate/ partner with bigger retail chains in the future. Be ready to make that arrangement to find your business a wider audience.
Conclusion
Rhode proves that a focused, authentic, and minimalist brand can disrupt even the crowded skincare market. Hailey Bieber shows how women entrepreneurs can leverage authenticity, storytelling, and smart positioning to create a strong, loyal community. She set the trend of ‘glazed donut’ rolling when people spoke of her shiny and smooth skin, and it caught on like wildfire. The product line- up came to the users with her promise of better skin at affordable prices.
So, once again the takeaway is that better brands are built when they are authentic extensions of you, solve real problems, and resonate with your audience. Tell your audience a story they can relate to, and see your venture go from strength to strength.
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