Vicky Tsai

Last updated
Victoria Tsai
Born1978
Missouri
Education Wellesley College (BA in Economics) Harvard University (MBA)
Known forTatcha Co-Founder
PartnerEric Bevan (2004-present)
AwardsWWD Beauty Inc Founder's Award (2019) Cosmetic Executive Women Female Founder Award (2019)

Vicky Tsai (born 1978 [1] ) is a Taiwanese-American former business executive and co-founder of Tatcha, [2] a skincare company rooted in Japanese beauty rituals. [3]

Contents

Personal life

As a young infant, Tsai's parents moved to the United States from Taiwan, settling in Houston, Texas. From a young age, Tsai became aware of seemingly unattainable Western beauty standards and was one of the only Asian students at her school. [4] She struggled with her identity as a result of feeling underrepresented and isolated as a minority in the early '90s of Texas. [5]

Tsai married Eric Bevan (co-founder of Tatcha) at the Gamble Mansion in Boston, Massachusetts May 29, 2004. The couple shares one daughter, Alea. [1]

Education and early career

Tsai studied at Wellesley College where she received a BA in Economics [6] and Harvard Business School where she received an MBA and later led research on the state of AAPI women in business. [7] She found her first corporate job working for Starbucks in Shanghai, which focused on its expansion into the China market. Her team pitched and executed a strategy to launch consumer products in China in time for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, which housed the bottled Starbucks Frappuccino. [8] Tsai worked in corporate America as a financier for a decade and spent her twenties traveling globally for work. [9]

Path to Tatcha

Left disillusioned, experiencing acute dermatitis, and riddled with corporate burnout, in 2008, Tsai traveled to Kyoto, Japan. [3] [7] There, she met with a modern geisha who introduced her to time-tested ingredients based on a Japanese diet. [9] She not only discovered cultural remedies for her skin, but also felt the experience begin to heal her spirit. [7] When she returned to San Francisco, where she is based, she was unable to replicate and emulate what she found while abroad. This sparked the creation of Tatcha, an entrepreneurial endeavor she describes as a "necessity". [7] Tsai explains "Tatcha brought me a gift: the ability to recognize the beauty and power of the Asian heritage I had struggled to see in my youth". [4]

In 2009, Tsai approached retail partners for the business, but was told Tatcha was "too niche" and "too exotic" for the Western woman. [4] After struggling to secure funding, Tsai sold her engagement ring, car, and furniture, then worked from her mother's garage. She spent 9 years without a salary. [7] In 2017, she received funding from private equity firm Castanea Partners. [10]

After Tatcha

Despite many years at the company, the business was sold to Unilever in 2019 for $500 million, and Tsai stepped down shortly afterward. [4]

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References

  1. 1 2 Strauss, Alix (2019-11-13). "'I Dream, He Executes'". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2023-03-17.
  2. ↑ "Japanese Beauty & Skincare Products | Tatcha".
  3. 1 2 Tatcha. "Our Story". Tatcha.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Vora, Shivani (April 8, 2021). "What Helped Her Build a $500 Million Asian-Beauty Brand Also Held Her Back. Not Anymore". Inc.
  5. ↑ "An interview with Tatcha founder Victoria Tsai | The Memo | MECCA". MECCA AU. Retrieved 2023-03-20.
  6. ↑ "[POSTPONED] AAPI Women in Business: Conversation With Tatcha Founder Vicky Tsai". Asia Society. Retrieved 2023-04-26.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 "Tatcha's Vicky Tsai in Conversation With Selfmade's Stephanie Lee". Glamour. 2022-05-20. Retrieved 2023-03-20.
  8. ↑ Liu, Jennifer (13 January 2020). "This Harvard MBA grad worked at a Starbucks after graduation—then she founded a company worth millions". CNBC. Retrieved 2023-03-20.
  9. 1 2 "Victoria Tsai Biography | Booking Info for Speaking Engagements". www.allamericanspeakers.com. Retrieved 2023-03-20.
  10. ↑ "Tatcha's founder Vicky Tsai reveals why she first stepped down as CEO: 'It felt like a threat'". cosmeticsbusiness.com. Retrieved 2023-08-10.
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