Vertere Adds Clarisonic Co-Founder To Advisory Board

Vertere has added big-time buzz to its support system.

Robb Akridge, co-founder of Clarisonic, chairman of ICMAD and founder of REA Innovations, a startup incubating and assisting brands, is the newest member of the Cleveland-based skincare company’s advisory board. He joins Victoria Neilson, principal at VSN Brand Innovation, and Laura Bennett, a principal at Gosling’s Leap and former CEO of Embrace Pet Insurance, on the consultative body.

“I’m always on the lookout for amazing innovators and amazing ingredients, and Vertere has both. With founder Bethany Hilt guiding Vertere’s use of innovative technology, including platelet-derived growth factors, and other proven scientific and natural ingredients, each product achieves what has become the brand’s signature 72-hour-result synergy,” says Akridge. “These elegantly packaged powerhouse products are made with a customized purpose to address the look of wrinkles, dark spots and imperfections.”

Hilt encountered Akridge at the trade show Indie Beauty Expo two years ago and kept in communication with him. “Dr. Robb has been one of my personal heroes. I looked up to him well before I even met him,” she says. “He graciously listened to my brand story and listened to me explain why Vertere is different. He loved the brand story and thought the brand had what it takes to make it. That meant the world to me. When you are an entrepreneur, having an outside perspective is really important.”

Skincare has been a part of Hilt’s life from an early age, but the former media relations director at FleishmanHillard never planned to take it up professionally. As a child, she mixed beauty concoctions with her grandmother and, later, she scoured research on ingredients in the products she bought. In her late 30s, Hilt suffered from several skin issues – dark spots, wrinkles and breakouts – and layered on four to five skincare solutions that ultimately didn’t rectify them. She decided to handle her skin situation on her own and created a multipurpose product.

“I was so frustrated, so I put all my ingredient knowledge to work at home for myself. I had no intention of selling what I was making,” says Hilt. “Strangers would stop me and say, ‘Oh my gosh, what are you using? Your skin is glowing.’”

The compliments convinced Hilt that selling her beauty brew was a worthwhile endeavor. In 2010, Vertere, which means “to turn” in Latin, was born with Dramatic Transformation Cream SPF 18. The product features a supercharged formula containing over 60% active ingredients to combat adult acne, signs of aging and hyperpigmentation, but its claim of delivering skin improvement in 72 hours is what sets it apart from most skincare offerings.

Dramatic Transformation Cream SPF 18 is Vertere’s hero product, but the brand’s assortment swelled to four items in total with the subsequent releases of Restorative Night Cream, Refining Treatment Cleanser and Corrective Eye Concentrate. Full-size Vertere products range in price from $42 to $142, and travel- and discovery-size products are available starting at $9. The core demographic for the products is 35- to 65-year-old women seeking high-performance remedies to tackle an array of skincare concerns.

Not familiar with the intricacies of the beauty industry, Hilt has been building Vertere slowly. Today, it’s on the home shopping network Evine, and in about 20 beauty boutiques, spas and e-tailers such as Luvi Beauty, New London Pharmacy and LovelySkin. Hilt reports Vertere’s sales have been increasing yearly on a double-digit percentage basis.

Hilt is ready to press the accelerator on Vertere’s business. She aims to break into a national retailer, spread Vertere’s products across the country and extend internationally. The advisory board members are helping the brand sort through various revenue opportunities.

“The biggest challenges are awareness and capital, making sure you are able to keep funding initiatives to raise awareness and expand distribution. We are self-funded, and we are being thoughtful with our dollars,” says Hilt, continuing, “I consider my board members mentors because they add expertise I don’t have. If you have never done it before and, especially if you haven’t come from the industry, there are going to be gaps in your knowledge that you just can’t fill on your own. They walked the path that we are trying to walk before we did, so we’re able to bounce ideas off of them and strategize with them about growth.”