ARFA, ARIEL WENGROFF: Co-Developed Personal Care
So many companies in the DTC space fit the same mold - the founder goes into a store, sees something that’s missing, poorly executed, or broken, and launches a slick eCommerce brand targeting the millennial demographic with a better product. It’s like the “Subway for X” that brought us Chipotle, but with CPGs. We love it! But, there is a new company digging deeper into the “why” behind the products they bring to market. Unveiled in early 2020, Arfa is a platform and collective for the development of need-based personal care brands. We talked to Co-founder Ariel Wengroff about her purposeful approach to brand and product development and the two unique brands that Arfa has brought to the market so far.
“I always wanted to understand human behavior better, and the way people connected and worked together. That was always a key driver for me.” - Ariel Wengroff
Ariel is a proud Chicagoan, who grew up surrounded by the influence of her mother’s psychology practice. She cites her childhood curiosity and a knack for storytelling as early indicators of her desire to know what makes humans tick.
Her first job post-college was in politics, organizing on the ground for the Democratic party in 2010. Finding too much red tape in the political world, she transitioned to media where she felt she could dive deeper into the human experience.
“I’ve always been very curious about how people connect,” Ariel said. “It’s not about being stuck in a specific medium; it’s what is the best tool to allow people to know something that might not be like themselves and therefore potentially create change from that.”
Working at Vice, Ariel co-created the show Woman with Gloria Stinem, which focuses on niche issues women experience on an international scale. Honing her skills as a producer gave Ari the ability to uncover people’s inner motivations and struggles by just listening. This set her up for her future role at Arfa, where she connects with individuals to discover what needs are not being served.
“Arfa is a house of brands that are focused on personal care and hoping to make people feel more comfortable in their own skin.” - Ariel Wengroff
Ariel’s “Aha Moment” for Arfa was more of an ongoing mission to create something that connects with people and collapses walls between product and consumer. After working in both politics and media, she felt that brands had a stronger ability than governments and media entities to create traction with people and operate in a simpler way. She met Henry Davis, formerly of Glossier, who would become one of the four future co-founders of Arfa. They connected on the desire to build a company that answers deeply personal needs.
“If you're creating products and brands, people should be a part of the process,” Ariel said. “It should be something they actually want to use. It should feel like when they’re buying your products they’re buying their voice back. How can you do that if you’re not involving them and listening to them along that journey?”
With this in mind, Arfa was set up in 2019 around a collective of “co-creators” - a real group of hundreds of people aged 16-72 with an authentically diverse demographic makeup. Ariel dug in with the collective to identify “need states” that could be met with a branded solution.
Co-developing Products
“It’s about establishing a connection, and friendship,” - Ariel Wengroff
Arfa’s business model is structured in a way to provide equity to the co-creators who help develop products. Collective members provide in-depth personal information and feedback on things like formula, packaging, scent, and branding. In return, they are viewed as shareholders, as Arfa believes in giving power back to the community of consumers.
Arfa’s first year of collective-driven product and brand development gave Ari a deep understanding of the co-creators, learning about everything from their hygiene habits to family life. Because Arfa was established to focus on personal care, the conversations she had were intimate, took place in small groups, and unveiled little-talked about needs.
“The collective is made up of people who have full-time jobs, full time lives, full-time families. This is an opportunity for them to express themselves and be listened to, and for us to be that Willy Wonka factory to go back and make these collective-identified need states something that is a reality.”
The collective discussions and connections led to the launch of two Arfa brands, State Of Menopause and Hiki, both taking a unique approach to personal care for specific needs.
“Hopefully when someone sees the product they'll know that someone like them helped make it and participated in it, and feel a little bit more comfortable as they are.” - Ariel Wengroff
The first brand launched under Arfa’s umbrella is Hiki - a personal care brand for anyone who sweats (so, everyone). Hiki offers deodorants, chafe sticks, and wipes with a body-positive, stigma-free approach. Convenient kits cost $30-$38, and single items like their flagship deodorants and chafe stick cost $14.
During collective sessions, the Arfa team discovered the shame and embarrassment that surrounds sweat and body odor, and created Hiki as a solution by speaking to that need for effective and guilt-free sweat care. Ari was particularly impressed by the group’s unified stance rejecting gendered products in this category.
“People of all different backgrounds agreed Hiki should be a genderless brand. These things are table stakes at this point, and that made us really happy,” Ariel said.
The second brand to come out of Arfa is the just-launched State Of Menopause, a skincare brand developed to meet the varied needs, phases and feelings experienced by women in menopause. Like Hiki, State Of aims to break down stigma in a personal care category and give its target audience products that meet needs without imposing.
“Whatever the brand is, we want you to feel a sense of relief,” Ariel said. “We want you to have more product education and understanding, and we want to flip the script. We say, ‘this isn't a problem that needs to be solved’. We’re going to give you management tools, but if you forget your Hiki deodorant one day it's ok.”
Ariel’s long term-vision for Arfa is to continue launching impactful brands and to build a tech stack for others to follow suit.
“We see ourselves as an engine for development,” Ari said.
The Advice
With Arfa, Hiki, and State Of Menopause, Ariel can be considered a founder three times over! We know she credits the collective for their crucial role in launching these companies, but we are happy to take Ariel’s advice for anyone entrepreneurial:
Be your biggest believer. Nothing starts with no. Be the first, last, and loudest voice in the room.
Be sure you are giving your team members and co-workers credit, voice and time. You're only as good as your team and your team is only as good as how they are valued and respected.
If you have an idea and a passion you should pursue it, but the world doesn't necessarily need more things. Consider what you are trying to create, and if there is a different way to create it that isn't just physical products.
Struggling with sweat? Check out Hiki for no-BS deodorant products. For more on how Arfa is building for purposeful personal care, visit their website here.
Photo courtesy of Arfa.
Written by Kendall Embs.