The CEO of Hero Cosmetics discovered a skincare idea in South Korea

The founder of Hero Cosmetics, the skincare brand that promises to be your savior from acne problems, describes his career path as not “straightforward and linear”. Rhyu said recently wealth It wasn’t until she was recruited for a job in Seoul, South Korea that she hit on the big business idea that would launch a skin care line focused on a positive approach to pesky acne.

The Mighty Patch allows wearers to embrace their walls and shed the shame typically associated with a bad breakout. The small patches—about 0.47 inches in diameter—have a see-through appearance, allowing wearers to cover their spots at night or even in public. They are a discreet alternative to other acne cover-up solutions such as makeup that can draw more attention to the face.

“I always joke that I worked at some of the biggest brands in the world — Kraft Foods, Mondelez, American Express and Samsung Electronics — and then ended up starting an independent skincare brand,” she said.

At 35, while working a corporate marketing job for Fortune 500 giant Samsung, Rhyu was suffering from a bout of bad breakouts when she noticed something strange: Her colleagues were wearing simple hydrocolloid patches on their faces in the office.

Puzzled, Rhyu asked why her classmates were madly wearing squares and rectangles that resembled a band on their cheeks and chins, something she had never seen in the United States. Their simple explanation? Taming a basket.

“I went to a drugstore, tried one, and it changed my skin care routine because it works so much better than anything I’ve used before,” she recalls. “I put it on at night and by morning, it was all the mess out.”

That mess—a combination of bacteria and dead white blood cells—is often what gives pimples their prominent appearance on the face. Being able to get rid of it overnight is a game changer for acne sufferers as it often leads to negative effects on self-esteem.

The experience kicked off the young entrepreneur’s “education” in skin care. After trying “everything out there” for acne relief—including dermatologists, toothpaste, and gooey pink creams—Rhhyu set her sights on revolutionizing skin care, starting with the Band-Aid aisle.

Leveraging her corporate experience, Rhyu began strategizing how to bring her idea to market with her two co-founders.

“One of the consumer behaviors we noticed was that the hydrocolloid patch format had already been around for quite some time, but they were in the Band-Aid aisle,” she said. “There was nothing, at the time, in the beauty section.”

In 2017, the trio decided to launch their business, pooling $50,000 of their own money instead of looking for investors; something that was “very contrary” at the time. However, after a successful launch of the Mighty Patch on Amazon – where their initial inventory sold out in just 90 days – Ryhu and her team were poised for mainstream success.

By 2022, the brand had amassed more than $100 million in sales and agreed to be acquired by Arm & Hammer, Nair and OxiClean’s parent company, Church & Dwight, for $630 million.

“Never in a million years did we think Hero would be as successful as we are,” Rhyu said.

Exposure to cultures around the globe has not only inspired Rhyu’s businesses, but has been a constant theme throughout his time as CEO of Hero Cosmetics. After leaving Seoul in 2014, Rhyu eventually moved to Paris for six years, where he continued to run his company from New York.

“I’ve been traveling a lot in the last six to seven years,” she said. “When I lived in Paris, I would do three weeks in Paris, one week in New York, so I was definitely a professional.”

The CEO recently decided to move back to the US, settling in Los Angeles. Although she still lives in a different time zone than Hero’s HQ, that doesn’t make her any less involved.

She says her key is not work-life balance, but work-life integration.

“It’s really just about finding a program that works for you. It will be different for everyone,” she said. “I don’t think we can expect someone to be there all the time, 24/7.”

The founder gave wealth an exclusive look at her daily routine, which starts bright and early at 6am

With good skin care comes great nutrition

6:00 a.m.: As soon as he gets up, Rhyu prioritizes breakfast ‘no matter what’. Her typical morning meal includes two eggs and a piece of toast with a cup of coffee. After breakfast, she completes her morning skin care routine, which involves a quick rinse with water, followed by a vitamin C serum and sunscreen.

Since the work day has already begun for her colleagues in New York, Rhyu goes to her desk and gets straight to work, catching up on emails and getting ready for the day.

8:00 i have: Now well caffeinated and caught up on the day’s news, Rhyu begins taking Zoom calls with colleagues, which vary by day.

“Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, I might have three to five meetings a day,” she said, adding that Mondays and Fridays are “much clearer.”

12:00 p.m: Around noon, Rhyu breaks for lunch, a meal she always prefers to prepare herself.

After lunch, if he has no meetings, the CEO dedicates this window to catching up on professional or personal needs.

“It’s when I do my thinking work,” she said, adding that she usually sets aside time for tasks that are “a little more annoying, but I have the time and the silence to focus on them.”

3:00 am p.m: After lunch, Rhyu heads out to work out with a personal trainer on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The entrepreneur recently purchased a reformer pilates machine, which she uses on her days off.

“I try to incorporate walking because we live in LA and the weather is really great.” she said.

6:00 p.m: After finishing the rest of her work day, Rhyu eats dinner and spends time with her husband.

“We’ll put on Netflix or put on a movie,” she said. “We’re just trying to watch something that helps us wind down for the night.”

As for her nighttime skincare routine, Rhyu always double cleanses (a tip she learned in Korea) using Hero’s Dissolve Away Cleansing Balm and Tatcha’s Rice Enzyme Foaming Powder. She follows this combination with a retinol or moisturizing serum.

“All in all, it might take me about five or 10 minutes,” says the skincare CEO.

21:30: The last thing Rhyu does before falling asleep? Reading a few pages of the book, a staple in her routine that helps her inherit.

“I try to be in bed around 9.30/10pm and then fall asleep shortly after that.”