This is an episode of the Glossy Beauty Podcast, which features candid conversations about how today’s trends are shaping the future of the beauty and wellness industries. More from the series →
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After working in Hollywood for over two decades, Ashley Tisdale has now set her sights on the wellness space. In 2020, she launched an online community platform called Frenshe with the goal of making wellness and wellness-focused goals a bit more accessible to all. Two years later, that community transformed into the wellness brand Being Frenshe. And in July 2022, the brand launched at Target with a 45-product assortment spanning candles, body washes, hair masks and bath bombs.
“I wasn’t even thinking about doing a product line. I was very much just wanting to connect with people,” Tisdale told Glossy in a July 2022 interview. “I started to understand what [people] were going through in the pandemic, together.”
In the years since, Being Frenshe has had its fair share of TikTok virality due to the success of its hero products, the Body Serum Sticks, which have magnesium on the ingredient list. And in June, the brand won two Self Healthy Beauty Awards for its body lotion and body oil. Tisdale credits Being Frenshe’s quick rise to fame to staying true to the brand’s original mission of offering wellness with a non-intimidating and inclusive approach.
On this week’s episode of the Glossy Beauty Podcast, founder Ashley Tisdale talked about Being Frenshe’s early stages and how staying authentic has helped the brand grow.
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The excerpts below have been slightly edited and condensed for clarity.
The strategy behind the brand’s accessibility and affordability
“Frenshe is specifically about living a cleaner lifestyle, but it’s [also] all about moderation. It’s not about having to choose to live a completely clean lifestyle because that’s where it gets expensive. The important thing for me was that I wanted people to choose something clean for themselves every day. So it was about having a clean line and for it to be accessible. When I looked at the market, I was like, ‘There’s nothing in the market that is non-toxic [and inexpensive].’ And I was like, ‘That’s just not the case, and it shouldn’t be the case.’ [For example], I love Goop, but I’m like, ‘If it’s expensive for me, then that’s expensive for someone following me, for sure.’ So I wanted to create a line that was accessible and affordable and that is for everyone and that makes them feel good. That was the biggest thing.”
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Why creating authentic products matters
“The [Soothing Body Serum Stick with magnesium] has gone viral on TikTok so many times, and it’s funny because I remember being in the meeting with our Target buyer, and she was like, ‘You’re gonna have to explain [the Soothing Body Serum Stick] to me — I don’t think this is gonna sell.’ So we were like, ‘OK, we have to put more emphasis on this and really explain it.’ So it goes to show, you have no idea [how it’s going to resonate with consumers] until a product is out there. But because it’s unique, it really works … and they’re really good formulas, [it performed well]. I just remember [when it launched], everybody was like, ‘Oh, my gosh. It’s so good.’ There’s a story [behind it]: I was having a lot of anxiety and depression [one] stressful year. And the reason why I was going to so many doctors was because I had this inner shaking in my neck when I would lie down … and it scared me. So I thought something was wrong with me, and I went to all these doctors for it, and they were like, ‘It’s just anxiety.’ … So I got that magnesium spray, and I thought, ‘Maybe it can help me relax, if even just in the morning. … And it really did help me relax whatever was causing that [tension]. That’s where the Soothing Body Serum Stick came from. I was like, ‘Let’s put magnesium in it. This could … help others.”
Picking the right partner can sometimes happen by chance
“Not even a year [after I shut down my previous company], I created Frenshe, and I got an email from that person I reached out to [at Maesa]. They were like, ‘We’ve always thought about you since that first phone call, and we admire your spirit about you being a founder, and we really want to work with you. We love what you’re doing with Frenshe. Let’s sit down and talk about what this could be.’ That was really it. … I was very much like, ‘I don’t know if I want to do products again, because of that experience [launching my other brand].” … But I felt good about doing it with Maesa because I knew I had the support from them where I wasn’t basically, scarily doing it on my own again. Now, I had a partner, and I knew it could be really good.”
