It’s safe to say that Greg and Joanna Starkman have become powerhouses thanks to their sustainable hair care brand Innersense. The business owners found love within the salon space and, following their daughter’s diagnosis with William’s syndrome, the Starkmans cleansed their environment and created a safe space for their family and hair community. This lifestyle change inspired the creation of the brand many of us know and love today.
The entrepreneurs continue to provide sustainable products, coupled with clean ingredients that work for various hair types—like their infamous Hairbath Detox Mask, and their bestseller Sweet Spirit, for example. Beyond their quality products, the brand is a mission-driven brand that promotes a healthier lifestyle, affirms unique looks, and supports other hairstylists. As Joanna explains to us, “I really wanted to be a company that was not only going to uplevel the health and wellness of our industry, but also serve and support all the caregivers that were standing behind the chair, day in and day out.”
Below, we spoke with the hair aficionados about their game-changing products.
Tell me about your journeys from salon stylists to beauty brand owners.
G: Joanne and I met and fell in love in the beauty industry when we were both salon stylists and had a rich passion for beauty. My career started much earlier. I departed the salon after about 12 years and worked on the manufacturing side in numerous capacities. But I always had a love for all things products.
J: Then [we] got married and started to raise a family. When our daughter was 22 months old and I was pregnant, ready to deliver my son, Morgan was diagnosed with a rare genetic disability called Williams syndrome. I started to clean up all the chemicals in our house, and then a light bulb went off as I’m looking at these products that I was using in the salon, and I’m reading that there’s silicones resins, plastic, synthetic fragrances, and all these things that I didn’t want on her, I didn’t want in my salon and so that really started a conversation between me and Greg. We found out it wasn’t just the ingredients that are put in the products but the ingredients are synthesized. There are multiple different grades of ingredients you can buy and companies didn’t need to disclose any of that.
We kind of went down this rabbit hole, and that’s really when Innersense was born. Personally, as a stylist and a young mom whose daughter has special needs—it’s a kind of daunting process. I had this infant that was getting ready to be delivered, and I have this two-year-old that needs all this care, and whose prognosis was that she’s never going to be able to live independently. So the funny thing is I was fearful that I was going to be a caregiver. I also realized that I already had been a caregiver standing behind the chair for so many years and that hairstylists are some of the most caring, loving, and amazing human beings in this world.
How important was it to promote wellness alongside your brand?
G: It was a big part of our mission. I think it really kind of came to what the values were—it wasn’t about building a business for profit. It was really about a business for a purpose. We didn’t build it to sell it. We’re in love with what we do every single day. Wellness was a natural part of what we wanted the DNA of Innersense to be. Not only in the products, but even in the culture we create, trying to promote wellness daily.
Tell me about the meaning behind Innersense
J: Well, it was around the same time when Morgan was first diagnosed, and we were kind of pulling on all the tools that we had in our toolbox to make it through this transitory time in our life. We were a part of a meditation circle. The leader of the circle said something that profound. ‘Your inner sense is like your innocence. We can get our spark of light and passion that dwells with every one of us.’ I thought that was the perfect name because we want to be people in a company that supports each person individually to get in touch with that voice within sight of themselves that brings them to their passion, health, and wellness. Our true inner sense guides us to that perfect place for ourselves individually.
Why is clean beauty so important?
G: The emerging global trends of eliminating toxic ingredients out of beauty products and more importantly, also looking at other ingredients that compromise hair health, and toxic ingredients, known as induction disruptors affect the estrogen levels within women. This is not about fear-mongering. There’s science that really shows we set out to eliminate the very egregious ingredients that consumers are becoming more and more aware of and develop chemistry that would still provide performance and efficacy while at the same time removing sulfates, parabens but more importantly, artificial fragrance.
Let’s talk about the cosmetic ingredients that are loaded in beauty products. These are everything from resin, silicone, plasticizers, [and] microplastics to the newest, you know, generation of ingredients like called polyquaternium. These are all synthetic ingredients that do nothing but latch onto the external structure of the hair, and they’ll make it feel smooth, soft, and fluffy.
Over time, they build up on the hair shaft and then restrict the hair from absorbing natural moisture. Then, at that point compromises hair health, making it brittle. You know, it increases porosity, all the things you probably experience when utilizing a very conventional product. We set out to eliminate those types of ingredients, relying on the true botanical ingredients that we utilize to provide natural hydration and natural shine. We utilize a lot of sucrose, honey, and polyenes to provide our fixation or fixative ingredients that also provide natural shine—acting as a natural resin. So, we’re utilizing very concentrated ingredient decks that provide the safety, purity, and efficacy that bring our products to life. And that’s what separates us
Innersense built a business based on inspiring and educating beauty professionals as they become more aware of the ingredients they need to look out for. Being clean might be a nice word. But what’s important today for beauty professionals as well as consumers is they need to be educated as to what is a good, clean, healthy ingredient; to Joanne’s point you know you can buy a lot of grades of ingredients like shea butter. I can go get commercial-grade shea butter that is commercially processed—that is what we call adulterated. It can be infused with different ingredients that enhance its performance and dilute its being. Or, I can get raw cold-pressed, sustainably sourced shea butter, which costs substantially more but maintains its purity. Consumers are becoming more and more aware of and focused on long-term efficacy, performance, and short-term results. That ultimately leads to compromising their health and integrity.
Working towards a sustainable planet is important to you both. What organizations have you collaborated with to push a cleaner future to the beauty industry?
G: Sustainability is everything that we do as far as environmental responsibility, which is really important. The actions that we take there are not only 1% for the planet, [but] giving 1% of our total revenues back to environmental and cause partners that support sustainability like Women’s Voices for the Earth, and safecosmetics.org.
Joanna and I sit on the advisory board of safecosmetic.org. We’re driving safe cosmetic legislation across the country, at the state and the federal level, and we’re very involved in lobbying for disclosure, especially fragrance disclosure. We’re about actioning everything we do. I think from a sustainability perspective, we’re putting our money where our mouth is and being a part of the solution. We’ve become big supporters of the Bring Green Beauty coalition—we’ve provided them with two grants. This is not about marketing the term sustainability. This is about educating beauty and wellness professionals about how they can operate a more sustainable work environment with a manufacturer.
What products are you most proud of?
G: My number one product is our Hair Renew Scalp Oil. Healthy scalp promotes healthy hair growth. If the follicles are healthy, it’s going to provide greater healthier hair growth. It’s very lightweight. I need hydration on my scalp all day. It’s non-greasy. It’s replenishing and adds a nice little sheen. I love that.
J: My favorite is our Color Radiance Conditioner. I love it because it is smooth, glides through the hair, and gives hydration, but not in a way that weighs the hair down. I love it for all hair types, even for hair that’s not color-treated. It smells amazing. I switch around, but I always come back to color radiance, especially when doing other people’s hair, too. It detangles the hair like nothing else.
Where do you see Innersense in five years?
G: World domination [laughs]. We’re celebrating our 19th year and just want to amplify everything we do. The demand for our business all over the world is growing, and it’s just heartwarming. As I said, we didn’t build this business for profit. We built it for purpose. We have fun here. We have over 70 people here working with us in our offices. We have four people in our London office. We’re having so much fun building a global business, and more importantly, it’s the community we just fall in love with. You know, consumers and beauty and wellness professionals, and we just want to continue to build that community and be more heartfelt with them. That’s what just feeds us every day.
J: We’re trying to change the world one hair strand at a time.
