An acne emergency isn’t usually something to be thankful for, but Jo Rio attributes her almost overnight commercial success to a few bad acne outbreaks.
The founder of Hero Cosmetics, a skincare brand that promises to be your savior in the wake of acne woes, describes her career path as definitely not “straight and linear.” She recently told Rhyu luck It wasn’t until she was hired to work in Seoul, South Korea, that she came up with a big business idea, looking to launch a skincare line focused on a positive approach to treating her troublesome acne.
The Mighty Patch allows the wearer to embrace their breakouts and eliminate the shame that is often associated with bad acne. These small patches—about 0.47 inches in diameter—have a sheer appearance, allowing the wearer to cover up their blemishes at night or even in public. They are a discrete alternative to other acne-covering solutions, such as makeup, which can draw more attention to the face.
“I always joke that I worked for some of the biggest brands in the world — Kraft Foods, Mondelez, American Express, Samsung Electronics — and then ended up starting an independent skincare brand,” she said.
When she was 35, while working in the marketing department of Fortune 500 giant Samsung, Ryu was suffering from severe acne when she noticed something strange: Her coworkers were wearing hydrocolloid patches on their faces in the office.
Puzzled, she asked Rio why her colleagues had squares and rectangles of bandages on their cheeks and chins, something she had never seen in the United States. Their simple explanation was that it was to tame a pimple.
“I went to the drugstore, tried one, and it changed my skincare routine because it worked so much better than anything I had ever used before,” she recalled. “I would put it on at night, and by morning, it would take all this dirt off.”
This sticky substance—a mixture of bacteria and dead white blood cells—is often the reason why pimples appear so prominently on the face. Being able to get rid of them overnight is a game changer for those who suffer from acne, as they often lead to Negative effects on self-esteem.
This experience marked the beginning of the young entrepreneur’s “education” in skin care. After trying “everything available” to ease her acne—including dermatologists, toothpaste, and sticky pink creams—Rio decided to revolutionize skin care, starting with the bandage aisle.
Leveraging her corporate experience, Rio began strategizing how to bring her idea to market with her co-founders.
“One of the consumer behaviors I noticed was that the hydrocolloid patch had been around for a long time, but it was in the adhesive bandage section,” she said. “There was nothing in the cosmetics section at the time.”
In 2017, the trio decided to go it alone, raising $50,000 of their own money rather than seeking investors, which was “against the grain” at the time. However, after a successful launch of Mighty Patch on Amazon — where their original stock sold out in just 90 days — Ryhu and her team were primed for mainstream success.
By 2022, the brand had over $100 million in sales, and agreed to be acquired by Arm & Hammer, Nair and parent company OxiClean Church & Dwight for $630 million.
“I never imagined that Hero would achieve the success we did,” Ryo said.
Not only has exposure to different cultures around the world inspired Ryu’s work, it has been a constant theme throughout her tenure as CEO of Hero Cosmetics. After leaving Seoul in 2014, Ryu eventually moved to Paris for six years, where she continued to run her New York City-based company.
“I’ve been traveling a lot over the past six or seven years,” she said. “When I lived in Paris, I would spend three weeks in Paris and 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 from Hero’s headquarters, that doesn’t make her any less involved.
She says the key to her success is not work-life balance, but work-life integration.
“It’s just a matter of finding a schedule that works for you. It’s going to be different for everyone,” she said. “I don’t think we can expect anyone to be available all the time, 24/7.”
The founder gave luck An exclusive look at her daily routine, which starts as early as 6 a.m.
With good skin care comes great nutrition.
6:00 AM: Once she wakes up, Rio makes breakfast a priority “no matter what.” Her typical morning meal includes two eggs and a piece of toast, along with a cup of coffee. After breakfast, she completes her morning skincare routine, which includes a quick rinse with water, followed by applying a vitamin C serum and sunscreen.
Since the work day has already begun for her colleagues in New York, Rio heads to her office and gets right to work, catching up on emails and getting ready for the new day.
8:00 I am: Now, well-caffeinated and up to date on the day’s news, Rio has started taking Zoom calls with his teammates, which vary from day to day.
“On Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, I can have three to five meetings a day,” she said, adding that Mondays and Fridays are “much more straightforward.”
12:00 evening: Around noon, Rio stops for lunch, a meal she always prefers to prepare for herself.
After lunch, if she has no meetings, the CEO devotes this time to pursuing work or personal needs.
“It’s when I do my thinking work,” she said, adding that she usually makes time for tasks that are “a little bit more annoying, but I have the time and silence to focus on them.”
3:00 evening: After lunch, Rio heads to work out with a personal trainer on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The entrepreneur recently bought a Pilates Reformer, which she uses on her days off.
“I try to incorporate walking into my daily life because we live in Los Angeles and the weather is really great,” she said.
6:00 evening: After finishing the rest of her work day, Rio has dinner and spends time with her husband.
“We’ll watch Netflix or a movie, and just try to watch something that helps us relax before bed,” she said.
As for her nighttime skincare routine, Ryu always double-cleans (a tip she learned while living in Korea) using Hero’s Dissolve Away Cleansing Balm and Tatcha’s Rice Polish Foaming Enzyme Powder. She then follows up with a retinol or hydrating serum.
“Generally, it might take me five or 10 minutes,” says the skincare company’s CEO.
9:30 PM: The last thing Rio does before bed is read a few pages of a book, which is essential in her daily routine that helps her sleep.
“I try to be in bed around 9:30/10:00 p.m. and then fall asleep shortly after that.”
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