Rebecca Zhou: Co-Founder and CEO of Soft Services

Second Life

Who What Wear

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4.8 • 3K Ratings

🗓️ 2 December 2024

⏱️ 60 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Rebecca Zhou is the co-founder and CEO of the bodycare brand Soft Services. Zhou has been at the forefront of the DTC consumer goods industry for over a decade. She began her career as a strategist at Gin Lane Media, an early investor in trendsetting brands like Harry's, Quip, Sweetgreen, and Reformation. She then moved over to Glossier as the third-ever employee and head of digital product. After that, she consulted for five years, bringing her expertise and keen design eye to places such as Khaite, Peach & Lily, and DVF. In 2017, she co-founded a luxury housecoat business with her husband called OffHours. That project sparked her desire to return to building a company from the ground up, so in 2019, she co-founded Soft Services, an innovative bodycare brand that creates sumptuous products that provide effective solutions for skin issues like keratosis pilaris and body acne. Earlier this year, Soft Services launched at Sephora online and in 300 stores across the country.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Thank you to Paige for sponsoring today's episode.
0:03.9	Season after season, Paige creates men's and women's collections that are the perfect mix of pieces you can live in and will keep forever.
0:12.4	They start with denim, the foundation of your wardrobe, and then design pieces that pair back to complete your perfect outfit.
0:21.2	Paige's denim is unparalleled.
0:23.4	Every style is comfortable, flattering, and timeless.
0:27.7	This same level of quality extends to their lifestyle, shoe, and sunglasses collections
0:33.1	through the finest materials, attention to detail, and expert construction.
0:39.5	Head to page.com to check out their new arrivals.
0:46.2	Hi, everyone. I'm Hilary Kerr, the co-founder and chief content officer of Who What Where, and
0:56.9	this is Second Life, a podcast spotlighting women who have truly inspiring careers. We're talking
1:03.8	about their work journeys, what they've learned from the process of setting aside their
1:08.2	doubts or fears, and what happens when they embark on their second life.
1:13.7	Today on the show, I'm speaking with the founder and CEO of the incredible body care brand,
1:20.2	soft services, the one and only Rebecca Joe.
1:24.2	I've wanted to interview Rebecca for a while now because she was right in the middle of the D to C product revolution of the last decade, and I needed to know what it was like from her perspective.
1:35.0	She spent the early years of her career working as a strategist for Gin Lane, an early investor in powerhouses like Quip, Harry's, Sweet Green, and more. She even guided the
1:46.6	strategy of a little downtown New York City boutique called Reformation. You've heard of them.
1:53.2	She then was employee number three at Glossier as the head of digital product and then spent
1:58.9	years freelance consulting for brands like Kate, DVF, and
2:03.0	Peach and Lily. As if all of this wasn't enough, in 2017, she also started a luxury housecoat
2:09.2	brand called Off Hours with her husband. By 2019, it felt like she touched just about every part
2:15.5	of the D to C world, which is why I was so interested,
	...

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