Supergoop! Founder Holly Thaggard Exits Company, But Adds 'My Obsession With SPF Will Never Fade'
Supergoop! founder Holly Thaggard has exited the 'day-to-day governance' of the company she founded 20 years ago, she posted on LinkedIn—but 'my obsession with SPF will never fade,' she wrote.
The company—which revolutionized sunscreen with products like Glowscreen, Unseen Sunscreen and PLAY—was launched 'with a super dream: to stop a cancer epidemic by creating a sunscreen so clean, so efficacious and so FUN that everyone, everywhere, would want to wear SPF every single day,' Thaggard added, giving credit to her family, friends and her team for turning 'this dream into a universal movement.'
Thaggard remained vague about her next steps, writing that 'I have always said the best is yet to come, and I am still wholeheartedly embracing that!' She added, 'This next chapter is just getting started, and it's going to make (super!) waves!'
Thaggard founded Supergoop! in 2005 and sold a majority stake of the company to Blackstone in 2021. WWD reported that she will maintain her passive investment in the brand, and that in addition to stepping back from day-to-day operations, she's also left the company's board.
Supergoop! reached a sales volume of $250 million, according to WWD. In a statement shared with the outlet, the company said of Thaggard's exit, 'After nearly two decades of visionary leadership, Supergoop! founder Holly Thaggard is transitioning from her role as chairwoman to that of a strategic investor in the business.'
'Holly will continue to support Supergoop! as an investor, adviser and lifelong advocate for our mission,' it continued. 'We are grateful to Holly for lighting the way and for continuing to believe in the power of SPF and what's ahead for this incredible brand.'
In 2024, Supergoop! named Lisa Sequino, formerly of JLo Beauty, its chief executive officer. Sequino's appointment immediately followed Amanda Baldwin, who left Supergoop! to become CEO of Olaplex.
In an interview with Supergoop! last July, Thaggard said she has 'loved seeing people's perception of [SPF]
'I've got to think that it had something to do with how we were the first ones to really pay attention to it over 15 years ago,' she continued. 'I've always said that I wanted to make SPF a healthy habit like brushing your teeth or washing your hands, and I think we've begun to do just that. But somehow, we've also managed to make it a little magical in the process.'
Thaggard—a former performing harpist and elementary school teacher—has been especially adamant about bringing SPF to schools, and became so after a close friend of hers was diagnosed with melanoma. 'Because I learned from my dermatologist that sun damage starts at a very young age, we must protect the children first,' she told Vanity Fair. Her goal, the publication wrote, 'was to create products that are effortless to apply, hassle-free and that won't make you look like a ghost—but mostly to provide sheer sun protection for all.'
'I have always had an entrepreneurial spirit,' Thaggard said. 'I think it really comes down to how much I love to create. Ideas have always come easily for me, and it's just not in my DNA to work on someone else's dream. I think entrepreneurs, by nature, refuse to accept the status quo and they fundamentally believe they can raise the standard and create a better way.'
She added that Supergoop! 'was never about commercializing and making money,' but rather about developing a business concept about something she was passionate about—stopping the epidemic of skin cancer in the United States.
'In order to make a positive change and disrupt an industry, being passionate about the industry you're in and the work you're doing is critical,' Thaggard previously told Forbes.
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