“All good stories start with your grandmother” – Jenefer Palmer, founding father of the Malibu-based skin and body care brand MEANINGsays Entrepreneur. The story of her business begins with her own grandmother, who turned to the ocean for healing after an accident left her bedridden with a torn ligament in her leg. After dreaming that “the ocean and seaweed would heal her,” Jenefer’s grandmother asked her husband to carry her to the beach near her home in Beechhurst, New York, every day. Jenefer says she noticed an improvement in her condition in just a few months, and swimming day by day became a lifelong habit.
Image source: courtesy of OSEA. Jennifer Palmer, left; Melissa Palmer, right.
“So I grew up with a deep understanding that the ocean was a source of healing,” Jenefer explains. “That influenced me when I became a spa director in the early Eighties and was looking for wellness-based products – because that was all the time my focus. That’s how I used to be raised.”
Jenefer couldn’t find products containing “seafood.” So, out of necessity, she launched her own line, OSEA, in 1996 – pronounced “Ooh-sea-yah”, the letters stand for “the essential elements of well-being”: ocean, sun, earth and atmosphere. OSEA’s seaweed skincare products prioritize “naturally derived” ingredients that are scientifically proven. The company selected her, Jenefer adds.
“Every day [I get] to be able to carry on all the wisdom of the women in my family, which is an incredible honor.”
The company also chose her teenage daughter, Melissa Palmer. In the early days, Melissa helped her mother set up QuickBooks for the young company and has remained involved ever since (with a brief shift to focus on her hula hoop venture), serving today as OSEA’s CEO. “Every day [I get] to have the opportunity to carry on all the wisdom of the women in my family, which is an incredible honor and opportunity,” says Melissa.
OSEA began in the Palmers’ lounge, then moved to their garage, where the mother-daughter team did every thing for the company for the first 12 years: shipping, packaging and selling. At that point, OSEA products were sold almost exclusively in hotels and SPAs.
Melissa calls her mother a “visionary” when it comes to the brand’s ingredients and product effectiveness, and Jenefer emphasizes that her daughter has an “incredible business mind,” the ability to communicate the company’s message and incorporate wellness into every aspect of it – complementing strengths that have helped OSEA enjoy nearly three many years of profitable growth.
“Our product has been the same since the 1990s. It took a while for the market to catch up.”
“Our product has been the same since the 1990s.” – says Melissa. “It took a while for the market to catch up with us. When we launched, it wasn’t even called “clean beauty.” We were definitely the kind of weirdos who talked about natural and sustainable packaging and products and explained why.”
Some products launched in the Nineties are still among OSEA’s top 10 bestsellers. What’s more, the company’s glass bottles and packaging are the same as they were at launch — details people once balked at but now love, Jenefer says. While OSEA’s slow and regular approach to growth has paid off over the many years (allowing it to turn out to be an “overnight success for 25 years,” Melissa jokes), the company has pursued a more aggressive growth strategy in recent years.
When Melissa’s hula hoop obsession led her to start her own hula hoop business, she learned firsthand the power of direct-to-consumer (DTC) marketing and social media. So she returned to OSEA in 2016 and “started” the next phase of development. The company has grown 7,600% over the past eight years and has expanded into retailers including Ulta and Blue Mercury with 3,000 combined stores, which implies there’s an “equal split” between DTC and retail, Melissa says. OSEA’s famous fans include Victoria Beckham, Sophia Bush, Brie Larson and Kelly Ripa.
“I really learned what the word ‘omnichannel’ meant.
“I really learned what the word ‘omnichannel’ means,” says Melissa. Gone are the days when every thing was done by a mother and daughter pair: OSEA now boasts a team of 80 people.
Naturally, there have been some obstacles on the way to faster growth. “One of the biggest challenges I have encountered over the last five years is that the company has scaled rapidly [and] built on systems pioneered in the 1990s. [We] we had to change so much of our processes and our production to keep up,” says Melissa. He notes that the challenge has been the emergence of competitors with large amounts of capital, as OSEA only began three years ago when the company “gave a small raise to have a bigger cushion.”
OSEA has an ambitious international expansion plan, including entering Australia and New Zealand later this 12 months with Mecca Cosmetics, says Melissa. Additionally, the Palmers are excited to increase their focus on OSEA’s brand awareness, marketing and the growing community they have built as the company enters its third decade of operation.
“There is so much trust and freedom between each other and what we do.”
They also look forward to the ongoing rewards their family business will bring.
“You bring this being into the world,” Jenefer says, “and then you love and take care of your children, and then they leave you. And that’s what you want them to do. You want your children to grow up and have autonomy. I have the honor of seeing Melissa in the world every day, not just when she comes home for Thanksgiving. [but] I see her as a dynamic, amazing and powerful businesswoman. And to see her in her world – it’s just a beautiful thing.”
Melissa notes that the mother-daughter relationship allows their business partnership to grow at OSEA.
“There is so much trust and freedom between each other and what we do,” he says. “We each completely understand each other and understand each other’s strengths enough to have complete freedom. This is the best skill set that enhances each other and provides balance as a team. I’d have a hard time letting anyone else take risks [we’ve taken]”
This article is a part of our ongoing Women Entrepreneur® series highlighting the stories, challenges and triumphs of running a business as a woman.