Watch the full conversation between Sochima Mbadugha and Fashionista Staff Writer Janelle Sessoms on The Fashionista Network.

Though Sochima Mbadugha knew early on that strategy consulting wasn’t her forever career, she spent her first steps in the corporate world learning how to grow and maintain a thriving business. Her entrance into the skin-care world was “serendipitous”: Mbadugha met Olamide Olowe at an undergraduate summer conference, and a year after Olowe launched skin-care brand Topicals, she reached out to Mbadugha and tapped her strategic skillset to help scale the business in 2021.

“My role has always been: how to bottle up the magic,” Mbadugha told Janelle live on The Fashionista Network. (Watch it here!) “[Olowe] has a very clear, instinctual drive around our marketing, our product development and where she wants to take the brand, so my job is to distill that into actionable, scalable strategies that help the brand continue to grow for the next five, 10-plus years.”

Now, Topicals is a viral skin-care sensation with products targeting acne, hyperpigmentation, eczema, ingrown hairs, keratosis pilaris and more. Stocked at Sephora, the science-backed brand emphasizes inclusivity by formulating with the darkest skin tones in mind first, rather than starting at the lighter end of the Fitzpatrick scale (as many skin-care brands do). “When we make sure that our products are most effective on darker skin tones first, it actually makes products that work better for everybody,” Mbadugha shared.

When it comes to Topicals’ marketing strategy, the brand centers culturally diverse marketing inspired by real-life people on the streets of New York, Los Angeles, London and Nigeria.

“I think what makes our marketing hit is that it’s truly authentic,” she expanded. “We’re not bringing somebody in and putting them in something that they wouldn’t already do themselves.” Topicals also highlights “real” skin texture (aka no airbrushing) in its marketing.

As for building a dedicated consumer base, the company created its Topicals Insider ambassadorship program for its community to test products, share feedback and earn rewards for posting about the brand on social media. When Mbadugha first joined Topicals, she noted the ambassador program included about 500 members. Today, it boasts more than 50,000 users on TYB, a gamified rewards platform for fans of the brand to earn coins by completing different challenges that can then be turned into product discounts.

“We always wanted to nurture that community and [make] sure that we are listening to people who are actually buying the product, using the product, sharing the product with their friends and family, and that focus has never changed,” Mbadugha shared.

Last month, Mbadugha and Olowe’s holding company Cost of Doing Business acquired Bread Beauty Supply, a hair-care brand founded by Maeva Heim. In the interview, Mbadugha shared how the duo met Heim through Sephora’s incubator program for Black-owned brands, the holding company’s future plans for Bread as well as its long-term goal to continue acquiring and scaling more businesses.

She also shared Topicals’ retail expansion strategy, a sneak peek into future launches and her advice for those interested in pursuing a similar career path.

“Sometimes it’s not necessarily about aiming at a specific brand that’s already buzzing and already on top to make your career, it might be more about who’s up and coming, who do you think is that next Topicals or the next big thing that hasn’t quite reached that peak yet,” Mbadugha said. Watch the full interview here.

This conversation was hosted on The Fashionista Network powered by interactive media platform Fireside, where viewers get the chance to participate and speak directly with industry figures. Learn more about The Fashionista Network here.

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