In episode 396 of Total Retail Talks, Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan interviews Amy Errett, founder and CEO of Madison Reed, a hair color company revolutionizing the way women color their hair. During the wide-ranging conversation, Errett provides an overview of the Madison Reed business (0:50), her background as an entrepreneur and venture capitalist (2:56), and how that experience has helped her successfully grow the hair color brand (3:52). She shares why having an omnichannel brand presence is a competitive advantage for Madison Reed (7:38) as well as offers her unique insight into the viability of true direct-to-consumer-only businesses (9:38).
Furthermore, Errett discusses her strategy for the brand's expansion into new distribution channels (12:53), the consumer behavior she's seeing and how it impacts Madison Reed (15:42), and the opportunities she's excited about for future growth at the company (19:00). Lastly, for entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs, she shares her advice for launching and growing a brand (21:25).
Errett's multifaceted career has ranged from founding and operating companies, to investing in startups, to volunteer nonprofit leadership. Currently, she's founder and CEO of Madison Reed, an omnichannel beauty brand that's challenging industry titans in the hair color space. Errett is also a partner at True Ventures, focusing on investments in consumer and e-commerce startups. Prior to founding Madison Reed, Errett was a general partner responsible for the Bay Area office of Maveron, a leading venture capital firm focused on the consumer sector. Before Maveron, she was CEO of Olivia, where she repositioned the travel business as a complete lifestyle company. Errett also served on the senior management team at E*TRADE, where she diversified the company beyond its brokerage offerings and ran a $200 million business. This followed 10 years as founder and CEO of The Spectrem Group, a worldwide strategic consulting firm. Errett sold Spectrem to NFO, an IPG subsidiary.
In 2015 and 2018, Errett was named one of the “Bay Area's Most Influential Women in Business” by the San Francisco Business Times. She was also a finalist for Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2018 Award in the Northern California region, which she won in 2006 for the consumer category. Errett believes in the power of giving back and dedicates herself to supporting humanitarian organizations. She's a member of San Francisco’s Barbary Coast chapter of YPO (Young Presidents' Organization), and serves on the boards of the University of Connecticut Foundation, Common Sense Media, Glide, and Madison Reed.
