From the perfect blowout to the messy truth, Alli Webb has been a game changer in the hair industry.
After shaking up the salon category with the perfect blowout at Drybar, Webb sold the products division to Helen of Troy for $225 million in 2019 and the franchise rights to the salons to WellBiz Brands. Not one to rest on her laurels, she returned to hair last year when she launched Messy at Sephora.
The styling brand does exactly what it says on the tin (or in this instance, copper-colored bottle), delivering just-rolled-out-of-bed, no-muss no-fuss hair.
That embrace of effortlessness mirrors her own journey after selling the business. “When we sold the company, I was so burnt-out. I was so tired, then we were in COVID, and I was pretty lost. When you sell your company, what people don’t talk about a lot in my opinion is the identity loss that you go through. What am I doing with my life now? I was navigating all that,” she said. “The idea of starting another hair brand certainly entered my mind. But at that point, the hair category had gotten so saturated.”
Instead, she took a step back from hair, invested in other companies, although nothing scratched that itch, and she wrote her second book, “The Messy Truth.” Then the idea for hair brand two came naturally.
“The idea for the product line Messy started percolating for me,” she continued. “And it really was because of a series of events around COVID. I stopped blow-drying my hair, then my hair actually got long and healthy, and I was like, huh, all the while I was on my own cathartic spiritual journey, my hair was transforming. It was a weird thing to be in, because I had built this big blow-dry empire, and I was selling perfection, and then I was like, wait a second, I don’t think I subscribe to that anymore.”
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