Game Changer
The Proactiv Dermatologists Break the Billion-Dollar Barrier—Again
Rodan + Fields was the top-selling skin-care brand in the U.S. last year, thanks to “consultants” who pitch the products to friends and contacts.
Katie Rodan and Kathy Fields.
Illustration: Sam Kerr for Bloomberg BusinessweekThis article is for subscribers only.
After 35 years as business partners, dermatologists Katie Rodan and Kathy Fields still do everything together—including give interviews. “Last week a woman recognized me,” Fields says. “She said, ‘You’re Katie Rodan!’ I said, ‘Close!’ ”
They’ve reached street-level celebrity thanks to their smash-hit skin-care line, Proactiv, which sells about $1 billion in products a year through mall kiosks and infomercials featuring the likes of Katy Perry and Justin Timberlake. Their latest line of treatments, called Rodan + Fields, reached $1.5 billion in sales last year—largely through consultants who sell to their friends and contacts, like social-media-era Mary Kay ladies.