Christina Garcia
Co-Founder, Covey

Why did you start Covey?

I started Covey because my skincare routine had become too complicated & overwhelming for me and my skin was suffering. My abuelita instilled in me how important it was to have a skincare routine but as a busy, working woman I didn’t have time for what had become 10+ steps every morning & evening. My co-founder Emily and I wanted to solve this challenge and reimagine our skincare routines by focusing on developing essential products with clean, high quality ingredients that drive results.

How do you drive adoption in a noisy category; what convinces consumers to try and then commit - in a more long term way - to Covey?

It comes down to two things for our industry - providing a solution to a real challenge and creating high quality, innovative products that work. Covey resonates with consumers because people are overwhelmed with their skincare routines - I think this was magnified even more so during the pandemic - and they’re looking to overhaul their routines without sacrificing results. Covey provides a ready to go routine - identifying the essential products and exactly how to use them everyday. From a product perspective, our products are innovative because we use high quality, clean ingredients that are gentle alternatives to harsher ingredients that can cause skin irritation. This allows consumers to use our products consistently and still get results.

How did you decide to co-found this brand while working full time in another role? How has that worked for you?

I was really passionate about solving this issue for other women and it’s an issue that has become even more magnified for me as a working mom now. My skincare routine has always been a form of self care and confidence for me and every woman deserves that. In terms of juggling two jobs, it came down to ruthless prioritization. Everyday I think about what things need to be done that are going to drive the most success for both my day job and Covey and that’s what I focus on.

How did recently becoming a mother change your relationship with the products you use, and in particular, the Covey products?

All of Covey’s products are clean and none of them include ingredients that are not recommended for use during pregnancy so my Covey routine stayed exactly the same. This was one of the few things that I could continue to do which helped me so much mentally during my pregnancy. When you’re pregnant, your body goes through so many changes and there’s so much you change about your lifestyle / products / etc. so it was great to be able to stick with my skincare routine. With Emily and I both being moms and going through pregnancy and postpartum, it has definitely influenced the product development and focusing on products that you can use throughout this journey and our next product will definitely reflect that :)

Now that you’re a product “insider”, can you share if you think we’re all overdoing it in the beauty or self-care categories?

Are we all losing our mind to be organizing around a 10-step self-care routine? We definitely are! My two biggest takeaways in working with Covey’s founding dermatologist, Dr. Russak, to develop our routine are that (1) using too many products can actually strip your skin, causing it to dry out and / or get irritated. You should focus on the “foundational” products that will make the biggest difference for your skin and don't require multiple steps to get results (i.e. double cleansing!). Second, there are so many ingredients that don’t go well together, which I never realized. It’s very tough to go through every ingredient list of every single product you use to see if there’s a compatibility issue which is why we ensure all of our products are compatible and don’t have this issue.

There was obviously a surge of demand for this kind of product in covid; has that leveled out? What do you think the consumer learned as a result of all that self-care focus in covid?

Not for us. The pandemic proved that less can be more and our consumers, many of which are now subscribers, have seen how our routine has transformed their skin. Also, consumers realized that if they invest in their skin, they can do less with beauty.

Have your self-care habits changed a lot as a mother? What has moved up or down the list since your son arrived, in terms of the way you look after yourself?

For me, in order to be the best mother that I can be, I’ve tried to prioritize the things that make me feel confident and strong, which is working out, skincare and beauty services (getting my hair & eyebrows done). In general, I’ve tried to be more aware of when I feel good and don’t feel good. For example, if I spend time watching TV or go out to dinner with people & I don’t feel fulfilled after, I deprioritize it.

Do you have eyes on expanding the Covey three-product routine?

We do - but in a way that we still stay true to our brand mission of creating clean, essential products that drive results for you.

What’s the best part about having a Co-Founder?

Having a built-in support system. Building a business comes with so many challenges and in order to succeed you have to be resilient. Having another co-founder, particularly a female one, who understands your struggles, both personally and professionally and can be your sounding board, is my biggest source of resilience on a daily basis.

Shop Christina's Looks: Smocked Cotton Dress, Easy Blouse, Wide Leg Pant and Kimono Tie Top