Meet Micaela & Dawn Hoo | Founders & CEOs, My July Skin

We had the good fortune of connecting with Micaela & Dawn Hoo and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Micaela & Dawn, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
Dawn: The business was actually born out of necessity and we started it without the end goal of making it into a business. Micaela has dealt with chronic illness her entire life. There was one period in her early twenties when her hands broke out in rashes so severe, she lost all flexibility in her fingers. As a mother, it was devastating to see my daughter suffering so much. Doctors were at a loss of what to do, so I started alchemizing in the kitchen and created different skincare remedies for her to use. After we came upon a formula that worked, we knew Micaela couldn’t be the only one suffering from these kinds of health issues, so we decided to sell our skincare.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Micaela: My July was the positive result of an unfortunate situation. I wouldn’t wish my health issues on anyone, but I truly believe there are gifts in every struggle. If it wasn’t for my flare-up, my mom and I would never have started developing our own skincare, and My July wouldn’t exist. I am super proud of us turning a bad situation around. Not only for ourselves, but sharing our safe, gentle, and effective skincare remedies with others. My July is not just for those with chronic illness (my mom doesn’t deal with any health issues), but for anyone who wouldn’t want to put anything on their skin they wouldn’t trust eating.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
We love spending time outdoors which is one of the main reasons we love LA so much. We would take our friend to the beach. Our favorite beaches are in Malibu. We love to walk on Carbon Beach and El Matador Beach is absolutely stunning at sunset. We love to spend time in different neighborhoods like Venice, Beverly Hills, and Santa Monica. One of our favorite cafes is La La Land in Santa Monica. Staying on the Westside, the Getty Museum is a must-see. The grounds are picturesque and the art collection is mindblowing. Some of our favorite restaurants are Urth Caffe in Santa Monica, Gracias Madre in West Hollywood, and Crossroads in West Hollywood. One of our favorite pastimes is thrifting. We love all the Crossroads locations in LA and the Goodwill in Santa Monica.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
We’d love to give a shoutout to our friend and cosmetic chemist, Gay Timmons. Since we have no professional background in skincare, she helped us nail down our formulations when we were 95% there. She continues to be an invaluable resource we turn to for advice and bounce ideas off of.

Website: https://myjulyskin.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/myjulyskin