Meet Stephanie Capuano | Founder, teen boy skincare brand 31st State

We had the good fortune of connecting with Stephanie Capuano and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Stephanie, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I launched 31st State in late 2017, though I probably had the idea a couple of years before that when my own teen sons were entering puberty. I will never forget when my then 14-year-old son was packing up for a new high school – about two weeks before he started, I think stress — and puberty — hit. Suddenly he started breaking out with those pesky little spots across his nose, and then he started to smell — that very unique scent of a 14 year old boy!

I am from California – a place where we grew up making smarter choices about food, laundry care and bathroom cleaning products. But the products I found for my sons and young men were not up to scratch in terms of the ingredients, design, package and user experience. I made trips to Boots (the CVS equivalent in the UK) and reading the labels of popular products. I found aerosol deodorants that were bad for the planet, and skin care laden with harsh, unnecessary ingredients for their sensitive skin.
I ended up at Space NK, a luxury retailer in the UK, and bought an expensive tub of clearing pads for my son’s acne — cutting them in half to maximize the supply at $80 a pot — and the whole experience got me thinking.

Sweaty, acne-prone boys at the time of launch were largely ignored by the beauty, grooming and wellness industries. It was the teenage girl who got all the attention from brands and marketers, while any boy in need of a hair, skin or grooming fix was left to root around for products in their sister’s, mom’s or dad’s bathrooms.

The idea in 2017 was to create a really tight and clean edit of skincare products for these guys. It was a white space, especially in the UK. There was a lot out there for girls, babies and adults, but nothing for that sweet spot when boys are entering that grooming phase – products that included only ingredients needed to treat their sensitive skin, and packing that wasn’t harmful to the planet.

This indie skincare space has grown – we’re proud to have been the first to create something specifically for teen boys and only for teen boys. With more brands coming to market, it underscores the demand for better made skin and body care for this generation of young consumers and their parents who are purchasing for them.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?

I started in PR and for the next 14 years climbed the ranks of a global PR agency. I stopped full time after having my third child. Once they were at a manageable age, I worked for a fashion designer, co-founded a luxury travel business and then out of a great need started 31st State, a skincare range for teen boys.

I was thinking that the analogy for my career is the Pacific Coast Highway. I’m from California and my business is named after California. PCH a very storied road that runs the length of California and is marked by curves and long stretches and unexpected pin-turns — a little bit of everything and arriving at a place of great beauty and fulfilment. For me, that really describes my career because I have done a lot of different things. In each career turn there are always personal challenges that can either derail or inspire so I like the idea of a highway as a reminder that you have to stay fluid and flexible. Sometimes things are really out of your control but you do have a choice about how you navigate them.

In launching 31st State I was, on the surface, addressing a surface need – healthier skin and body care solutions for teen boys. On a deeper level, I wanted to address the inter life o f a teen boy, who experiences adolescents as profoundly and painfully as a teen girl, and yet so little at the time was discussed in the media. In fact, I’d argue teen boys had traditionally been vilified in the media – I wanted to celebrate them! I felt very strongly that I wanted this brand to be a platform ‘for them and by them’ so from the inception, I included teen boys in everything from market research to see if it was a viable idea to branding to product development to fragrance development to package design. Since we launched they have always written blogs, developed content for our social media, been our models and supplied their own photography. We have an extensive network of teen boys and young men working for us – some volunteers and some paid. From the get-go it has been really important to be informed by the generation we were serving.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Growing up I spent my summers on the beach in San Clemente. I think I would high tail it down there for some hiking, running, swimming and the best Mexican food north of the boarder.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Abby Barroll-Brown of Willa Phoenix, who shares a passion for nature and championing vegan brands.

Website: www.31st-state.com

Instagram: @31ststate

Linkedin: @31ststate

Twitter: @31ststate

Facebook: @31ststate

Image Credits
Nathan Coe Lindsey Smith Nick Andrews