Natalie Enslöw
Founder, fjör
fjör founder, Natalie Enslöw
In the increasingly crowded beauty landscape, fjör has stood out as an emerging disruptor. Cue founder Natalie Enslöw, who a few years ago quit her corporate job to start her own company on the basis of three core pillars, before even having conceptualized her brand or product. Of fjör she says, “I knew that no matter what the product would be, it had to be something that was simple, powerful and accessible.” Those attributes have carried through, partnering with a biotech to harness the power of hydrolytic enzyme technology in the form of a serum, and creating an expanding minimalist skincare brand designed to boost the skin’s microbiome. She learned early on that skincare had a huge impact on well being while growing up in places with contrasting environments like Singapore, Scandinavia and London. With that in mind, she set out to launch fjör. Read on to learn more about Natalie’s journey.
“I knew that no matter what the product would be, it had to be something that was SIMPLE, POWERFUL, and ACCESSIBLE.”
fjör is inspired by Nordic simplicity, led by design and powered by science
Through its product range, fjör harnesses the power of hydrolytic enzyme technology
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The building blocks
I don’t have a beauty background. All I ever knew was that I wanted to do something to make people feel good. I was really driven by that innate sense of purpose and I think a lot of people can empathize with that, especially during COVID, when so many of us were really looking inward. My proficiencies come from marketing, advertising and branding. I took a bit of an unconventional route, working on the fjör brand before I ever had the product. It’s definitely not the most traditional way. Most people look for a product and then delve into product market fit and marketing off of the back of that. But for me, the origins of fjör came from a long time ago. It came from watching my two parents suffer from very different sides of skincare or lack thereof. My mom really loves skincare and loves looking after herself, to the extent that she ended up having autoimmune responses and allergic reactions to different ingredients and products she tried. Unfortunately, I inherited that. So I grew up very cognizant of what I was putting on my skin and doing a lot of research. And then, on the other side, I watched my Dad, who was someone who did too little. Especially, when it came to suncare. I observed the repercussions of inadequate care and that always played on my mind a bit. Essentially, what does it mean to do just enough and what does it mean to do too much? I think that’s really where the amalgamation happened and Fjor was born.
Concept before product
One of the things I’ve learned is that having strong guiding principles really do help build out the story and decision making process. Early on, I created three key pillars for fjör. This was even before we had the name or branding. I knew that no matter what the product would be, it had to be something that was simple, powerful and accessible. Those combined would be the red thread that would help with decision making and would guide the brand and product. To this day, 2.5 years later, we’re still using those guiding principles of simple, powerful and accessible. At the time, I found a branding team that could bring this to life. They understood the product would be in the health and wellness space and it was going to have those principles. That made it so easy to create a brand identity, without even having that product to stand on. And then, alternatively, when I got to the product side, it made it easy to find a biotech that could reflect and see themselves in the brand and those three key pillars. So, it really helped with that alignment process and making the right choices that were in sync with that initial vision, especially in moments of decision inertia.
Biotech beauty
I was already well aware that skincare was a very saturated market with a lot of different players. While I could use my personal experience with skincare, my lack of knowledge creating products and formulas and not having that biochemistry background, made me realize that it was just simply not something that I could create on my own. I wanted to have impact and I wanted to create value, especially for my friends and family that are experiencing skin irritation. So, I knew that I had to look for something that was innovative and that was rooted in science. It was very fortunate, then, that I met the biotech company that we work with now. They aligned with fjör’s three key pillars. They also understood the value of science and were able to bring something to market that was the world’s first by harnessing the power of hydrolytic enzymes, which in this day and age is relatively difficult and hard to come by.
Defining your leadership style
I grew up with contrasting parents. My dad was very entrepreneurial and really enjoyed taking a more unconventional route, paving his own way. My mom came from extremely humble beginnings and worked her way up the corporate ladder. I had a very unique perspective [of leadership] from both sides. It was quite inspiring to see my dad create a life and career for himself while also observing my mom navigate C-suite environments effortlessly. I feel extremely fortunate to have seen that because it’s governed a lot about how I navigate situations more comfortably. It’s given me a lot of interesting thought nuggets that I’ve brought along with me. Now, I get to have my own flare which is the coolest part about leadership because you can be yourself.
“We really want to start looking at what it means to be SKIN HEALTH in a 360 way, from what you put on your face and your body to the things you touch and you wear.”
Look ahead
fjör won’t necessarily just be a skincare brand. We really want to start looking at what it means to be skin health in a 360 way, from what you put on your face and your body to the things you touch and you wear. It’s important for us to look at people’s lives, and how a brand can be there to support both skin health and health in general.
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This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
