Vera Pigaleva: Why was Sugaring Factory Destined for Success? It’s All in the Chemistry

Vera Pigaleva is the founder of Sugaring Factory (the largest sugaring company in America) as well as a qualified chemical technologist, and a talented manager under whose guidance a whole network of beauty salons developed simultaneously. The scope and scale achieved by the sugar paste manufacturer is amazing – the company produces volumes exceeding 35,000 pounds per day! The impressive success of Sugaring Factory is primarily due to the competent management of Vera, the prompt solutions she finds, her high–quality education, and of course, the desire to create the best product on the market

Hello, Vera! Tell us about your education and professional path.

Hello! I got a good education in chemistry. But initially I didn’t understand its advantages, so I began to build my career in the beauty field. There my career path was quite long and diverse. Having retrained as a hairdresser-stylist, I started my career with an ordinary salon job, and later became the manager. And after some time I was promoted to become the manager of a network of beauty salons consisting of five studios. To be honest, it was very exciting, because I like to coordinate business processes, organize work within a company, and monitor for proper execution. At the beginning of the journey I couldn’t even imagine where the beauty profession would lead me. I had the realization that beauty salons have a demand for quality products! I saw the need to produce products for beauty salons. So, I became interested in chemistry again, continued to develop in that direction, and simultaneously discovered the tool known as sugaring.

What hooked you on sugaring? Why that over other types of depilation or cosmetics?

As a manager of a salon chain, I realized that I have the spirit of entrepreneurship and can create something of my own. Something global and in demand. That meant I had to choose a sphere and products that would always be in demand and have the potential for regular development. Then my business partner and company co–founder, Eva Moss, suggested the idea of sugaring. This was a product that could gain relevance throughout the years. We were not mistaken. Another reason for our choice was the fact that sugaring twenty years ago was something incomprehensible and unexplored. Everyone who encountered it, as a result, had a very different experience, including negative. This became an incentive to create a better product that would satisfy everyone’s needs. A product that would be the best experience available to them.

That’s a very ambitious goal! At the moment, Sugaring Factory is the only American giant in the sugaring niche, how did you achieve this? And what role do you play in the company?

We were able to achieve this thanks to my very successful symbiosis with Eva, where everyone performed their own tasks expertly. A lot depends on me in the company, even now. In the very beginning we promoted the company on our own, and after twenty years, almost nothing has changed.  In particular, I am responsible for overseeing the entirety of operations. I’m a tactician by nature. I am very good at keeping everything under control and promptly solving urgent tasks. I coordinate the activities of about 90% of the staff, organize work shifts, deal with supply issues, and monitor accounts. I am responsible for the activities of the company “here and now”.

What market share does your company currently occupy?

Right now our products occupy about 70% of all sugaring in America, regardless of the brands and labels on the jars themselves. We work with more than just beauty salons and studios, we’re past that stage. Sugaring Factory’s current mission is to provide opportunities for promising businesspeople and entrepreneurs to start their business in an in demand niche. In this case, Sugaring Factory is not only a high-quality manufacturer, but also a reliable supplier of the best product on the American market for its customers. We already have many clients in this space. The story usually goes like this: entrepreneurs start making paste at home, gradually growing and developing. The moment comes when they are renting a room, increasing production, and they’re growing, growing and growing. At some point, the entrepreneur realizes that there’s not enough production capacity, and they don’t want to quit. The brand is established, the founders are picking up steam and garnering interest from customers— they want it! We help them to get around all of the bureaucratic problems they don’t want to deal with, but you will definitely encounter hurdles with insurance, license, hiring, and training. We supply products that have passed all the necessary stages, including testing in a chemical laboratory. In addition, they often come to us with a request for the manufacture of pastes according to the client’s own formula. Sugaring Factory solves this problem for them as well.

You mentioned training, do you conduct any on site training or webinars at Sugaring Factory?

Previously, we devoted a lot of time to training. But right now we are mainly focused on sales. If there is a request for sugaring courses, we redirect clients to the trainers at the appropriate colleges. I would like to note that educational institutions are constantly in touch with us. They request samples and materials from us free of charge for training. Colleges teach their students using Sugaring Factory cosmetics. This is another objective indicator that speaks to the quality of the product, the convenience of working with it, as well as the getting the desired result, which always meets expectations. Of course, we always help colleges in such matters and are proud that they turn to us.

What do you see for the future of Sugaring Factory, and the sugaring niche in general?

Of course, there are big plans for Sugaring Factory. These include increasing production, reaching larger volumes, increasing capital for scaling, and opening numerous points of sale in America in order to increase the availability of our product. I’m confident that the sugaring niche will not lose its relevance for years to come! After all, this is one of the most gentle and affordable products for getting rid of unnecessary hairs and for self-care in general. And every day now there is a rapidly rising trend in the use of sugaring for male customers. They also take care of their comfort and appearance, so this makes sense. Many years ago Eva and I bet on sugaring, and it’s paid off to this day. We achieved the ideal formula for sugar pastes about five years ago, and now we are helping young businesspeople to build new and promising businesses or actively grow their existing ones.