Founder Spotlight With Joey Healy, Joey Healy Eyebrow Collection & Studio
Photo Credit: Joey Healy
Joey Healy is a coveted celebrity eyebrow specialist and the driving force behind the renowned Joey Healy Eyebrow Collection and Joey Healy Eyebrow Studio. Gifted with a natural knack for crafting the perfect arch and an unwavering passion for the beauty industry, Joey has overseen his eyebrow empire since its inception in 2010. Since then, Joey has earned widespread acclaim and admiration from celebrities, photographers, and clients around the world, firmly establishing his reputation as a leader in the eyebrow industry..
During the interview, Joey shared how he started his business at 23 by offering house-calls which eventually evolved into an eyebrow studio and product line. Joey also talked about the challenges he faced during the pandemic, how he prioritizes diversity and inclusion in his business, and his love for baking and yoga.
Let’s jump right in!
What was the inspiration behind Joey Healy and how did you get started?
I I started my business when I was 23 years old. At that time, I was working in beauty with an educational background in business, so I was always envisioning ways of moving the industry forward.
I was also obsessed with eyebrows. I loved the artistry, but I also loved the technical aspect of them: the geometry, the anatomy, the precision that goes into creating a good brow.
Back then, people were waxing as their primary method of brow maintenance but I believed that tweezing was the superior method which wasn’t really being offered. I also realized that house-call services would be a really convenient option for busy New Yorkers which also wasn’t common. I figured this kind of house-call tweezing service was an opportunity. So I didn’t begin with a product line or a PR firm. I started by going around the Upper East Side to people’s homes, offices, or apartments and doing their brows with my classic tweezing method.
After I would finish a service I would give my clients a list of products to purchase at Sephora or Saks which seemed like a missed opportunity. I also didn't love those products. There were very few options for women of color. Redheads got an orange pencil. What I was recommending just wasn't great. So that was the inspiration to create my own product line.
What does your creative process look like when working on a new product, brand, or campaign?
Things always start as an idea and then go straight into a notebook or the Notes app where I can write and sketch. There are half-baked ideas in my notes at all times.
Great ideas don’t always come to fruition through a streamlined process. Sometimes they need a bit of ruminating and revisiting.
My microcurrent device, Face Renovation Device, was one of these half-baked ideas that I thought of years ago but it wasn’t until 2021 that I really kicked things into gear and started the development process.
Also, being based in New York is a wonderful place to be a brand founder and creator. Some of my inspiration comes from fashion, film, and literature but my biggest source of inspiration comes from the studio. I work there daily so I’m able to hear requests and wishes from real clients. What do they want? What are they missing? What do they need?
Working directly with the end-user has been helpful in creating new products specifically, but when it comes to branding and campaigns, I rely on my team at TOPR for lots of brainstorming and creative collaboration.
What is one challenge you have faced as the Founder of Joey Healy and how did you navigate it?
The COVID-19 pandemic was really difficult. As a brow specialist, you’re in very close proximity to your clients. I navigated this by offering virtual appointments, selling a signature line of products online, and offering gift cards and discounts for when we reopened.
I also dove into the social media and digital marketing game. I began posting on TikTok, connecting with clients on social media, and staying on top of email marketing. Basically, keeping the brand front-of-mind for clients who weren’t able to participate by physically being in the brow studio.
I am a strong believer in the diversification of revenue, and in this case, brow products really saved the day. All of these strategies, along with a positive and supportive attitude, helped us come out on the other side of the pandemic stronger than ever!
What is your long-term vision for Joey Healy?
We are a NY-based brand with New York City DNA. I love that our brand is based here. We are located directly between Union Square and Washington Square Park on University between 9th and 10th street. That's our only location and we’re open seven days a week. Our wonderful staff allows me to manage more media facing things but I would love our products to reach a larger audience. Long-term it would be great to see our products distributed with retailers all over the world. That way we can connect with more people through our products while also maintaining a really amazing studio presence here in New York City.
If you could give one piece of advice to future LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs, what would it be?
Identify the whitespace in the market. The space where there’s opportunity but isn’t overcrowded.
I found that with tweezing brows, advocating for thicker shapes before 2010, and doing at-home services. You don’t want to jump in where there’s a ton of competition because it can make the road really hard. Instead push yourself to think one or two steps further. Find something that hasn’t been done before where you can really shine. Get creative!
What LGBTQ+ owned brands are your go-to's and why?
I love Ghost Democracy. The founder Rex is part of the LGBTQ+ community and all of their products are formulated with unusually high concentrations of clean ingredients to really get the most out of your skincare. I also love that the entire brand is super affordable and all of their products are able to transition seasonally.
LoveSeen by Jenna Lyons is another great one. Lashes are a close sister of the eyebrow, and I love their approach with lashes. They’re natural yet still different and unexpected. They really set themselves apart from other lash brands which I think is wonderful and often hard to do.
The last one would be Trixie Cosmetics, founded by Trixie Mattel, a fabulous drag queen that I fell in love with on RuPaul’s Drag Race. Her makeup reflects her outrageous personality and is really unapologetically true to who she is. It's amazing to see cosmetics with so much joy and love for the craft behind them. Very unique, very one-of-a-kind!
Tell us about one of your core values and how you have incorporated it into your brand.
Diversity and inclusion is important to me and is incorporated up and down my brand, and always has been. Especially these days, it's important to be loud about it. Our staff is made up of employees of every background, trans-employees, LGBTQ+ members — we are representing everybody and everybody is welcome. We don’t use gendered terms, such as “this is for women” or “her brows.” We don’t exclusively speak to women, we speak to all! I think this is really represented by the staff in my studio because we live that message as a diverse team everyday and I’m very proud of that.
How do you care for yourself, especially during this moment in history (a record number of anti-LGBTQ+ bills being passed and increased violence against our community)?
Yoga is my life hack and I do it on a weekly basis. I’m really into hot yoga at Modo these days. I love a 90 minute session to really sweat it all out. I especially love the group workout aspect. It’s nice because you’re with a community and have a support system alongside you. Yoga is also really important to me so I stay limber since I’m on my feet a lot of the day in the salon. It’s a great refresh for my mind, has become an important part of my routine, and helps me stay level headed throughout the week.
Who is your favorite LGBTQ+ celebrity and why?
There are so many but Margaret Cho is an amazing one. I recently heard her on a podcast and it reminded me of how much I love her! She is truly unapologetically herself, a trailblazer, and not to mention very funny. She brings a sharp perspective to conversations and is so intelligent.
Can you share one fun fact about yourself?
As much as people think of me as a city-boy, I actually love escaping the city to my country house and going hiking! I’m also a really good cook but more specifically, a great baker. There's this amazing strawberry cake which is so simple. It's a little bit of a pound cake with fresh cut strawberries in it. I love to bake it and use fresh berries of the season. Baking is also something my aunt used to do a lot. We were very close and it makes me feel connected to her.
