DermaNew Founders
Amby Longhofer
A biography
It has been said that there may be no more revolutions to discover. It has also been said that there may be no true way to halt the effects of skin aging. Obviously, whoever has been saying these things has never met beauty expert, entrepreneur and revolutionary woman, Amby Longhofer.
Beauty Expert
Where does the passion for change originate? In the case of Amby Longhofer, it began when she was a small child learning the craft of hairdressing in her mother's beauty shop in rural Kentucky. Born into a family where both parents chose careers as professional hair stylists, Longhofer learned early the power that exists between a hairdresser's hands and her creative mind.
She grew up to embrace this power, quickly earning her esthetician's license, studying with her father at his famous InterCoiffeur chain of schools and salons, and challenging perceptions by joining one of the beauty industry's giants: Aveda.
All the while Longhofer honed her skills and channeled her energy into building a successful career, one that seemingly culminated when she met a Beverly Hills salon owner named Dean Rhoades at an industry trade show in 1989. The chemistry was instantaneous and these two beauty professionals realized immediately that they were more powerful as a team than they were as individuals. They married; Longhofer joined the Dean Rhoades Salon for Hair / Skin / Body in Beverly Hills; and they began to use their expertise to create something new, something revolutionary, for skin.
Entrepreneur
As a business owner, Longhofer has always understood that being in charge means more than being the boss. It means constantly looking forward in order to drive the future of beauty. As an entrepreneur in the beauty industry, Longhofer has also instinctively known that to truly engineer change, one must erase the concept of fear. There is nothing as powerful as positive change.
Longhofer used her highly honed skills in the beauty industry as she studied the needs of a sophisticated clientele in her Beverly Hills salon. These women were searching for a way to extend the life and elasticity of their skin, putting off plastic surgery, and instead requesting something new, something that would smooth, tone, tighten and rejuvenate their appearance. And they wanted to be able to accomplish this in the privacy of their own home, in their own mini-day spa. Longhofer used microdermabrasion in the salon, but understood that an easier, more beautiful way was just ahead, perhaps at the tip of her fingers.
Together with Rhoades, she began to conceive, develop and ultimately produce one of the few beauty industry revolutions in years: DermaNew Personal Microdermabrasion systems. Using corundum crystals, locked inside a rejuvenating cream, this hand-held skin resurfacer has changed the business of skin even as it has changed the beauty of skin. It takes a special woman to do that.
Revolutionary Woman
Beauty is a business that is both superficial and in-depth. Changing perceptions is all about challenging those same perceptions by continuously looking ahead. Creating a revolution is a long process, one that ultimately promises something better, something more beautiful. Amby Longhofer understands this better than most. She began her career as a hairdresser. She learned the business of beauty while building the prototype Aveda concept salon. She studied women to revolutionize the skincare industry.
Amby Longhofer is a professional esthetician, beauty expert, entrepreneur, wife, mother and a revolutionary woman. What lies ahead is another revolution waiting to be discovered, waiting to start. With an eye on change, and a passion for challenge, Longhofer will undoubtedly be leading that charge just as she has led DermaNew to incredible success. As with any revolution, perhaps it is best to sit back and enjoy the beautiful ride.
Dean Rhoades
A biography
Who invents our greatest inventions? Who has the wisdom, the power and the passion to make a dream reality? Who has the idea for something entirely new? In the beauty industry, it's often one man: Dean Rhoades.
Inventing a dream
Can a dream be invented or does an invention lead to a dream? Dean Rhoades believes that it's a bit of both. Since he was a young boy in Minnesota experimenting with art and creativity, inventing style using hair as his ultimate dream, this inventor has always had one driving force: his passion to invent change. He designed and built new ways to shovel snow; he created a robot to do his homework. He reinvented himself at 13 by following his dream of cutting hair. He journeyed to London, enrolled in the Vidal Sassoon Academy and quickly topped his class. He invented his own style by individualizing the image of each of his clients, and invented himself over and over again as he traveled throughout Europe and into the Orient. Along the way, he concentrated his passion and became a renowned hairdresser.
Always in his mind, however, was the dream of bringing about true change in the beauty industry, the hub of which had become Southern California. So Rhoades packed up his cosmetology license, left all of his clients behind, and headed to Beverly Hills. In his pocket was $5000; on his mind was the challenge of opening his own salon. Dean Rhoades was about to become an entrepreneur.
An entrepreneur
The Dean Rhoades Salon and Spa for Hair¥Skin¥Body became a phenomenon from almost the beginning. It started out as a small shop, but quickly outgrew its initial space. Rhoades cut hair but more importantly, he invented style. He was one of the first to recognize the coming craze of salons as day spas, and he embraced the idea of natural-based products by joining forces with Aveda. In fact, it was at an industry trade show in 1989, where Rhoades' affiliation with Aveda took an even bigger turn when he met his future wife and partner, Amby Longhofer. She was a sales manager at the time, but instinct prevailed and she joined Rhoades at his salon. Together, they invented the first Aveda Concept Salon, and began to experiment with bringing even greater change to the industry.
Rhoades had become fascinated with the idea of microdermabrasion as a skincare routine. Though the approved procedure used a massive machine and required excessive training, Rhoades had a dream: make it smaller, better and more personal. When the FDA reclassified microdermabrasion in 1999, Rhoades was quick to offer the procedure to his Beverly Hills clientele. Seeing how it was embraced by women of all ages as a way to stave off plastic surgery while still obtaining many of the same results, Rhoades knew his greatest dream was about to become reality.
The definition of an entrepreneur is someone who creates a product on his own account, or one who undertakes on his own account an industrial enterprise in which workmen are employed. A businessman. Rhoades became both when he invented the DermaNew Personal Microdermabrasion machine.
Using corundum crystals, locked inside a rejuvenating cream, this hand-held skin resurfacer has changed the business of skin. It takes an inventor, an entrepreneur and a man willing to risk everything in order to gain everything to do that. It takes a man willing to take the road less traveled.
The road less traveled
The beauty industry has seen much change over the years, perhaps none as great as the change it is seeing now. Because of an entrepreneur named Dean Rhoades who saw the possibilities of change through invention, the skincare business now has a new category. It's called skin-resurfacing, and its foundation is DermaNew.
From machine to the sourcing of specialized corundum crystals to formulating a moisturizing resurfacing cream to the ultimate invention of himself, Dean Rhoades has always challenged the excepted ways of the world. His mind never stops imagining the possibilities of what can be when one uses his hands to create and invent.
He is a force to be reckoned with, a man always in search of something extraordinary, a poet in the industry. Dean Rhoades. Inventor. Entrepreneur. Husband. Father. Journeyman. A man whose journey is just beginning, and a man who is penning the map as he goes.
