Issue date: 9/28/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Antonio Macasieb Katie Rodan, a co-founder of Proactiv Solution, discusses the process of developing and marketing her product. [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Margauz Howeaard Students take free samples of Proactive products at the end of a lecture yesterday evening in Levine Hall. [Click to enlarge]

For just 75 cents a day, you, in the words of Sean "Diddy" Combs, could have "silky smooth cocoa-butter skin."

How? Just ask Katie Rodan, who led a lecture last evening at Levine Hall.

Rodan is the co-developer of Proactiv Solution, the number-one-selling topical-acne system in America, according to Allure magazine.

While Rodan's daughter, Engineering freshman Daniela Rodan, calls her mother " an inspiration," Katie Rodan calls herself a "normal mother but a bad cook."

But she has certainly found the secret to one successful recipe: Proactiv Solution.

Rodan discussed the ideas, research and marketing techniques behind Proactiv Solution.

After completing her dermatology residency at the Stanford University School of Medicine, Rodan noticed that acne was not just a "teenage problem."

From spending time with her patients of all ages, Rodan began to understand the "intense frustration with prescription [acne] medicines."

Teaming with Kathy Fields, Rodan visited drug stores and department stores, eventually having an "aha! moment."

What these dermatologists realized was that the available acne medications focused on only curing affected regions of the skin.

Both Rodan and Fields realized a need to treat acne in a preventative manner before breakouts occur.

Putting what Rodan called "your aces in their places," the dermatologists consulted with colleagues to develop their product and funded their research efforts with their own money.

"She came from such humble beginnings," said Engineering freshman Akash Shah. "Even though she didn't have the capital, she worked with her partner and developed this popular brand."

Now with over 12 million customers worldwide, Rodan is well on her way of becoming what she calls the "Dr. Scholls of skin care."

"She has created something that changed the lives of people," said Anne Stamer, director of Weiss Technology House, which sponsored the event. "Her product is so well known and fits the market for students on our campus."

With celebrity endorsers including Jessica Simpson, Vanessa Williams and Kelly Clarkson, Proactiv has taken the skin-care market by storm.

But it is the satisfaction of her everyday customers that brings a smile to Rodan's face.

"Seventy-five percent of people won't buy a product again," she explained. "It is when they re-purchase the product - that is when you know how much you have affected their lives."

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