Alicia Scott’s skin care journey is a personal one and she’s on a mission to making medical treatment for acne and eczema a necessity instead of a luxury. All too often people of color get turned away or misdiagnosed when seeking professional treatment from a dermatologist. Finding a dermatologist that fits in the budget and cures your skin can be strenuous, so Alicia will be working with various partners including Black dermatologist to help women and men in need, so they can feel supported and confident in their skin.
21Ninety caught up with Alicia to talk about her skin care journey, the Range Beauty fund, how to gain access, donate, find grants and more!
Liz Smith: Your mission is to bring access to underserved communities through building a fund to create more access to dermatologists. First of all, I have to commend you for even thinking about this and taking the initiative to see it through. What inspired you to create this?
Alicia Scott: Thank you so much! I initially developed eczema my senior year of college and it started out as a random patch on my thigh and it grew to be head to toe eczema. I started freaking out, crying and my mom didn’t know what to do but she knew we had to see a dermatologist. Fast forward to that point and seeing how people are saying they don’t have access to dermatologists, hearing most people of color say they received the wrong diagnosis encouraged me to read up and do my research. I came to find out that Black women are the most likely to have eczema, most likely to have acne, most misdiagnosis and most likely not able to get into a good dermatologist. I was fortunate at the time to still be on my parent’s insurance and to have a dermatologist who could diagnose me correctly but it shouldn’t be seen as a luxury! I realized there wasn’t a fund that helps people get a dermatologist, better yet a fund for primarily people of color so I wanted to do that with The Range Impact Fund.
LS: The dermatologist fund will be available this spring so how can people gain access to this and what steps should they take?
AS: At this point we are collecting our dermatologists and it’s going to be around five dermatologists from across the country who have their own clinics. Some may already have a pro bono program in place but it’s not publicized so we’re now making sure we’re bringing it to the forefront as a collective. Also once you check out online at Range Beauty you’ll have the option of donating to the fund which will cover any costs with people seeing the dermatologists.
LS: When it comes to skincare a lot of people don’t cater to men or even have them in mind when creating products for acne and eczema so who or what made you incorporate men in your brand and deliver an inclusive line of skincare?
AS: When I was thinking of a name for the brand I wanted this to be for a range of genders, skin tones, a range of skin conditions and when I think about the men who have used our products it just proves that skin is skin. It doesn’t matter male or female, everybody wants and needs something that is good to their skin and makes them look and feel good. It was a huge thing for us.
LS: For people who are entrepreneurs and perhaps have never heard about this program, can you talk about the process of applying for that?
AS: Absolutely! While I started Range Beauty I was still working my 9-5. I packed up everything and moved to Atlanta from New York because I wanted to start my business in Atlanta. Up until December 2019 I was still working my job and using that job to help me fund the business. Once I saw what direction I wanted to go with, to target and scale our business to make it accessible as possible, I knew that more capital was needed so I started to look into more grant programs. I thought, "let me find out how to get this free money!" I zeroed in on funds that were created for women of color or for people of color entrepreneurs. I applied to the Glossier program twice and the second time around I knew I had it in the bag. It was my biggest grant win and I had six months of being able to talk to whoever I needed, all the C-suits, and I can say it truly has been a great mentoring program.
LS: For young women and men who are dealing with skin issues and feel insecure or embarrassed about their skin, what message or words of wisdom would you offer them?
AS: I would let them know they’re not alone. It’s a community, people are more transparent about it on social media and that helps. Still let your personality shine through! Your skin condition does not define who you are. How you choose to show up in the world is what’s most important. Also if you have the access to therapy or mental health services use it because I know skin conditions can take a toll on your mental health.
You can catch Alicia Scott and Range Beauty on an all new episode of Shark Tank, Friday 2/25 at 8:00 – 9:00PM/ET on ABC!