The Glossy 50 honors the year’s biggest changemakers across fashion and beauty. More from the series →
Megababe has had a big year.
“We doubled our retail footprint [by launching at Walmart]; we launched Butt Stuff, a product I’ve been trying to get out for multiple years; we did our first big marketing campaign with a streaming commercial and bus advertisements; … and I met Oprah,” said co-founder Katie Sturino. “I don’t know what else you could want.”
After Megababe launched in 2017, its first product, Thigh Rescue, quickly earned a cult fandom.
Sturino herself is a star of the body acceptance movement. Her 815,000 Instagram followers look to her for lessons in confidence and feeling good in their bodies, no matter their size. And Megababe’s message is, in many ways, intertwined with Sturino’s.
“Seven years ago [when Thigh Rescue launched], it was all about the thigh gap. And women would look at me and whisper, ‘I chafe.’ It was so deeply shameful to admit you had thighs that touched,” Sturino said. “It’s ridiculous to say now, because that conversation has, thankfully, changed. And I would say it’s thanks to us.”
From the jump, Sturino said, her goal has been for Thigh Rescue to be sold “within 10 minutes of whoever needs it.” In early March, with its launch at Walmart, this became one step closer to a reality. Shoppers can also find Megababe at Target, Ulta and Nordstrom, among other retailers.
In September, Megababe launched Butt Stuff, a hemorrhoid cream made to help destigmatize another oft-whispered-about problem. “Two of my co-founders had terrible hemorrhoids after giving birth, and I’ve had hemorrhoids on and off for years,” Sturino said. ”It’s another thing people experience but don’t talk about it, and I was tired of that conversation happening in the dark.” The cream was one of the hardest products for Sturino to bring to life, she said, because it is an OTC medication and, therefore, needed FDA approval.
In May, Sturino appeared on an Oprah special called “Making The Shift,” hosted in partnership with WW, formerly known as Weight Watchers. Though some of her followers criticized her decision to take part in the special, given its affiliation with WW, Sturino said, “I am so proud of that moment, because I was able to say what I wanted to say, and have been saying for years, on a platform I have never been given.” That message, in summary, is that women should not have to change their bodies to feel good about themselves. Instead, our culture needs to change.
As of August, Megababe’s year-over-year revenue had increased 50% year-over-year. Sturino’s next target? Acquisition. “We are ready to be acquired. I am looking for the right partner — someone who understands us — to take our brand to the next level. I would not have worked so hard to give this brand to someone who doesn’t get us.”
