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Ten years after its creation, the nail-care brand Olive & June is closing in on $100 million in annual revenue. Founder Sarah Gibson Tuttle started the brand after leaving a job in finance in 2013. The company, which began with a nail salon in Beverly Hills, transitioned to selling at-home nail care during the pandemic.
That change proved lucrative for Olive & June, which grew its customer base by over 200% in 2020. That allowed the brand to expand over the years to a variety of other products like press-on nails and gel polishes.
For Gibson Tuttle, the last year, in particular, has been a wild ride. As some of her proudest 2024 achievements, she cited Olive & June’s partnership with BookTok favorite author Colleen Hoover and its first Mani-fest, a consumer-facing convention-style event held in Dallas in March. Hundreds of people attended Mani-fest, many to see the brand’s collection designed in collaboration with Hoover and inspired by her books.
“We’ve reached more people through our amazing initiatives, built a bigger, stronger community and helped make beautiful nails for everyone who wants them a reality,” Gibson Tuttle told Glossy.
The whirlwind year capped off with a major business announcement. At the end of November, Olive & June was acquired by Helen of Troy for $240 million. Rather than exiting the company, Gibson Tuttle is going along for the ride, continuing to operate Olive & June in a “standalone but supported” way alongside Helen of Troy’s other beauty brands like Drybar. The $240 million price tag includes $225 million in cash and an additional $15 million conditional on performance over the next three years.
For Gibson Tuttle, the future under Helen of Troy looks bright. She said Olive & June’s products are unlikely to change and the partnership will instead focus on scale. When the acquisition was announced, a statement from Helen of Troy praised Olive & June’s high margins and said it expected the brand to be “immediately accretive” to the company’s revenue growth.
“Our main priorities will always be creating the best products for our community at an accessible price,” Gibson Tuttle said. “What I’m excited about is teaming up with Helen of Troy’s brilliant leadership to get our brand to where we know it can be, but faster, smarter and stronger than we ever could alone.”
