Repêchage Celebrates 40th Anniversary and Special Interview with Lydia Sarfati

Monday, July 20 was a momentous, emotional and inspiring day at Repêchage. At noon, company founder and CEO Lydia Sarfati, together with her husband David, COO and Co-President and daughter Shiri gathered together to celebrate the 40th “Ruby” Anniversary of Repêchage, pioneers in sustainably-harvested, seaweed based skin care made in the USA, with partners, distributors, estheticians, spa owners, publishers, editors and journalists from around the world in a virtual celebration and toast.

Clients and partners from all over the US and the world wished Repêchage, Lydia, and her family bon anniversaire.

Amidst the tears of joy and laughter, many voiced their congratulations, love and inspiration. Colleen Sloan of Oxford, PA noted that “the quality and professionalism of the products alone are impressive, let alone the education.” Barry Eichner of Lipgloss and Aftershave said “the impact you’ve made on the industry is incredible!” Rhonda Manning of Calgary, Canada said “Congratulations Lydia and Family! What a beautiful product line you have all developed. It makes it so easy to sell to my clients!”

Although in a virtual space, guests were feted as only the Sarfati family can do, treating participants to a true world operatic premier with an a cappella rendition of the iconic Puccini aria, “O mio babbino caro” from the opera Gianni Schicchi, performed by Sony classical recording artist and friend of the family Aleksandra Kurzak.

CEO and Founder Lydia Sarfati and Co-President Shiri Sarfati were dressed in stunning red for the ruby anniversary, while COO David Sarfati sported red shoes for the occasion. Participants were gifted by the company with the newly released updated edition of “the definitive handbook for spa professionals,” Lydia’s eBook, Success at Your Fingertips, with extensive new research and content.

A video retrospective of the company from its founding to today, including its recent Hero Award from the Hudson Regional Hospital, Secaucus, NJ Mayor Michael Gonnelli, and The Secaucus Town Council for its service and commitment to the local Secaucus community and resident during the COVID-19 health crisis, was shown, compressing 40 years of achievements into five minutes. Secaucus, NJ is the location of the 50,000 square foot, ISO 9001:2015 certified Repêchage manufacturing, research, development and training facility, as well as the Lydia Sarfati Post Graduate Skin Care Academy.

Reflecting on her experiences with Repêchage, growing up with the business, Shiri Sarfati shared, “I have been blessed to have grown up around such inspiring people, including my mother and my father, who have inspired me every day, and I couldn’t have been more blessed than to grow up with such an incredible business. I’ve gotten to know so many of you, all around the world. We’ve stayed with your families, we’ve had dinners, we’ve laughed together, we’ve worked together, and it has been such a blessing throughout my life, and today I get to continue to work in such a great company, a family owned and operated company based in the USA for forty years. Thank you so much. Lydia and David, for all the incredible work that you’ve done for the industry as well as for all the families that you continue to support right here in NJ and around the world. We all count on you each and every day, so thank you so much from the bottom of our hearts.”

COO David Sarfati, who Lydia refers to the rock of the business, told the international group “Thank you for helping us make such a successful business for the last 40 years, and thank you for your loyalty. We love you, and thank you for being here.”

The highlight of the occasion was the extended Q & A session, where noted educator, mentor and motivational speaker Lydia Sarfati provided her best, most inspiring advice culled from forty years in the beauty industry, as well as from a life of triumphs over adversity. Participant Jacqui Smith referred to Lydia as “a lady with vision and great business sense and I am proud to be associated with her. Thank you, Lydia, for being a super mentor and motivating me to grow in this field. We thank you for all you have done in this field and wish you continued success and growth. Come see us when the borders open.”

Sarfati conceded that she was “getting antsy” to travel and couldn’t “wait until I actually go and see all the wonderful clients and friends. I really want to come and hug and kiss everyone. As we are joined today by our friends from all over the world, Asia, Europe, South America, North America, we are so grateful. We want to dance with you hopefully soon, and celebrate you as you have celebrated us today. Thank you for your loyalty for the last forty years. We really appreciate it and we love you very much. Let’s just share the beauty, and let’s stay healthy, and share our love with others. So cheers, Repêchage family, cheers Repêchage team, and cheers to the world. Thank you and God bless you all.”

Following is an edited transcript of the Q&A session with Lydia, moderated by her daughter, Shiri. Here, Sarfati, goes into depth about the founding of Repêchage, the key factors to its longevity and success, an inside look at her day and at how she created the most innovative products and treatments in the industry, as well as the most important characteristics to foster within yourself and your business to see your own business grow.

And, as an extra bonus, for this blog, Lydia answers the final question which she was unable to get to about who inspires her. Read through to the end to find out!

Shiri: Lydia, 40 years in business is an incredible landmark in your career. You have personally witnessed so many businesses and even entire industries come and go in the past 40 years. What does it take to continue to grow and thrive through almost half a century? What are the key factors that have made Repechage a success for so long?

Lydia: Many things, but being tenacious, I never give up, never take no for answer, If someone tells me no, I think they don’t understand what I am saying. I try again. I always persevered. When I first opened business in 1977, it was unbelievable. If I had the money I probably could have bought half of Manhattan, it’s the same as happening now in NYC. Everyone was leaving Manhattan, just like what’s happening right now. It was a horrible time, but I looked at it as opportunity. I opened my first spa in 1977 because the rents were cheap. Can you imagine? I opened my spa on 5th Ave and 53rd street. In good times I probably could never afford to do it. So I have learned over the time of the decades to not despair when things go bad. You look at it as an opportunity. One man’s garbage is another man’s treasure.

I always look at everything that comes my way as an opportunity. Barry (Eichner) from Lipgloss and Aftershave says I did to seaweed what Heinz did to tomatoes. It’s really true. Some people thought seaweed was just ugly weeds, but I saw treasure. I saw what they did for agriculture and dry desert arid earth, and I thought, my goodness, if that’s what happens to earth, what is it going to do to skin? Why is there a co-relation?

Because our skin when it loses trans epidermal moisture, it becomes wrinkled, it becomes dry, it becomes dehydrated, just like the earth. If you look at the dry earth, it has cracks in it. Skin, if it’s dehydrated and loses this moisture, begins to have cracks, it has wrinkles. So I understood back then that seaweed is going to retain the beautiful moisture in the skin forever, so this was a miracle.

But I always think that, in a way, we all have so many things that come in front of us, but sometimes we don’t connect to it. We don’t take enough time to reflect because we are running onto the next thing. Especially today with technology. David and I were reflecting on the way to work today. When we started, I had an electric typewriter, and I didn’t even have a fax machine, and my sister said to me, you’ve got to get a fax machine, and I said, what am I going to be faxing? Nobody has a fax machine. So Bozena pushed me to buy a fax machine. So I think that everything that we do, really, we need to take the time to think.

Shiri: I remember we were one of the first families to have a fax machine. But, there’s always a new push in technology, and I think that you have always been there to take on new technology and utilize it. I think that is a great testament to your character, because you are always willing to listen and to change, and adapt, but I also think that’s why Repêchage continues to grow year after year. I mean, in the last couple months we’ve taken technology by storm, with so many webinars. It is so important to continually evolve and change, and adapt, and it’s great that you’ve been able to do that…

Lydia: And I think that is what is important, to be relevant. I always say the minute you start saying you know everything, and you’ve done everything, you’re passe. You’re like, forgetaboutit…you shouldn’t even be in business anymore. And to me, every morning I wake up and I think, what can I learn today, what am I going to see today, what am I going to experience, how can I apply what I see and make better what I am already doing? So I think that if you have open mind, open heart, and you listen, and you can make the changes fast and quick. And as a small company, we can implement these changes probably faster than somebody else. So being relevant, staying on top of things, and surrounding myself with young people is so important. While people my age have the experience, wonderful experience throughout decades, it’s also very important to listen to the younger generation, because they have great ideas.

Shiri: Looking back over the Repêchage history, what are you most proud of?

Lydia: I would have to talk for an hour about all things that I am proud of. But I am very proud of the original concept of the Four-Layer Facial. Because when I created the Four- Layer Facial, skin care was just beginning to be noticed. There wasn’t even a word for esthetician in America. I used to say “I am an esthetician,” but people would say “she’s probably an electrician.” No. So much in the beginning, talking about electricity, most of the cosmetologists that were doing the facials, they were afraid of high frequency, they were afraid of galvanic current. They were afraid of all these modalities, so I thought, how can I make a facial to be so effective that you don’t have to use high frequency or galvanic, so that one doesn’t have to fear? I was working with, at the time, a French biologist, and we were able to come up with a serum that had a low molecular weight, that was able to be absorbed and penetrate through the many opening in the skin, the follicles and the pores, and really transform the skin into a beautiful canvas.

I always thought about canvas as your skin, because if you have that beautiful canvas, you can paint any picture you want. So creating the Four-Layer Facial really broke the ceiling as well, because facials before the Four-Layer Facial, they were like $20 to $25 , maybe if someone had one for $30 you said wow! I introduced the Four-Layer Facial in 1980 at the service price of $65 and everyone said you’re mad, no one is going to have it. And we had waiting lists everywhere, we had salons calling us from all over the United States. And my very first distributor was in Japan, because of course they understood Seaweed.

So never be afraid of going into the unknown territories, because you always have the opportunity of creating something that is unique, that’s different and will make a big difference in someone’s life. And I know we have created a big difference in many esthetician’s and beauty professionals life. Then, now and in the future.

Shiri: How was the name Repêchage born?

Lydia: Drinking lots of wine, with my then PR director Anita Gates. I just wanted to name the facial which I had created something like “second chance for life, second chance for your skin,” and we were sitting in her apartment, drinking lots of chardonnay. I said I don’t like second chance. Let’s look at French dictionaries, what would second chance be in French? Well, its seaweed, and a repêchage is when the fishermen lose the fish, they can cast out again. They use repêchage in regattas, in sailing, in fencing, a second chance when you make a bad mistake. And I said “Repechage? I love it.” So wine and a French dictionary. I came home and I said to David, “I have the name for the product, and the brand, Repêchage,” and David said “it’s a horrible name, nobody will be able to pronounce it,” and I said, “Okay, I really like it. I want it, so, that’s how it happened. That is my life. It’s never easy. But I love the name, and it means second chance. For anyone who has ever tried to take care of their skin, and they failed, they have Repêchage.

And Repêchage is also a second chance for a wonderful business. Thank you so much Shiri for updating and revising Success at Your Fingertips, because it really will give people a second chance for a beautiful business. Especially today, in difficult times. But I always feel like there are always difficult times. You can take a difficult time, and make it. You know, life gives you lemons, make a lemonade. This doesn’t work, do something else. Never give up. Never ever give up.

Shiri: Absolutely, you know this is one of the many challenges and difficulties through the decades, its always turning a lemon into lemonade.

Lydia: With a little honey or agave.

Shiri: Regina Schneider asks “What does the typical day look like for Lydia morning to night?”

Lydia: Really? You really want to know? There is a routine, but there is also always craziness. So my routine every morning, I get up, I stretch, I do fitness, I walk in the park or we now have a bike, I was inspired by Lynelle Lynch to get a Peloton bike, so I do that for at least 40-45 minutes with exercise and stretching. Then I have my routine. I have my little breakfast and I take a bath. Always the ritual is bath, then dry brushing followed by our wonderful Vita Cura Contour Cream.

Now, I’m kind of full of energy and ready to go. And my typical day is working with the lab. Talking to David about the production, because David is so great, making sure that every crazy idea I have gets really executed. He says “I’m just the executor, I just make things happen, I just execute everything.” And, of course, talking to you Shiri, and planning webinars, and planning marketing. It’s always busy, talking to my sales team, talking to a client overseas. I don’t know where the day goes, but it certainly always goes very quickly. And I still have the energy at the end of the day to make dinner. Because I love cooking. For me cooking is like making a product, it’s the same thing, starting with the best ingredients all the time.

Shiri: Regina said, everyone needs a David!

Lydia: Everyone needs a David, I always said to David, if I could actually come up with a formula, and actually duplicate him, I could actually sell him. And make a lot of money. He could be a product.

Shiri: Lorena is asking how you have so much energy to do all that you do and still do it with so much love and dedication. It’s truly impressive.

Lydia: I think it’s what I’ve always said, and it’s something that I say that I always share it with everyone all the time, if you really find in life something that you love, that you love to do, you don’t find that you are working. I think that is very important. I think it’s important to do a job well. I think it’s important to enjoy it, and I never have taken short cuts, so when I’m cooking with David, and he is my chopper and dicer, I say I need the carrots to be diced to a particular size, I need my cucumber to be diced to a particular size. So I think I’m a perfectionist. I suffer from it, but I love it. I love, love love what I do and that makes it easier.

Shiri: When you first conceived of a seaweed-based skin care treatment and product line, and the hygienic unidose facial treatment system, did you realize that you were creating products that would be even more important forty years later?

Lydia: No, I would have to tell you no. I’m not such a genius, but the reason I have created the unidose application—there were three reasons. Number one, very often people overused the product or underused the product. And you really never knew if you had control over what is your cost of goods. And it’s not like I was an accountant, and a financial wizard, but I’ve learned that understanding the cost of goods and inventory control is a very important part of the business. And this is why after 40 years, I’m still in business, because you have to understand what it costs you. You know, everything has a cost.

So number one was the cost efficiency, number two was inventory control, and number three is seeing people double dipping into the jar, it made me absolutely crazy. It’s not safe. Neither is leaving the jars open everywhere, When I had my first my first spa and had seven rooms, and every night I would go through every room just to inspect everything, and then I saw open jars, and I was just “arrrrghhhh!!”

But this was really what was the inspiration for me to create the unidose application. Perfect treatment, sanitary, no double dipping, and you know exactly how much it costs you.

Shiri: You said “when you have to rely on yourself, you learn that you can do anything.” Some people may think not having anyone to rely on is a disadvantage. How is this not so?

Lydia: I think you have to rely on yourself, but you have to be able to build a strong team around you. You have to be able to inspire people around you to do well, and to rise to the occasion. But if you don’t rely on yourself first, you will come short-handed in sending this message to your team members that they have to raise the bar, and that they have to do better. I have to inspire them, but they have to aspire to be the very best, and this is why I don’t sit around, and just rely on everybody else to do the job. I show them how to do it, and I help them to be the very best in what they do.

Shiri: I always tell people that you are the CEO who is out there, in the trenches, working with the estheticians, salon and spa owners, you’re not the CEO sitting behind the desk or looking at your computer. You’re always active, flying around the world and meeting with our partners, so that’s a true testament to your success.

Lydia: And I can’t wait until I actually go and see all the wonderful clients and friends, I mean clients have really become friends over the decades, so I can’t wait. I’m getting very antsy, I really want to come and hug and kiss everyone.

Shiri: Barry (Eichner of Lipgloss and Aftershave) is asking when you are creating a new product or product category, what’s your process to get to the final product?

Lydia: Barry that’s a great question. I always start with a need, I look around. I read—I’m a very avid reader—I do a lot of research, and I talk to all of my clients. I always start with number one, do we need this product? Number 2, what other products in this particular category are out there, what is missing?

So it starts with need, but I’m also very motivated by new raw materials, by new ingredients. For me it’s my passion to always look for new ingredients and new possibilities, and listen to our clients. When I was in Croatia, Manuela was talking about charcoal wax, how fabulous it was and I got back and said, why not?

I was in South Africa in 2000 and I came upon rooibos tea and I came back and I said we’ve got to research this ingredient and before you know it, we are creating a wonderful Hydra Soleil® Deep Relief Tea Gel, perfect for sun burns, with rooibos tea, because its very healing, its very soothing, it reduces redness. So I am always inspired by the environment as well. In Thailand, in my early years when I was traveling, everything had lemongrass. The fragrant Thai kitchen had lemongrass, we would go and drink cold lemongrass and I said to myself “Oh my goodness! I’ve got to have this in the product!” So we made our One-Minute Exfoliating Mask with lemongrass and Hydra Refine® Cleansing Mousse with lemongrass.

So, I am very much inspired by my travels, by talking to my clients, and talking to people. To me, it’s an everyday occurrence. It’s not something that you can ever stop. Because if you stop, you stop the progress.

Shiri: Marco (Medrano) asks “With seaweed being such a vital resource, are you having to work extra hard to protect that nutrients in the sea and the environment?”

Lydia: We have for decades harvested seaweed in France. And the harvest in France has been regulated by the government since 1872. The beauty about seaweed is that it has no roots, and it has a tremendous quick regrowth rate, like the story of the beanstalk that grew meters overnight. Five years ago, we found a wild source of Laminaria digitata and Ascophyllum nodosum off the coast of Maine, actually at the same latitude as the Brittany coast, because it requires a certain temperature of water. So as long as the seaweed is sustainably harvested, as ours is, and at a particular time period, always in spring and summer, we should be blessed to have this natural source for thousands of years more.

Shiri: If someone asked your advice on starting their own business, what, besides telling them to read Success At Your Fingertips, would be your three biggest pieces of advice?

Lydia: You know, this is something I have learned decades ago. Whatever you want to do, write it down. You know, have a plan. People often ask me how did you do it? How did you raise your family, how did you work? Write it down. My friend from Massachusetts said “Proper prior planning prevents poor performance.”

Shiri: Someone asked me what did you learn from your mother and I said “prior proper planning prevents poor performance.”

Lydia: Exactly, so whether we are planning dinner for 25 or planning a business, you write it down. You always start with a why…why are you going to do, what you are going to do, how you are going to do it, where you are going to do it, which is very important— location, location, location—and who you are going to do it with. With these five things, if you answer those, you can have a business.

It doesn’t take an MBA to write a business plan. Just know what it is you want. You’ve got to be specific. And you know sometimes it drives me crazy, and I’ve seen that you go to a restaurant and with some people, it takes a half an hour to order their meal What is that? Always know what you want in life, and I told this to Shiri. You always have to know what you want. Plan. Plan. When I go to the restaurant, I look at the menu before I get there so I know what I want. And be specific, you know, say I want to have my fish made with a little olive oil. I don’t ask them how they make the fish, I tell them how to make the fish.

So proper prior planning prevents poor performance, and this will be my best advice to you. Write it down. It doesn’t mean what you write down today will be perfect tomorrow. You may have to tweak it or change it. But always take a look at what is your possibility of earning. What it will cost you to do the business, and at the end you have to be left with some profit. Otherwise, why are you doing this? Passion. Love. I always say heart, for sure, guts 100%, but then you’ve got to use your head. Combine these three things.

Shiri: We have time for one last question. You have inspired millions of estheticians around the world with your work and life story. Who inspired you? Who were your mentors? To whom are you most grateful?

Lydia: That is a very difficult question for me, because I get very emotional. My inspiration always starts with my family. My dad, my mom. Read it in my book. It is there. But I have to tell you today, who inspire me are my grandkids. Because they are so much fun, and they are so witty, and they have so much to offer and they inspire me every day, Asher, Levi, Gus and Audrey, amazing. And Shiri inspires me on daily basis.

When you can reflect, it makes you feel overwhelmed and it is difficult to imagine exactly how I was able to accomplish what I did, against all odds, in an industry that was ruled by giants. So, who inspired me?

To begin, it was my parents. They went through such hell during World War II, yet they loved to live, to be happy, to have large gatherings and party. Their love for friends and family was enormous, and despite the tragedies, they believed in living.

My teachers, especially Mrs. Levandowska. She infected me with the love for literature and reading. I still read today every week.

My husband, David, with his infectious enthusiasm and love for laughter. He too went through the war and saw things that were horrific, yet he came out stronger than ever, never giving up hope.

My children, who were wonderful girls growing up. They never gave me any problems. Their love kept me strong and I wanted to give them the very best education and culture.

My grandchildren continue to provide me with a hope and inspire me to continue to work and provide them with opportunities.

I am inspired and grateful to my clients all over the world for their love for our company. They gives me a very important edge—the ability to continue to develop and create. They are my friends.

Finally, my employees. I feel responsible for them and their families.

May God bless us all.