We recently caught up with Manuel Naci, the founder of Rhone Men’s Care, to hear about his journey from working at Coca-Cola to launching his own men’s skincare brand.
Manuel talked about the ups and downs of moving from the corporate world to entrepreneurship, why natural ingredients are so important to him, and how his personal interests have influenced the way he runs his business.
Manuel, you reached the impressive milestone of Business Development Executive at Coca-Cola by age 19. What inspired you to tackle such a significant role so early in your career, and how did you manage those big responsibilities?
I was in limbo after graduating from high school. Do I want to explore business at University or do I want to go straight into the field? Being apart from a business savvy family, along with being involved in sales through work experience, I was confident I could explore the opportunity of working for Coca-Cola.
While finding success at Coca-Cola, the learnings were enormous not only on an experience level but more so during the pandemic where I met with hundreds of small businesses and learned how they were dealing/managing through the tough period and how to thrive. I learned resilience, entrepreneurship skills, and leadership through not only the company but the partners too.
Managing responsibilities at such a young working age most certainly wasn’t easy, an enormous company like Coca-Cola and its constant evolution came with plenty of learning opportunities. I was blessed to have great mentors along the way, especially early on which led me to finding success quickly.
Planning was the biggest takeaway for me, having a structure with my day-to-day conversations, and large contract talks all stemmed from planning. Having a vision for each customer allowed me to focus on the KPIs and help grow those businesses and long-term relationships.
What sparked the shift from working in large corporations to launching your own brand, Rhone Men’s Care?
It was most definitely a shift but one that I needed to make. Working for large corporations, meeting targets, KPIs, personal goals and networking is fantastic, however, for me, it only got me so far. I’m incredibly ambitious and I knew starting my own business was the next step in my career development.
Passionate and knowledgeable about men’s care, I knew it was a relatively untapped market both domestically and internationally, and utilising my developed skills and network, I was ready to take the leap.
The sense of comfortability has completely been removed from my mind frame. Running my own business has been constantly looking to evolve, improve and grow. There are some similarities between working for large corporations and running your own brand.
My line of work previously was managing small, medium, and large businesses, and that on its own, felt like running your own brand. You have tremendous responsibilities in making sure you are helping those businesses reach their lofty goals, as well as achieving the corporate benchmarks.
Your brand emphasises natural ingredients in its products. What led you to champion natural solutions in the men’s skincare market?
With the female skincare market, there has been a huge demand for wanting products that are not only natural but also deliver evidence-based results. This is the path I wanted to take with Rhone. A science-based brand that provides the results without the unnecessary side effects and irritations associated with synthetic ingredients.
Our products are carefully formulated to help men improve and maintain their skin and facial hair, while making them feel comfortable in their own skin. Every ingredient has a purpose and a role in helping improve the skin or beard.
For example, Kakadu Plum improves blood circulation to stimulate healthy hair growth and strengthen hair follicles for breakage prevention. In addition, we aim to use as many Australian native ingredients as possible, as we are Australian-made and owned.
A product such as our signature Blue Clay Mask is one that is unique in the Australian market, and internationally. A product that utilises many natural ingredients, along with using Australian native plants is something that the market needed, and men deserved.
I’d love to hear about how you develop your products. Could you describe the journey from the initial idea to the final product on the shelves? What guides your choice of ingredients?
I personally found myself struggling to find a skincare and beard care routine. I didn’t want to use 4 to 6 products in a routine, nor did I want to use a 3 in 1 shampoo. This personal experience was confirmed with my network during the research development phase of the brand. I identified the gap that I wanted to bridge.
While there are many beard and skin products in the market, I wanted to create natural products, derived from natural ingredients and that are Australian-sourced and native. In addition, I wanted to make the routine achievable, easy and accessible.
From there, in order to thrive in a retail space, we focussed on creating a luxurious feel to the packaging. We knew we had a fantastic idea with formulas and ingredients, so we wanted the product to be packaged in sleek bottles and jars, with a luxury black and gold design.
Initially, we started working on the formulas as a process of trial and error along the way. Over a year of planning, building, and finally completing, they made our formulas, and brand profile and were ready to produce. Rhone was born and we haven’t looked back since.
You personally test all your products. How does this hands-on approach affect the development and customer perception of your products?
It makes a huge difference, I believe in these products and I want to continue showcasing that in every way possible. From production samples, I was able to test it on myself, with barber shops, friends, and family to get as much feedback as possible. Altering percentages and scent profiles, along with adding ingredients, as long as they served a purpose, has helped develop a range that is tried and tested.
I’m consistently assessing the products and the ingredients with the feedback I receive and more so, my own hands-on approach. I’m huge on self-education and working with experienced personnel alongside me, to continue to grow the brand whether that is releasing new products or expanding on the formulas with our current product. This allows me to work on new scents or styles of products which can be formulated in the matter of weeks, instead of months or years if I wasn’t aware of the feedback and results.
You will see me promoting Rhone on our social media, guiding our customer base and potential customers through different routines, educating them about our products, and providing insight through data and science. Being the front face of your brand, in my eyes, gives people a sense of familiarity and belief in the brand.
As a big sports fan, do your sporting interests influence how you run your business or design your products?
In some ways, most definitely! You want to create structure in day-to-day operations and maximise the hours on hand.
Especially as we deal with domestic and international clients, we are constantly working around the clock, and having a detailed plan day to day allows us to achieve our KPIs and daily goals. Like supporting your favourite sporting teams, you demand excellence and there will be days where you feel that joy of winning or, it’s back to the drawing board to regroup and find where to improve.
Analysing patterns of play and data on a sporting field, while analysing data and business metrics can be quite similar! The market is in constant evolution, so we need to make sure that we are continuing to be ahead of the game, working and expanding our knowledge on products, ingredients, and their benefits and making sure Rhone is producing the best product possible.
Cooking is another passion of yours. Do you find any similarities between crafting flavours in the kitchen and formulating your skincare products?
I fell in love with cooking at a very young age and my first job was working in a restaurant! Being in the kitchen you feel as though you are in control, you can create something magical for people to enjoy, and can create a journey or experience through food.
With that, I find similarities along the journey for Rhone, building something from scratch, from just an idea to a global product. Mixing and matching ingredients, formulating it into something physical to benefit people is a fantastic journey and I’m excited to keep crafting something special for Rhone, as this is only the beginning.
Like in the kitchen, you need to taste test and evaluate the process before achieving the final product, like crafting skincare products. We didn’t get to the final product without going through constant formula changes, scent updates, and texture updates. Releasing a final product whether it is a Blue Clay Mask or a bolognese, you want to be 100% sure you are satisfied with the end result and can “serve your dish” to people.
Rhone Men’s Care has achieved international success quite quickly. What are your hopes and plans for the brand in the coming years?
I’m beyond proud to see the international success over the past 4 to 5 months, from client orders to being stocked in shops around the world, it is exciting. Continuing to grow domestically and growing stockists around Australia is definitely the goal in the coming months/years.
I want to continue building the reputation of the brand to the point where Rhone skincare is known to the Australian public, as a brand that is for all men and can provide a “luxury feel”. Internationally Rhone has appeared on shows like Big Brother VIP which is something that I’m truly proud about, and replicating that success in Australia as it is an Australian-made and owned brand will be important.
I want the brand to be for people, continuing to educate and inspire men to feel comfortable in their skin and to look good, and feel good. Building on our portfolio through feedback, market research and demand will be exciting, and as mentioned earlier, this is just the beginning. Rhone is becoming something special.
