PRESS | Marvin Lin Of SHHH Group: Five Things You Need To Know To Succeed In The Modern Beauty Industry

Asa part of our series about “Five Things You Need To Know To Succeed In The Modern Beauty Industry”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Marvin Lin.

Internationally acclaimed hairstylist Marvin Lin has made beautiful hair her business. With decades of experience, she is known for her avant-garde, award-winning style and her elite clientele which includes socialites, jet setters, royalty, and other famous faces around the globe. Her luxury haircare will be available in the U.S. this fall.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

Itbegan with a slap in my face. My parents expected me to pursue a path with certainty and stability, such as becoming a lawyer. Though I knew it was never something for me. I was like a BFF with my mom, and we spent a lot of leisure time together. One summer during high school, I told her I wanted to learn hair styling. She said no, but I said yes. And the heated episode ended up with a slap in my face from my BFF. That made me rethink a lot about my life and what’s next — I was determined to walk my own path and to achieve a goal that was in my heart at all costs. So, when my parents were out of town for a business trip, I found an opportunity to leave home and pursued what I wanted to do.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

A long-time client of mine who has since become a friend revealed a secret to me early in our friendship. I overheard her assistant call her “Your Highness” at the salon and she said, “yes I am actually a Princess”, to which I replied “yes, I can also be Prince!” We laughed. And she turned out to truly be a princess, which she had never told me before. She had kept her title a secret so that she could enjoy a normal life like everyone else.

Are you able to identify a “tipping point” in your career when you started to see success? Did you start doing anything different? Are there takeaways or lessons that others can learn from that?

In 2023, I got invited to become a Fellow at the Social Enterprise Research Association, in which some of the very well-respected entrepreneurs and leaders in society are also members. This invitation made me realize that I can play a bigger role in society and contribute to the world by sharing my passion and expertise. It’s a great opportunity for me and my team to review what we have accomplished, what we can do now and look ahead to what is next. We have had help from a lot of people along the way as we grew, and we now can help others around us. A key takeaway lesson for me is that the whole journey reminds me of the beginning when I decided to drop out and pursue my own path. I have learned so much outside of the classroom. And every day I deal with tremendous tests from clients, colleagues, partners, and family. All these challenges have become fuel to me as I continue to learn and contribute. I encourage everyone, no matter what role you are in, to have faith and trust in your own path and life will reward you for your contribution to the people, community, and the world around you.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person to whom you are grateful who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

My mom is definitely the person to whom I am most thankful. That slap sparked my determination. I couldn’t tell her why I wanted to pursue this path through words back then, but I have been letting her know through actions. And in 2015, when I was contemplating opening my own salon and develop a product line — the OMG series — I had to give up 7 figures and put down extra saving to take a delve into uncertainty and risks. I called mom and she told me, “do what you feel right to do, but the most important thing is not to do it just for yourself and money, but for the people you trust, you care about and the people who are meaningful to your life. Just as a good old doctor would care about patients as if their own kids.” And she added, “don’t worry about me, I will take care of myself, go do what you think is right to do now.” That gave me the confidence to take a huge risk.

Okay now let’s shift to the main part of our discussion. The global beauty industry today has grown to more than a half trillion-dollar business. Can you tell us about the innovations that you are bringing to the industry? How do you think that will help people?

I am putting a tremendous amount of investment into the formula and haircare ingredients that were once exclusive to a few, but now I’m making them widely available. From our idea of bringing the best possible haircare to more people, to execution, it takes a tremendous effort and handwork to put the final products on the shelves for more people who need our help. And we continuously work with researchers, labs, and makers to create the products that deliver more obvious results than other products in the market. Now, you don’t have to be a superstar or billionaire to have access to these high-quality products. You can use them at home and anywhere you go. As long as you care enough about this detail — your hair — you can get better with every wash.

Can you share 3 things that most excite you about the modern beauty industry?

First, men care so much more about beauty and personal care than before. Second, people are more willing to play with more colors and textures to express their identity. Third, having more silver-hair models in the fashion industry, embraces more diversity, and people regardless of age are able to express their beauty and identity.

Can you share 3 things that most concern you about the industry? If you had the ability to implement 3 ways to improve the industry, what would you suggest?

First, eco-package. It’s extremely difficult to source entirely environmentally friendly packaging and solutions. It has to start with the largest conglomerate and consortium, otherwise no SMEs can gain any traction. Second, treat your products as a kind of craftsmanship and treat clients with respect and enough knowledge. It takes a lot of training and education on frontline service providers to learn how to take good care of guests. It’s the traditional way of hospitality fading away. Treat your guests like your family. Lastly, service providers should have more of a mission at heart than passion. Everyone bears the responsibility to pass down the know-how and knowledge to guests as well as colleagues and staff of the next generations. It’s a kind of education with a mission, treating yourself with respect and dignity.