Inside the family business behind 90 years of Ella Baché

At Ella Baché, a sense of generational continuity sits contrary to a beauty industry evolving rapidly as it keeps up the pace with social media and the promise of instant results. The beauty brand and spa, founded in 1936, carries a different cadence, built on skin health, clinical discipline and relationships that stretch across generations.Inside FMCG spoke to CEO and great-niece of the titular Ella Baché, Pippa Hallas, about stepping into that inheritance and carrying it forward. In this conversation we move through imposter syndrome, the jolt of Covid-19 and the rapid build of 150 digital storefronts, through to the re-evaluation of leadership from doing to enabling.Inside FMCG: What did you take from growing up with Ella Baché early on that still shapes how you work now?Pippa Hallas: Being family-owned means we can take a longer view, It’s about caring deeply for what you stand for and for the people around you. That was instilled in me by the generations that came before and it’s what we’re building toward for the generations to come. Not next quarter’s results, but the next chapter of this brand.The skincare and salon industry can be as short-term in its thinking as any other. But we’ve always operated differently. We continue to nurture decade-long relationships – our warehouse manager just celebrated 40 years with us.IFMCG: Do you remember when it started to feel like your responsibility, not just something you were part of?PH: I stepped into the CEO role in my thirties. The company was in my blood, but it still took a few years to let go of imposter syndrome – to really discover what my contribution was and to back myself completely. What helped was recognising that while the world has changed enormously, some things remain constant: Personalisation, skin health, the importance of values and the courage to innovate. Leading a business today means running into the unknown, being agile and making decisions with incomplete information. But I draw enormous inspiration from Ella herself, who launched this business in 1936 – one of the most disruptive periods in modern history. If she could build something enduring, then the least I can do is carry it forward with the same conviction.IFMCG: How would you describe yourself as a leader?PH: My leadership has changed as the business has grown. Early on, with a background in advertising and communication strategy, my instinct was to solve problems directly – to be in the middle of things, building brands and developing products hands-on. I still love that work. The biggest shift has been moving from doing to enabling my team to do it [and] that transition requires vision, strategy, systems, trust and, critically, taking people on the journey with you. I remain deeply hands-on when it comes to the relationships that matter most, our franchisees, our suppliers, our therapists and our customers. IFMCG: Was there a moment in your career that changed how you think about the business?PH: Covid-19 was a defining inflection point. With 150 stores closed for the best part of three years, we had to completely reimagine how we reached our customers and supported our network. We built 150 digital storefronts almost overnight and worked closely with our therapists to step confidently into their social channels. That period transformed us into a true omnichannel business – and we have never looked back.We invested heavily in a new Sydney facility dedicated to research and development, manufacturing and distribution. We source many of our finest ingredients locally, and Australian consumers are increasingly seeking out exactly that: quality, transparency and sustainability. The technology investments we’re making now are part of that same long-term commitment.IFMCG: How do you make decisions when you’re balancing the history of the brand with what needs to change?PH: At its simplest, Ella Baché has always been about skin health and empowering people to own their skin story. We know that real confidence comes from understanding your own skin, not from chasing someone else’s ideal.What changes is how we deliver on that. Innovation, technology, new scientific advances in the way we treat skin conditions – these are the means, not the mission. We don’t promise miracles, but we do solve skin problems, and if we can do that through understanding the skin’s biology, then we bring an innovation to market. Much of the beauty industry today is like fast fashion – chasing the latest trend. We chase results.IFMCG: The beauty industry has evolved a lot. What’s been the biggest change from your point of view?PH: Social media changed the industry profoundly, and AI is now shaping up to be an even larger shift. But if I look at the last 15 years in Australia, the defining trend was what I think of as the fast food of beauty – the normalisation of botox and invasive procedures. Our belief has always been in having confidence in your own skin, through expert diagnosis, non-invasive treatments and products that work with your skin, not against it. We’re about owning your skin story, not erasing it. We don’t judge anyone’s choices, but that is simply not our niche and everyone still needs skin health regardless. It’s a similar dynamic to what the weight-loss industry is experiencing right now with the rise of medication-led interventions – disruption that forces everyone to get very clear about what they actually stand for.IFMCG: What are you most focused on building next for Ella Baché?PH: Technology is a genuine opportunity for us, but in the practical, everyday sense. We’re applying artificial intelligence across buying, forecasting, customer systems, education and creativity within the business. The immediate benefit is freeing our people from repetitive tasks so they can focus on what they do best: relationships and innovation.But the broader commitment doesn’t change. We are here to give people the confidence to love the skin they’re in. Everything we build next – the new systems, the products, the services, the ways we educate – is in service of that. It’s a skin-first philosophy, carried forward with the same sense of purpose that Ella brought to it in 1936.Originally featured in the July edition of Inside FMCG.