Shamini Rajarethnam is the CEO of Australian luxury skincare company, RATIONALE - a position she has held since 2017. Under her leadership, RATIONALE has achieved significant commercial growth and success, expanding from a medical agency-only channel to a network of 14 Flagship locations across Australia and 100+ medical and aesthetic clinic stockists globally. In 2020, Rajarethnam led the RATIONALE business into an industry partnership with international beauty conglomerate, Amorepacific Corporation.
What is your USP? / What sets your brand apart?
I think it’s that we deeply care about what we do and that process is imbued across every touchpoint. It’s been the constant for over three decades. The exacting standards and elevated experience we want to deliver filters into every single aspect of the brand—including research, development, and product manufacturing. It’s led us to do things like vertically integrate and bring our manufacturing in house. It might not be the most commercial decision, but it is the best experience for our clients.
"It’s led us to do things like vertically integrate and bring our manufacturing in house. It might not be the most commercial decision, but it is the best experience for our clients."
In terms of product offering, we’ve maintained a very clear vision of ‘protect and repair’. This hasn’t wavered from the very first products Richard [Parker, Founder] formulated all those years ago: three steps in the morning reflect the skin’s innate needs for immune health support via fortified barrier function, antioxidant protection against oxidative stress and SPF protection against solar and environmental stressors. At night, three steps for barrier function repair, pH maintenance, and skin renewal support.
What do you attribute your brand's success to? And why has your brand made headway in such a competitive market?
We’ve always remained focused on who we are, what we stand for and who we are doing this for. We’re quite open about the fact that we’re not one to follow trends; our Research and Development faculties have been guardrails for us in many respects, focusing on their guiding light of healthy skin and what we need to do to maintain that standard.
Over the years, we’ve made the difficult decision to say no to many things, where other brands might say yes, because it wouldn’t be true to who we are. That has translated into standing the test of time, over three decades in a competitive market.
What is your key role today in the business? How has it evolved with time?
My role is Chief Executive Officer, working closely with our Founder, Richard Parker, and our Executive Team. I first joined the company as the Digital Marketing Coordinator in 2011, and worked across various roles and departments, including the role of GM before stepping into my current role in 2016. Over the past nine years as CEO, my role has evolved and grown in tandem with the size of the business. In the beginning, being quite hands-on and operational. As the team has grown, it’s afforded me the opportunity to pull back a little bit more from the hands-on day-to-day, and dig into the more strategic, longer-term planning and vision for the brand and business.
There are areas of the business where I still enjoy drilling down into the detail, but we now have a trusted team owning it.
What is your Brand mantra?
Luminous Skin for Life. This is true of what we promise (and deliver) in terms of visible results, but how we support our clients through various life stages and ages. We have Skin Therapists in our Flagship that have clients who first came to them in the dating stage of life, then as they prepped for weddings, and then had shifted skin concerns throughout pregnancy, postpartum, and even menopause.
What advice would you give to someone wanting to start their own business in the beauty arena?
Not specific to the beauty arena, but any business really…know your own weaknesses and blindspots, and don’t be afraid to articulate that - then hire experts in those areas. You need those systems or people in place to support and complement your own expertise, so you’re not getting bogged down in the areas that aren’t necessarily your native genius!
How do you stay ahead and keep your brand relevant in our digital world?
We’ve never claimed to be a digital-native brand, but digital continues to be our largest growth channel globally, so remaining nimble and evolving our platforms and offerings in line with client insights and behaviours is certainly a priority. There's so much opportunity in the digital space, but with that comes a lot of noise and competitor distraction, so it's a balance of elevating each interaction and touchpoint (whether that's ecomm functionality, client journey or aftercare), while ensuring easy discoverability and connection to our research and education cornerstones are maintained.
Equally, our digital presence is just as much about how we complement the bricks-and-mortar experiences delivered in our Flaghips or via our agency partners. For our clients, they deserve a seamless, 360 experience that reflects and enhances their own lifestyles. Whether that’s as simple as a click-and-collect service, or same-day delivery to your next destination, or purely understanding what our client is seeking at different touchpoints—and meeting them there. It’s an integrated world, so we are constantly evolving, updating and elevating to assure that experience for them.
"There's so much opportunity in the digital space, but with that comes a lot of noise and competitor distraction, so it's a balance of elevating each interaction and touchpoint"
What can we look forward to seeing next from you, and the brand?
We’re continuing to push innovation in our formulations, and looking forward to introducing a few new updates in the coming months, including introducing a new category. Outside of product, we’re excited to connect with new partners to reach our clients in more places, such as Equinox Hotels in NYC.
Quickfire Questions
Coffee Order
A long black.
What’s inspiring you?
Currently, it’s the book ‘Unreasonable Hospitality’ by Will Guidara, the former owner of Eleven Madison Park. In context of work, there are so many relevant lessons and insights that really resonated with me in terms of how we can continue to level up our own client experience, whether that’s from the formulations we create, the services we offer, or the high-touch moments with our clients. Elsewhere, I am almost always drawn to the creative work from Loewe and Bottega Veneta. And I also follow a lot of interior design accounts for home life.
Favourite business quote
There are no sacred cows! I repeat this to my leadership team, reminding them we need to challenge ourselves and how we’ve always done things to balance remaining true to our ethos and staying relevant.
Groundbreaking Brand
I think Dyson is an incredible brand that has redefined several categories by essentially reinventing ordinary objects using extraordinary engineering, coupled with design to create desirable, aspirational products. How many brands do you know have created status symbol home appliances like their vacuums and fans to cult beauty products like their hair tools?
Product you admire/wish you’d created!
I’ve always said that I wish I created the zipper! I think it every time I see that ‘YKK’!
