Innovation Realized StackedSkincare & the Pursuit of Purposeful Innovation

What happens when a tech-industry veteran turns a lifelong struggle with eczema into a mission to help others feel confident in their own skin? In this episode, Ian Coats MacColl (Principal, icm.studio; Professor, California College of the Arts) sits down with Kerry Benjamin, Co-Founder & CEO of StackedSkincare, to trace how a personal problem grew into a modern, tool-led skincare brand.

Kerry shares how she left a career in digital media at Microsoft, became an esthetician to solve her own skin challenges, and built a thriving skincare practice that eventually gave birth to StackedSkincare. She and Ian walk through the creation of the brand’s award-winning dermaplaning tool, microneedling roller, and cryo roller, and the thinking behind each decision along the way. From early white-label experiments to custom tools, they dig into ergonomics, safety, sustainability, quality control, pricing, and what it really takes to bring a premium beauty tool from sketch to shelf.

The conversation is equal parts design story and founder journey. Kerry talks openly about working self-funded, protecting margins, choosing the right factory partners, and staying committed to a minimalist, high-performance product philosophy, even when cheaper and easier paths were available. Ian shares how deep observation, honest feedback, and shared values shaped a long-term creative partnership that helped define the visual and functional language of the StackedSkincare brand.

What You’ll Learn

• How Kerry’s move from tech to esthetics set the foundation for StackedSkincare
• The origin of “stacking” tools and active ingredients to bring professional results home
• Why the right industrial designer can make or break a hard-goods product line
• How the dermaplaning tool evolved from a professional scalpel to a safe, premium at-home device
• The key design and engineering choices behind the microneedling roller and its refillable system
• How the cryo roller design was shaped by comfort, face contours, and everyday use
• What to look for in manufacturing partners, and how to avoid costly quality issues
• How to balance premium positioning, sustainability, and healthy margins as a self-funded founder
• Practical advice for entrepreneurs who are developing physical products and navigating the ups and downs of the process

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