JOHN ALLAN’S
DEFINING THE MODERN MEN’S GROOMING CATEGORY BEFORE IT EXISTED
Chief Marketing Officer and Head of Sales at John Allan’s. Helped transform the brand from NYC grooming club to fastest-growing men’s grooming company in the U.S., launching 24 products, opening 165+ retail doors, and co-creating Saks Fifth Avenue’s flagship men’s experience.
Reframing Men’s Grooming Before It Was a Trend
Long before men’s grooming became a multi-billion-dollar industry, John Allan’s was quietly rewriting the rules by blending the tradition of a barbershop with the sophistication of a high-end salon and the cool factor of a members’ club. All with one mission in mind: Make men’s grooming a priority, not an afterthought.
I joined just as the movement was catching fire, first as a freelancer, and within weeks as Chief Marketing Officer and Head of Business Development. John Allan brought mastery in service and craft having created and launched 2 NYC men’s grooming clubs that were bringing in close to 5,000 guys per month. I brought an understanding and passion of men’s style, skin, and branding. Together, we were a great team to make men the focus, not an afterthought on a global level.
Launching the Grooming Line & Scaling Distribution
We developed and launched a 24-SKU grooming line across hair, skin, and shave that was built with the same rigor and attention as the service experience. I helped oversee everything from formulation to packaging to positioning, then drove placement in more than 165 retail doors worldwide, including Barneys, Saks, Nordstrom, Holt Renfrew, and SpaceNK. We didn’t just secure positions on some of the best shelves in the world, we outsold every competitor.
Saks Fifth Avenue: The Flagship Moment
In 2005, Saks Fifth Avenue invited us to anchor the men’s department at their New York flagship with a 1,500-square-foot club — a state-of-the-art space where service met style. The signature Full Service, which included scalp-massage shampoo and conditioning, hot towel, haircut, manicure, beverage, and shoeshine.
“We set out to create the coolest, hippest closet in New York City—and bring it right into our lounge. ”
Our strategy for the Saks partnership was to ensure we leverage the unique location and make sure we were important not just to the men’s grooming department, but to the entire store. We knew that the key to success was to partner with every department in the store from women’s shoes to men’s fashion. And it was paramount for us to offer our clients the best in service, not just with great haircuts and a beer, but a seamless and integrated fashion experience. Saks President Andrew Jennings called it a way to “marry men's fashion and grooming” and “raise the bar for luxury retailers.”
The World’s Best Men’s Closet
Beyond the salon, we co-created The World’s Best Men’s Closet, a barbershop-meets-lounge designed to drive traffic across Saks departments. Supported by a customized concierge service, the space became a stage for high-profile activations with brands like Paul Smith, Burberry, and GQ, generating $3.5M in incremental revenue. At one point, I was managing and cultivating the men’s event calendar for the flagship location.
BUILDING A LIFESTYLE AROUND THE MODERN MAN
John Allan’s was never just a service business. Every touchpoint, from the clubs to the products to the Saks experience, reinforced a larger cultural point of view around modern men’s style and self-care.
I was also extremely deliberate about how the brand was discussed publicly. At the time, media coverage of men’s grooming often defaulted to language like “primping,” “pampering,” or “metrosexual.” I pushed back on that constantly, and before any interview I made it clear as to how important it is for the category that we avoid these seemingly innocent phrasings.
Men have always taken care of themselves. Shoe shines, manicures, skincare, tailoring, grooming rituals. None of it was new. The difference was that the category was finally being branded and elevated properly.
That distinction mattered because the positioning shaped whether men saw the category as aspirational or alienating.
More importantly, this was the first role where I fully realized how valuable it was for me to operate at the center of the business itself.
I was involved across product development, branding, retail partnerships, communications, experiential marketing, and sales strategy simultaneously. Sitting in the middle allowed me to ensure the vision carried through every touchpoint and every decision.
That level of integration became foundational to how I’ve approached leadership ever since.
Takeaway
John Allan’s was the first time everything aligned for me - the vision, instinct, strategy, and partnership. I helped transform a cult service brand into a best-in-class grooming company by building it as a lifestyle and anchoring it in cultural credibility. When collaboration clicks and strategy meets purpose, you don’t chase the market, you lead it.