Our Story: Coming Clean
The three of us don’t shower together, but we agree that showering should be one of the best parts of the day. It’s a chance to bring a spa into your home -- warm, fragrant, soothing. It’s the best place to let your mind wander, think creatively, sing without care, and decompress.
Imaginations run wild in the shower. But the shower has not been reimagined in decades.
And Small Wonder was born.
The first salon formulated powder concentrate.
(Actually, it wasn't that easy!) It took years of research and development, prototyping, and testing with industry experts, formulators, powder experts, and more! Before making a splash, we had to develop a salon-formulated powder product from scratch and engineer a bottle that would enable the powder to dispense while not letting water or humidity in. Well, we did it.
All you need, nothing you don't. Just add water. And activate.
We looked at everything, trust us. If there is a product form that reduces waste, odds are, we tried it. Ultimately, after seemingly endless tries, here is where we landed: a beautiful powder that works just as well if not better than traditional shampoo, is easy and fun to use, and comes along with none of the historic waste. It’s a tiny solution to a huge problem, and frankly that’s pretty big.
And we’re just getting started. This is the beginning of our journey, not the end. We are already working on ways to add new products and improve our existing products in order to add magic to your bath and shower experience. Join us on this journey and send your feedback? Reach out to us and tell us what you think. Thank you for visiting our site.
Cordially,
Our team
Dr. Katja Lerner
Co-Founder and Head of Product
Katja spent most of her career leading product development and innovation roles at Johnson & Johnson, Neutrogena and Kimberly-Clark. She left the world of large CPG to embark on her entrepreneurial journey, founding her own consultancy firm, advising start-ups and being named the Chief Product Officer for Dyper Inc. Through a lucky coincidence, Katja got introduced to Paul and Stephanie and jumped onto the unique opportunity to help build the magic of Small Wonder.
Paul Earle
Co-Founder and Head of Brand
Paul is a serial entrepreneur, recovering intrapreneur, startup advisor, writer, and educator. Paul teaches MBA students and executives alike at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management in specialty areas of innovation, new ventures, and new brand creation, in addition to heading his own private practice. He has been published widely in a range of esteemed outlets. As a passionate believer in the magic of great teams and great brands, for Paul this a dream come true.
Stephanie Farsht
Co-Founder and CEO
Stephanie spent more than 15 years as an innovator at Target Corporation, working on all things new and disruptive. More recently, Stephanie has been teaching MBA students at Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management on topics such as innovation, new ventures, customer discovery, helping students launch their dream businesses. Kellogg is also where she met Paul. Small Wonder is Stephanie's dream business and this dream has become real life! She too loves the magic of this brand.
