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MBA Alum Turns Silver Hair into a Beauty Brand

MBA Alum Turns Silver Hair into a Beauty Brand

Drawing on the academic rigor and technical expertise she gained at Marshall, MBA graduate Evelyn Wang ’03 founded Silverist to support people with natural gray or silver hair.

by: Alexander Bernard
03.02.26
Evelyn Wang

Evelyn Wang MBA ’03

[Photo courtesy of Wang]

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For decades, Evelyn Wang MBA ’03 tried to hide her genetically inherited silver hair with box dye and other products, but found they couldn’t support the unique challenges of gray hair, such as heat sensitivity, discoloration, and their delicate structure.

Wang soon discovered she wasn’t alone. Multiple internet personalities expressed their frustration about the lack of effective silver hair care. For Wang, that meant one thing: opportunity.

“There was a consumer gap in terms of products out there,” Wang said. “[I saw that] there was momentum from a social media perspective, that bigger companies were starting to pay attention. I had to see if I could start a hair care brand that would actually address what I felt was a pretty big need gap in the market.”

In 2024, Wang founded Silverist, a line of hair care products designed for the specific characteristics of gray locks. The company has found fast success. The company already has developed a community on TikTok Shop and expanded to multiple retail stores.

“I would say that for an indie beauty brand, I’m very, very happy with how quickly it’s scaled in its first year and a half of business,” Wang said.

In retrospect, Wang believes her entrepreneurial mindset was formed 20 years ago in USC Marshall’s Full-Time MBA (FTMBA) program, long before she ever wanted to be a founder.

“I didn’t formally study entrepreneurship at Marshall, but the whole business school experience — in terms of the discipline that it took and the framework that it gives you for thinking through how to operate and function — those are things that I took through my career and I definitely still use to this day,” Wang said. “It transformed the way I think.”

When Wang first applied to the program in the early 2000s, she had no intention of entering the beauty industry. Originally, she chose Marshall to pivot from her nonprofit position in Vancouver to an entertainment career in Hollywood. Instead, she discovered a wide range of new options.

“I can truly say that it was a transformative time for me to go to Marshall because it unlocked and opened so many different pathways to me,” Wang recalled. “I honestly did not know as an incoming student how many different types of pathways I could explore.”

Wang entered Marshall with a liberal arts background. At first, the technical aspects of the school’s challenging course load intimidated her. Yet, looking back, Wang says the education prepared her for the practical facets of business, both as an executive and, eventually, an entrepreneur.

I can truly say that it was a transformative time for me to go to Marshall because it unlocked and opened so many different pathways to me.

— Evelyn Wang MBA ’03

CEO and Founder, Silverist

“Going in as a graduate student into accounting classes, strategy classes, corporate finance classes, it was a true culture shock for me as well as mingling with people who had very serious types of work experience,” Wang recalled. “The rigor of it changed my approach to how I operate.”

Over the next two years, Wang built a close network of classmates through collaborative group projects and study sessions. Staying up late at night in what Wang described as “little war rooms,” she and her peers built trust that extended beyond their time at USC, forming connections the CEO would use throughout her career.

After graduation, Wang pivoted away from entertainment, drawn instead to a marketing position within the beauty industry, which offered an alluring combination of creativity and trend analysis. Through introductions by classmates, she secured positions at The Estée Lauder Companies and later at Neutrogena. As someone raised outside of Southern California, Wang marveled at the generosity and support of the Trojan Family.

“I didn’t know how real that network was. It seemed almost like a fairy tale that you would have this Trojan Family that would help you unlock doors, but it actually is real, which is a magical thing,” Wang said. “There are other schools that have great reputations, but they don’t have the same network that Marshall and USC have.”

Over the next two decades, Wang worked her way through the marketing ranks, serving as CMO and CEO of multiple companies. Her beauty industry experience taught her, above all else, the importance of timing.

“You can’t miss the beat. You have to be very attuned to that,” Wang said. “That little moment can be where your brand gains a huge amount of market share.”

For Wang, the timing was right in 2024 to bid goodbye to the stability of corporate life for entrepreneurial uncertainty. Though initially anxious, she found new freedom in the accountability of being her own boss.

“What I love is that I answer to myself,” Wang said, while still noting: “It is not for the faint of heart, which I know is often said, but you don’t feel it until you’re in a seat. And then you’re really thinking, ‘Wow, if I screw this up, that’s on me.’ I can’t blame a corporate meeting. This is on me to solve this issue.”

Today, the executive-turned-founder is passing on her own entrepreneurial advice, encouraging young founders to follow their instincts like she did.

“I always tell people, ‘Stick to your guns,’” Wang said. “You are the one putting it on the line, and you’re the one with this idea that you feel so compelled to do that you’re risking your stability to do it. There’s a fire that’s driving you, so listen to that.”

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