Founder Files
Clean Skincare· San Francisco, California, USA · Updated 14 May 2026

Priscilla Tsai

A former J.P. Morgan investment banker who suffered severe hormonal acne built Cocokind on coconut oil, matcha, and chia seed oil — and turned it into 'the most community-driven beauty brand in the room' (Forbes, 2026).

"Anti-aspirational, accessible, transparent — clean skincare for real skin, not filtered ideals."

Priscilla Tsai
Background

Priscilla Tsai worked at J.P. Morgan as an investment banker while suffering severe hormonal acne through high school and college. After exhausting prescriptions and topicals, she began formulating her own food-based skincare from coconut oil, matcha, and chia seed oil.

She left finance to bootstrap Cocokind in 2014, handling every element of the business herself in its early years.

Cocokind launched in Target in 2019, Ulta in 2022, and is now stocked across Whole Foods and 3,000+ retailers. In 2026, Forbes spotlighted Tsai for Cocokind's status as 'the most community-driven beauty brand in the room.'

Philosophy

Anti-aspirational positioning: real skin over filtered ideals, with full ingredient transparency.

Community-first development — Tsai is known to personally respond to customer DMs and Instagram comments, calling it 'one to one.'

Career timeline
  • Pre-2014
    Investment banker at J.P. Morgan
  • 2014
    Founds Cocokind in San Francisco
  • 2019
    Launches in Target
  • 2022
    Launches in Ulta Beauty
  • 2026
    Forbes: 'most community-driven beauty brand in the room'
Press & appearances
More from the index
Graph relationships
Timeline