Why Shay Mitchell’s travel brand Béis prioritized profitability on the way to becoming a $200-million business

– On the go. This fall will mark five years since actress Shay Mitchell launched Béis, a luggage and travel brand. The brand has grown from five employees to almost 40, from Instagram ads to a more diversified acquisition strategy, with $120 million in revenue in its most recent fiscal year and an eye on profitable growth.

Béis sells luggage, travel accessories, diaper bags, and more. The brand, backed by the incubator Beach House Group (which is also behind Tracee Ellis Ross’s Pattern Beauty), initially appealed to millennials and Gen Zers; it competed with Away, another millennial travel favorite. Today, Mitchell and brand president Adeela Hussain Johnson define their customers by qualities, not demographics: socially engaged and trend-forward whether they’re 23 or 50.

With the backing of one operator rather than a lineup of VCs demanding growth, Béis prioritized profitability; the company says it’s on track to reach $200 million in revenue in its next fiscal year and says that it is profitable; it did not share exact profits. “Once you grow a business, those are people’s jobs and people’s lives. And there are consumers relying on the brand,” says Hussain Johnson. Béis is still mostly sold direct-to-consumer with some retail partnerships, like Nordstrom, and isn’t opening its own retail locations. Hussain Johnson says she’s seen “few case studies where DTC brands have developed their own brick-and-mortar and been highly successful.”

Courtesy of Béis

Stability was important to Mitchell, too, who says that a half-decade as a founder has taught her about the importance of building a strong team and culture. Before debuting her company, Mitchell was best known as an actor on the TV show Pretty Little Liars. That experience taught her about leading by example.

“A lot of it came from my acting career. As one of the top people on the call sheet, you set the tone for everybody else—your eagerness, your passion, your kindness,” she remembers. “I think I took that into Béis.”

Mitchell grew up in Canada with a passion not just for travel, but for travel supplies. She says her family would drive across the U.S. Border to Seattle, where she would go to Target and Sephora and beeline for the Caboodle toiletry and makeup bags.

She hopes that authenticity comes across as Béis is joined by an ever-growing array of celebrity-backed brands. “We all know who’s super involved with their brands and who just wants to lend their name to it,” Mitchell says. “I could have 24-hour meetings about Béis,” she adds. “It’s my favorite thing to do.”

Since Béis products are usually used on the go, Mitchell says she often sees people carrying bags through airports and will compliment them—and many don’t know her connection to the brand. “There’s a reason I didn’t call it Béis by Shay Mitchell,” she says. “I wanted this and always knew it would have a life of its own.”

Emma Hinchliffe
[email protected]
@_emmahinchliffe

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