Written by Menswear Style in Interviews on the 6th July 2020

Hims offers a modern approach to health and wellness. Their mission is to eliminate stigmas and make it easier for people to access care and treatment for the conditions that impact their daily lives. That starts with creating an open and honest culture of care that is accessible for everyone, no matter who you are or where you live. Since launching in November 2017, they’ve become one of the fastest growing direct-to-consumer brands in history. Taking care of yourself doesn’t need to involve a doctor’s waiting room. You can access their products online from the comfort of your room and all Hims products are up to 80% less than what’s currently offered over the counter or through your local pharmacy. Only 1 in 10 guys feel comfortable talking about their looks and health with their doctor, but thanks to Hims, men now have easier access to the care they need.

In a recent episode of the MenswearStyle Podcast we interviewed Hims General Manager, Henry Allan, and discussed how the brand from San Francisco has grown so rapidly in the wellness space since it was founded in 2017. After running his own successful direct-to-consumer brand, Henry approached the founder Andrew Dudum to suggest bringing Hims over to the UK with the aim to replicate the successes seen across the pond. Our host Peter Brooker and Henry also chatted about the differences between the two markets, regulatory challenges, pharmacy partnerships, providing discreet packaging, and the importance of a simple eCommerce platform for consultations and learning. Peter also shares his own hair loss story and how it affected his confidence whilst he was in a band.

Do you think these are difficult topics for men to talk about? 

“I totally get it. There’s various components that I think are important to the consumer. One is discretion, and British people especially are prudish and don’t like open conversations about erectile dysfunction and hair loss. People are reluctant to open up about them, so we’ve tried to create a safe space for men to discover information around these products. We have an enormous library of content online around the subject, so people can come to the site and learn a little more about the condition and whether or not the medication is appropriate for them. They can then discreetly enter their information into the platform. We’ve also found that customers don’t like loud packaging, so ours is very minimalist and when your parcel comes to your door at home it is difficult to identify whether it is from us. We only put the letter H in the corner so that the customer has some sense of what the package is. We’ve also seen that 87% of orders come through mobile devices which shows that the customer doesn’t want to have the website open on a big screen for public display.”

“When Viagra’s patent expired a couple of years ago, Hims saw an opportunity to make it available to the mass market at a reduced price. In the UK we’ve seen the regulations have started to relax. Access to product was once so constrictive it led to a significant black market appearing for these products. People were buying them from the dark web for example. This is why we’re seeing this sudden surge in interest in product and why people are becoming more aware of our brand. These conditions are what a lot of men will come across when they reach a certain point in their life. The statistics are staggering, with one in four men over 35 going to experience it. For some reason in our culture and society we just don’t talk about it. There are just some things that happen to us as we get older and this is one that people don’t feel comfortable talking about. We just hope we can make men aware that it is nothing to be ashamed of and there is medication out there that is safe to use and will fix this for them.”

This is a shortened transcribed edit of episode 69 of the MenswearStyle Podcast with Henry Allan, General Manager of forhims.co.uk. You can listen to the full version below or listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favourite podcast player.

We talk about Hair Loss, Erectile Dysfunction, Sildenafil, Viagra, and Finasteride in this interview with Henry Allan, General Manager of Hims.