Our Story

Arey | 'a-ray': Derived from the French word arrêt, meaning "stop".

The seedling for Arey originated over 30 years ago when our founder, as a precocious 5-year-old, questioned why hers was the only mother at preschool with grey hair. Decades later, the tables turned when her own daughter started pointing out her first greys. It prompted her to question why there wasn’t an alternative to accepting going grey, or covering it up with chemicals that have been shown to increase the risk of getting cancer. After researching vitamins, minerals and Chinese medicinal herbs, and creating a regimen every morning that included more individual pills than she'd like to admit; she set out to create a single supplement to support hair color.

Thus began a journey with her beloved hairstylist (and let’s be honest, therapist) who shared the same passion for creating a solution to a problem he's seen many times over with his clients. They quickly gathered a group of talented and experienced team members (including mom) to launch Arey.

Allison Conrad is an entrepreneur and operator focused on consumer brands and e-commerce. Allison received her BA from Duke University, launched a side-hustled fashion brand online, received her MBA from Stanford University, ran a beauty brand and most recently has been consulting and advising tech-enabled consumer companies.  

Jay Small is a sought-after hair stylist in Los Angeles with over 18 years experience, whose clients consist of high profile business and creative leaders. He trained as an apprentice to the owner of Paul Mitchell and worked in education and product development for Paul Mitchell Systems. Jay is incredibly passionate about the creative process both in terms of styling hair as well as developing effective products.

Valerie George is a cosmetic chemist, hair and hair color expert, science communicator, educator, leader, and avid proponent of transparency in the beauty industry. She most recently worked on the latest research in hair color and hair care as Executive Vice President at a leading salon professional brand. Today, she formulates for and lends expertise to brands at Simply Formulas. She is a two-time past chair of the California Chapter of the Society of Cosmetic Chemists, past chair of the Committee on Scientific Affairs for the National Society of Cosmetic Chemists, and a recipient of the California Chapter Merit Award for her services to the Society. Valerie is also the co-host of The Beauty Brains podcast.

JoAnne Conrad MS RD received her Master of Science Degree in nutrition at Kansas State University and completed a dietetic internship at the University of Michigan. She has served as a clinical dietitian, a clinical research consultant in the biotech industry, and a clinical supervisor at Kaiser Permanente. Most recently, she has been instructing continuing medical education courses for over 10 years to pharmacists on dietary supplements, vitamins and minerals.

Dr. Ken Conrad MD received his Doctor of Medicine from the University of Pennsylvania and his post-graduate training at the University of Kansas and the University of Colorado. He is board certified in internal medicine and clinical pharmacology and was on the faculty at the University of Arizona. He was the head of clinical pharmacology for pharmaceutical and biotech companies before launching Conrad Pharmaceutical Consultants Inc., overseeing clinical trials for pharmaceutical companies for over 20 years.

We are Arey.

Have questions? Say hey@areygrey.com.