To shave or not to shave? That’s up to you and only you. Co-founder and CEO Georgina Gooley (she/her) firmly believes that, and advocates for you to be in charge of your own body with her brand Billie. (Which The Newsette staff loves, BTW.)

In honor of National Hair Day tomorrow, she talks about the company’s mission of inclusivity, a new kid’s book, and the secret to Billie’s success.

Why the name Billie?
We chose a brand name that wasn’t just a woman’s name, it was gender-neutral. 100 years ago, Billie was predominantly a man’s name but today it has kind of been taken over by women—and that’s a good metaphor for what we’re trying to do within the historically male-dominated shave category.

Your tagline is “Razors Built for Womankind,” so how are you inclusive for all women?
We champion and celebrate the whole spectrum of womankind, so if you identify as a woman, we’re here for you. From the outset, being an inclusive brand has been really important to us—especially as it pertains to expanding the many ways in which one can show up as a woman beyond the narrow definition that society has dictated. We did a campaign specifically around this notion in 2021 for IWD called Think of a Woman which challenged us to rethink how we define what it means to be a woman.

As a business that is known for its razors, how do you empower others about their body hair?
We want to empower personal choice around shaving. We believe that what someone decides to do with their body hair should be up to them, not the arbitrary rules society has made up. Someone might choose to grow out their hair but then shave again later. We’re there for them when and if they feel like shaving. We also sell a range of thoughtfully designed body care products, created to elevate women’s daily routines with feel-good formulas.

Cool! How does that relate to your new kid’s book? What’s it about?
Our book was part of our years-in-the-making Rules of Body Hair campaign, which was an effort to break the cycle of body hair shame. We found that we often first feel embarrassed about our body hair during childhood when someone we know makes a mean comment about it. We partnered with A Kids Company About to create A Kids Book About Body Hair, written to equip kids with language and knowledge before someone on the playground gets to them. We hope the book gives kids the confidence to embrace their body hair so that their first association with it is not of shame, but discovery and normalcy.

And now we must ask for your secret… How has the Billie razor never cut us?!
We spent a lot of time on product design to ensure that the razor works for the way women actually shave. Women shave up to 10x more surface area than men, so we made sure our razor could navigate all the curves and corners of the body and deliver an ultra-gentle, top-quality shave.