She’s giving us a hand (sanitizer). Andrea Lisbona is the founder and CEO of Touchland, a line of disinfecting mists that celebs like Kris Jenner and Naomi Campbell keep on standby.

We called the Barcelonian to learn how an economic crisis inspired her business, why Mickey Mouse is her new muse, and how she’s revolutionizing our view of personal hygiene.

What inspired you to launch Touchland?
I was raised in an entrepreneurial family. My father had a business, so I wanted to follow his path but create something of my own. When I was studying at USC in 2008, I came across this hand sanitizer that everyone was using but complaining about, like, “It smells like vodka. It cracks my skin.” When I came back [to Europe], my family business was hit by the economic crisis of 2010. I wanted to help out, so I said, “Hey, I have this amazing idea.” It ended up being my lifetime project. It’s gone through a lot of stages, but we’re finally on the right path.

How are Touchland’s mists different from traditional sanitizers?
We reinvented everything. Before, hand sanitizers were gels or foams, so they were very slimy and sticky. We wanted to create a formula that has a disinfecting component, but at the same time balances the drying effects of alcohol. We created the first mist back in 2014 when there was no competition, and we used a liquid-based formula that is skincare-forward. We also started innovating in [fragrance], and we partnered with Givaudan—one of the best perfume houses in the world—to curate all the scents we have.

Hand sanitizers don’t seem like they have much “branding.” How are you changing that?
Touchland really straddled the lines between skincare and hygiene. We were also the first hand sanitizer to win Allure’s Best of Beauty award. We took this from a category that was no-love, non-innovative, and elevated it into a skincare ritual. ​​I always say it’s not just about product reinvention. You have to change the positioning, the placement, and the promotion to disrupt an industry. We were on social media, crushing it as a beauty brand—but we were not a beauty brand, which is the magic about the brand. We have 34k people on a waitlist, which are numbers you would associate with a luxury bag!

We can only imagine that the pandemic made you even more popular.
I will not deny that we grew a lot, but our brand has always been in high demand. We launched in 2010 way before the pandemic and we were fully sold out within days. Our biggest challenge has always been keeping up with demand. But one of the things we did say is, “For every container purchased, 5% is going to frontline workers.” Then we created an initiative where we donated 5% of profits to public school teachers, because a teacher approached us on social media saying she bought a hand sanitizer dispenser for [students] using her own salary. That touched me a lot.

Why partner with Disney for your latest collection?
We wanted a collaboration that made sense with what Touchland stands for. The words people use to describe Touchland are shareability and joy. [They say,] “I’ve never thought I would enjoy using hand sanitizer, but it makes me happy, and now my kids want to sanitize their hands.” Out of all the brands in the world, the one that really represents joy, happiness, family, and shareability is Disney. We didn’t know how the collaboration would work out, but I must say I’m extremely happy.

What’s been the most rewarding part of building this brand?
Getting the chance to give back, and also creating a team. As a leader, I can have a crazy vision, but having a team that shares that vision and talks about my brand with the same passion really moves me. When we hired our last team member, she said, “I know you guys are making history.” Inspiring people like that is one of the things I love most. If one day I can be the Steve Jobs of hand sanitizers and have kids say, “I want to create my company like Andrea Lisbona!” that’ll be the most rewarding part.