Impression: Rachel Liverman

Long before Rachel Liverman (B ’07) built a skincare brand with 30 studios, she got her first taste of entrepreneurship by running a business of her own on the campus of Tulane University.

As an undergraduate in the A. B. Freeman School of Business, Liverman entered a business plan competition with an idea for a fair-trade store selling artwork, jewelry and crafts made by artisans from around the world. The proposal placed third, earning her and her teammates space in the Lavin-Bernick Center for University Life to run the shop.

They hired employees, ordered merchandise, managed finances and learned the realities of operating a true brick-and-mortar business.

“My love for brick-and-mortar actually started at Tulane,” said Liverman, who graduated in 2007. “I learned firsthand all the different elements of what it means to run a retail business.”

Today, Liverman is founder and CEO of Glowbar, a fast-growing skincare company built around customized 30-minute facial treatments. What began with one New York location has grown to 30 studios — with more planned — across eight East Coast states, with nearly 500 employees.

For Liverman, the company is the culmination of lessons that began long before Glowbar opened its doors.

Growing up, she watched her grandmother Catherine Hinds, founder of the Catherine Hinds Institute of Esthetics, and her mother build the first accredited esthetics school in the country. Their example convinced her entrepreneurship was possible.

“If you see something, then you can believe it for yourself,” she said. “I saw firsthand that women could start businesses, run businesses, grow businesses and be really successful.”

Tulane gave her the chance to do it herself. She credits the Freeman School with fostering an entrepreneurial mindset through coursework, including an entrepreneurship class and hands-on experiences that challenged students to turn ideas into reality.

Liverman found an environment that encouraged independence. Professors challenged students academically but also treated them like adults, she said, giving them room to navigate the responsibilities and distractions of life in New Orleans.

After graduation, Liverman deliberately spent a decade working in the beauty industry — specifically female-owned startups and small- to medium-sized businesses — before launching her own company.

“I knew I wanted to learn from others first,” she said.

The idea for Glowbar came from her own frustration. Traditional facials were expensive, time-consuming and inconsistent. Liverman envisioned something simpler: a professional, 30-minute facial offered through an affordable monthly membership.

“I like to say that my grandmother pioneered skincare, and I reinvented it,” she said.

She raised $1 million from friends and family to open the first Glowbar in New York. Six and a half years later, the company continues to expand.

“It’s the most rewarding thing in my life,” she said. “It’s my dream come true.”

Although she built her career in New York, Liverman still returns to New Orleans regularly and says the city helped shape her as much as the classroom.

“Tulane does a really good job of saying, ‘We’re going to support you, but we’re also going to expect you to be an adult, show up and do the work,’” she said.

Her advice to today’s students has little to do with skincare or entrepreneurship. Instead, she urges them to invest in the friendships they build in college.

“College is so important to your future network and your support system,” she said. “Go get coffee with someone. Maintain those relationships.”

For Liverman, her friends have become investors, customers, advisers and lifelong supporters.

“Everything about Glowbar is only because of the relationships that I’ve nurtured and maintained,” Liverman said. “And some of my closest supporters and friends are from Tulane. For that, I am endlessly grateful.”