Dan Obegi, Chief Executive Officer
Dan Obegi brings more than a decade of experience in building brands and running high-growth startups to his role as CEO of DermStore.com. His advertising background and passion for customer satisfaction nurture the company's ongoing growth.
Subsequent to launching his career at San Francisco-based digital ad agency Lot21, Dan held VP positions at top-tier organizations including Intermix Media/Fox Interactive and Adknowledge. Most recently, he worked as Vice President and General Manager at The FRS Company, where his accomplishments were vast: in addition to growing online sales exponentially over a three-year period, he helped build the FRS brand fueling national retail sales growth. An expert when it comes to the latest advances in digital marketing technology, Dan attributes his success to minding the principles of old-fashioned customer service.
A graduate of UC Santa Cruz who holds a Bachelor's degree in Western Philosophy, Dan resides in Los Angeles with his wife, son and two dogs. In his spare time he enjoys surfing, cycling, basketball, and family time.
Ashley Fowler Magovern, M.D., DermStore Medical Director
Dedicated to educating people on how to achieve ageless, healthy skin, Dr. Magovern brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to DermStore, where she provides expert advice to customers in search of a comprehensive skin care shopping experience.
Dr. Magovern earned her M.D., as well as a master's degree in physiology and biophysics from Georgetown University. She subsequently completed her medical internship at Stanford University and her dermatology residency at the University of Illinois, where she served as chief resident. Before opening her private practice in Manhattan Beach, California, Dr. Magovern worked alongside world-renowned dermatologist Howard Murad at the Murad Inclusive Health Medical Group. Additionally, she spent two years in the dermatology department at UC San Francisco doing clinical and basic science research on the epidermal skin barrier. She also completed a one-year fellowship at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago, working with a leader in pediatric dermatology. Dr. Magovern is also the author of several peer-reviewed journal articles.
Fred Clark, Chief Technology Officer
Fred Clark graduated from the University of Ottawa with degrees in psychology and comparative religion and a hobby building websites. He joined Aphelion Informatics in 1996 to build some of the Canadian government's early websites with Lotus Notes, Microsoft's budding ASP and eventually Apache and Perl. In 1998 he moved to Los Angeles, where he worked as the first webmaster of BizRate, a comparative shopping engine. As the company's director of web development, he built the site, which was renamed Shopzilla and acquired by EW Scripps in one of California's highest-valued tech acquisitions. He went on to build NewCars.com's initial architecture, which assisted in the company's acquisition by Cars.com, a division of Classified Ventures.
Eager to bridge the technical gap in the online beauty market, Fred subsequently joined dermatologist Dr. Craig Kraffert to build DermStore.com, where his broad-spanning expertise in e-commerce continues to propel the company's success to new levels.
Natalie Gomez, Chief Marketing Officer
A graduate of FIDM, Natalie Gomez combines her impressive background in interactive media with a lifelong love of beauty and fashion. Since the onset of her career in 2003, she's excelled at her craft, working within innovative organizations such as DDB Entertainment, WeddingChannel.com, IGN Entertainment and Fox Interactive Media. Her tenure with Intelligent Beauty began in 2007 when she signed on to develop and manage the online marketing strategy for PerriconeMD, a prestige skin care brand—and when the company acquired DermStore just a year later, she was named Vice President of Marketing for the beauty division.
As DermStore's CMO, Natalie has spearheaded a number of initiatives that have proven pivotal to the company's ongoing success. She not only built the online retailer's marketing team from the ground up, but played an instrumental role in the 2008 launch of Beautyfix by DermStore. What's more, she authored and implemented a COOP Marketing Program that has enabled DermStore to form true partnerships with and drive sales for its brands, which now top 500.
"I'm absolutely addicted to all things beauty and I love to shop online—that's why I'm so passionate about pioneering the best possible offering and experience for DermStore's customers," she said.
In her spare time, Natalie enjoys trips to the spa, checking out the latest fine dining establishment, vacationing in tropical locales and relaxing with her family. She resides in Long Beach, CA along with her husband, an LAFD Firefighter and their son Mason.
Michelle Olsen, Vice President of Brand Development and Resident Esthetician
A 2001 graduate of Cal State Long Beach, Michelle followed her passion for beauty and skin care, earning an esthetician's license in 2003 and going on to work for a spa before establishing herself as a freelance makeup artist and skin care professional. In 2005, she was able to fuse her love for the beauty industry with her aptitude for business, taking a sales position with a web development/advertising company that specialized in providing services to plastic surgeons and dermatologists. Subsequently, she worked as a regional manager for a specialty manufactured goods company before joining DermStore as Vice President of Brand Development.
Michelle's intricate knowledge of skin care, cosmetics and ingredients, coupled with her practical experience, renders her a tremendous asset not only to the DermStore team, but to DermStore customers. In addition to collaborating in DermStore product development, she heads up third-party brand acquisition—a capacity in which her enthusiasm for propelling the company to become the #1 beauty etailer truly shines through.
Outside of work, Michelle enjoys cooking, perusing farmer's markets and spending time with her family and two dogs.
Vanessa Henderson, Vice President of Customer Relationship Management
Vanessa Henderson moved to Los Angeles to attend UCLA, where she earned a Bachelor's degree in Mass Media Communications. Since then, she's progressed rapidly as a professional, starting her career as an Executive Creative Coordinator for Baroni Enterprises where she explored her love for production and design through projects ranging from television shows to high-profile celebrity events. Most recently, she served as Director of Marketing & Sales for Vitalize Labs, where she managed client relations and special events for the company's EBOOST product. Throughout her time with Vitalize Labs, Vanessa traveled with ESPN's College Game Day as their Operational Coordinator, helping share college football with sports fans across the nation. Vanessa's broad-spanning experience, coupled with her meticulous attention to detail and passion for perfecting the customer experience has played a vital role in driving DermStore's success.
In 2009, she and her sister won "The Chopping Block," a restaurant competition show hosted by NBC.