When Co-Founders Will and Adrian became increasingly aware that losing their hair was a possibility it led them to look into treatment options. They didn’t feel ready for a short buzz cut but were left confused and frustrated at what else to do. Over a pint, they realised – with Adrian’s background in clinical research and Will’s in all things business – that they had the right experience to start a company that would help other men understand the facts and solutions about hair loss. Reliable and honest information just isn’t easy to find, and after booking days off for expensive appointments with unrelatable clinicians, the two Sons co-founders knew there must be a better way.
Sons offers consultations and treatment plans that are reassuringly safe. They’re a registered pharmacy and accredited by the Medicines & Healthcare Product Regulatory Agency. It is very common for men to start losing hair at some point, and the majority of men will lose their hair at some stage in their lives. However, many men don’t realise that there are effective treatments available to put a stop to this before it’s too late. Sons brings men’s health and well-being into the 21st Century - less stigma, clearer information, more convenience, and better results.
In this episode of the MenswearStyle Podcast we sit down and speak to William Kennedy, Co-Founder of Sons. Our host Peter Brooker speaks to Will about how the men's health brand was first thought up, who will benefit from their tailored treatment plans, product and free consultations, and how they're different from other hair loss companies.
Whilst we have your attention, be sure to sign up to our daily MenswearStyle newsletter here. We promise to only send you the good stuff.
When Co-Founders Will and Adrian became increasingly aware that losing their hair was a possibility it led them to look into treatment options. They didn’t feel ready for a short buzz cut but were left confused and frustrated at what else to do. Over a pint, they realised – with Adrian’s background in clinical research and Will’s in all things business – that they had the right experience to start a company that would help other men understand the facts and solutions about hair loss. Reliable and honest information just isn’t easy to find, and after booking days off for expensive appointments with unrelatable clinicians, the two Sons co-founders knew there must be a better way.
Sons offers consultations and treatment plans that are reassuringly safe. They’re a registered pharmacy and accredited by the Medicines & Healthcare Product Regulatory Agency. It is very common for men to start losing hair at some point, and the majority of men will lose their hair at some stage in their lives. However, many men don’t realise that there are effective treatments available to put a stop to this before it’s too late. Sons brings men’s health and well-being into the 21st Century - less stigma, clearer information, more convenience, and better results.
In this episode of the MenswearStyle Podcast we sit down and speak to William Kennedy, Co-Founder of Sons. Our host Peter Brooker speaks to Will about how the men's health brand was first thought up, who will benefit from their tailored treatment plans, product and free consultations, and how they're different from other hair loss companies.
Whilst we have your attention, be sure to sign up to our daily MenswearStyle newsletter here. We promise to only send you the good stuff.
Hello, welcome to another episode of The menswear style podcast. I'm your host Pete, how you doing? I hope everyone out there listening right now is keeping safe keeping well keeping an eye on each other. On this episode I'm going to speak to will Kennedy, the co founder of sons, sons produced clinically proven product for treating male pattern hair loss and they have a special USP that I'll just tease for now. But I think this is going to be something that you will want to hear. If what you hear does interest you then head over to sons.co.uk and check out their story products treatment plans and just drop them a line tell them we sent you. In the meantime, make sure you're checking out menswear style the blog at menswear. style.co. UK, follow us on the social app menswear style. And we'll keep you notified when an article is released. Or we announce a new competition. And you want to get in touch with the show. And what better time to promote your brand. Right or talk about your journey. It's info at men's Weststar co.uk. Okay. Here is that interview with wil Kennedy, co founder of sans? Well, it's my great pleasure to introduce wil Kennedy, co founder of sons. How you doing today? Well, hey, peace, Ed, good all things considered. And I'm working from home enjoying a beer after work on a Thursday morning? So yeah, could you give us an introduction to who you are, and, and what his sons as well. I'm Willie Kennedy, and I'm a proud Irish man living in London stones is a men's health brand. We're targeting areas of men's health dot they traditionally find it difficult to see treatment for or to speak about. And the first area we're looking at is hair loss. And we formed the business in September of 2018. And launched it from a sales perspective in December of 2019. And give us a little bit of background into how you approached the brand, how you how you got it started and maybe even talk about some of the obstacles that you faced what were the what were the challenges in getting songs off the ground. So you know, the idea for film started from, you know, what, what is a, you know, a very normal conversation. And Overwatch can be a very normal thing for most guys, which is, which is hair loss. So myself and my friend Adrian, and we're having a point in a province of London back in the summer 2018. We had both, ironically been to one of the leading clinics in the UK for prevention of hair loss. And we're about very dissatisfied at the experience we had from just the service in the clinic to the price really all aspects and felt we could we could do a better job and lucky that that Adrian's background is in clinical research. He's worked in AD pharmaceutical market for the last 10 years and is a doctor scientist PhD in UCL. So Adrian was able to explain to me the science behind the products and and also that we could, we could source and licenced those products and bring them to the market. And it was probably my idea around, you know, we could create a brand that would normalise the conversation in water, it was potentially stigmatised area of men's health. And that we could remove the clinic from bricks and mortar and actually bring it online, offering free consultations with GPS and then of a pharmacy that would dispense and deliver the medication directly to consumers. And what about the consultations? So if I was to go on your website and went through the consultation page, do I actually speak to a GP or is it done online? Do I fill out forms? What's the process there? We operate an online consultation model. So you're brought into a secure portal and you fill out a number of questions in an assessment and you complete the consultation and that's sent to our medical team for review, and they'll review the consultation usually in the same day. And and they'll either approved us or they will look for more information from the from the patient. If there's more information required they may follow up with a phone call or a video consultation. Okay. And once the If approved, the GP will generate a script the script will be sent to our pharmacy And then the pharmacists will review and dispense the medication and then deliver, it's delivered to the customer within three days of order. I mean, there are other brands out there in the market, how did you approach this to be different from your contemporaries or from the competition? how his son's different from other brands that are out there? I think it's important to say this, the products that we've licenced, you know, we did a lot of research around, you know, what, it clinically proven to deliver the best results, and that's what we've sourced, and developed for phones, and the products are, it's a combination treatment that delivers the best results for hair loss. So we're, we're bringing, you know, four products together to deliver results in 94% of guys. And so it was, first of all about the product range. And I think, you know, we have also, I think, our you know, our model, and that we are offering consultations that are free, the fact that our pharmacy dispenses and delivers directly, and it's a monthly subscription without any contracts. And so the post American, you know, can cancel at any time. So, it's a convenient model, and I think it was really important for us as well, too, and have something that, you know, this is a you know, it's a very common thing for guys. So we wanted to make it an affordable solution. So, you know, we see, you know, our products retail at 30 to 39 pounds for per month. And, you know, it's an affordable solution. And, and I think really did, then it's about our brand positioning, you know, and we feel that we have a brand that, you know, is very down to earth trusted and direct. And we think that that's going to resonate with with the consumer. And so yeah, that's kind of what we do. And I suppose what our what our USP is, I'd say, please see, I am your customer, I'm 40 and I am completely bored, which I have with these products do anything to re stimulate the hairs, or the old follicles or am I kind of too far down the road? Is this more for people that are starting to lose a hair and want to kind of stabilise that? Yeah, it's like, I mean, it's kind of us, we would say, you know, it's kind of boiled and moderate hair loss that we'll treat so it's really around kind of prevention, like there is regrow there but the science is quite clear like if you if your follicle it does not live in your follicle cells, that side you can get your hair back and God clinically proven treatments for Okay, yeah, I mean, I tell my girlfriend all the time, I think I will be the last person to ever go bald because I'm convinced that I'm of the generation will have to grow up where there was nothing around at the time when I was losing my hair. But now of course there's there's all sorts of medicines and you know, and products out there like yours that can help people that are going through the process now. I'm sure you look fine. But it all depends on the individual. I mean, I'm I'm kind of six foot five and my head is out of proportion to my body. So if I shaved my head I'd look like a bowling Skittle so well I'm this I'm kind of the Danny DeVito to Ronnie then in this situation. I am five foot six and I am bored but I refuse to be fat. So I said to my girlfriend I can't have like the free for I can't get the hattrick so that's the only reason why I go out running. But yeah, I digress. Could you talk a little bit about the plans and the products so there's like a free tiered product scheme on your website which is full work simplicity and the non prescription Would you mind telling us how you break that down? Yeah, so the the full works is really the most effective range for hair loss. So and he for products of finasteride which is a prescription medicine that you take it's a tablet you take daily, minoxidil which is is a topical solution that you put in your scalp and twice a day and then there is a shampoo which is a DHT blocking shampoo. DHT is the hormone that causes male pattern hair loss and and that could be you wash your hair once a day without and then and buy it and bitumen we offer which is vitamin D or vitamin h which is a bit of a that promotes healthy hair growth. So the four of those products are the most effective, we offer also a non prescription plan so that is basically the minoxidil shampoo and The vitamin and without finasteride, which is for earlier stage prevention, that's the range we offer, we also sell the products individually. And and I've also just introduced a pack of just an asteroid in the minoxidil together and do people then have to take these products for maturity? Or is there a stage where you perhaps stabilise your, your hair from from falling, and you can go, Well, now that I've got a nice kind of bedrock of hair again, I can, I can perhaps knock the products on the head. Yeah, it's look for, for best results, it's to continue to taking the treatment in perpetuity. And, and, you know, it's, it's something that it takes three months to see results, you see your optimal between six to 12 months, and then you should hold that level ongoing, provide to take take the medication, I mean, it's good for people to have that self esteem back. I mean, I was talking to you, in one of the failed attempts to get this recording of the ground about how self esteem, it just really cripples any self esteem for people that are just painfully shy, I had the worst kind of bonus as well, by the way, I don't know if your customers can relate to this, but it's the bonus that doesn't kind of happen in e m, but it happens right in the middle. So you still have the front and you still have the back. But everything from kind of middle outwards is the stuff that's starting to go? Yeah, I think it goes for us, like we're not trying to promote, whether it's better, or worse if you do or don't have hair. And we're quite quite aware that from our own research and on our own, you know, direct experience and, you know, hearing from our peers that like it's not, it's more actually to the procrastination over doing something about it or feeling competent to speak about it, that can, you know, manifest in teeth to for guys that can come into lower self esteem or even, you know, mental health and anxiety issues. And, you know, that's what we want to alleviate, you know, and that's why, you know, we're offering kind of get straight to the point education and free access to treatment. And so and like treatments that work, and so guys can kind of do something about it, or, you know, move on and don't do something about it. And, you know, you know, on our on our website, you know, we talk about the best way to shave your head, just as you know, just the same vein as we speak about the products because, you know, it there is a mental health piece that kind of underpins this. I mean, I've read, I've read reports where they, they link like high between art and you know, anxiety issues, which you can probably understand from from speaking to peers, but I think it's something that that kind of can come and go, you know, I think it's a period in a guy life as they're becoming an adult that they go through. And, but yeah, and that's kind of really what we're trying to, you know, provide a solution. And for, and what's been the reaction to the products since it's hit the market? Have you How have you seen people reacted, they'd for months trading. So we're really, I think we've been very kind of confident that because we know if we said that the products aren't novel or new, you know, it's this is tried and tested stuff. So we kind of know, it works. And it's really the, you know, the model that we're bringing to people is more convenient, more affordable, and the brand makes them feel good about using the product. So, and the reactions been really, really positive, you know, and we're getting a lot of good traction on stuff like trustpilot, but barely starting to then actually get some more of the before and afters stuff coming in from customers, which is, is great to hear. And, and, you know, I think that's really what will be exciting on our journey as we kind of get older as a businesses, you know, when you actually really know you're helping guys with with this, you know, that's what we're, what we're really looking forward to. Well, have you seen any ramifications from the pandemic, you know, the kind of weird crisis that we're all in meshed in here? Has that trickled down to you? And have you seen any kind of fluctuations in either the way people are visiting your site purchasing your products? How does it sit with you at the minute? Yeah, so I think and, I mean, naturally, we were affected. And, I mean, everyone will be affected within this. And we're in a position where, you know, as an online business, I think that's quite a rocky position to be in at the moment. I think. The other side of it is that you know, our medical team and our pharmacy and our pharmacy team are able To keep operating So, you know, primarily our business can continue to roll on which I think at the moment is a lucky position to be in as a business. And, but, you know, primary focus for us is look, making sure the staff are looked after that we're, you know, continuing to pay them. And the same with our agencies and our partners, on that were convenient to be able to service our customers and you know, deliver on time, and really get the basics right. And, you know, we're finally able to continue to do that at this time. I think, you know, from looking at, you know, how our businesses is dealing with this, I think, and there's elements of our strategy that I thought to come out, you know, we had, we were doing some partnerships with the likes of barbers and sports teams, hair clinics, all of that is obviously on pause. There's, there's risk, and there's opportunity within that. And I think that what he just has to be doing is, is really being in tune with how consumers are behaving, don't piss them off. So don't put out stuff that's, you know, insensitive. Yeah. But at this time, I'm just trying, you know, if you are advertising to them, make sure it's, it's relevant, make sure it's, you know, something that they may be you know, that that the tone is right. And I think you can get that right you know, you you do have people who are more attentive, obviously on you know, people are spending more time online naturally, we're good with the crime itself. And that can be an opportunity, but yeah, at the moment, we're just taking it week to week. Yeah, well, yep. sage advice there. Listen, well, thanks so much for your time, taking time out your day and talking to us good luck with a brand the websites great it looks like the product fantastic sun stock code at UK is the place to go people can check out that and, and also learn about some of the different medicines and you know, dispelling some of the myths and whatnot around certain themes of hair loss, it's a good place to spend your time So yeah, I recommend people just check it out. And again, the Consultations are free so you can go on there and and have a chat and and see if it's for you. Thanks, Peter. Appreciate it and appreciate it bringing up many thanks, will Kennedy remember the website sons code at UK is a place to go. For more information. Many thanks to you also for listening. You know, there's a lot going on in the world at the minute I just hope you find time to see the positives. See the sunshine from your window. Remember, it's only fashion people and you're never fully dressed without a smile.