How Charmaine Chow Built GetHarley and Set a New Standard for Personalized Skin Care

When Charmaine Chow founded GetHarley, she set out to address a growing divide between individuals seeking credible skin care advice and the clinicians best equipped to guide them. GetHarley is neither a marketplace cluttered with noise nor a beauty platform chasing trends. It is a carefully designed service built around the relationship between clinician and patient, delivering medical-grade advice and products through a personalized experience. By preserving the integrity of expert care, GetHarley has reshaped how many approach their skin health.

At SME BUSINESS REVIEW, we spoke with Charmaine Chow to explore her journey, the principles that guide GetHarley, and her perspective on the future of personalized care.

Interview Excerpts

What inspired you to start GetHarley?

The idea came from my own frustration. I was trying to find reliable skin advice and ended up feeling overwhelmed by conflicting information online. I realized that while there were many excellent clinicians out there, their services weren’t easily accessible to most people. I wanted to create a way for individuals to tap into that expertise without feeling intimidated or lost — to bring the professionalism of a private clinic to people’s homes, but without losing the human element.

What were some of the biggest challenges you faced when transitioning from finance to founding a startup, and how did you overcome them?

The transition from finance to entrepreneurship was certainly a leap, both professionally and personally. One of the biggest challenges I faced was the steep learning curve of building a company from the ground up. In finance, I was used to working with big teams and making data-driven decisions, but as a founder, I had to become a jack of all trades. From hiring the right team to understanding product development and marketing, it required me to wear many hats. To overcome this, I leaned heavily on mentorship, surrounding myself with experienced entrepreneurs who had made similar transitions. I also spent a lot of time listening to our users — understanding their needs was essential to shaping GetHarley into a platform that truly resonates with people.

How does GetHarley maintain that personal touch, especially as you grow?

It’s something we think about every day. We’ve been very deliberate about working only with vetted clinicians who build real relationships with their patients. Technology is there to support the process — scheduling, communications, product fulfilment, but it doesn’t replace the human connection. Every consultation is led by a real professional who listens, who follows up, and who treats every person’s skin journey as unique. That commitment doesn’t scale easily, but we’ve built GetHarley to prioritize quality over speed.

You mention trust a lot. How did you build that into the company’s culture?

Trust is the backbone of everything we do. We don’t promote products based on marketing deals. Our clinicians recommend only what they believe will genuinely help their patients. Internally, we also run the company that way — transparency, honest feedback, and patient-first thinking are non-negotiable. We are very protective of the relationships we help foster because that’s ultimately what keeps people coming back. Trust isn’t earned through slogans; it’s earned when you consistently do the right thing, even when it’s harder.

What do you see as the future of personalized skincare?

I think we are moving back to basics, in a way. People are tired of flashy promises and generic advice. They want care that is tailored to them, based on real knowledge. In the future, I believe more companies will have to return to genuine expertise and responsible recommendations. Personalized skincare isn’t just about customizing a serum; it’s about understanding a person’s history, lifestyle, and goals. Technology will help streamline access, but the wisdom of trained professionals will remain irreplaceable.

What advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs, especially those in the healthcare and wellness industries?

Stay close to the people you are trying to serve. It’s easy to get caught up in growth metrics or investor expectations, but if you lose sight of the real needs of your users, you lose your foundation. Build something that genuinely helps people, and be relentless about staying true to that mission. Everything else — funding, scale, partnerships — will follow if your work is meaningful.

What do you see for the future of skin care technology, and how do you see GetHarley fitting into it?

I believe the future of skin care technology is moving toward even more personalized, data-driven solutions. With advancements in AI and skin diagnostics, we are going to see skin care become increasingly tailored to an individual’s unique needs, even at the molecular level. GetHarley is already at the forefront of this, with our clinician-led consultations and personalized treatment plans. But we are not stopping there. We want to integrate technology that allows for even deeper insights into skin health, such as using advanced algorithms to track progress and recommend new treatments. Ultimately, our goal is to be a leader in making expert-level skin care accessible and affordable for everyone, no matter where they are.

Charmaine Chow | Founder & CEO

Charmaine Chow is the founder and CEO of GetHarley. Prior to founding GetHarley in 2019, Charmaine had a successful career in finance, serving as an Executive Director at Goldman Sachs. Her transition from investment banking to entrepreneurship was driven by a desire to address the challenges she faced in the skincare market. Charmaine's vision for GetHarley was to create a platform that simplifies access to expert skin care advice, offering personalized consultations and medical-grade products tailored to individual needs. Under her leadership, GetHarley has grown to serve over 100,000 active users and has secured significant investment to expand its reach globally.

Personalized skincare isn’t just about customizing a serum; it’s about understanding a person’s history, lifestyle, and goals. Technology will help streamline access, but the wisdom of trained professionals will remain irreplaceable.

Trust is the backbone of everything we do. We don’t promote products based on marketing deals. Our clinicians recommend only what they believe will genuinely help their patients. Internally, we also run the company that way — transparency, honest feedback, and patient-first thinking are non-negotiable.