Hilary Coles is the co-founder and Vice President of Merchandising at Hims & Hers, a successful multi-specialty telehealth company that sells prescription and over-the-counter drugs online, as well as personal care products.

Hilary's passion for creating impactful, thoughtful brands, and her natural adeptness in product development, has played a critical role in the success of Hims & Hers.

We connected with Hilary to ask her some questions related to success, skincare, and her daily routine. Here is what she had to say:

I am truly not a morning person, so I usually wake up by the promise of coffee. I’m not really fancy with my coffee. I like the classic coffee you have in the office with the pot always “on”, but I’m getting more into it - I recently invested in a coffee grinder.

Though I’m not an early morning person, I get my most creative and strategic work done in the morning so I limit my cell phone distractions and meetings if possible. That’s when I’ll read industry reports, work on longer term strategy, or dive deep into a piece of the business. I’ll take a walk around lunchtime with my fiancé to get some fresh air, which is my favorite part of the day. Then afternoons are usually pretty jammed with meetings. I always end the day with a workout and then I unwind by making dinner—maybe I’ll listen to a podcast while I prep, but I value the time to decompress and switch gears.

Do you have any evening ritual to help you stay balanced? 
I have to sweat at the end of the day. To me, it helps me break out of my Zoom fog, gives me energy, shifts me into the evening to be present with my personal life, and often I get my most creative ideas after I get a sweat on.

What does success mean to you? 
Success means spending time doing what I’m genuinely passionate about. Warren Buffett has a great quote around how you can’t buy more time. How you spend your time is the most important thing in the world. Sometimes you can get caught up in doing things just to do them, but especially over the past year, I’ve been thinking about what actually is impactful, what brings satisfaction, what do I enjoy—instead of more to-do lists.

Perfect is the enemy of good. It won’t ever be perfect in your eyes, so you can’t let that slow you down from getting to market. Understand what matters to your consumers and iterate as quickly as possible. I talk to a lot of female entrepreneurs who want things to be perfect before anyone else sees it, and I think it slows you down and keeps you from learning really valuable lessons.

I try so many products for my job that I keep it very minimal. I swear by vitamin C serum followed by sunscreen in the morning. At night, I wash my face with a gentle cleanser and use our prescription Hers skin cream—which is a fantastic and effective retinoid that has been a gamechanger since I turned 30—and seal it in with a thicker moisturizer or face oil. I’m really into face oil right now and it feels really luxurious to put on your face before bed and wake up glowing!

Where can we find you online?
Website: forhers.com; forhims.com
Instagram: @hers; @hims
Personal Instagram: @hilarycoles

If you liked this interview, you might like our recent interview with Jaime Schmidt, Founder of Schmidt's Naturals.