Meet Dr. Tracey Hicks-Kearse | Founder, CEO & Chemical Engineer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Dr. Tracey Hicks-Kearse and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dr. Tracey, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I am the award-winning Founder, CEO, and Chief Chemist of AcARRE® who is an esteemed chemical engineer and has worked in product development and marketing for over twenty years. While working for a skin and hair care company, I was approached by a friend looking for a product that she could use on her scalp. At this time, my sister also came forward requesting a high-quality multi-use product for her face and scalp. These inquiries planted the seed for me to develop a product with multiple uses for skin and hair. Coming from a family of entrepreneurs, the decision to begin my own company was a natural one, and soon AcARRE® Beauty was formed.

Shortly after starting AcARRE®, I discovered I was expecting my first child. Becoming a mother, working full-time, and being a business owner, inspired me to develop multi-use bioactive products made from natural ingredients for balance to the scalp and skin, for the beauty minimalist.

Creatively, I enjoy brainstorming on innovative ideas that have a direct impact on consumers and the influence that drives those changes. Taking my aspirations to another level allows me to pursue my passion every day.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
AcARRE® is the first natural prestige innovative brand of multi-use bioactive treatment products for the beauty minimalist to age beautifully, based on modernized African and Pacific Islander ancestry elements delivering multi-level benefits, helping to bring balance the microbiome at the bacteria level, for healthy scalp and skin.

AcARRE® Beauty was created in 2018 on the foundation of utilizing plant and marine biodiversity to create innovative multi-use biomimetic treatment products that bring balance to the microbiome for healthy scalp and skin. AcARRE® is inspired by African and Pacific Islander ancestry using natural ingredients crafted for superior multi-use products that work in sync with the skin’s natural elements.

Developing products with the consumer in mind has been the driving force behind AcARRE’s multi-use products. They are made in small batches with ethically sourced ingredients, ensuring that AcARRE® products not only surpass expectations in quality and made with integrity showing a genuine commitment to social, economic, and environmental appreciation. With ever order of AcARRE a mangrove tree is planted in Kenya giving back to the ecosystem.

I’m most proud of AcARRE products being recognized and winning awards within the spa industry. Beauty refresh, multi-use treatment powder won an award for best sensitive skin product and Beauty edit, multi-use treatment oil finished as a finalist for best dry skin product with Skin INC Readers’ Choice Awards 2025, the choice for serious spa professionals and owners.

I have been in the beauty industry for 22 years as a chemical engineering and worked my way from a cosmetic chemist, and process engineer to a sought-after product developer all while achieving my MBA and Doctorate. No, it was not easy because I was a full-time mom while running my own business full time when I decided to get my doctorate during the pandemic. I faced challenges because I had to make decisions on attending networking events that would help grow my business or not as taking care of my son is most important plus I had homework to complete, lol. However, with a supportive family I was able to complete the goals I set out to achieve with more to come in due time.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If a friend was visiting my city, a few place I would take them to:

For breakfast, I would take them to The Breakfast Shoppe.
Then to create their own fragrance at Blended Essentials.
Annapolis harbor to walk around the water, shop and pick a place on the water for lunch.
Next to Rage Room for axe throwing.
Then to Wurst Bar a speakeasy for drinks that is located behind a freezer door.
Finish the evening at Judy’s grill for Jamaican food for dinner.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I dedicate a shoutout to my family and friends because it is all through their support that I have been able to achieve all that I have thus far.

Website: https://www.acarre.co/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/acarrebeauty

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/acarre/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/acarrebeauty

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@acarrebeauty

Other: https://www.readytolaunchpd.com

Image Credits
TopNuch