Felix Strand

Felix Strand is the President of successful SACC-LA member Pixi Beauty, an international family-owned beauty brand that has global recognition and influence. His mother Petra Strand founded Pixi Beauty over 20 years ago, and Felix, with a clear vision for the company, moved quickly up the ranks becoming President in 2017. Through his leadership, Pixi has grown tremendously within the past few years and put their name on the map within the global beauty industry. 

​​​​​​​1. Please tell us a little bit about your background before you joined Pixi?
I went to school in Stockholm, London, Los Angeles, Buenos Aires and Orange County.

My first full-time job was in marketing at BBC worldwide in Singapore. After graduating from university, I was working as a Business Analyst at a water infrastructure company, primarily doing public/private partnerships, before I started as Pixi’s ecommerce manager in 2013. Pixi is my 2nd full-time job post university.

2. Since your mother is the founder of the hugely successful Pixi Beauty, has pursuing a career within the family company always been your career vision?
Joining the family business was never the plan, I wanted to do my own thing, but we found that my skillset was something that could add value to the business and it happened organically. I always wanted to go into either technology or finance, I was working with both those things in my previous role. One day my mother asked me to help with the website, and a few months later after I moved back to LA from NYC and started building the ecommerce business & team full time. Now I have integrated my loves of both technology and finance into my day-to-day at Pixi.

3. What is your favorite part about your current job?
Being a part of the amazing team at Pixi. Being able to contribute to a changing landscape within our industry and challenge the way people think about beauty as whole. Moving the industry away from marketing products on the back on perceived inadequacies & making sure we celebrate differences.

​​​​​​​4. What would you attribute as important when leading a company?
Staying true to yourself and the companies ethics, values and morals. Which need to align. Also, enjoying what you do helps the old cliché of ‘I’ve never worked a day in my life’ becoming achievable

5. Was it Pixi Beauty that led you to move to Los Angeles or was it something else?
Yes, I was living just off of Wall Street in NYC, when I started helping with pixibeauty.com and a few months after I moved to LA to be closer to the team and start building our first digital marketing team. At that time we had 5 people in an office in Culver City, we have now grown to three offices & multiple teams worldwide.

6. Could you share with us, one or two of your favorite places in LA?
I never liked going to malls before, but the mall in Century City is an amazing outdoor mall that I tend to find myself at quite a lot, either at the Eataly rooftop, Terra (try the skewers), or visiting the team at the Pixi Store. Another of my favourite places for great food, views and ambiance is Elephante in Santa Monica.

7. What are you looking forward to next year once we can hopefully all go back to the “new normal” after the pandemic?
Travel. I used to spend 2 weeks out of every month on the road, 1 week in the office in London and 1 week at partners/retailers/Singapore office. The ability to be able to meet new people, see a stranger smile etc.

8. What is your favorite Swedish Christmas song?
Jonas Myrin – “Just a Breath Away (Noel)”

9. What do you appreciate the most about Sweden?
Educational system, values of equality and the abundance of undisturbed nature.