Julia Kang-Reeves, CMO of Earth Therapeutics: Carrying on Familial Entrepreneurial Spirit

Julia Kang-Reeves shares her story with Dr. Stephanie J. Wong of immigrating from Seoul to NY. She later spent nearly two decades in London, raising her daughter who attended all-female schools until returning to the US. From learning to navigate various cultures to becoming the CMO of wellness company, Earth Therapeutics to co-lead the family business, Earth Therapeutics, Julia shares the challenges and joys of a multi-dimensional identity.

Bio

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Julia co-leads the 30-year-old company alongside her brother John Kang (Founder & CEO) — a brand he launched in 1993 as an offshoot of the family’s business after leaving a budding law career. With virtually no skin-care experience at the time, John began selling loofah sponges to Bed Bath & Beyond — one of the first to introduce the loofah to the U.S. market and laying the foundation for what would become a category-defining wellness brand.

Together, Julia and John have continued building on the entrepreneurial spirit of their immigrant parents, who remain actively involved and still come into the office — a daily reminder that the company is rooted in family, resilience, and long-term relationships. Earth Therapeutics went on to help pioneer both the early natural body care movement and the rise of Korean spa (K-spa) beauty stateside — long before “wellness” became a marketing buzzword.

A classicist-turned-writer-turned-CMO, Julia studied Classics at the University of Chicago and Columbia (where she received a Presidential Fellowship) before earning an MFA in Fiction Writing at NYU. After nearly two decades in London, she returned in 2020 to help lead her family’s brand into a new era. Having grown up alongside the original ’90s natural products movement — long before “wellness” became a buzzword — she now brings that long-view perspective to a Gen Z world shaped by burnout, trend cycles, and social media pressure.

She believes America doesn’t have a beauty crisis — it has a health crisis (including mental health). And she’s leading a brand focused on function, ritual, and longevity over hype.