Photographs by Caitlin Abrams
Hair brushes at Brushopolis
It began with a really good hair day. At least that’s how Anne White remembers discovering the secret to mastering an at-home blowout, which inspired Brushopolis, the hairbrush company she founded with her husband, Mark Sejvar.
That secret is the Monroe, an hourglass-shaped round brush designed to maneuver around the shape of a person’s head with ease, reaching hair at the root for increased volume with faster drying time and less damage than traditional round brushes. It’s ceramic, which protects hair from damage better than traditional metal-based round brushes do. And since the Monroe can retain 80 to 100 degrees of heat for about 10 minutes, it can add curls to blowouts without a curling iron.
Anne White and Mark Sejvar at Brushopolis HQ in Minneapolis
Anne White and Mark Sejvar at Brushopolis HQ in Minneapolis.
Sejvar had helped a friend launch the Monroe hairbrush in 2007. Initially, the Monroe was marketed to hair professionals and salons only, but when White tried one out, she knew the brush would change hairstyling for everyone—at a price point more accessible than the gold standard of hairbrushes, Mason Pearson, which can sell for more than $200. In comparison, Monroe brushes top out at $85.
“The first time I used a Monroe brush, I styled my hair the way I wanted to without using hot tools,” White says. “And, after a while, my hair started growing past my chin because it wasn’t breaking off so much. That’s when I knew I had to get these brushes to consumers.”
The duo had spent their careers in branding and beauty. Sejvar worked alongside industry legends Vidal Sassoon and Aveda’s Horst Rechelbacher; White worked in brand strategy, content, and consumer experience for a wide-ranging and influential roster of clients including Prince, Steven Spielberg, and Aveda. Together they saw a gap in the market between drugstore-type brushes and the Mason Pearsons of the industry.
“We wanted to build our own brand that would make professional tools easily accessible to consumers,” says White. In 2013, while living in California, they acquired the Monroe brand, which at the time was being sold to stylists in high-end salons. With so many high-end salons in Hollywood using Brushopolis brushes, word spread around town and the Monroe has been included in award-season swag bags.
White and Sejvar made some improvements to the brush and moved manufacturing from South America to the Twin Cities, where they resettled as well. The Monroe is still the star product, but they also sell other brushes—most featuring the same boar bristles used in Mason Pearson brushes.
In their Northeast Minneapolis office space, White and Sejvar handle the day to day of their startup—from answering phones to fulfilling orders to talking customers through hair concerns. This summer, they plan to release a new brush aimed at men, women, and kids. Look for the duo selling brushes at pop-ups in the Twin Cities and beyond. They’re also adding hairbrush classes—yes, that’s a thing—to help people understand how to prep and style wet, dry, fine, and coarse hair.
Just think of the money you could save on professional styling. 877-278-7401, brushopolis.com
