Community Highlights: Meet Brandi Corbello of Melan

Today we’d like to introduce you to Brandi Corbello

Hi Brandi, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
In 2019, I was diagnosed with Stage IIIC melanoma at the age of 30, what a call to get! Prior to this diagnosis, I had never worn sunscreen and I was so young and remember thinking how much I love being outside and did not want to hide from the outdoors for the rest of my life so chose to add a daily SPF into my routine so I woudn’t feel guilty for being in the sun. As I started trying out different sunscreens, I couldn’t find any that were really comfortable for everyday use which led me to dig into the ingredients and what I found is that most of these products were super gnarly and not the best for you! As a cancer survivor, I had become obsessed with what I put in and on my body so I was pretty disappointed. At the same time, I had been spending time in Europe for work and loved the sunscreen I had gotten there so when I came back, I met with chemists and manufacturers, out of my own curiosity, to understand if we could do what they do in Europe and the answer was absolutely! During this time, I had also tarted spending more time with advocating and learned that the last time we brought new sunscreen ingredients to market in the US was in 1999 – 1999!!!! – Imagine using the OG iPod still today, that is where we are at with sunscreen innovation in the US, we are generations behind the rest of the world! Anyway!! I am in DC asking Senators and Representatives to sign a letter asking the FDA to get on it if you will and I didn’t see one sunscreen CEO there with me and I realized in that moment, my purpose was bigger than I realized! I came back to Nashville, called the manufacturer, asked how much it would cost to launch a sunscreen company and realized I could self fund kick starting this thing on my own so that’s what I did!!! A year later, Melan has officially been launched and what I am most proud of is that we give back a percentage of proceeds to skin cancer and melanoma research for every purchase made!

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It has been a lot smoother than I imagined it would be! We had a couple of struggles that stand out to me the most. The first being the company name and branding. Originally, I wanted to call it nuda which translates to naked and in the melanoma community there is a campaign every May called #getnaked, as a reminder to get naked for your dermatologist at your annual appointment because we should all be doing that so I thought it could tie into that well and make the brand black (which is the ribbon color for skin cancer and melanoma) and make it “sexy”. What’s funny is I did a market survey on the brand, and moms HATED it because they didn’t want a “sexy” brand around their kids. I remember at the time thinking “moms can be sexy, okay!!”. Fast forward to trademarking, I couldn’t trademark nuda because a spray tan company had already locked it in so my lawyer advised I rename and rebrand and we were within weeks of printing packaging so my world stopped! Within hours, I had come up with Melan which is short for melanoma but decided the brand would actually lean towards melon vibes because melons have a rind that protects them and they are so good for you which represents so much of the brand and product I wanted to bring to market. I also thought it was cheeky and punny from our slogan protect your rind and letting people know they are one in a melan! I mean, come on!! What’s crazy is I surveyed the same group on the new brand and the moms LOVED it!! Lesson learned, just listen to your customers and do not be so stubborn!! Quite honestly, this was the best struggle for us because I am OBSESSED with the brand now! The second struggle was launching the company. We were set to launch the company in May 2024 but continued to get delayed with packaging as I was super specific on what I wanted. We ended up launching in July 2024 but the branding and introduction was spot on and we made it to the finish line so it is all good!

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Melan is a sunscreen company focused on transparency, accessibility and advocacy! The roots of Melan come from my stage IIIC melanoma diagnosis and diving into what’s really under those labels and how it could be so much better! Our sunscreen is low in chemical concentration and has added benefits that allow the product to soothe and hydrate your skin while protecting you so it feels more like skincare and less like sunscreen! We focused a lot on making the product light weight and non greasy! The scent of the product comes from essential oils so it is fragrance free! The brand is what I am most proud of because it is fun, cheeky and not something you don’t see at all in the sunscreen market today with the play into melans! The “rind” of the melan packaging is black as a tribute to the melanoma and skin cancer ribbon and we made sure the SPF has equal real estate space to the brand which is typically hard to find across many brands on the shelves today but that’s why you’re buying it so it is really important! We will continue to push for better ingredients in the US market and will always give back a percentage of our proceeds to skin cancer and melanoma research! We also want to switch the narrative that sunscreen is bad for you (which is a new hype wave at the moment) and educate consumers on what is good and what is bad so they can make the best decisions for themselves!

What do you like and dislike about the city?
I love Nashville so much, it is such a supportive community where everyone supports everyone! I have met so many amazing people who are doing incredible things and that is the energy of Nashville! What I like least about Nashville is I don’t think tourists get to see Nashville in the way we do and see it more as a weekend to let loose and I wish we could expose to all of the wonderful things we have to offer outside of a great party!

Pricing:

• SPF 30 Spray – $24
• SPF 30 Lotion – $22

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.melansuncare.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melan.suncare/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/melansuncare/