From Supermodel to Stem Cell Skincare Empire | Ekin Ozlen | Coffeez with Joe Shalaby Ep. 321
Episode of Coffeez with Joe Shalaby · October 14, 2026 · 1 h 13 min
Joe Shalaby talks with KERACELL founder Ekin Ozlen about modeling, Miss Turkey, losing her first husband, IVF, and building a stem cell skincare brand.
Summary
Joe Shalaby interviewed Ekin Ozlen, a former Ford model and singer who founded the skincare and haircare brand KERACELL. Ozlen described growing up in Cocoa Beach, Florida, with a mother who rose from secretary to aerospace engineer at NASA, earning her degree online while modeling, and competing in Miss Turkey at 19 without speaking Turkish, an experience she said still angers her.
Ozlen recounted her marriage to a Manhattan plastic surgeon who died of Hodgkin's lymphoma at 39, and said watching him send patients home with basic soap and Aquaphor showed her a gap in post-procedure skincare. She said the brand began when her stepmother, a formulator in Orange County, gave her a human stem cell extract product that dramatically grew her lashes and cleared her skin. She described launching in 275 Dillard's stores in 2018, recently buying out her partner, appearing on the competition series Project Empire, and placing products in her music videos as an unconventional marketing strategy.
The conversation also covered her IVF journey during COVID-19, her advice that women freeze eggs in their twenties, her view that aging should be treated like a wound, at-home microneedling routines that both she and Shalaby use, her criticism of minoxidil, and her lifelong passion for show jumping horses, inherited from a grandfather who led the Ankara riding club. She closed by describing her goal of making KERACELL a household name and leaving a legacy for her children.
Chapters
- 0:16
Chai, chocolate, and morning routines
Barista Alyssa welcomes Ozlen, and she describes chaotic mornings with a two- and four-year-old.
- 3:45
Ford model years and New York life
Ozlen recalls working as a Ford model in New York, her first husband, and moving her horses to Los Angeles.
- 7:47
Losing her first husband
Ozlen discusses her plastic surgeon husband's death from Hodgkin's lymphoma at 39 and how it reshaped her outlook.
- 9:13
Motherhood, marriage, and being underestimated
Ozlen talks about difficult births, IVF, her marriage, and preferring to be underestimated.
- 12:38
NASA mom, education, and immigrant expectations
Ozlen and Shalaby discuss her engineer mother, earning a degree online while modeling, and wanting their kids to be doctors.
- 21:37
Miss Turkey rejection
Ozlen recounts competing in Miss Turkey without speaking Turkish and losing in the top ten.
- 28:38
The origin of KERACELL
Ozlen explains how post-procedure care and her stepmother's stem cell formulation led to the brand.
- 34:25
Products, retail, and Project Empire
Ozlen presents products, discusses retail distribution, buying out her partner, and the Project Empire competition show.
- 42:46
IVF and the limits of control
Ozlen describes a failed IVF retrieval during COVID and urges women to freeze eggs young.
- 46:49
Marketing a high-science brand and music videos
Ozlen describes educating Dillard's staff, her husband's alternative cancer treatments, and product placement in music videos.
- 53:25
Results, minoxidil, and CBD
Ozlen discusses hair regrowth results, criticizes minoxidil, and her CBD-infused products.
- 1:01:13
Horses and family legacy
Ozlen discusses her grandfather's Ankara riding club and how show jumping quiets her perfectionism.
- 1:03:18
Vision, microneedling, and aging as a wound
Ozlen outlines retail ambitions, at-home microneedling routines, and her philosophy of treating aging like a wound.
- 1:07:27
Legacy and lightning round
Ozlen describes the legacy she hopes to leave her children and answers rapid-fire questions.
Key points
What was said, by whom, with the exact words. Timestamps jump to the moment.
- Ekin Ozlen
Ozlen argues that Instagram and now AI have transformed the modeling industry so that traditional agencies like Ford matter far less.
“I think that Instagram is really a phenomenon and I'm part of that world too. So it's like a movement and it's completely changed the industry”
- Ekin Ozlen
Ozlen says her first husband's early death made her determined to accomplish everything she came to do because life is short.
“I think it's made me look at my life and go, oh, my God, like I've got to do everything that I came here to do because there is not enough time”
- Joe Shalaby
Shalaby says he still wants his children to earn medical degrees before pursuing other paths, despite believing education has lost some value.
“I still want them to be doctors. I'd like them to get their medical degree”
- Ekin Ozlen
Ozlen recounts that she reached the top ten of Miss Turkey but lost after trying to answer an untranslated question in Turkish, which still frustrates her.
“I attempt to answer him, Alyssa, in Turkish. Why would I do this? Because I was so afraid that they were gonna disqualify me the entire time”
- Ekin Ozlen
Ozlen says she saw top surgeons send patients home after procedures with only Dial soap and Aquaphor, revealing an unmet need in post-procedure skincare.
“the best doctors in the world were sending people out, like I said, with dial soap, because it's antibacterial, and Aquaphor for hydration”
- Ekin Ozlen
Ozlen states that her products contain no human DNA, using a human stem cell extract derived from culture media.
“there's no human DNA whatsoever in these products. So it's literally the media that is born from a human starting material”
- Ekin Ozlen
Ozlen claims KERACELL's products are clinically validated through Stanford and that A-list celebrities buy them directly from her.
“It's, it's all clinically validated all through Stanford”
- Ekin Ozlen
Ozlen advises women to freeze their eggs in their twenties so they are not pressured to find a partner before having children.
“Do the egg retrieval in your like 20s. Just do it. Knock it out. And then you don't have to ever feel pressure to find a man to have children with”
- Ekin Ozlen
Ozlen says her role was to make a high-science brand understandable to retail buyers and consumers, while her partner was the formulator.
“I think that Carousel needed me to dumb it down and make it relatable to the masses”
- Joe Shalaby
Shalaby argues that stem cell skincare is a step beyond peptides and predicts it will become a trend in a few years.
“I mean, this is one step ahead of peptides. Yeah. Thank you. You know, like this is like the next level. This will be the trend in a few years”
- Ekin Ozlen
Ozlen says her first husband refused chemotherapy and radiation in favor of treatments in Mexico, which taught her not to always follow medical providers.
“He was really the one who taught me not to always do what the medical providers are telling which is crazy to do and he's a surgeon”
- Ekin Ozlen
Ozlen says she placed KERACELL products and lyrics in her music videos so the brand would not crowd out her artistic career.
“I made that decision to basically start product placement in my music videos because I was a model and I was a singer”
Linked moment · 54:12Skip to 54:12 using a listen link in the info box.
Ekin OzlenOzlen says her hair products cannot revive dead follicles but can stimulate dormant ones, likening the effect to lawn fertilizer.
“If your hair follicle is dormant and it needs to be revitalized and sort of woken up, imagine like a lawn fertilizer, right?”
- Ekin Ozlen
Ozlen argues that minoxidil traps users because hair falls out once they stop using it.
“Once you start using minoxidil-based products, you're stuck because the minute that you remove that product from your scalp, your hair is going to fall out”
- Ekin Ozlen
Ozlen claims KERACELL was the first brand to combine CBD with human stem cell extract.
“I was also the first brand to combine CBD with human stem cell extract”
- Ekin Ozlen
Ozlen recommends that clients buy an inexpensive microneedling device on Amazon and use it at home with her products.
“I tell a lot of my clients just buy one of the microneedling devices on Amazon and do your own face and scalp with our product”
- Ekin Ozlen
Ozlen frames aging as a wound and says her products are designed to treat it that way.
“Carousel attacks the aging process as if it were a wound. That's the best way to explain what these products and what these ingredients topically are doing”
People
In the conversation
- Joe ShalabyHost of the Coffeez with Joe Shalaby podcast; Egyptian-born entrepreneur and father of four based in Newport Beach
- Ekin OzlenFormer Ford model and singer; founder and CEO of the stem cell skincare and haircare brand KERACELL
Discussed
- Kelly SlaterAmerican professional surfer who Ozlen said dated her sister
- Eileen FordCo-founder of the Ford Models agency
- Fredric BrandtNew York dermatologist, referred to as Dr. Brandt, whom Ozlen visited before his death
- Vadhir DerbezMexican actor and singer with whom Ozlen shot a music video featuring KERACELL products
Topics
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From the publisher
KERACELL founder Ekin Ozlen sits down with Joe. Ford model in New York, Miss Turkey at 19 without speaking Turkish, and a mom who was a NASA aerospace engineer. Losing her first husband, a plastic surgeon, to cancer, and turning everything he taught her about regenerative medicine into a stem cell skincare and haircare brand that landed in 275 Dillard’s stores. The IVF journey, marketing with music videos instead of ads, why aging is a wound, and the microneedling hacks she swears by. New episodes every week. Pour up.
Summary, chapters and key points were generated from the episode transcript on October 20, 2026. Quotes are checked word for word against the transcript.