Ten years ago, Ryan Goldman set out to build something that most people said was impossible: the world's first cordless infrared hair dryer. He did not set out to build a hair towel empire. Nobody does. But that is the thing about obsession. When you care deeply enough about one problem, you tend to stumble into a few others along the way.

This is the story of VOLO Beauty. It is a founder story, a science story, and honestly, a pretty good argument for ignoring everyone who tells you something cannot be done.

Lesson 1: The people who say it cannot be done are usually not the ones who will try

When Ryan first brought the cordless dryer concept to a group of engineers, the answer was no. Not maybe. Not we need more time. No. The technology did not exist. The battery could not sustain the heat output. It was, they said, impossible.

One engineer disagreed. Zach Rattner looked at the same problem and said: do not worry, we can do this. He has been with VOLO ever since. The VOLO Go Cordless Infrared Dryer exists because one person refused to accept the consensus.

The lesson is not that experts are wrong. The lesson is that expertise and imagination are different things, and you need both in the room.

Lesson 2: Find your Zach

Every founder has a version of this story. The one person who showed up when the project looked undoable. Who stayed when it was still a concept, a prototype, a late-night hypothesis. Building VOLO has taught us that you do not need a room full of believers. You need one who is the right kind of stubborn.

If you are building something, protect that person. Fight for them. Pay them what they are worth. They are not replaceable.

Lesson 3: Obsessing over one problem leads to solving another

While developing the cordless dryer, Ryan started researching the healthiest way to dry hair. That research led somewhere unexpected: hair towels. Specifically, how bad most of them are.

Traditional terry cloth towels are rough on the hair cuticle. They create friction that leads to frizz and breakage. The microfiber options available at the time were better, but not good enough. Not by the standards the VOLO team had set for themselves.

So they did what they always do. They went back to the lab.

It took a year. One full year of material research, testing, and iteration to develop what would become Nanoweave® fabric: a proprietary blend that holds up to 10 times its weight in water and cuts drying time by up to 50%. Not a marketing claim. A clinically tested result.

Ryan calls the Hero Hair Towel a happy accident. We think it is what happens when you refuse to settle for good enough.

Lesson 4: Your side project might be your main event

VOLO launched as a hairdryer company. The Hero Hair Towel was, at first, a complement to the dryer. Something that made the full hair-drying routine faster and healthier. A supporting player.

The market had other ideas.

The Hero Hair Towel took off. It earned two Allure Best of Beauty awards. It became the product people came back for, gifted to friends, and wrote reviews about at length. In 2026, Byrdie named it the Overall Best Hair Towel. It became VOLO's hero product, in every sense of the word.

There is something worth sitting with in that. The product no one planned to lead with became the one that defined the brand. Hold your plans loosely. Pay attention to what the market is telling you.

Lesson 5: The market will surprise you

Nobody predicted that a hair towel would outlast, outsell, and outshine a cordless hairdryer in terms of brand identity. Nobody planned for VOLO to grow into a full line of Nanoweave® products including face towels, spa wraps, body towels, and a complete Frizz Out hair care line. The brand that started with a dryer is now a daily ritual for hundreds of thousands of people across every part of their routine.

Ten years in, the lesson is still landing. You can plan the launch. You cannot plan the love.

Lesson 6: Build for the person who has not complained yet

Before the Hero Hair Towel existed, most people did not know they had a hair towel problem. They were using whatever came in the linen set. They assumed frizz was just their hair type. They did not know that the terry cloth they had used their entire lives was the cause of a significant amount of their damage.

Nobody was writing in to say: please invent me a better hair towel. The unspoken problem is often the most powerful one to solve.

VOLO found it by paying attention to the science, not the complaints.

Where We Are Now

Ten years ago, Ryan Goldman walked into a room of engineers who said his idea was impossible. Today, VOLO Beauty is sold at Target, Nordstrom, Bloomingdale's, Bluemercury, Von Maur, and QVC. The cordless dryer that started it all. The towel that became the hero. The Frizz Out line. The face towels, the spa wraps, the whole body care.

None of it was the plan. All of it was the mission.

The mission has always been simple: build tools that make healthy hair easier. Do the science. Be honest about the results. Make products that earn a permanent spot in someone's routine.

We are ten years in. We are just getting started.

Thank you for ten years of showing up, sharing your reviews, gifting our towels, and trusting us with your hair. This one is for you.