Jami morse heidegger and klaus heidegger biography

Malibu-based Jami Morse Heidegger is the co-founder of Retrouvé, luxury, gender-neutral skincare. She is also the former third-generation family owner of Kiehl’s. Learn about Jami Morse Heidegger…

Hometown: I lived the first decade of my life in Manhattan and then moved to Beverly Hills. I now live in Chatsworth and Malibu.   

First job: I worked in a famous plastic surgeon’s office in Beverly Hills at about 12  years old – my mom was dating him so he let me work there. While I had been helping my father and grandfather at Kiehl’s throughout my childhood, I officially joined the Kiehl’s payroll at the age of 14, writing the checks for the bills payable and keeping them current and filed in addition to doing the payroll checks.   

Favorite ways to spend your free time in CA: I love spending time with my three grown children in any capacity. Just being together is what is most enjoyable to me, especially on our ranch in Malibu. I particularly love walking along the beach, hiking the trails or swimming together there. Spending time in Malibu also influences and contributes to my vision for Retrouvé. We source ingredients for our skincare preparations from our ranch where my husband, Klaus, has been growing avocados and other produce in accordance with the principles of permaculture.

Your biggest accomplishment and why: My most valued accomplishment thus far in my life has been raising my three children. My most fulfilling moments are when I know that they are pursuing their passions and accomplishing their own goals.   

Someone who inspires you and why: My mom is someone who inspires me with her strong work ethic and joie de vivre. At age 89, and despite have faced many serious health challenges, she never allows a personal setback to keep her from the creative work that she adores. She is so fulfilled by her love of art and carries the same unwavering passion for each project she creates, fueling her determination to live a full and e

Jami Dana Morse was born in New York City, New York. Her mother, Georganne, a highly artistic woman of her time, pushed back against traditional female roles and evolved into an and trendsetter: as an artist (her art work has been sold and shown across the United States), music producer, D.J. and clothing designer. Georganne’s artistic side was influenced and inspired by her father – the founder of The Aldrich Museum of Modern Art in Connecticut. Her career evolved into owning her own public relations firm and eventually producing plays and films internationally. Georganne was one of the founding members of Women in Film.

Jami recalls traveling extensively with her mother to many countries for Georganne’s work, and it was during these times abroad that Jami developed a philosophy that was perfectly articulated and mirrored by Mark Twain’s famous quote, “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.”

Conversely, Jami’s father, Aaron Morse was a man of science who studied at Columbia University and eventually founded Morse Labs, Inc., a drug manufacturing facility in Hoboken, New Jersey. A WWII veteran pilot of the Army Air Corps, Aaron took over Kiehl’s Since 1851 in the 1950’s from his father. He then conceptualized and developed a unisex line of skin and hair-care products that were inspired by his vision for the company, and a profound commitment to health and wellness. Aaron ultimately became the scion of the skin and hair care dynasty of Kiehl’s Since 1851. The foundation was set; the tripod of influences, art, science, and beauty, would deeply influence the course of Jami’s personal, and professional life.

Jami remembers being as young as four years old and the fun she would have with her

Sitting down to talk skin care, Jami Morse Heidegger, whose family once owned beauty brand Kiehl’s, first apologized for the man-cave décor — rustic leather sofas and husband and business partner Klaus Heidegger’s John Wayne posters — at the couple’s sprawling 25-acre Malibu ranch, where tangles of grape vines, flowers and fruit trees appeared to thrive alongside show horses.

Although the family’s main residence is in Chatsworth, the ranch, which offers panoramic views of the Pacific, doubles as an office. (The ranch is currently on the market for $55 million.)

Indoors, Morse Heidegger, 56, wore her Thierry Lasry sunglasses, which matched her cobalt Ralph Lauren pantsuit. The glasses are a necessary accessory to protect her eyes from an acute light sensitivity as well as part of her face from the sun, said Morse Heidegger, who has spent her life working in the beauty industry.

She and her husband sold Kiehl’s to L’Oréal Paris for a reported $100 million to $150 million in 2000, and they moved on to their latest beauty venture, the unisex luxury skin-care line Retrouvé, which was developed with former Kiehl’s chemist Stephen Musumeci and launched in France in 2014 before its stateside debut in 2015.

Formulations for Retrouvé contain highly concentrated ingredients, including oil from avocados grown on the Malibu property using natural permaculture agricultural methods. Plant-based squalane (an emollient similar to human sebum), high-quality oils and vitamin E are other key elements used in the skin-care products.

Austrian alpine skier

Klaus Heidegger (born 19 August 1957) is an Austrian former alpine skier.

Career

He had five victories on the FIS World Cup circuit. These were the giant slalom at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, the slalom at Furano, and the giant slalom at Voss, all in 1977, and the slalom events at Wengen and Kitzbühel, both in 1978. Heidegger finished second overall in the 1977 World Cup standings, behind Ingemar Stenmark of Sweden.

Following his skiing career, Heidegger has served as co-president of the American cosmetic company Kiehl's, which was sold to L'Oreal for an estimated price of $100 million to $150 million in 2000. Klaus Heidegger is also a co-founder of Masai Group International, provider of MBT Physiological Footwear, which received an investment from Berkshire Partners in 2007.

Heidegger is married to Jami Morse Heidegger. His son Max is a professional basketball player in the Israeli Basketball Premier League.

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