From small-town Montana to shelves around the world, husband-and-wife team Corrie Colbert and Neil Stuber have built HURRAW! into an international cult-favorite beauty brand without compromising its ethical, vegan, and eco-friendly values. With support from WIPO’s Madrid System, the company has protected its distinctive brand identity across multiple global markets while staying true to its independent roots.
HURRAW! began as a homegrown experiment after Corrie and Neil traded New York City for Whitefish, Montana. The harsh mountain climate pushed them to start making their own body care products, and they soon zeroed in on creating “the perfect lip balm”. This was 2007 – before organic body care had become a well-established niche – and with few plant-based cosmetics on the market, they saw an opening and took it. Word spread fast. Requests from family, friends, and the local community quickly let them know they were on to something big.
Ramping up organic production of HURRAW! lip balms
As demand grew, Corrie and Neil moved into a commercial production space, and by 2016 had built their own custom NOP (USDA National Organic Program) and Ecocert certified manufacturing facility where every HURRAW! product is still made today.
Their core mission is simple: to “do it right.” That means sourcing high-quality ingredients to produce a lip balm that is organic, vegan, cruelty-free, and certifiably 100 percent natural. It also means supporting their small mountain town by providing meaningful, fair-wage jobs.
Corrie and Neil describe themselves as stubborn perfectionists who never give up. That tenacity has helped them maintain high standards while continuing to make products they genuinely believe in.
“Our priority is to make HURRAW! the finest balm available; a trusted product to be used by everyone regardless of lifestyle.”
Neil Stuber, HURRAW!
What sets HURRAW! apart goes beyond ingredients:
- There is no automated customer service, no marketing shortcuts – human connection is central to how the company operates.
- By manufacturing everything in-house, HURRAW! can maintain close control over quality.
- It has remained independent, avoiding outside investment and growing at a pace that fits its values rather than the market’s expectations.
HURRAW! An organic cosmetic brand inspired by nature
The name HURRAW! fuses the celebratory spirit of “HURRAY” with a passion for natural, unrefined RAW plant oils. The result is a brand name that is joyful, memorable, and deeply connected to the philosophy behind every product.
Today, HURRAW! remains a small, tight-knit team. Its signature oval-tube seasoned and tinted lip balms come in more than 20 natural flavors – but the product range extends well beyond lip care. Lip, skin and hair balms, soap, tooth powder, scrubs, deodorants, and sunscreen make up a product family that is entirely bee-free, shea-free, soy-free, and palm-free. Packaging is designed with the same care as the products themselves — the deodorants, for example, come in cardboard push-up tubes that are 100 percent recyclable.
The deodorants are a good illustration of HURRAW!'s exacting approach. Rather than taking shortcuts, the team carefully processes its high-purity salts and minerals before blending them into organic bases such as coconut and cacao butter. Aloe, oat, and kaolin are added for a non-greasy, gentle, moisturizing finish that genuinely delivers.
New ideas come from what the team likes themselves or believes others might enjoy – rather than relying on trend reports. Growth is deliberate: only what can be made in-house, only what clears the bar they have set.
Protecting HURRAW! internationally with WIPO’s Madrid System
As a small manufacturer, HURRAW! chooses its markets carefully. Expansion is guided by what the team can produce comfortably, not by a drive for rapid expansion. Over time, the company has expanded into markets including Australia, Canada, Europe, Scandinavia, and several countries in East Asia. Today, international sales account for around 50 percent of HURRAW!’s business.
HURRAW! first learned about WIPO’s Madrid System in 2009, while researching the steps needed to register, protect, and defend its brand before launching internationally. The Madrid System offered a clear, efficient route to protecting trademarks across multiple export markets – and in 2012, HURRAW! filed for its first international trademark registration, protecting the HURRAW! brand itself.
More than a decade on, that single registration has grown into a portfolio of nine, covering everything from key product names to the company's slogan, "Planted in purpose." Perhaps most impressively, HURRAW! has secured trademark protection in virtually every one of its designated export markets — with just one registration still pending in a single market — reflecting two things:
- the robustness of the Madrid System as a tool for growing businesses
- the care Corrie and Neil have taken in building a brand portfolio from the ground up — choosing names and a slogan distinctive enough to stand up to trademark scrutiny in markets around the world.
How the Madrid System works in practice for HURRAW!
For a small business with an expanding international presence, flexibility matters – and the Madrid System delivers it.
“The Madrid System's subsequent designation feature lets us add new countries to our existing international trademark registrations without starting the process from scratch – particularly useful as we enter new markets. It’s great to have access to an IP system that is flexible and intuitive and can shift based on our needs.”
Neil Stuber, HURRAW!
For HURRAW! international trademark protection has never been about expansion for its own sake. It’s about preserving the identity behind its products – and making sure the brand they have built stays theirs. As the company continues to grow selectively, the Madrid System provides a practical, scalable way to protect every new opportunity.
For Corrie and Neil international trademark protection has never been about growth for growth's sake. It’s about preserving the identity behind their products and making sure the brand they have built stays theirs.
As the company continues to grow selectively, the Madrid System gives them a practical, scalable way to protect every new opportunity.
“We’d recommend the Madrid System to any entrepreneurs and businesses looking to protect their brands internationally.”
Neil Stuber, HURRAW!
More about the Madrid System
The Madrid System is a convenient and cost-effective solution for registering trademarks across 130+ countries by filing one application in one language and paying one set of fees in one currency.
