Jul 9, 2020 · 22m · how-i-built-this
How I Built Resilience: Live with Sharon Chuter
gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions
In this live episode of NPR's How I Built This: Resilience Edition, host Guy Raz interviews UOMA Beauty founder Sharon Chuter about building an authentically inclusive cosmetics brand, navigating pandemic-era retail shifts, and spearheading the viral 'Pull Up or Shut Up' movement for corporate racial transparency.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Guy holds 26.8% of the talking time here. How this is scored →
speaking balance: gold is Guy, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Sharon emphatically rejects the argument that asking corporations to hire Black employees is divisive or hostile toward white workers.
Hardest push from Guy ▶ 16:46 Guy questioning if real change is possibleGuy presses Sharon on whether she is genuinely optimistic about corporate transformation or remains skeptical of performative statements.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 15:45 Exposing systemic disparities in venture capital fundingSharon delivers striking comparative statistics, contrasting the 0.0006 percent of venture funds and $42,000 average given to Black female founders against the $2.2 million average for white male founders.
Guy holds their own ▶ 10:54 Guy citing Supergoop sunscreen application scienceGuy draws directly upon technical insights from his Supergoop interview to explain sunscreen reapplication limits.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | Guy as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | Guy pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Founding UOMA Beauty and Customizing Foundation Formulas | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | Guy demonstrates familiarity with UOMA Beauty's website shade-matching tool and shares personal anecdotes about using concealer. Sharon explains the technical need for distinct skin family formulations across 51 shades. | |
| Growing Up in Nigeria and Confronting Eurocentric Standards | 3 | 5 | 2 | 0 | Guy references Sharon's corporate career and early work bringing Revlon to Nigeria. Sharon educates listeners on how colonial legacy entrenched Eurocentric standards and dangerous skin-bleaching practices across Africa. | |
| Business Resilience During the Pandemic and Product Formulation | 5 | 6 | 1 | 0 | Sharon explains the cosmetic formulation reasons why SPF creates an undesirable flashback on dark skin. Guy contributes his own knowledge from a previous interview with Supergoop regarding SPF reapplication frequency. | |
| The Pull Up or Shut Up Campaign Against Performative Activism | 2 | 7 | 5 | 0 | Guy asks Sharon about her viral Pull Up or Shut Up campaign. Sharon delivers an impassioned, data-driven critique of corporate America's performative activism versus genuine executive representation. | |
| Economic Disparity, Black Entrepreneurship, and Systemic Corporate Bias | 3 | 8 | 6 | 1 | Guy probes whether Sharon feels skeptical or hopeful about long-term corporate change. Sharon forcefully outlines stark venture funding disparities between Black women and white men, as well as institutional HR bias. | |
| Overcoming Unconscious Bias and the Long-Term Value of Diversity | 2 | 6 | 5 | 0 | Guy asks about her five-year outlook on leadership and racial equity. Sharon dismantles defensive reactions to diversity advocacy, stressing that pro-Black initiatives are not anti-white and that inclusion drives business success. |