The Exchanges

Q And it was just a few weeks or months later when you actually decided to launch Your blog, which would become famous, Into the Gloss. Is that why you did it? It's connected to that article? You wrote that article, and you thought, okay, I need to, to figure this out, and do more of this.

A Yes, I mean, you know, this was the era of personal style blogs. It was, like, when all the, like, bloggers were starting, and it was kind of this new thing, sort of, not democratizing, but, like, really individual, being, like, these are the human beings, and how they actually put these things together, right? As opposed to, sort of, Very tightly held images from fashion brands or campaigns. It was like, this is what's actually going on, literally on the street with fashion. And I remember thinking, well, why doesn't this exist for beauty? Like, why is there no, like, in-depth exploration of people's beauty identities and, like, beauty stories? And there's really nowhere to find, I mean, certainly there's blogs that have existed long before Into the Gloss around, um, around beauty, but it was typically much more about kind of, like, what's new? Like, it would be like, this new mascara from You know, XYZ brand just hit the market, and it's so great because of all of these things. Yet, I often thought, like, It's not necessarily what's new that I'm most interested in, it's what's best. And this idea of what's best in beauty I think is fascinating because it's, there's no single what's best.

AI assessment note: “Yes, I mean, you know, this was the era of personal style blogs.”

Q And so, how do you start a makeup company? Like, where do you go? Like, who do you call up, and what do you say? Like, oh, can you make me this makeup? There's chemistry involved. Like, like, how do you, how do you make makeup?

A I mean, uh, you know, let me tell you, uh, how I built this. Um, uh, so, okay, so my first hire was, So first of all, always hire for your weaknesses, right? And, and, and surround yourself with just the most brilliant people you can ever convince to come work on the shared vision that you have. And my first hire was an incredible, um, director of product development who had over a decade of experience at, um, MAC Cosmetics. That was my first hire, because I've never made a, make a product, and I don't know how it works, or vendors, or how long things take. Like, I've, I have no idea. And, um, I remember she ended up getting a recommendation for a chemist from someone who she knew from the beauty industry who was based outside of LA. So we flew to LA, we got our, like, Hertz rental car, and we drove during rush hour all the way down to this, like, middle-of-nowhere place, and we pulled into the parking lot. The parking lot's empty. There's, like, a stray dog, like, roaming through it, like, tumbleweeds blowing. I mean, you know, it was very, um, it did not look like this was gonna be our chemist. And there was this little mirrored building, It was literally, like, mirrored so that you couldn't see inside. I mean, I was like, why don't we just go, this is most certainly not our guy. Um, but we went in, and I am so glad we did, because inside was this, like, six, four, jacked, li…

AI assessment note: “she ended up getting a recommendation for a chemist from someone who she knew”

Q you, you partially answered this earlier, but when you think about the arc of your career, and you're still so young, and you have so much To do ahead of you. You may build two or three more companies. Who knows? How much of what, what's happened to you and what you've accomplished do you attribute to your persistence, hardware, grit, and how much to, to, to, to lucky breaks?

A I think, I definitely believe in luck, but I don't rely on luck, and I don't attribute luck to, um, where I am today. Um, I really believe that it is a combination of, uh, this passion and this perseverance, and probably a little bit of, uh, having a very short memory. I think it's such a gift. I just keep going. I think when you fall, or when someone says no, or when, um, something, you try something and it doesn't work, the ability to just continue, like, just pick up, there's a resiliency, right? Like, there's, that's really when I hear the word grit, that's what it says to me, is there's a resiliency to just, to just brush, shake it off, right? And, and keep going.

AI assessment note: “I don't attribute luck to, um, where I am today.”

Q a media property, right? Like, this is a blog, maybe you would spin it out into a podcast, or a video show, or something else, or like a deal with cable TV, but that's not what happened. You, you decided to create a product. Was that, I mean, again, like, was that something that just kind of happened on its own, or was it a really deliberative, thought through thing?

A Yeah, so the, it's a really good question, and I think the thing that has led to every decision that I've made is this very central thesis that you can create conversations and connections through beauty. And Into the Gloss was the first version of that. Like, that was the first step. It was the necessary beginning that showed a certain behavioral shift. You know, it was like, encourage people to be like, oh, okay, I'm sharing now what goes on in my bathroom, you know, that I used to do totally alone. And in doing, you know, in, in working on Into the Gloss for the first year, I was exposed to all of these beauty companies. So I was working with Lancome. I was working with Estee Lauder. I was working with Cody. I was working with, you know, every big conglomerate. And beauty is a huge industry. It's a four hundred and fifty billion dollar global market. It's going to be seven hundred and fifty billion in six years.

AI assessment note: “the thing that has led to every decision that I've made is this very central thesis”

Q I, I read that, that you pitched, I don't know, 13 or 14, uh, VC companies, and mostly men, and, uh, only one eventually agreed to give you that initial funding. It was, uh, the, the VC was a woman, Kristen Green. Um, how did that happen?

A Yeah, so six percent of venture capitalists are women, and, um, hopefully that will go up. So, listen, we have incredible partners. Um, I think, you know, initially, so much of, uh, funding is around pattern recognition, and so you have venture capitalists whose job it is is to make smart bets on companies that are going to grow super, super fast and, and become the next Facebook, right? Um, and so it's hard to, I think, look at, like, a female CEO who does not have business, a business school degree. Um, And, and sort of say, we're going to take the bet, and it felt, you know, it's exhausting, and I think, I know a lot of entrepreneurs, um, and I think it's hard for everyone. It was, it was exhausting to go, and we would hand, our COO and I, we would hand our products, you know, we'd have our little, our little goodie bags, and, and, and bring them to different rooms full of guys, and have them get the bag, and say, oh, that's so nice, thank you, I'm going to give it to my wife, and, and, You know, ask her what she thinks, and I would say to myself, if, you know, some, like, financial technology company, um, came to me and pitched me, I wouldn't be like, oh, I'm gonna go ask my husband to, like, explain this to me.

AI assessment note: “so much of, uh, funding is around pattern recognition”

Q So, how did you, I guess, at some point you were able to write for Vogue, you were able to write an article, which was about, I think it was about self-tanning, right?

A Yes. So this is, this is kind of funny. Uh, so I'd interned in, I was always working in fashion, and beauty is kind of like this, Ugly stepsister to fashion in, in magazines and in media. It's really funny because all of the ad revenue or most, a lot of it comes from beauty in these magazines. But if you think about it, like, if you're reading an issue of a fashion magazine, beauty can sometimes at least, you know, 10 years ago be like five or six pages or 10 pages. You know, there's such little airtime dedicated to, you know, this topic that in many ways you're, like, forced to deal with on a more fundamental level every day than even what you're wearing, right? It's like personal hygiene. So, uh, I'd never worked, I'd never covered this. Like, I enjoyed beauty, and I love talking about beauty with people, but I'm not even someone who's wearing, you know, who's, like, obsessed with beauty in a way, if you define obsessed as being, you know, wearing a ton of makeup, or, um, spending, like, lots of time, I don't know. Getting facials, like, that, that, that was not me. But I was on a shoot in Miami, Florida.

AI assessment note: “Yes. So this is, this is kind of funny.”

Q companies, the L'Oreal's, the Estee Lauder's, are really paying attention to what you're doing and really want to buy, buy this company. They really want to own this brand. I mean, you know, you can go down the list. Bobbi Brown and, and, you know, some of these other iconic brands that were purchased by the larger brands. What happens if and when they approach you? Maybe they already have.

A So, um, the companies that I most admire are companies that create iconic products, um, that really stand the test of time. The other thing that I think a lot about is our mission. So I think about how else can we connect people through, through beauty? How else can we help people sit up a little taller, feel better about themselves through beauty? We have a really long way to go. In terms of actualizing that vision. In fact, I think about where we are today as truly just the beginning. Like, being four years in for me, I wake up every day, I think it's day one. And typically when you sell to a larger conglomerate, it's because you need more distribution. Because the benefit of having, you know, being a L'Oreal or an Estee Lauder company or something like that is that they have the This vast network of retailers.

AI assessment note: “In fact, I think about where we are today as truly just the beginning.”