Now, folks you've heard of Forbes thirty under thirty list, Well, one woman who was once on that prestigious list is in our studio right now. Her products are in your purse right now. They're also in your makeup cabinet right now. They're also all over your social media feed right now. But one place they are not right now in stores. And welcome to this episode of Amy and TJTJ. Holmes
here alongside Amy, roboch and Robes. I have been so impressed because I've heard so much about this brand and then I finally wait, it's not in you can't even get it in stores, but it has exploded in popularity.
It has, and the woman behind it all has had such an incredible vision because not only this isn't just a business to make money, This isn't a business just to sell makeup. This is I think a lot of people call this genre social entrepreneurship, where you're actually making money, but you're also giving money back. And so I have actually been in awe of this woman and this company for more than a decade now, well around a decade,
I guess around ten years. And I had met this woman way back when, right around the time of my cancer journey and was so impressed with her. And then it was so funny. A few years later, my daughters, when they started getting into makeup, started showing me this mascara and showing me this makeup that they loved that they had bought online. And I saw, oh my gosh, it's Thrive Cosmetics, and my friend Carrissa is unbelievably crushing it.
And so I started to read up on her and see how far she's come, and I am blown away at the success this Now thirty five.
Year olds turn thirty five.
The happy belated birthday thirty five year old powerhouse Carrisa Bodner of Thrive Cosmetics is with us here in studio in the Big Apple. Carissa, it's been way too long, so nice to see you again. Congratulations on all your success.
Oh, thank you so much. It's truly so surreal to be here with you. The last time we were together, I think we were in Central Park with Florence and the Machine and you were helping to hype me up before my first Good Morning America segment. And you are a true day one. There are day ones and then there are Amy Roeboch day ones. So you have been so supportive of me since I was living on an air mattress on the Upper East Side shipping products out
of my apartment. You are so kind, you are so brilliant, and I am just so honored to be with you today.
You are very sweet. You can come back anytime, Chris TJ.
We're really glad you're here too. Thank you for joining us.
Oh no, you say that now, but you're going to need me later. A lot of people. Then here are conversation before we started. Oh yeah, next time, everybody listen to me. Next time she's a guest on this show, she will be praising me for something that I am now going to help her with her personal life? How about that?
Forever? And deebted already.
Na, but it's when was the birthday by the way, July night, July night? Well, happy belated, But it's good to have been hearing a whole lot about you through well card it's her, her daughter's I got an eleven year old who's now into all this stuff now, so it's you have come highly recommended a lot of folks that I know and care about and.
Respect, and Charisa for people who don't know your story, I would because that's what makes this. Like I said, this isn't just a makeup company. This isn't just an incredibly successful business story, which I want to get into because it certainly is, and it's inspiring to so many women out there who are trying to make it on their own, and you are that woman to look up to. However, your story has so much more heart and so much more value that has nothing to do with money that
I want to talk about. Because this all started. You had a passion for makeup. You had a passion. You were a makeup artist. You were working for Loreel, the biggest makeup company in.
The world, makeup cosmetic chemistry.
Baby, exactly. So you you had, you were there, you were in living the dream for what you wanted to do, but you had a personal tragedy that s hered you in a different direction. Can you tell us about Well, it was your best friend, Christy.
Yeah, yeah, thank you for the question. When I was working for Loreal, I think to set the stage. You know, I grew up on a farm on a dirt road in a really small town of five thousand people called Stanwood, Washington, and I had never even been to New York. When Lorel purchased the company that I was working for, it was called clare Sonic, Amazing, amazing brand, And all of a sudden, I'm on Fifth Avenue at five seventy five
Fifth Avenue working at Loreal in their luxury division. And I didn't even know to dream that big for myself. I was scared to work in downtown Seattle because I didn't know how to drive on a one way street, but it was so I remember being so struck by this amazing opportunity. I was going to Paris for work, and I was twenty one years old, like that, that's crazy, right,
and I would. Of course, my friend Christy was dedicating her life to teaching English to orphans in Tanzania and volunteering her time, really dedicating her life to really empowering young girls in education through her education. So we graduated from University of Washington at the same time. And while I was hell bent on climbing the corporate ladder and making the next groundbreaking thing for Loreal, she was living her life with so much purpose, and so I'll never forget.
I was actually on a trip for Loreal in Paris when she called me and she was in Chile at the time, and she said, they think I have cancer, And it was just one of those moments where it was so surreal and we're like, oh, you know, maybe they don't know, maybe the doctors aren't that good over there. And and then nine months later she was gone, and in this really amazing way, she truly packed so much
thriving into twenty four years of living. Her last day, she was smiling and laughing and so filled with passion. If you read what she wrote. She had this incredible blog and if you read she wrote this piece, it's gut wrenching for me to read, but it's so beautiful about dying successfully and how she had determined that she was going to die successfully, and it was really that she wanted people to She was talking about all of her anger around the fact that I have babies to have,
I haven't met the love of my life yet. She had so much living to do, and you know, she really wanted to dedicate her life to service, and she already had. And I remember sitting at her funeral just being so angry and so sad and needing to put that pain into purpose. And it was about a month later I had the idea for what would become Thrive Cosmetics, and and her you know, her parents have been so
supportive throughout the journey. I'm still very close with them and her brother who just got married, and it's a it's a really amazing thing to feel like it's been twelve years since she passed over twelve years and in so many ways I know her better. I feel her all around me all the time, just like I feel my grandmother's around me. And I yeah, I just every time I'm you know, I was just in Compton with with kids, and this little girl ran up to me, this four year old, and I'd never met, and she
just leapt into my arms. And I could feel Christie because I have so many photos of her doing that over in Tanzania. And so I in a way, through the works of service that we get to do, I have gotten to know my friend so much better. And that's the story of Christy.
It's beautiful and tell us so the whole concept of Thrive Cosmetics. Because you took a business and a passion you had of climbing that corporate ladder and turned it into business and philanthropy. What is the mission or the business model basically, how does it work Thrive Cosmetics.
Yes, So from the very beginning, every time somebody purchases, we donate. Since I started the business, we have expanded to eight causes. We give in all fifty states. We give around the world, And as someone from a small town, it's really important to me that we're giving in those pockets where there isn't as much support, you know, New York and LA. There's a lot to do, right, There's
a lot of service that we can do. And as somebody who's from a small town, I know that those are often and when we talk about flyover states, that's basically where I grew up. And so I want to be reaching into those pockets, and so does our community. And so the cause has grown so much bigger than I ever dreamed possible. We've done donated over one hundred and fifty million dollars in both funds and products. The causes have exploded. When I met you, we were giving
exclusively to the cancer community. Because of our community, we've added on domestic abuse, homelessness, veterans, under resourced youth, racial and social justice education. We have scholarship funds all around the world. I mean, it's just it's remarkable what a community can do, and I just feel so blessed to be a part. I'm a small part of this larger collective which is Thrive Cosmetics and now bigger than beauty skincare.
Wow.
You know what in your experience people you run into, how many are actually aware of how this company started? People use the products and don't actually know the backstory or the fact not just because you're honoring your your friend, but also that the products and the ideas behind them were meant for people who were dealing with cancer.
Yeah, you know, I don't know how many people know because I have been so busy building business and I'm okay with that. I think that, you know, Thrive Cosmetics is really about this collective cause it's it's never been about one person. And so for me when i'm I mean, our customers are my muse. They help me develop products. I can sit on a Saturday and have face time
that hundreds of customers are constantly texting me. Of course, we have an amazing customer service team that services them, but they have my personal phone number and we will talk about what lipsticks should we be making next? And you know what, what can we do to improve the products that we've already created, because we're never finished. Like the lipstick that I have on right now is our
second Matt lipstick. Because what excites me as a science nerd is the fact that innovation is always evolving and science is always getting better, whether it's medicine or makeup. And I get to do the makeup and skincare part, and I get to help fund the science through the makeup that I do. Like we have STEM programs that we are a part of. We work with Girls, which is last year actually we donated we partnered with Disney Marvel and we donated one hundred percent of profits from
a collection that we created with them. I'm not sure how many people really know, but the people who should know feel it, and they know, and I think that that's what matters to me. I am much more interested in Shirley Rain's on skid Row or traveling to Las Vegas with her and working in the projects there with her and shining a spotlight on her and the work that she's doing. It's incredible what well one woman can do. And Shirley Rains always reminds me of that her vision
is truly remarkable. She started an organization called Beauty to the Streets and if you haven't heard of it before, I mean, she's my inspiration.
I wonder how it works, does it even? Does it matter to folks? Right? People love obviously love the makeup, don't know what the backstory is. But would somebody be more prone to try the makeup if they know the backstory? Or does the makeup just speak for itself? And Okay, I can feel good about my purchase now, But I wonder how I'm always interested in that dynamic because if you just make a good product, that's all that matters.
Nobody's gonna buy it just because they're gonna go to buy a bad product, just because it's going to help somebody right now.
Yeah, they want to give a charity, they'll give to charity. Right. This is just a vehicle I've always sid Thrive Cosmetics is a mission and movement that anyone can join. And they don't even have to buy our products. They can just nominate a charity for us to give too. I mean, we've donated to six hundred charities, and that's only possible
over six hundred. Actually, it's only possible because our customers are constantly nominating different nonprofits for us to work with, and I I mean, some of these nonprofits we work with don't even have a website, and we always do our due diligence to make sure that it's legitimate. But to have customers who are so integrated into what we do is truly such a blessing. And I know what it's like. I mean, when I met Amy, I had
no customers for the first three years. I'm like, I to me, what I get to do now and to be sitting here with you today is It'll never be lost on me how fortunate I am and how lucky this life is that I get to live. I didn't have customers for three years. I worked a full time job to fund it. Like I said, I was living on an air mattress in the Upper East Side, flying out here to try and get the brand off the ground,
hustling the streets of New York. For some reason, Good Morning America took a chance on me, and that was amazing. And people have been so gracious with this journey. And I've eaten a lot of glass. I've eaten so much glass that it tastes like a slushy and I kind of love that. I kind of love it because the pain is what propels us forward.
I mean hearing where you were and even when I met you, I had no idea that you were like this was your big break. I mean I think sometimes it gets lost on us as journalists with people coming through and to hear you come back now about ten years later and say, I was so nervous. I was living on an air mattress. I had no customers. That's so remarkable. How do you go from having no customers, not having a celebrity endorsement or some sort of a
name that could put you in the spotlight. How do you go from not having customers to having the unbelievable brand that you have now. I mean people just think it's overnight or it came quickly. I mean, how do you get through those dark, tough days where you don't believe in yourself? I'm sure in moments, yeah.
I mean that is a layered, a layered question, and I love that so much, and I want to come back to that moment that you really helped me have my big break. Amy. Last night, I took my parents to the US Open and the last time they were in New York. We were it was June fifth, twenty fifteen, and you helped me be on air that day, and
you helped me feel really confident. And the last time they were there, we were staying in the Intercon Nettle Hotel for one hundred and ninety nine dollars a night, which is expensive, and there were five of us crammed into a room. My family flew out, and I remember thinking that I've made it, and I'm I'm gonna make it. And by the way, I didn't make it then that wasn't what did it, but it helped it. It was a signal that I was moving in the right direction.
And so for for me, you know, I the greatest blessing that I had was that I donated a thousand pairs of lashes and Infinity Waterproof flash adhesive before I ever launched the business. Before I we launched it in New York Fashion Week because somebody told me that would be a great idea. Like I'm not a fashion person, I am not. I just want to I'm a nerd,
Like I'm like a science nerd. That's I. I want to make amazing products that are truly game changing, and so I knew that I could make something amazing, but I didn't know how to promote it. I didn't know how to launch it. And it's really the community that has built it. Like I said, I didn't have customers for three years, so I had to fund it. But the community are the people that we donated products to.
I don't know if you've heard Nali Augustin's story through the work that you've done on the more Philanthropics that she's a breast cancer survivor truly incredible person. Or Stephanie Sabah, those are some of the first people that we donated our products to. Maggie Kurdica another she's a metastatic breast cancer thriver and she's bald ballerina on Instagram. Those are the people that helped keep me going. They would tell me that the brand needed to exist when I couldn't
believe in it for myself. I remember telling the entrepreneur that I was working for at the time that I was making seventy thousand dollars, which was the most I'd ever made in my life, and I told him, like, I don't know if this is going to work. I'll give you one hundred and ten percent during the day and I'm going to do Thrive as my side thing, And there were a lot of moments where I didn't
think it was going to work. In fact, after Good Morning America, I think we did a thousand dollars in sales, and I thought like, oh, this isn't enough. That's a lot, but that's not enough. You know, there were many days we would have zero sales, and how did that feel? Really challenging. Those were some of the darkest moments of my life because I was getting told no by all the retailers. I was out in New York by myself, living on an air mattress, very unsuccessfully, trying to raise money,
couldn't raise money. I was twenty four years old, Amy, I mean I was twenty five. I was twenty six, and I one of the blessings is ignorance was bliss for me. I didn't know that it was crazy that I was walking into Vogue magazine saying I did Anna Wintour's makeup one time. Here's some lab samples. You should write about me, Like, I didn't know that that was crazy, and I don't think it's crazy. I think it's cool,
and I think it's confident, but it wasn't. In fact, part of my challenge over the last few years is through the success, I actually started to get imposter syndrome in a way that I didn't have before. I thought I needed to be this CEO, this cookie cutter CEO. That was never why the company was successful. And I am the first to admit that I'm a work in progress.
But now I can say I'm a work in progress and a masterpiece at the same time because I've been through it and I know I'm still going to go through it. But to answer your question of what kept me going, it was always the people that it was the knowledge of the world that said you need to exist.
Wow, what did those retailers site to you? You said, you took it into a bunch of folks and say hey, I want you to You said nobody would listen to you wouldn't return. The folks you did hear back from that, told you know what were the reasons they were giving you for? No, this isn't going to work for us.
They asked me if I had an adult in the room. Well, they asked me, Yeah, I was, like I thought, last time I checked, I thought, when you're eighteen year an adult twenty one, I can drink, so why can't I have a business at twenty four? So I always had a little chip on my shoulder, but.
It was a lot of it. They just wanted to ignore you because you were so young.
Yeah, yeah, definitely, And so I started saying to myself, You're never too young, You're never too old to be who you always wanted to be. That was like how it'd hype myself up. I had a playlist, and I was always like, I can do this, I can do this, and so for me, oh yeah, I'm playlists. That's a whole nother podcast. But we I mean, I would I would fly to all the retailers and I would sit
outside waiting for a meeting. I would land in San Francisco or Chicago, and the meeting that I had with the buyer would get canceled as I was landing, and I'm like, hey, y'all, I actually like wiped out my airline miles to be able to even come here. I mean, I remember I was pitching to I got accepted. I was trying to raise money, and I flew out to New York. I was in Seattle at the time, and I. This was a couple of years into it, and I had I was so prepared for my pitch, and I
was like, this is my big break. I'm going to have money. I can hire a pr agency. All the things that the retailers have told me that I need to do, I am going to be able to do now. And it was a women's focused fund, and I remember being in this gorgeous conference room just down the street from here in New York, and I pitched to them and they were all like and away. They were so excited, and they came I remember waiting outside kind of shark
tank style. Well, no, it was damage sharksanks, so never mind, never mind the but I was waiting in the lobby and they came out and they said, oh my gosh, we loved your pitch. And I was ready for them to say that they were going to write me the check, and they said, but we have some really bad news. We only invest if you've done a million dollars in revenue. And I was like heartbreak crushed because I had barely any revenue at the time, and and so that was
that was really challenging. So there was a lot of those moments that were really crushing, and I'm really grateful for them because It's never lost on me how lucky I am. I know, I know, I know. I breathe rarefied air and I will not ever squander this. When the business finally took off, we went from zero dollars to thirty million dollars in a year.
WHOA what do you attribute that to?
In our community? One hundred percent? On our community one hundred And when I say community, I say customers, and I also mean the people that we've donated products too. They made our Infinity Waterproof liliner er Go absolutely viral at the end of twenty sixteen, and I will never forget it. And it was that relentless drive that I had to build something because I was so driven by my purpose. In fact, I was. I actually had our first ever giving event in an organization called Strength United
and Van Nuys. I wasn't from California, so I called it Van Nui's like I didn't even know.
We believe me, as broadcasters, we have mispronounced almost every city in America at one point in our careers.
Yes, and I will never forget being there and being so. It was right after the election which was a challenging election for a lot of people in the world. And I was sitting there and these women I was teaching makeup to that didn't even speak the same language as me, and I was basically sitting in a room that looked like a jail because they're the abusers will come back.
You know, we're not a and allowed to talk about when we are at strength united because a lot of this is something that I didn't know that a lot of domestic violence shelters are truly a place of refuge that need to be off the grid. In fact, one in Boston that we work with, Kasamyrna, is one of the few that's very loud and proud about their address.
So to bring it back to twenty sixteen. In November of twenty sixteen, I remember this woman who did not speak English but was so engaged in the makeup masterclass that I was teaching. She came up to me and she said, God bless you for what you do. And I had that moment where I just like I had to catch my breath. I remember going into the bathroom.
I had to catch my breath because I had been hearing all these really profound stories and watching makeup truly transform these women from looking at their feet and not making eye contact with everyone to laughing and taking selfies, exchanging phone numbers. And that is what Bigger Than Beauty is all about to me, the reason why we named it Bigger than Beauty Skincare. Yes, clinically proven dermatologists endorseed Elizabeth colem doctor Elizabeth Coleman indors you know what I mean,
Like bigger than Beauty skincare. It's an incredible line of clinically proven skincare. But to me, Bigger than Beauty is really rooted in the mission. And that giving event lit a fire in me. I got so mad because I had been told no by so many retailers, and I was like, am I allowed to curse?
Yes?
I said, fuck it, I'm building this motherfucker. And I just kept making ads. And I remember I made an ad that went live before I took off at Lax and that was the ad that made us go from zero to thirty million, and we've been growing ever since and it's just been the greatest ride of my life. I didn't sleep for pretty much all of twenty seventeen. I got really unhealthy, like really unhealthy, Like I couldn't even do a push up at the end of twenty seventeen.
You were ripen and running in building. You weren't. You were focused on the business, not your sale. You were in bad health.
Yeah, could you say I was in bad health? And I wouldn't trade it. I wouldn't trade it at all because it was a part of my path. And now I can have a lot of empathy for people who get that moment where I remember listening to Nicki Minaj's Moment for Life, which was a song that I had listened to many times, and it hit different for the first time in my life because I actually understood what she was saying then, like I want this moment for life. I want this feeling for life. I haven't slept. I
might die because I'm not taking care of myself. But I will never complain about printing a customer label at two AM from my apartment because I am breathing rarefied air and I will never squander this moment. And that's been how it fell ever since.
Wow, I mean, that is so powerful, and to hear you, it's funny talk about makeup that way, because I think a lot of people think of it as a superficial industry. It's funny. TJ's been struggling a little bit because his eleven year old is now starting to want to use skincare products and have a little highlighter on her face, and he's thinking, what's happening? You know, what's bad, what's right, what's wrong, all of that. But I loved hearing you
talk about what makeup can do for women. And I don't think a lot of people think about it in that way. It's not just about looking a certain way, it's about feeling a certain way.
Absolutely absolutely, And I mean, how does makeup make you feel?
Oh?
TJ knows I love makeup, and you know what having gone through, having gone through chemo, and I know that's where your mission started. I mean, for people who don't know, you talked about it, you referenced it. But the eyelash, the false eyelashes, and the lash glue that work on women who are going through chemo who don't have lashes. I mean I barely had lashes. Probably when I saw you they were starting to grow back. But it's one
thing to feel sick. It's one thing to even be in a situation where you may be being physically abused, but if you can not look sick, if you can feel like something other than being a patient or something other than being a victim, if you can feel like a woman, if you can feel your own power and your own strength, it's transformative. It's not even really about the makeup. It's about what it does to make you feel like you're something other than the worst version of
whatever you're going through. And so I get that, and I hadn't thought about it though. The way you just said that was really beautiful, because I think sometimes we tend to just make it seem like something superficial, but it is deeper than that. And I appreciate and applaud what you've done for women because it's kind of the I know people the look good, feel good, but there's truth to that, And especially I know when you're going through an illness where you feel sick and you just
don't want to be pitied. Yeah, And I think sometimes when you can have these products that I mean, you even said this, I read this that doctors will tell women not to wear makeup, to leave your skin alone. You're going through enough, but we need to feel like women. We need to feel like something other than a patient. So thank you for all you've done, and that all built in the first place is such a beautiful part
of your story. And TJ said, do people know My daughters had no idea about your story or about the fact that when they bought that mascara that they so love, that some of the proceeds of their hard earned money waitressing and babysitting was actually going to help other women.
That's so cool and hopefully more people. I'm sure a lot of people already know the foundation of your business, but I think there are a lot of people who don't even know because they just like the product because it's that good.
Thank you, thank you. Wow, I am I'm so moved by what you shared and it's so true what you said, and I just yeah, I'm a little speechless, honestly because it is beauty is so powerful. I have seen what I have on my eyes right now? Is this. We name all our products after inspiring people. We really need an amy. I'm just out there. What should your product be? I'll surprise you, Okay, the inspo is always viral marriage proposal. I'm actually doing one on Broadway. She doesn't know it yet.
This upcoming weekend viral marriage proposal. So I will do a viral marriage proposal when you have your product. But I do need to know what products, Like, what's your dream makeup product?
Well, let's just see anything that makes me not look fifty one. No. I love lipstick. I don't go anywhere without it, lip gloss, lipstick. And I love your mass Carrol already that's amazing. But yeah, lipstick is my thing. He knows. I walk around, I don't even go on my runs without some sort of lip product.
Okay, I'm obsessed. Okay, okay, okay, So are we like more of like what level of opacity are we talking about? Do you want more of a sheer lip bomb? Or are we more of a lipstick?
Oh?
I like lip balm is great. I love a natural look. Yeah, okay, yeah.
Okay, all right, Okay, I've taken my notes. I've taken my notes, and I'm gonna I'm gonna get a few people's phone numbers here so that we can actually I already got I already got I already got your phone numbers, so we can. So so okay, okay, oh well I will surprise you and that's cool.
So wait, what's a viral marriage proposal? I don't know what you were referencing.
So if anyone out there needs help proposing, I'm your girl. Like, I am so good at marriage proposals. I It's one of my superpowers because I love learning about people. I love people, and I'm a romantic, Like I am such a romantic that I'm like playlisting the whole thing. I'm storyboarding it. It's but that is what we do. So we've named products after over two hundred women at this point, and every time we're doing it. So like Maggie, who
I've bald ballerina, who I was telling you about. ABC was kind enough to help me surprise her on People's List. Do you all remember that show? Yeah, People's List. It was like a summer show and we I don't know you you all would know better than me, but it was it's like People Magazine plus. Yeah, People Magazine plus anyway, so that was a good sales day and it actually
aired on my That was really cool. But Maggie was a triple or is a triple threat color stick shade that we have and ABC helped create this moment where she was my model. She lives in Maryland and she came up to New York and she was the ruse was she was my model on air and then we surprised her as a part of the segment. So that's like it needs to be that level. So we've surprised people at New York Fashion Week, We've surprised people in
their homes. We've surprised people. We've had faux photo shoots where they think that they're having an engagement shoot and then we show up with the product like it's like a whole thing, and it's it's like, I have these visions in my head. And so if anyone needs help with marriage proposals, I am your girl. And so TJ called me. I'm just saying, I'm just kidding. I'm not putting pressure on it, but the pressure is there.
Can I can? I Can she be the bride and have the product?
Right?
Is that?
Yeah?
I'm talking. So she's going to get opposed to in a surprise and as a part of it as well, she is going.
To be taking it to a whole other level. About the new product, yeah yeah, yeah, yeah yeah.
And what are you what's the product going to be going to be? What? Lip bam No, no, No, that's big.
Yeah.
If you can make a lip bomb that she can only put on once a day only has to be great, it be really great.
I have one. It's called Sheer Strength lip tint. So we've al know that the vision is there. Now she she casts the vision. Now we just have to execute. The dream is free. The hustle is sold separately, So now we're gonna hustle.
Okay, don't you all have some other business too? I mean, we just heard that Chris is a romantic. I don't know. We were having a little conversation before the podcast.
Not my Place TJ's Dating Services.
Yes, Chris, seriously, you have been married, obviously to this business.
Yeah, married to the game baby exactly.
And that makes sense. You have to put all of your focus and passion into that to build something like you have. Yeah, but obviously you know there's more to life, So I mean, this has been a sacrifice for you. But are you ready to actually have personal goals outside of your professional goals? And how hard is that for you to say? Okay, maybe that. Do you have to take a step back, do you have to readjust your life?
Do you have to prioritize I mean This is something that a lot of women face when they've put everything into their career and then they think, wait, I want more than that.
Yeah, it's such a great question. And I in so many ways, I am thirty five, but I'm also twenty one and eighty five at the same time, I am an old soul and I also love to have fun. And I froze eggs when I was twenty eight, and that was my insurance policy for myself. And also I would I mean every time I'm with our foster youth that we work with, Like I'm about to do Disney Days at at Disneyland, where we reunite foster kids, foster siblings that have been separated, maybe one lives in Chicago
and one lives in California. We reunite them at the happiest place on earth. And top ten memories of my life is Disney Days. Like I will do that every I mean, you guys should come. And the thing is is like we aren't serving anybody. They're serving us. They're healing the inner child in me that needs the healing, and these kids heal me. And these are amazing children. And so they're there, I'm like I could wind up with three after one event, and I also recognize that
that's a huge responsibility. So I would want to be in a position where, I mean, the great news is I have the greatest privilege of working with such brilliant people. When I started the business, I couldn't afford employees. We now have over seventy employees in LA that help run the business every single day, and so I'm one small piece of that collective that's really driving the business forward into the future. We've got an amazing leadership team that
again I didn't have. I didn't have for many years, and so I do feel like in this next few years, I'm going to be in a place where if I want to have children, I can. I don't know if I do. I'm Auntie to all of my all of my friends have kids, and I'm the I mean shout out to Tula, and I mean all of I mean all of them, Tula, Lenny. I think about Babe, my friend Jamie's daughter, her son Simon, like I just I love children so much, and so I could see that. But I'm also not married to that idea. So I
don't know how this came about children. I've got two amazing dogs.
Well no, and I was asking you about are you able now at this point to start focusing on your personal life?
Yes. Two years ago I realized I had no friends. And I had a lot of deal friends, but I didn't have a lot of real friends. I have an amazing community of people who I get to serve with Drive Cosmetics and Bigger than Beauty Skincare, But I had no friends, and I had so many people who wanted to be my friend. And as somebody who grew up you know, pretty humble beginnings again on a dirt road in a very small town. The fact that I even
don't live in that town anymore is pretty miraculous. Like I still go back to our our fair every year, and like everybody's still there, and I love that. I will always be a small town girl at heart. I say small towns. What do I say? Small town soul in big city brain? Like I can't. I need to be in that, I need to be in the big city.
But I but I have that soul to me, small town sooul and I but I realized I had no friends, and my greatest anytime I get asked what my my leadership advice is, I say, have friends, because I was looking for love in all the wrong places. I was because I didn't have friends, because I didn't have community. I was seeking that from internal validation from like external validation from internal team members, and that made me a
really bad manager and a really bad lie. And now that I have this validation of these friends who I can go for walks with, or I take dance lessons with, or piano lessons or just go have fun and do nothing like that to me has been one of the greatest joys of my life in the last two years is having the most beautiful friendships that don't care what the numbers are. They don't care if I messed up at work. They don't care if I close the big deal.
They don't care if I messed up a product like they you know, we could we the company could go away, and they don't care. Those are real friends, not deal friends.
Yeah, it's funny. Like I always say, it's it's when the chips are down, sometimes people circle around you. But when the chips are up, when you find those people who love you and aren't comparing or or judging or you know, that's I think oftentimes you learn who the real people are in your life when you're down and
when you're up, like you learn lessons both times. What would you say looking back now, I know so many people are out there and even teach, you know, either building their lives or rebuilding their lives or rethinking their careers. What is your best advice to people who are starting out or starting over?
Stay in the game. Stay in the game because the joy truly is in the journey, and if you don't stay in the game, just like a muscle, all that joy that you have is going to atrophy. And so to me, really staying in the game, whether it's business, whether it's in a relationship, whether it's anything that you're doing in life, if you don't show up every single day, you're going to lose it. And I think that that is something that can make you anxious or it can
inspire you. And I choose to let that inspire me because I wouldn't be who I am if I didn't stay in the game.
The game is for me, it looks oversaturated. And what I mean by that is I walk into Sophar and I'm like, what the hell is going on? And the reason I'm walking in Sephara so much because my eleven year old daughter is just absolutely.
What's your name, Sabine, Sabine, Okay, I'm going to meet Sabine. You're going to meet, so we're going to hang out.
Well, I don't know, because I'm trying to get her away from makeup and maybe that's a mistake. I have a few questions just here about this the skincare line, yes, but I have questions, a few questions just about the industry. Please please give folks a recommendation. I know sometimes makeup is one thing and then skincare and beauty care are kind of different things, all in the same industry. But
what is your recommendation? What do you think about? Because I see a child getting hooked and thinking this is what I need now at eleven to be beautiful. I heard a twenty one year old the other day talking about needing to go get botox or something because look at that wrinkle right there, and she was just squeezing her just trying to show me a wrinkle that wasn't there. Just what is your thought about how what is the
right age? Is any age okay if their parents are guiding them, what do you think about so many of our young folks now in the game.
You know, I want to come back to that what you just said around people looking for wrinkles, people feeling like they need to do something or be something that they're not. And I think the greatest gift that Sabin has is you, as her father, telling her that she's amazing and perfect just the way that she is. And I can't tell you how meaningful that is to hear that from a father, so she can be a work
in progress and masterpiece at the same time. And you're showing her that by what you're doing every single day. Look at what you're building. It's incredible. And to me, you know, society is going to be society. We can't control what the new TikTok filter is that makes you look like you've got three heads, and you know, then that becomes the sexy thing to do. But for me, beauty has definitely been a way to hide in securities.
I had jacked up teeth, and so I was always like before I had braces and so I mean, I was always trying to enhance those eyes. And the idea of like enhancing my lips actually came later. I didn't even know. I actually I've never done anything to my lips. But when I moved to LA for the first time, people started saying, like, I've never done filler, And I'm not like anti filler. I'm not judging that, I just haven't.
And so I remember when I moved to LA, you know, in certain areas of LA, a lot of people got the same face. Yes, yeah, And I think that that is that is a that can be a part of self expression, and I think it also can be a lack of self love. And I think makeup is the same way you if you love yourself, like I would have showed up without makeup and been totally comfortable being with you.
Guys.
I want to come correct because I'm here to talk about makeup and skincare and I want to be respectful, but I would be here in my yoga pants with you and be very, very comfortable because I love myself and I couldn't always say that, you know. And so I think that for you with your daughter, just reminding her that no matter how successful her grades might be bad, sometime she's still lovable, she's still worthy, And that's what I think is the ultimate solve for anybody in life.
But yes, the beauty industry is incredibly saturated. It can be incredibly alienating to people, make people feel bad about themselves, and I never want to do that, but I'm sure we've missed the mark. You know, we're not perfect, and so for me, it's really beauty is a form of self expression and empowerment. You know the brilliant eyebrightener eyeshadow stick that I have on today, it's called Peeley and it's named after the executive director of Women Helping Women Maui,
and she herself is a domestic violent survivor. And when she again I didn't know this, but a lot of times when people are being abused, their abuser tells them they can't wear makeup. I had no idea. I was actually out serving with her in Maui and she started crying and she shared with me this very personal story about how makeup was this sense of reclaiming her power. And so if you see Peelee now, and if you see what's on my eyes, I got a smokey eye on right now, Like this is not a this is
not for those listening. I got a smoky eye on. And the reason why is because Peelee does that for a place of power and empowerment. And so I think beauty can be empowerment if we actually have a lipstick called empower mat because that I am wearing. Uh, this is not a plug for that. I'm just thinking about that stream of consciousness. Okay, get back on track. But no, it is truly a source of expression and creativity for so many people. And I think you're doing all the right things.
Robes, you know this. It's difficult to just you're eleven, you don't need and blush, you don't need a smoky eye, Go take that off that. It's hard to just I just that's what I want to say, but I.
Have to do. They bother you.
It just seems like there's an like why so early, And what I'm noticing is almost an addiction, like a need for it, Like I have to go through this beauty regiment I have. We're going to get those little pimple sticker things like it's a it's not it's.
Just starting a makeup company. You just don't even know.
That's how they we'll look back at this and say I was all wrong. But it's just an automatic thing to where that's you're too young for that, you don't need that, and that's where my mind goes. But to your point, you have to be careful and just empower You're beautiful. You don't and I don't know how to support it without also being the parent and saying you can't do that.
You've done a good job. I think you like it was I thought it was sweet. She didn't have a smoky eye by the way, she just had she just did.
Like and He's like, she didn't.
She didn't even have those gara on. Honestly, she just had like a highlighter around her face, a little highlighter on her eyes, and a little a little lip color. And it was you know, she grew up a lot in a year, but she a day it seemed like, Yeah, you just take it for yourself.
That's hard. That's your baby girl.
Yeah, so have to see her like that through me. And I was trying to be support But I'm just curious some money in the industry, what you think is a good age to start talking to young girls, to start allowing a little experimentation or do you let's let them go figure it out on their own.
I mean, I gotta tell you, we have I've been in different hospitals, right I mean children's hospital. We are playing dress up with five year olds I worked where we have worked with Make a Wish. And I will never forget this young girl, Taylor. She we we actually wound up beaming a lip gloss after her that she helped me formulate on the you know we were we were there and that was a part of it. And shout out to Ellen K. Have you met Ellen K? Incredible?
I have not.
She's a part of my heart. She's incredible. Anyway, this was over a decade ago met Taylor. She is now in high school. And but back, I mean she was probably eight years old when I met her, and she was going through cancer and makeup was this sense of play for her, and it was really dress up. So again I think it's and I say this with no authority because I have all the awareness that I am not a parent, so I will not I will not even pretend like I know how hard it is to
see your baby girl wanting to put highlighter on. What I will say, though, is that I've seen children light up because they are playing with something that's really fun for them. And and I hear you though on the obsession, and that that is a really challenging thing I think with social media and and they're always being shown what
they're not and it's so accessible. Like we've always had the magazines that are overly photoshopped and the unrealistic beauty standards, no doubt, but I think social media really takes it to another level. And so I think again, just coming back to like, I don't know if there's an age, because I think the Internet kind of dictates what the age is. And I don't know about you, but have you ever been told not to do.
Something you immediately want to do it?
Yeah? I mean I kind of joked that I started a makeup company because my parents wouldn't let me shave my legs when I was a kid, and they wouldn't let me put makeup on two when I was eleven. I'm just saying, she is going to be running my company at some point, and I'm very excited about that.
So come on over, so keep telling her no, got it.
It's funny though, like I had very strict parents too with makeup. I had to be thirteen before I could even put it. So what did I do? Took babysitting money, went to the drug store on the bus, to school, was throwing it on, was wiping it off before I got home. And if there's a will, there's a way, right, and yes, to be told no means I'll figure it out.
I mean, look at how successful you guys are, Like how many people told you no?
They still tell Yeah, we are getting a lot of notes. And you know that's that interesting.
Because people would look at you and they would say iconic journalists, amazing, amazing journalists, like I mean, you guys are amazing national broadcast. Like we're sitting in iHeartRadio in New York City right now, and so many people would
kill to be in your shoes right now. And yet the world is going to keep testing you, and they're going to keep telling you that you're not good enough, and especially in your industry, it's like they're always it's it's almost like this gross like, oh, you know, let's keep them on their toes. And again, I say this with no authority. I've never been in your job, but I've observed.
It, and I just feel like you both are so great at what you do and such good people that anybody who tells you that you can't do it is hopefully just allowing you to redirect to become the even bigger stars that you already are.
I love them that you have. When people were telling you, no, it sounds like something I would say.
So your hereators being motivators.
Well that, but you had some expletives in the one.
You just oh yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, I know, I know. Shout out to my church in Stanwood. I'm sorry, I uh no, I definitely have gotten outreach about my uh no. I mean I grew up in the church, which was such an amazing way to grow up. Twice a week I was in the church.
We were in the same boat. Yes, tell me, tell me Catholic you were up.
I went to the Church of Christ growing up. Sunday Sunday night and then Wednesday night, and we did Wednesdays and Sundays.
Yeah yeah, same, same. Yeah. So you can imagine when I introduced myself as the Carrissa Effan Bodner on on the Gary V Show, I got some you know, they were They're like, this will be a part of your testimony, you know, and I you know, But the thing is is, like I think that church was such a great building block for me. I was just at this, I was just at this urch and Compton, and I was sitting there with Grace, one of our team members, and I was like, I feel at home because I used to
clean these churches. And that was I was in this singing group called Legacy through my church in Stanwood and we would travel around Washington and Oregon and clean these churches. We would perform for them really haphazardly, like disease are not good performances. This is not American idol. This is like, you know, real bad. But we would serve and we would we would cook for them or we would and that was it. Just whether I was at a soup
kitchen or I was at a church. It created such a heart for service that I really thank my parents for exposing me to that. And I think that that's a lot of like the do do onto others as you would do unto them, I think is just is so there's so many. I mean, there's some great lines in the Bible.
Golden Rule absolutely, and I mean that's what's your favorite Bible verse? I mean, I think you just said it. I can't think of one that's better, because that is the ultimate, you know, that is the Golden Rule. And I do try to think like that, So so I am here. I also believe having that moral foundation is a huge part of a building block to having a happier life, because yes, we all make mistakes, but it's
it is about forgiveness. And and I we have the same exact experience growing up, I mean not exact, but similar, So I we totally agree with everything you're saying. I am I know that, I know that you talked a little bit about well, we were talking about Sephora. I guess TJ was talking about Sephora. Yeah, and we said your products aren't available in stores. It's all through your direct marketing. And you know your website you own, you know, you have full control over it in that sense, which
is pretty remarkable. You were told no by retailers now and I'm sure now you're telling them no, which has got to be a really fun thing. That amazing about face or that full one eighty right there. But what are your plans as we wrap this upcause it's been so incredibly inspiring to talk to you, But what are your plans? I know you've probably gotten offers to sell Thrive Cosmetic to be in Sephora.
Attorney Zero's baby like Mariah Carey says last Man on the Earth. Still couldn't hit this, Still couldn't hit this. I don't want your money.
Okay, you're probably gonna hear from the church again.
Do we know Mariah Carey obsess but that that song is to me? I got it? Yeah, No, I mean that's how I feel. That's because they'll tell you if you don't sell to us, we'll destroy you. And by the way they try, they try, but we're still here. We're still here. And for me, I want this company's impact to outlive me. And whether it's done tomorrow or one hundred years from now, I would not trade this
journey for anything. There's not enough. Zero's not enough zero's And from a you know, yes, we are sold exclusively on Thrivecosmetics dot com and I am really really grateful for the community, the millions of customers that we have there. And I also know that there's a piece of I R L in real life life that is missing. And so we are working on building our own storefront that's going to be attached to our new innovation center in
Los Angeles, which I'm really excited about. And we are in serious discussions with multiple retailers, which is really exciting to me, But to stay really focused on what's going to make us different, because if we're going to partner with somebody, I'm looking for a long term partnership. I am looking for somebody who believes in the vision beyond just selling makeup and skincare. They need to be in the game with us of philanthropy and purpose. So how
are you going to match that? Because we already did one hundred and fifty million? What are you going to do? Like that's how the negotiations are, and how are you going to help amplify these amazing charities? Like any time I get the great privilege of doing media, I want to be shining a spotlight on bottomless closet or beauty to the streets or Strength United. How are the retailers going to help with that? I don't know, We'll see.
I love it. And you know what you are you You are a badass and you are an inspiration and I am so honored to have known you then and to know you now.
Day one You're a day one well.
Carissa Bodner. I hope if anyone didn't know the story of Thrive Cosmetics, they do now, and they'll feel even better about wearing all of your incredible products because they know it's not just about the makeup. It's so much more than that. So thank you for all you've done, and thank you for coming into iHeart Studios and doing this in person.
I'm so honored. I'm like, I'm not even gonna act natural, like this is so cool, this is so surreal, Like I'm sitting with Amy and TJ? What is my life? Thank you for having me. You guys are iconic and I'm really grateful that I got to spend time with you today.
Thank you, Carissa, and you know where you can find us on Instagram, Amy and TJ Podcast. You know I'm terrible of this. I can't open and I can't close. I know I did. I always do. Never We'll see y'all. Ban the Kitten, the patent