Family businesses built from humble beginnings to billion-dollar brands, independent of outside capital, are the very fabric of the American dream. The vision of the founder is bigger than a personal financial windfall. It’s about creating a business that reaches far beyond them, creating a legacy that continues the work in perpetuity. Leaders like this think big and they think beyond the bottom line to the impact the company makes to an industry, a community, and to the team that keeps the drea...
Oct 05, 2021•48 min•Season 2Ep. 17
Historically, the industry has propagated a perception of beauty reflective of unrealistic perfection, and a lack of diversity driving women into a perpetual and elusive search for the solution. However, there's a new type of beauty emerging, where we use these powers for good. Amy Liu, Founder and CEO of Tower 28 discusses with Kelly Kovack how she spent years learning the ropes at other companies, and meeting some amazing mentors along the way. She talks about how that has prepared her to thro...
Sep 28, 2021•57 min•Season 2Ep. 16
Clean beauty and sustainability while noble pursuits are inherently rife with misinformation and lacking definition. There may be no perfect answer or solution, but there's plenty of progress. Every individual and business is in a different stage representing the reality that sustainability exists on a spectrum and looks different for each of us. Yet, an argument can be made that we all have a part to play as global citizens. Elsie Rutterford and Dominika Minarovic, co-founders of British beauty...
Sep 21, 2021•50 min•Season 2Ep. 15
There's a fine line between collaboration and competition. Conceptually, they can coexist and they're not mutually exclusive. Strategic alliances can be powerful, but they are also constantly evolving because cooperation has limits, and you have to defend against competitive compromise. Deanna Utroske, a beauty business content specialist, sits down with Kelly Kovack to discuss how she navigates this paradigm, and how she approaches cooperation with an open heart and a generous spirit. Learn mor...
Sep 14, 2021•47 min•Season 2Ep. 14
The Holy Grail of most brand founders in the beauty industry is an exit to a strategic player that comes with a big payday. While this remains elusive for most it is a reality for others that fuels future entrepreneurial ventures built on the lessons learned and the freedom to think beyond the confines of funding. These seasoned brand founders have a recipe for success and a passion that keeps them in the game. The Art of Shaving Founders Myriam and Eric Malka sit down with Kelly to discuss how ...
Aug 31, 2021•43 min•Season 2Ep. 13
The most prolific creatives not only have ideas that many would consider to be “out of the box” but they have the ability to execute on them. The most diligent creatives are also builders turning them into real tangible things - they simply can’t help themselves. They commit an insane amount of time to their work without holding back. Jillian Dempsey the legendary makeup artist, sculptor, painter, entrepreneur and animal activist shares with Kelly how she is constantly searching for innovative a...
Aug 24, 2021•34 min•Season 2Ep. 12
We're in a new era of sustainability driven by consumers, governments, and corporations, impelled by the visible effects of pollution on our environment, the impact on the climate, and our food supply. The collective consciousness on sustainability is rising perhaps faster than many expected. The beauty industry's contribution to the current state of our environment is well-documented. And quite frankly, embarrassing. We all participated in some way to the current state of affairs. And now it's ...
Aug 16, 2021•55 min•Season 2Ep. 11
Divergent needs, competing demands, and diverse personalities are just some of the elements of running a business that have the possibility of creating conflict and chaos. For entrepreneurs, and especially for co-founders, success requires the ability to navigate and come to terms with these tensions, embracing them and allowing the interdependencies to create richer thinking and better solutions. Dr. Dennis Gross and Carrie Gross are partners in life, and in the business of running Dr. Dennis G...
Aug 10, 2021•43 min•Season 2Ep. 10
The value of heritage, history and legacy is sometimes overlooked or viewed as a liability. So much of the current hyper-connected beauty landscape is focused on newer, faster, and better. And sometimes what came before is tossed aside, or dismissed as not relevant. But, Doreen Bloch, the Executive Director of the Make-Up Museum, believes beauty history is a treasure trove of inspiration, just waiting to be discovered. She sits down with Kelly to discuss how she made the idea of documenting, arc...
Aug 03, 2021•37 min•Season 2Ep. 9
Community is powerful but it's often very elusive. Real community exists to serve a purpose, creates value for all stakeholders and requires constant nurturing. Odile Roujol, Co-Founder of Fab Co-Creation Studio Ventures has an innate ability to build community. She discusses with Kelly her mission to invest in underserved needs, and amplifying the voices of female and minority founders. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaph...
Jul 27, 2021•40 min•Season 2Ep. 8
Personal and professional resilience has never been more important. The ability to embrace change and dig deep to find a path forward is intuitive to successful entrepreneurs but resilience is also a skill that can be learned and developed. The ability to adjust to career change as it happens and, by extension, adapt to what the market demands, should be constantly evaluated. The most resilient professionals don’t get stuck in the past - they look forward to the future and view each change as an...
Jul 20, 2021•50 min•Season 2Ep. 7
Words matter, but actions matter more. True heroes are those around us driven by purpose and a commitment to making the world a better place for everyone. Making the desire to do good actionable and scalable goes beyond passion - it’s a unique talent. Samir Lakhani Founder of the Eco-Soap Bank shares with Kelly Kovack how the humble bar of soap represents the ability to restoring health and dignity in developing countries. He is very literally changing the world one bar of soap at a time. Learn ...
May 19, 2021•36 min•Season 2Ep. 6
Inspiration comes in many forms, and acting on an inspired moment is often the spark that sets entrepreneurs on their path to creating amazing things. Inspired by the power of the smile, brothers Cody and Julian Levine co-founded oral health brand Twice, along with musician Lenny Kravitz. At first glance, Twice might be perceived as yet another celebrity-backed millennial DTC brand, but as you peel back the layers of this brand it is about much more than selling toothpaste. Learn more about your...
May 05, 2021•42 min•Season 2Ep. 5
Innovation and disruption are concepts that get thrown around a lot. Disruption is the byproduct of true innovation. Disruption, for disruption’s sake, is just noise. Real innovators disrupt by long-term thinking and imagining the impossible - they don’t peddle in quick fixes and gimmicks. Paul Peros, CEO of the Perth-based high-tech company Wellfully and his latest brainchild the new beauty tech innovation Reduit, sits down with Kelly. It becomes quickly clear that innovation isn’t a nebulous c...
Apr 20, 2021•44 min•Season 2Ep. 4
Unlocking the value in a heritage brand requires vision and a very particular skill set that balances business acumen and branding skill. Every business has a different history. In 2014 Amy Risley discovered Skinfix, nurturing the business into a brand purpose-built for this moment. Kelly talks with Amy about taking a 160-year-old heritage formula for treating eczema and turning it into an innovative and relevant brand. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more ab...
Apr 06, 2021•38 min•Season 2Ep. 3
Today’s venture backed startup landscape has raised the bar for what it takes to compete, much less succeed. Many brands today focus on valuations, the size of fundraising rounds, top line numbers and their exit plan - and that’s one path. Others remain self-funded and fiercely independent defining success on their own terms. In this paradigm success is not based on size but the ability to execute on your purpose, vision and strategy all while being laser focused on profitability. Clean beauty p...
Mar 23, 2021•49 min•Season 2Ep. 2
Storytelling has been around since the beginning of time. Craft a good story, and people will believe, align, follow and support. In an age of omnichannel brand experiences and digital disruption unlocking story thinking has never been more important, and can create a visceral connection. Christopher Skinner, founder and principal of beauty creative agency School House, has become one of the industry’s must-know names when it comes to building strategies, brand creative, and immersive environmen...
Mar 09, 2021•50 min•Season 2Ep. 1
Brands are no longer in control, consumers are. Technology, social media and the rise of influencer marketing changed the business of public relations forever. The one-way communication funnel of traditional PR that carefully placed and controlled the message of clients evolved into the dissemination of information in real-time and brands having actual conversations with their audiences. Kelly talks with Susan Woods, Principal and Founder Woods & Co., about how she has flawlessly navigated t...
Dec 14, 2020•42 min•Season 1Ep. 21
While the barrier to launch a beauty brand has never been lower, the landscape has never been more complicated, more competitive, and takes far more money than it ever has. Kelly talks with the founder and CEO of Kreyol Essence. A poster child for indie beauty, Yve-Car shares insights on achieving $1 million of seed funding, a slew of press coverage and editorial awards, becoming part of the Sephora accelerator, and how a deal with Mr. Wonderful on Shark Tank saved the company from the brink of ...
Dec 07, 2020•46 min•Season 1Ep. 22
Launch, scale, exit, repeat. Divya Gugnani the CEO and Co-Founder of Wander Beauty has nailed that formula, but in today's hyper-competitive landscape resonating with consumers has never been more difficult. It requires both creative and analytical thinking and a lot of determination. Kelly Kovack talks with Divya about how building a brand that scales is one thing, but building a brand that consumers love is something entirely different. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adch...
Nov 30, 2020•53 min•Season 1Ep. 20
Business can be used as a force for good, and a new generation of brands are shifting the corporate paradigm focusing on the triple bottom line - profit, people and the planet. The word KAIBAE means “Hello, how are you? Are you well?” in Kusaal the spoken language of the baobab harvesting communities in Ghana. The Kaibae brand was born out of the love of a tree and a google search that brought a Naturopathic Doctor, a Botanist Humanitarian and a curator together. Kelly Kovack talks with Dr. Luc ...
Nov 17, 2020•46 min•Season 1Ep. 19
Brands built by creative minds with a clear vision informed by a personal journey are always the most interesting. Peeling back the layers reveals a brand that represents the sum of its parts that lays the foundation for nuanced storytelling and dimensions of discovery is hard to replicate. Kelly Kovack talks with Francisco Costa, founder of Costa Brazil, who has built such a brand. From the name to the packaging and from the formulations to the supply chain, the vision is uniquely tied to Franc...
Oct 30, 2020•56 min•Season 1Ep. 18
Founders find success and build businesses at the intersection of the skill sets needed for leveraging the discipline and process of big business to add structure to the passion and vision necessary to fuel a startup. Kelly Kovack talks with one of those people, Alicia Yoon the Founder and CEO of Peach and Lily, who grew up seeing success was possible following either path and has built a business at the intersection of both defining the K-beauty opportunity by translating it for the US market. ...
Oct 22, 2020•55 min•Season 1Ep. 17
A behind-the-scenes trend has emerged in beauty and wellness: brand incubators. These turnkey operations are uniquely equipped with the infrastructure and know how to fast track made-for-retail lines often done in collaboration with an influencer or entrepreneurial celebrity. For big box retailers, their beauty aisles have been reinvigorated with brands that are not only relevant but exclusive. Kelly talks with Scott Oshry, Chief Marketing Officer at Maesa, about how his team are pioneers of the...
Oct 14, 2020•51 min•Season 1Ep. 16
There are some brands that are built punching above their weight class. Success is not always based on size but the ability to execute on your purpose, your vision, your strategy and being profitable. Kelly talks with Matthew Malin and Andrew Goetz, partners in life and founders of (Malin + Goetz) who set out 16 years ago to create a modern apothecary and build a brand that would last with range of efficacious products, iconic packaging, and a store around the corner from their Chelsea apartment...
Oct 07, 2020•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 15
Startup life is not for everyone but those who are bitten by the bug are often ready, willing and able to jump into exciting opportunities with both feet. Kelly talks with Katie Hunt, Co-Founder and Chief Revenue Officer at Showfields and a Co-Founder of the community-based VC called The Fund. Clearly an over-achiever, Katie has set out to reinvent retail, building the most interesting store in the world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad cho...
Sep 28, 2020•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 14
Turning around a heritage brand is an art form that requires patience and vision. Charles Denton the Chairman and CEO of Erno Laszlo is a heritage brand whisperer who will immediately deflect his success at Molton Brown and Erno Laszlo by crediting his team. That is true leadership. Charles talks with Kelly Kovack about how the secret to success and longevity often lies in the culture that is created and the people that buy into the vision with the same passion as the founder or CEO. This shared...
Sep 21, 2020•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 13
Culture, disruption and community done right can result in dynamic brands that stand for more than the products they sell. The secret sauce is very often a larger than life, dynamic founder like Craig Dubitsky, the founder of Hello and Colgate Chief Innovation Strategist. Kelly Kovack talks with Craig, a visionary marketer and one of the most positive, generous people you'll meet. He is skilled in identifying white space and cracking open the opportunity by building brands that defy convention a...
Sep 14, 2020•1 hr 13 min•Season 1Ep. 12
Wellness has become a dominant lifestyle value that is profoundly changing consumer behavior, evolving categories and markets and mainstreaming concepts, modalities and products that were once considered fringe. Michael Lahm, COO of TLee spas, talks with Kelly Kovack about conceiving and implementing new spa and wellness experiences from concept through completion. After all the spa industry has been preaching beauty from the inside out for decades. We have seen a dramatic increase as consumers ...
Aug 31, 2020•56 min•Season 1Ep. 11
Developing a distribution strategy with the right partners at the right cadence while achieving growth and profitability is an art form. David Pirrotta (CEO of David Pirrotta Brands and Materiae) is the secret weapon for indie brands carving out their place in the hyper-competitive beauty category. Every brand has a story to tell and needs someone like David to help tell that story to the retailers and customers who need to hear it, leaving them wanting to learn (and buy) more. David sits down w...
Aug 24, 2020•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 10
