How to Build A Billion Dollar Beauty

Jamie Kern Lima, the co-founder, and CEO of IT Cosmetics, has been flying excessively currently. Despite being recognized as one of the most powerful women within the enterprise (she changed into these days venerated as certainly one of “Night of the Stars” on the Fashion Group International awards, become named one among Forbes 60 Most Successful Self-Made Women this year, above Taylor Swift and Beyoncé, no less, and is extraordinarily lively in charity work), she knows how to stay grounded.

Kern-Lima’s story is honestly a self-made American dream. While operating as a TV anchor, she had a want—to cowl up her very cussed rosacea—for makeup that would live on in the course of “air-time.” It turned into only nine brief years ago that she commenced her enterprise with an existence-changing concealer, and it’s miles with this one product, you can absolutely say, that she has converted what we now know as “earlier than and after.”

Despite years of countless “no’s” from investors and stores, she was no longer discouraged because, in her intestine, she believed that “the energy of the human beings changed into extra than the human beings in energy.” She becomes able to show herself right when she was given her first 10 minutes of “sure” at QVC, bravely baring her rosacea-susceptible face to show simply how properly her Bye Bye Under Eye Concealer worked. In ten minutes, she offered out 6000 gadgets—and the relaxation is history.

After endless appearances on QVC and winning an array of splendor awards along the way, we fast-forward to 2016 whilst L’Oreal acquired her very young emblem for $1.2 billion. It turned into at this moment that she became the first lady CEO at a greater than a hundred-yr-antique company.

After so many rejections within the starting, what turned into the riding pressure to keep going?

I figured out how to keep my religion bigger than my worry. And I figured out how not to allow listening to ‘no’ and that consistent rejection equates to doubt in my own head. These are the maximum critical motives IT Cosmetics has become the success tale it’s far nowadays! I consider the power of our venture at IT, and I agree with we trade infinite lives each unmarried day. I consider what we’re doing is bigger than ourselves. But none of it ever could have worked if I didn’t maintain my faith larger than my fear!

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From watching you on QVC, you have revolutionized what we realize as “before and after.” Do you remember the pivotal point when you came up with the leap forward idea of displaying your naked rosacea-inclined face?

YES! And Thank you! It changed into approximately being brave and inspiring different women to be brave and convert the way women appear within the reflect! My entire existence, all I remember seeing, are photographs of not possible beauty. Even the maximum aspirational celebrities and fashions are still usually photoshopped in advertisements and commercials.

beauty

So if you’re a real female, how does the product is clearly going to paintings, and additionally, how do you relate to a photograph of splendor that isn’t even real. How is that inspiring or empowering? I take into account after years of hearing ‘no’ from QVC, we finally were given a ‘yes’ and had one hazard to head stay on the air and either succeed and hit the income target or no longer come again.

Literally, the entirety was on the line for my enterprise on the time because we may want to slightly have enough money for the stock of over 6000 devices of our Bye Bye Under Eye concealer that we had to deliver in, to promote in 10 mins. If it didn’t sell, we would retake it all and, in all likelihood, could have long passed out of the commercial enterprise.

In that second, we decided to danger it all and do something that became bigger than ourselves. I requested QVC to reveal my naked face on TV, rosacea and all, and exhibit other ladies with real pores and skin issues and women who represented all ages, pores and skin types, and skin tones. It changed into surely unstable because no brand had ever finished this before.

I cast Helen, who’s now 73, I forged Alicia, who’s African-American with Acne inclined pores and skin and hyperpigmentation, I solid Desiree who has darkish circles regardless of how a whole lot of sleep she receives. We all bare our face – now not simply to expose how amazing our product is and the way it works, but also to encourage other women and allow them to realize that we are all on this together and that EVERY lady is lovely!

I’ll in no way forget when the on-air mild went on, my coronary heart becomes racing, my arms have been shaking, I become praying like crazy, and before I knew it at the 10-minute mark exactly, the “bought out” sign went up! I cried! Because it turned into a second in time when actual girls allow their voices to be heard. Loudly. And the relaxation is history.

Did you ever dream of your agency developing so quickly?

Many manufacturers start by way of getting a sure proper far from retailers and are embraced proper away, and the other befell with IT Cosmetics. We grew from real women spreading the word, posting their own earlier than and after online, and honestly constructing this employer from the floor up! For the primary numerous years, we heard no, non-stop. No from Ulta Beauty, No from Sephora, no from QVC. So in the course of the one’s years, it changed into difficult to imagine sooner or later growing so fast!

But that makes today, having splendid partnerships with all three of them, this kind of blessing that I actually respect. And I’ve found out, each time you’re doing something disruptive, otherwise you’re an ideal leader to your industry, or you’re a true creator or innovator, now not absolutely everyone goes to get IT proper away! And that’s adequate! It method you’re in all likelihood onto something that could be certainly unique and without a doubt powerful!

What do you believe you studied the key issue turned into for you on speedy-song to growth?

First and foremost, having a product that works! One that’s existence-changing. That’s while human beings spread the word and repeat buy! And that’s how to have now not the simplest rapid-tune growth but sustainable increase! It’s easy for a company to have genuinely great advertising that sells a product once and makes it a large hit.

But promoting a product as soon as isn’t how you develop a real emblem that lasts. It’s tough to create products that are life-converting and that customers buy more than once. But being passionate about first-class and earning clients consider and repeat buy is how you create a long-lasting logo.

Where are you getting all your genius product thoughts from? People need to be coming at you all day long, while so you’ve got the time to “think and dream” about your subsequent new product?