00:00it's so amazing to see how many of us there are out there because at times you start to feel like
00:13you're the only one and so I think it's so important that we not only meet and know that
00:19each other is out there but that we keep in touch and that we support each other because we need it
00:24so many of us know each other from over the years we've grown together we've learned from
00:29each other there's at least one person here that was my boss so being together today is significant
00:36it's meaningful and it feels like you're coming home to to family I love that essence is doing
00:42this and pulling all of us together one it gives us the power and togetherness and it shows young
00:48girls what is possible because we want there to be more of us a lot of times you hear well we can't
00:54find you know talented african-american women in corporate America well I just met like 16 of
01:00them so I think as companies we just need to try a little harder and really make sure that once we
01:05identify them that they come into our organizations and we support them and we give them the right
01:09opportunity so they can grow and thrive to really see how we're all moving and grooving and advancing
01:15in our own ways and in our all of our different companies I mean we're competitors but we're also
01:20sisters so that's a really wonderful place to be in terms of diversity and inclusion and beauty today
01:28it's so critical to increase the awareness in our communities of the various career paths within beauty
01:37because so often I think that high school girls and our college girls they're just not aware of the
01:45careers within beauty we don't have a universe where we're all together it just it doesn't exist unless
01:52someone has the fortitude and the thought to say I want to create this so I am here with women who I call my
02:00sisters women that I just met today who I will call sisters as a black woman growing up I had to discover how to
02:07embrace my beauty and appreciate the uniqueness of my beauty and the uniqueness of beauty really for all women
02:14so in my role I'm excited that I can bring that perspective and help other women embrace their
02:22authentic beauty there's a quote you can't have a growth strategy today without having a multicultural
02:27strategy and who better than black women to leave that because we're passionate we're empathetic we are
02:33smart we know what's hot and so who better to do that than black women sometimes often when we're speaking to
02:40african-american women we think the only difference is their skin is brown versus general market and
02:46there are so many different nuances so many different things and it's important for me that we bring that
02:52through not only in the products that we create but also the marketing that we do black is hot right now
02:58everyone wants a piece of black women so it is the onus on us to make sure that we are forcing those
03:06uncomfortable moments to make sure that we're not being exploited we're not being um you know taken
03:12advantage of to know that we're leading that conversation means a lot because you know someone
03:17else was leading the conversation for so long it's amazing to be able to have a voice and a seat at the
03:22table and in so many instances here today people are creating their own tables and their own seats so
03:27it's a proud moment for sure my job not only is to do my day job but to open the doors for other women
03:35to come behind us um to show them that there are other avenues and to be a voice in the room so
03:41it's multi-pronged and multi-faceted as you know we're we're constantly doing more than one job but
03:46it's really just to inspire the next generation i think for me it's about how do i provide a pathway
03:52how am i a gateway how am i here to bring someone along to support them i think that it's so important
03:59that you can see a familiar face and even when i walked in today it's like the energy we're here
04:05we're supporting each other black women are massive consumers of beauty and often over index actually
04:12versus their other counterparts demographically in certain categories so it's critically important
04:17that we have a seat at the table and are really helping to address their needs from the inside as it
04:23were i can be in a position to show other african-american women or women of color anywhere
04:28that yes we know about being lawyers and doctors when we're young but we don't really know about
04:32you know the fact that you can lead a brand or be part of a brand that you use every day to make
04:37yourself feel special at the end of the day i don't know if we can truly always rely on people who don't
04:43look like us to always have our best interests at heart so i think it's important for us to be in those
04:47positions who knows us better than us so it's really important and i'm i'm blessed to be one of those
04:52that's paving the way
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