- 13 hours ago
During Beauty Con, President & CEO of Essence Ventures, Caroline Wanga, sits down with actress and singer, Kelly Rowland to talk about what's in her beauty diary.
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00:00Oh
00:30Go, go, go, go.
01:00Go, go, go.
01:30Here to close this out with our final conversation, please welcome back Essence Ventures President and CEO, Carolyn Wanga.
01:39Hey, BeautyCon, how you doing?
01:50Yeah?
01:51It's good to see y'all.
01:52Thank you for the last two days.
01:54I'm not going to waste your time because I know you ain't here to see me.
01:57You're here to see probably one of my favorite people in the entertainment world.
02:04And the reason why she's one of my favorite people is because she is who she is, unapologetically, but with kindness and compassion.
02:13And so who's about to join me, right, is somebody who, first of all, you know, as black women, I'm just going to talk about black women for one second, we often spend a lot of time admiring people but don't necessarily give them their flowers when we see them.
02:31The first thing I'm going to say is, I'm a fan of Kelly Rowland.
02:37I'm inspired by Kelly Rowland.
02:39I want to be Kelly Rowland when she grows up.
02:43Now let me get back to the notes.
02:45But every time she posts a pic, releases a song, walks a red carpet, you fall in love with her over again.
02:56She can do anything and everything.
03:00She's a singer, an actress, a founding member of the Grammy Award winning recording, record breaking girl duo Destiny's Child.
03:09Google it, Gen Z.
03:10It was a great thing.
03:15And today, we are excited to have with us, the one and only Kelly Rowland!
03:40Hello, hello, hello, everyone.
03:43She said hi.
03:45How are we doing?
03:47Can I get a little bit more volume on this mic so we can, yes, right.
03:52Yes, can we please get volume?
03:54There we go.
03:55It is so wonderful to be here with you.
03:57Yes!
03:57To be with all of you this afternoon.
04:00Is it after?
04:00I don't know what time it is, y'all.
04:02I'm very sorry.
04:03But yeah, it's great.
04:04I'm so happy to be here.
04:05I'm so, like, I just, from a sister to another sister, welcome.
04:10Welcome to our house.
04:12Welcome to our home.
04:13If I had some slippers, I'd let you take your heels off.
04:16Oh, I love that.
04:17And just walk.
04:20And I'm glad that you guys are taking video, but I hopefully ask that your ears are open
04:24too, because we're about to do some learning, right?
04:27From a woman who has had experiences that may blow our minds, but experiences that teach us
04:33how to be human.
04:34Should we jump in?
04:35Let's jump in.
04:36Let's jump in.
04:36Yes.
04:37So, my opening question to anybody I've had a conversation with at BeautyCon has been,
04:43what has been your relationship with beauty?
04:46Mine was rough to begin with, because I didn't see a lot of me in what was perpetuated.
04:51What's been your relationship with beauty?
04:53That's definitely been a part of my journey and my relationship with beauty.
04:58I know for me, like, two women who I thought looked like me when I was a kid was Brown,
05:05which was Janet Jackson, Whitney Houston.
05:09Wow.
05:09It was also one of the dancers from Janet Jackson's team, Josie, Josie.
05:14Okay.
05:15Yes.
05:15And I remember her dimples.
05:17I just remember, it's certain women, but it's like, not seeing enough of myself really
05:22bothered me.
05:24Yeah.
05:24You know what I mean?
05:25And especially when you're looking at magazine covers that are like, this is what beauty
05:29looks like.
05:30I'm like, I don't see where, we don't fit into that.
05:35And I'm just, that really kind of upset me as a kid.
05:38Yeah.
05:38It actually really pissed me off, to be honest.
05:41Yeah.
05:41I mean, same here.
05:43It was really tough.
05:44Really tough, I will definitely say, because I wanted to see myself reflected in the world
05:48more.
05:49Yeah.
05:49How did you reconcile that?
05:51Because I know for me, I was just like, I'm just going to be a unicorn outside on Tool
05:54on a Tuesday and y'all could just like it or not.
05:57But what did your resolution of that look like?
05:59Or have you resolved it yet?
06:00Or are you still in the midst of it?
06:02I say I'm still in the midst of it as well.
06:04That's fair.
06:04I think that we constantly are.
06:06I think that we're constantly starting new things, feeling even more comfortable in
06:12our skin.
06:13And like, I just, I'm in this space where I'm like, what can't I do?
06:17See.
06:18I can, I can't.
06:19See.
06:19If I try it and it works, great.
06:21If I try it and it doesn't work, eh, great.
06:24But at least I tried it.
06:25Yeah.
06:25You know what I mean?
06:26I feel like if you don't try, you've already failed.
06:27So I just like to see what happens.
06:30Like with beauty, with fashion.
06:32I used to have this thing about even like red lipstick.
06:35I'm like, well.
06:36Say more.
06:36Say more.
06:36Really?
06:37Yeah.
06:37I used to think that like red lipstick wasn't for a brown girl.
06:41And next thing I knew, somebody said, oh, you have to get one with this black background
06:46and blue needs to be a part of the red lip.
06:48And I said, okay, I'm doing blue.
06:50I'm doing red.
06:51I'm doing green.
06:52Like I just started having fun with beauty without letting the world tell me what I needed
06:57to do.
06:58I love that.
06:58That was my issue too.
07:00It was so many different magazines saying, this is what you should do.
07:04No, let me try this out by myself and see what works for me and what doesn't.
07:08You can give a suggestion of what you think I should do, but I'm going to say what I should
07:13and should not do and see if it works.
07:15And that's part of how we're reviving BeautyCon, right?
07:17Like the brands can exist, but you can do something on top of the beauty we already are
07:21versus telling us you're going to build our beauty.
07:23It's fascinating you said red lipstick because being a dark girl, I didn't, I didn't like
07:27red lipstick is the devil.
07:29No, that's, but that's.
07:30Like literally, I'd be like, what?
07:32Yes.
07:33That's what we were told though, because we didn't see it enough.
07:36And if I did see it on Iman, I remember thinking like, gosh, only she can do it.
07:41Yeah.
07:41You know what I mean?
07:42It was an exception.
07:43It was like an exception.
07:44And so the first time this makeup artist tried it on me, I was like, take it off.
07:48Please take it off.
07:49And he's like, why honey?
07:51This looks so great.
07:52And it has blue undertones and this and that.
07:54So he taught me about all these different colors.
07:57As God rest his soul, Eric Farrell, he was such a brilliant makeup artist.
08:01And he taught me about colors and colors on chocolate skin and how they pop and gem tones.
08:07And so I'm so grateful to him for teaching me about that and showing me about that.
08:13So dark girls reconcile your relationship with red lipstick.
08:16That's right.
08:16Every lipstick.
08:17It loves you.
08:18Every lipstick.
08:18By the way, Alex Navarro did this red lip and we actually had this conversation where
08:22we said this is the only second time he's ever done a red lip on me since we've been here.
08:25So clearly I still got some trauma.
08:27Well, then you better wear that red lip every day.
08:30So let's go to the next thing, right?
08:32Because I think that one of my favorite songs from you, and I have several, is Crown.
08:38Yes.
08:39Right?
08:39Yes, yes, yes.
08:41And I remember I was given a Crown Award last year.
08:44And when I posted about it, that was the song that I used because that song has been a mantra for my hair journey.
08:50Wow.
08:51Has it really?
08:52Yes, like I worked in corporate America for so long and had every hairstyle but locks because
08:57somebody told me I can't do it.
08:58And when I changed it, I thought I was going to get fired for changing my hair.
09:03And so that song became the mantra of my courageous decision to rock it anyway.
09:09Wow.
09:10Right?
09:10Yeah.
09:10But we also don't talk enough about hair in the conversation about beauty.
09:14We don't.
09:15So what was that song about and what is hair care to you?
09:18What does that mean to you in the context of beauty?
09:20I mean, as far as hair care is concerned for me, you got to remember, Tina was the one I grew up with.
09:28Do y'all know who Tina, what Tina she's with?
09:30Tina knows.
09:31Just checking.
09:32Absolutely.
09:34You know, I was raised in a hair salon with her.
09:37I saw so many different beautiful brown women coming into this hair salon, rocking different hair colors and textures and this and that.
09:47And they made me feel like hairstyles was like limitless.
09:52You know, like I could do anything.
09:54Like I remember Tina cut my hair and I was like, ooh, she's flosh.
09:58Ooh, keep this short haircut.
09:59Then it was okay.
10:01I had the little like red hair with the flips.
10:03That was definitely a phase.
10:04Oh, I remember that.
10:05I love that look.
10:06Oh, I love that too.
10:07I tried, but it didn't work on me.
10:09But I'm just, I'm trying to cut me a new one, a wig that looks like that.
10:14So y'all might see that pop up.
10:15Don't order one for your girl.
10:16I'll send you via demo.
10:17I feel like my hair journey was fun because Tina made it fun for me.
10:23And she made it feel like, no, she's like, you can do whatever you want.
10:27She was like, now you're like in this different space.
10:30As an artist, you can be creative.
10:32Like have fun with your hair.
10:33And that's exactly what I did.
10:35Yeah.
10:36Yeah.
10:36Do you feel there's consequence for having fun with your hair in your industry?
10:40I think that sometimes, you know, it's a lot of people who have something to say.
10:43I don't really care about what they say anymore.
10:45Can you say that again for the people in the back?
10:47I don't really give a, about what anybody says.
10:52I have a good time with hair.
10:53And I'm sorry, you asked me about Crown.
10:55Crown actually came around through another brand, actually through Dove.
10:58And I remember we did the song, but I had this conversation with those young girls in the Crown video.
11:05And each of them had their own personal story of their hair journey and what that was like
11:10from being called different names at school.
11:12And there were different racial backgrounds of these young ladies.
11:15And I loved that the most because they were so open about their story and so young to be so bold to talk about their story.
11:23And it made me so proud to be a part of that campaign.
11:25So I'm grateful when brands do that too.
11:28Yes.
11:28It's so important because young girls need to see themselves reflected and their stories reflected so that they know they're not the only ones going through that.
11:35And I also think we don't talk enough about what is the mental health consequence of brands pushing an ideal of beauty that's unattainable.
11:43I've said it before.
11:44I think that what's happening with these unattainable manipulated pictures of beauty is creating a health crisis where people are taking their lives because they can't go after it.
11:53And we've got to start saving souls out here.
11:55Amen to that.
11:56Right?
11:56Yes.
11:57Amen to that.
11:58So let's talk about the days where you don't feel beautiful.
12:01Yes.
12:02What do those days look like and how do you work through them?
12:06Okay.
12:07Let's be real.
12:08That's the only thing you're going to get from me.
12:10Amen.
12:10The days I don't feel, as my mama would say, cute, the days I don't feel cute, I have to actually tell myself I do anyway, which is still hard to believe.
12:26You know what I mean?
12:26Because, you know, you'll wake up and, like, I'm like, this eye is swollen.
12:31I swear my eyes aren't symmetrical.
12:32This side of my mouth is doing something.
12:34And I'm like, well, maybe my nose looks different today.
12:36This space in between my nose.
12:38Like, I'm literally telling you what I think in my head.
12:40Yes.
12:40I'm like, the space between my nose and my top lip is just really off today.
12:45Maybe I should get that.
12:46No, girl.
12:47What are you thinking?
12:48Yeah.
12:48You know, I literally do that all the time.
12:50And the truth is, is that I'm sitting there and I'm going, if I pick myself apart, where am I going to end up?
12:57If I pick myself apart, where am I going to end up?
13:01At the bottom.
13:03At the bottom.
13:03So here I am picking myself apart, like, and I'm not going to have anything left.
13:07If I don't have anything left, what do I have to offer myself, my kids, my husband, my business?
13:15Like, I don't have anything to offer.
13:17You know what I mean?
13:18Like, I want to be the best version of myself for my kids first.
13:21Yeah.
13:21And my husband and my home.
13:23And that means the most to me.
13:25So I got to, if I'm starting there, I got to start, I got to go here and not here.
13:31Because there ain't no space to go.
13:32There ain't nowhere to go.
13:33Here's what I love about that answer.
13:34Number one, you say the same things to yourself on the days you don't feel beautiful as the days that you do.
13:41Like, don't stop that inner narrative.
13:43Absolutely.
13:43And the motivation for that 24 hours or whatever you have to make it through is the people who need the you when you feel your best.
13:49Yes.
13:50I absolutely love that message.
13:52And you know what else?
13:53Please share.
13:54Write on your mirror, even the things that you don't believe just yet, write them down.
14:00Like, I do that for Titan.
14:02But I said that I'd start doing it for myself.
14:04And I did, but somebody wiped it off and they were trying to, you know, do their job.
14:09Keep houses clean and whatnot.
14:10Exactly.
14:10Mess up all your affirmations.
14:11But I need this because Tuesday was not a good day for me.
14:15Right.
14:15So I need to make sure that I have to see it.
14:17So with those days that I don't believe it, I can just write it down.
14:20I am great.
14:21Oh, girl, you look good today.
14:22Like, I literally say it as if I'm like the girlfriend in my head.
14:25Yeah.
14:26So I'm just the hype.
14:27I'm the hype woman for myself.
14:29Who else is going to hype you up besides yourself?
14:31I mean, be your own hype person.
14:32Absolutely.
14:33Yeah.
14:35You mentioned you're a mom and your children and your husband, who I'm just a big fan of.
14:41Especially because, first of all, congratulations on your Harlem Fashion Row Award as fashion icon of the year.
14:48Right?
14:50But what does that family life look for you guys?
14:52You talked about you did some writing on the mirror.
14:54Yeah.
14:55Talk to us about a day in Kelly's life.
14:59Let's see.
15:00My, I, I, I, the little one is just waking me up a lot.
15:04So.
15:05How old?
15:05He's like two.
15:06He's two and he's going on three, 33, because you swear he comes in there, mom, mom, mom.
15:13And he's waking me up early.
15:15From there, he says eat.
15:16From eat, it's like, yes, I'm the chef.
15:19I'm a chef.
15:19Yes, you are.
15:20I go make the food and I make the food and then get everything ready with Titan.
15:24I'm trying to teach him responsibility.
15:26Yeah.
15:26I'm trying to get my husband out the door, my kids out the door.
15:29After that, I'm probably on a call.
15:30I've hit gin at probably 6 a.m., 7 a.m.
15:33I'm thinking about the next big thing I want to do.
15:35Like, I kind of, like, knock down all the things that are on my list.
15:38Yeah.
15:39And when I get a break, I breathe.
15:41And I just have a moment to, like, I take a deep breath in and I, like, kind of purse my lips, like, and breathe out slowly.
15:48Got it.
15:48And it really gets me, like, to a nice, calm space.
15:52Okay.
15:53Yeah, to where I still have something to give myself.
15:56I love that.
15:57I'm calm, yeah.
15:57I love that.
15:58I love everything about that.
15:59Let's talk about skin care.
16:01Yes.
16:01Because, you know, being dark girls, skin is part of the journey we have as well.
16:06It is.
16:06Right?
16:07Whether it be our tone.
16:08I remember when I got this job and I was like, I don't think glam people know how to put foundation on a dark girl.
16:13Man.
16:14Like, I have experienced looking like a ghost unintentionally.
16:17Yes.
16:18I've been a ghost.
16:19What else have you been?
16:19I've been a ghost, too.
16:20I've been pink.
16:21Have you been pink?
16:22I've been a slight red.
16:23Oh, I've been green.
16:26Green?
16:26How did I pull off green?
16:27I have no idea, but if one would know the colors and foundations, you would know that I'm not yellow, I'm not pink, I'm not green.
16:34I am who I am.
16:35Yes.
16:35And I need you to understand that that foundation does not match this right here.
16:40So, it's really important to me, like, when makeup artists, whether it's for fashion shows or just period.
16:46They're working at beauty counters.
16:48Know your colors for your clients.
16:51Yeah.
16:51Like, it really makes you unstoppable.
16:53Yeah.
16:53And as a woman, I feel like you're to know your skin color, too, because you don't want them problems.
16:58Yeah.
16:59You've got a lot of different things going on in your life.
17:02What's something coming up that you're excited about?
17:05Oh, one thing I'm excited about I can't even discuss because of the SAG after rule.
17:11There's a thing coming she's excited about.
17:14Yeah, but I'm really excited about that.
17:16I can't talk about it yet, but I do want to talk to you about it in particular.
17:20So, when it does come up, we need to do that together.
17:24No Ted Duck.
17:24Absolutely.
17:25You'll hear it through us.
17:28Plug.
17:31Kelly, there is an audience here that are everything from beauty influencers to brands to fans of beauty to fans of you.
17:40I know I struggle with the word role model being put on my shoulders when I didn't get to decide.
17:46What's your relationship with the fact that a room is this full and want to see you and your obligation to be a role model to them?
17:55Like, how do you think about that?
17:56Because you are loved, love.
17:58Oh, thank you.
17:59You are loved.
18:00Thank you so much.
18:01You are loved.
18:03Genuinely loved.
18:05I feel grateful.
18:09It's been 20-something plus years in this industry, and I do not take that for granted.
18:15Wow.
18:16I thank God for every moment.
18:18I thank God for every person who says a comment, who wants to show up at a show, who wants to come here to watch me talk.
18:25Like, you don't take moments like that for granted.
18:28People could be doing whatever it is they want to do, but the fact that you take the time to be in a space with me, I am grateful.
18:36Because you could be anywhere else, and I'm thankful God chose me.
18:39I'm glad you trusted me with the journey for so many years, and there's so much more that we have to do.
18:46There's so much more we have to do.
18:47Well, sis, here's what I would say to you, and I'm going to give you the last word on if there's anything you want to share with this audience that you have to be able to.
18:55But I must do my own moment as a girl that has had her own journey with beauty.
19:00You've always been one of those people that made me believe that my beauty belonged.
19:05The way that you chose to show up in the world, the way that you operate in a confidence, even if it's not what you feel every day,
19:12the unapologetic way that you have owned being Kelly Rowland, has brought me through tough days and great days.
19:20And I admire you and thank you for the daily choices you've made to exist in who you are,
19:26because they helped me on the toughest of days being who I am.
19:31I have to say that to you because it's honest, and I'm not going to not say that to you, right?
19:38I appreciate you.
19:39I'm not going to not say that to you.
19:40Thank you so much.
19:41So, what is something you haven't shared or you want to share with this audience as we get to our last word?
19:50What I will say about the beauty space is that as incredible as it is,
19:56it's also a space where there's so much like everybody like kind of wanting to look like something else.
20:04Yeah.
20:04And I just want to encourage everyone in here that what the canvas that you start with in the morning,
20:11is the most beautiful canvas.
20:14The makeup is just enhancement.
20:16And we're so lucky to be able to have fun with it because that's what we're supposed to do is have fun with it.
20:21But don't let it be something that covers us up.
20:24Let it be something that's like a bonus for what already exists because what already exists is beautiful.
20:29It's only one of you and the world needs to look so beautifully colorful and different.
20:37I always see us as a garden.
20:39Yeah.
20:39Because I know sometimes it's like, oh, well, this rose is way better than a peony.
20:43Like, I think that women as a whole are a garden.
20:48We're so much more beautiful as a garden.
20:50And there's so many different species of flowers.
20:52So shine as the peony or baby's breath or rose or whatever it is that you are.
21:00But know that the uniqueness and the only one of one is just so beautiful.
21:06And I just want to encourage that.
21:09Your canvas to start with is perfect.
21:12You are perfect.
21:13And guess what?
21:14If you don't feel that, you work on it every single day.
21:17I'm working on the things that I know I need to work on every single day.
21:20I just left the most amazing conference with Sarah Jakes Roberts, the Woman Involved Conference.
21:25And it poured into me in such a beautiful way that I feel like it's nothing I can't do.
21:30I feel like when women have each other's backs, we know who we are.
21:34We know what we bring to the table.
21:35I don't have to compare myself to nobody because I am one of one.
21:39Give them the sermon.
21:40And so I feel like it's really important to know what you bring to the table and not shrink for nobody.
21:46Be the best version of yourself that you can possibly be.
21:48Show up for yourself first, not the world.
21:51God bless you all.
21:52Period.
21:53Ladies and gentlemen, daffodils and roses, Miss Kelly Rowland!
21:58God bless you all.
21:59God bless you all.
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22:22God bless you all.
22:23God bless you all.
22:24God bless you all.
22:25God bless you all.
22:26I'll see you next time.
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