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