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00:00hey what's up guys it's Sophia from Girls United and Rochelle today we are more than lucky to sit
00:08down with some amazing pioneers of the beauty space we're going to be talking about how beauty
00:13and beauty entrepreneurship has great opportunity to change the status quo change the things that we
00:19cannot accept and ensure that social change is met and that justice is met for all people across
00:24the world we are so happy to have our amazing panelists we have Sharon from UOMA Beauty hi guys
00:31I'm Sharon from UOMA Beauty we have Lori Harvey who is founder of an up-and-coming skincare line
00:40I'm Lori Harvey and I'm the founder of LH Beauty amazing and lastly we have the amazing Rhianne
00:48who is founder of Blue Blood Beer yeah you heard that right hi ladies so good to see you yeah so
00:58without further ado we would love to hear you guys talk about your business talk about your mission
01:04um you know and tell us really what it's like to be in this beauty space especially during this time
01:10Sharon if you would like to take a lead on that question yes so um I'm the founder of UOMA Beauty
01:16I my background actually I'm gonna I'm a business person I've always come from corporate so I was a
01:21corporate executive what's with you know different multinational brands from L'Oreal to benefit
01:25cosmetics PepsiCo and I just got frustrated with the state of things I felt like one the products in
01:31the market weren't representative of people like me and also inside these organizations and I was always
01:36the only one I was the only person in the entire Asia Pacific region working with LVMH at the time and I
01:42thought that I could do better I wanted to be part of the change I wanted to put my money where my
01:48mouth was and I was so passionate about it so I left to create a home where every single person could
01:53actually feel welcome it was all about inclusivity but true inclusivity it was all about celebration of
01:58yourself your heritage your culture so through my brand I speak to black stories I celebrate marginalized
02:04people I speak to black culture and I just celebrate all around blackness whilst inviting the whole world
02:11to come and join us on this journey and so um I've been passionate about it my whole life and and and uh
02:17for me my whole business was set up and our mission was to create an outspokenly inclusive culture around
02:23beauty and and that's what we're here to do we're here to shake up the system shake the tables a little bit
02:28um and really implement change even beyond product and that's exactly what you're doing uh laura if
02:34you'd like to give us a little bit of insight in the project that you're working on currently so I've
02:39been developing my brand behind the scenes for quite some time now and my mission is just to become a
02:46household brand and to create black owned go-to and must-have beauty essentials for women and men and just to
02:54leave behind a legacy for my children that they can one day take over
03:00hey serene would you like to tell us a little bit about beauty blender sure well I am a professional
03:12makeup artist film and television and club work in LA for over 25 years and I created beauty blender on
03:19set I was the first makeup artist to be department heading uh a show shot in high def called girlfriend
03:25I don't know if you guys remember girlfriend and um so I needed to find a tool that was going to be
03:32able to make the makeups look flawless and natural for the four beautiful women on that show and that's
03:38how beauty blender was made um but you know since then what I've evolved my brand into being is you know
03:44a category creator for tools which is the beauty blender uh but I've also launched into the color
03:50category because I as a woman of color and a makeup artist that um specialized in makeups for actors and
04:00you know celebrities and people of color realized very quickly on that there was just not a lot of
04:06inclusivity in the shade range of makeup that's why I love what Sharon is doing too she's doing such a great
04:12job um we really just needed to have more shade range to cover um not just african-american we have
04:21Latinos we have Asian people there is just such a range of color that was non-existent so that is
04:28what I'm doing and beauty blender works together with my color and it's a perfect uh match made in
04:34heaven and that's what I'm doing and that's what I plan on doing now for the rest of my life probably
04:41I got beauty blender concealer on
04:44yay that's what I need to launch it is so good it's so freaking good
04:49and I have Barbados highlighter on as well for Buma so oh yay
04:55we can't wait to get a care package yay I know right
05:01I'm sending all you ladies a care package so yes yes please and now we need to have Lori's
05:08skin care underneath yeah I know I know you're gonna come through you know give it to us let's
05:13give you some feedback
05:14yes you guys are definitely gonna be in my focus group now for sure exactly I need all
05:22the input I can get exactly exactly use us use us so Rian um can you please talk about
05:30the need for representation of black and brown women in leadership roles and behind the scenes
05:36why that really matters it really matters because it's very difficult to explain the
05:45importance of nuance to people that have never had to deal with it and um you know that is the
05:51biggest hurdle and especially you know listen we all have the ability to put ourselves in other
05:57people's places but there's nothing like experience so for me I find that there is absolutely no
06:04reason in 2020 that we should be dealing with the upper c-suites and cosmetic companies that don't
06:12have representation of color it's just the smart thing to do to be able to make the right products
06:18the best products and you know it's it just is the best way to run your business I run my business
06:25I'm my business is highly inclusive I have every kind of working for me and you need those perspectives
06:32in order to promote and evolve and innovate so it just makes absolutely no sense to me that we have
06:40you know in 2020 a real problem in this area I mean it really boils down to creativity and expertise
06:48and perspective for me
06:51sorry that's all the amazing work that you've done within that space to create this table where people
07:03can all feel as though they're invited and where beauty is very inclusive and beauty is for everyone
07:08speaking of that Sharon you spoke about shaking up some tables a little bit earlier
07:13you've completely flipped every single table you need to please please tell the people what drove you to
07:23create this idea and what are the changes that you'd like to see from this yes so the pull up or shut up
07:29challenge for those who are not familiar with it was a call to action it was a direct action movement
07:33and the aim for it is to create employment for the black community we know that you know a black people
07:38are way underrepresented in corporate roles only eight percent in in America where we make 13 percent
07:44of the adult population when you move into leadership roles oh my god it's sad 3.2 percent there are 615
07:50billionaires in this country only six of them are black that is less than one percent of the billionaire
07:54population so there is a huge gap and there is a huge problem that people just don't talk about
08:00because it's not it's not in the mainstream and so the pull up or shut up challenge was sending that
08:04conversation to the mainstream out of the industry so consumers can really understand the role they
08:09can also play because companies only understand one thing and that's the dollar sign right and uh
08:13the only way you can make a company evolve is if you threaten that dollar sign that's why we have
08:18cruelty free products now before apparently we had to test them bunnies it was not impossible to do
08:22in vitro tests now nobody tests on animals anymore because the consumers fought so this was a call to
08:27action for consumers that want to highlight the inequality that exists that is you know in it's it's a
08:33conversation in more political circles but not in the mainstream and to make consumers
08:38understand that you have you can make a change you have the power ultimately to decide and the goal
08:44here is for transparency and accountability because we know that immediately that information
08:48is out it puts companies under pressure to actually do better because it's out there
08:53companies in their nature and in their dna are people who want to always overachieve
08:57that's why when the reporter numbers the next day they want to do better right they always want
09:00to be that number so when you put that conversation front and center which this should be because
09:05remember this is a human rights issue and i don't think people understand that that this is not just
09:09some let's drag people on social or whatever these are people literally starving these are people
09:14literally dying these are people literally going to jail so this is not a thing of i feel like i don't
09:20feel like and so it was really a call to action for consumers to get on their phone raise awareness
09:25for it vote with their dollars um and become more conscious with their spending and what companies
09:31are you supporting are you supporting companies who are great at performative activism you know nike
09:35is a classic example black lives matter happens within 48 hours don't do it they release a whole
09:41new commercial la la la la and then we say how many black would you employ they're like crickets
09:45we haven't heard from them for three weeks nothing nada you know so we have to be like conscious
09:50about when they're you know this their corporations are good at it they're good at getting the black
09:54dollar but they're not good at employing black people which really really has to change and this
09:58is the aim of this campaign is to keep this topical keep this front of mind and put the power back where
10:04it belongs which is with the people right you have to vote for your dollars you have to tell the
10:08companies what you want to see and i know we all want to see a fairer world and this is simple so we
10:13take off our brand pages we're protesting digitally we tell them pull up a shut up so it's quite exciting for
10:18some people who enjoy that kind of stuff right um it's very very easy to do but it's bringing real
10:23change i mean in week one of black lives matter what do we see black squares and i'm donating five
10:28hundred dollars to five hundred thousand dollars to nwcp after this movement what have we seen true
10:33commitment to creation of jobs adidas 30 of their jobs they're now saying they will allocate to the
10:38latinx community and the black community we've seen paypal bring 500 million dollars now we're no longer
10:42talking about one million dollars you know we've seen apple release yesterday 100 million dollars so the
10:47pressure is on footlocker 200 million dollars to the black community this is where the attention
10:52needs to be we need to create communities we need to build education we need to build jobs we need to
10:56remove money from law enforcement this is what's going to make a change to the next generation we have to
11:01build a black middle class because that will drive integration and then when white people see us in the
11:06gym they won't call the police you know what i mean because they just know that we do go to the gym
11:10we do live in beverly hills you know and we don't have to be entertainers to do that and that's what this is for
11:15this is this could be the biggest economic shift for the black community in centuries and that's
11:20what i'm fighting for and we have to vote you have to vote is that vote with your dollars vote with your
11:27vote vote with everything that you've got the power is with the people and with this young generation
11:32right now you can make a difference to make sure that the narrative changes in the next generation we
11:38must do that uh 400 years is long enough it's long enough we have to end it and not tomorrow not next
11:45week not next year now like today and that that's the that's a call to action in this movement yeah
11:51sharon i mean what you're doing is incredible um and i'm going to pray for you because if these
11:58pull up on you y'all like look my mom the first week of this thing she was crying she was crying and
12:06that's sad you know because we're always the black community we're always on the threat you know
12:10she goes nobody speaks up and lives they don't live past two years after you speak up i'm like mom
12:15if i speak up and make a change for my generation i only have two years it's worth it no mother wants
12:19to hear that and she's like no it doesn't have to be your problem it can be somebody else's problem
12:23i'm like yo change is gonna come change is gonna come all you need to do is light that fire
12:28and the other people will continue that work and people will do it so you know for me i'm like bring it
12:32bring it you want to bring it like girl you know you can take a girl out of the street but you can't
12:36take street out of the girl so bring it you know so let's do it and listen change is always
12:41uncomfortable if you think about change in your personal life it's never comfortable so i know this
12:47what sharon has done has made people uncomfortable but you need to be uncomfortable this is how change
12:53happens and you do need to get out and vote and voter suppression is real and if you looked at
12:58today's news tina knowles created an amazing letter and she had a bunch of you know really
13:04powerful high profile people sign off on it and that's a start you know what sharon's doing what
13:09you know it's it's everybody's responsibility yeah and so laurie you're entering the beauty space
13:16so what are you most excited about you know what are some challenges that she might have and
13:22what are some things that you've gone through as you know you're entering this space and become and
13:27an entrepreneur i would say i am most excited to just be a 23 year old black woman that has the
13:36opportunity to enter the beauty industry as an owner and has the opportunity to represent my generation
13:43of women in a field that doesn't have a lot of representation at the highest level um and there's
13:51definitely been a lot of challenges and a lot of trial and errors but i've learned a lot from it um
13:59just in formulas and packaging and this innovation like really racking my brain like coming up with the
14:07most creative things that i can think of and just just in the process and um making sure that everything
14:14is executed exactly how i envisioned it and i'm excited that major retailers are being challenged
14:24to acquire more black brands and i think that's very important and i support women like aurora james
14:32who started the 15 pledge for 15 of black brands to occupy 15 shelf space and i think that's huge and it's
14:42amazing and it's a big part but it's not enough and i just hope that my brand can open more doors
14:50for young entrepreneurs like myself to be able to push their vision to its highest potential
14:57and i'm curious what the industry is going to look like post pandemic and how everything's going to operate
15:06because um i definitely don't think there's going to go back to our definition of normal anymore
15:17new normal
15:20hopefully the new normal is better than the old normal and exactly
15:25proactively taking measures to ensure that the new normal is a normal that is livable a normal that is
15:32inclusive of all people and normal that is economically empowering on different communities
15:37so i definitely want everyone on the panel for their involvement and changing the things that they
15:41can accept um with that being said i i just really love the whole aspect of like family-run businesses
15:48and the idea of leaving behind a legacy i know laura that was something that you touched on a little
15:53bit and the vision and the mission for your brand ryanne i follow blender very closely as well as your
15:59daughter and i see all of your innovation that you guys are doing like this mother-daughter duo and i
16:05i really would like to highlight that i don't and it's not really common to see that so how have you
16:12brought beauty blender to me more than just you know economically trained and doing something
16:17stronger for your family well thank you thank you for acknowledging that it's awesome when you can give
16:23birth to the best person to take over your brand um so erica my daughter is a very integral part of my
16:32brand from product development also the face of beauty blender on hsn and qvc she's very integrated
16:40all the marketing all of the product development and you know the back end often part of the business
16:48too which you know i i think for laurie is going to be uh an interesting world to enter you know really
16:55keeping abreast and keeping up with scaling and the business that goes on with that um i own my business
17:05100 i've never had an equity partner i've been a growth lender and just reinvested the brand with
17:12family in mind i want to leave a legacy for my family um i want to have a family business if
17:18anything happens to me i want to make sure they're taken care of um so you know there goes there's
17:23planning that goes into that everything from estate planning to business planning to product planning um
17:29and my daughter is involved in all of that and my husband also is entertainment vet we both over
17:36there's experience in production so he runs my studios where i create content you know content
17:42is king we're constantly creating content so here in hills california studio called good and he runs
17:51that studio for me and for any other entrepreneurs that space um and then my son he you know he works in
17:59the studio too he is now at howard he's studying communications and business so he's a little removed
18:06from it because he's a student but um you know i try my very best to keep as many close family members
18:13around me as possible because i feel like they always tell you the truth they don't lie to you they
18:19don't drink the kool-aid they keep you grounded and you can trust them so for me um it's a really
18:25fundamental part of my business it's it's the way i built my business it's the way i'm growing my business
18:31is with family yeah and laura i know you're also a part of a fabulous mother daughter duo so how has
18:43it been you know creating your line and your support system and having them around you know was that
18:50something that was great like having that as an entrepreneur and going into the space it's the best um
18:59it's kind of like she said your family is definitely going to be honest even when it's
19:03something that you don't want to hear so um there's definitely been times where i've brought something
19:07in you know my siblings my mom been like yeah this sucks and i'm like okay let me go back to the
19:13drawing board then but you need to hear that it's important so um my dad's been super helpful he's just
19:19so hard working and just like his work ethic he doesn't give up and he has a lot of insight he's been
19:24in the business for a long time so he's just like teaching me to internalize certain things and
19:29my mom is actually the one who really got me into skincare because she like has i think probably every
19:35product in the world and i'm really into learning the importance of taking care of your skin at a young
19:41age and just teaching me about what different products work for this and how this works and then so
19:48that's how i kind of got interested into the formulation of everything and um wanting to make
19:54my own products i love how you just lit up like you could just tell that you know the support that
20:05you're having and as you're going through this journey it's almost like you're also along with other
20:13people on this ride i think that's what's so beautiful um and and sharon i know uma how has
20:20that been you know how has your journey been in the support that you've got yeah you know my journey is
20:27quite interesting you know even i remember when i started the business and i was trying to raise money
20:31and a lot of people didn't want to invest in it because i was a solo founder and people don't like
20:36seeing that because especially when you're a solo founder and you're female because they assume that
20:40oh you're going to have a nervous breakdown and you're probably not going to have the support
20:43system to hold you so for me whereas you know i have some of my family members who work in the
20:47business um and and you know we work closer together my family are my rock you know they support me
20:52mentally physically and everything but i'm also a warrior and anybody who knows me i'm a loner um and
20:57it's a complication to people and especially around business structures in that i i'm just a natural
21:02person who i cocoon um in that when i have a problem i literally like cocoon i'm not a uh a really good
21:08sharer it's a it's a one of my just personality flaws or whatever you want to call it and um for
21:14me it's really nice to have my family who understand me always knowing that i may not sit with them to
21:19discuss exactly how i'm feeling but they know how i'm feeling and they just they know how to attack
21:23the situation and come and go hey and you know sometimes something is casual you know like you
21:28know like i mean yesterday they they just you know triggered somebody else to go like you
21:32distract sharon for four hours and get her glam get her hair done you know something like that so and
21:36that's the beauty about family they they sort of know your personality and even when your personality
21:40like myself who i'm not a i'm not a huge i'm not a huge sharer it's it's it's just it's just me i'm
21:45just not a person who discusses my emotions a lot or how i'm feeling i i i process a lot by just cocooning
21:51going inside and internalizing um and and um through my business you know i have a lot of amazing people
21:58around me um but at the same time my business is very very run by by a lot of instincts by a lot of
22:03instincts and i have learned to trust those instincts and know that it's different to a
22:08traditional approach um but elevating everybody around me to challenge me all the time like my
22:12team are vocal like you see how i talk i'm very very blunt i have an entire team of people who are
22:18worse than me so um you know when we walk in and we see they're looking at me i mean my family are
22:22blunt my team are blonde so everybody around me is super blunt um and we're transparent and we're
22:27raw and we're extremely rational because i'm a super rational person but but you find your balance you
22:32find your balance yes yes thank you guys for joining us we've all pulled up now the production
22:39team is up to shut up thank you so much uh thanks to our growth united community share and laurie
22:47again for joining us as well um yeah this was good thank you guys it was such a pleasure thank you guys
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