Beauty Is Your Business – cosmetics, beauty, and lifestyle industry podcast

059 – Jennifer Goldstein and Jessica Matlin – Beautiful Content and Fat Mascara

September 14, 2018producer Leave a Comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 46:43 — 54.1MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | Google Podcasts | RSS

An in-depth discussion about the ways that content and media shape our understanding of emerging beauty companies and trends, through the lens of two beauty directors…

Jennifer Goldstein (Beauty Director and Features Editor, Marie Claire; Host of Fat Mascara Podcast) and Jessica Matlin (Beauty Director, Harper’s Bazaar; Host of Fat Mascara Podcast) join “Beauty Is Your Business” hosts Karen Moon (CEO and Co-Founder of Trendalytics) and Abby Wallach (Co-CEO and Co-Founder of Scentinvent Technologies), along with Content Is Your Business host Amber Mundinger (SVP, Live Media & Strategic Partnerships, Rolling Stone Magazine) as part of a MouthMedia Network Live event recorded in front of a live audience at Experience Knotel.

The interactive space ia located in the heart of Noho in New York City (666 Broadway) and designed to showcase the experience of working in a flexible, adaptable, always energized environment. Sponsored by Knotel – Your agile business deserves an agile space. Knotel will find, customize, and operate your ideal office while you focus on your business. Discover more at www.knotel.com.

In this episode:

There’s something lush about a print ad
How the “Fat Mascara” podcast got started, telling more of the story than print or digital publications will do
Picking shea nuts in Ghana, Goldstein and Matlin meeting each other
Knowing the difference between editorial content or branded content, and being clear
The use of “Presented by…” and what consumers and readers are used to seeing now
Who does native content well, smart content
Consumers are smarter, writers need to tell stories very well
New rules are changing things, how readers can tell the difference
The need for education for the consumer
Fact-checking
A higher standard to abide by
Can’t promote things that aren’t science as a writer
The era of “fake news”
A recent scandal – influencers are paid to speak negatively about other brands, and one who is reported to have said she won’t speak negatively if she is paid by that brand
Mistrust of media and journalism
A code of ethics
Is there really no bad press?
The call for a governing body for influencers?
Social media’s Achilles heel for accuracy and truthfulness and abuse
Scotland, a good lip product, hair like you got off a motorcycle, algae and seaweed forests, a perfume school wish, a migraine, partnership give and take and the rhythm of constant communication

058 – Wendy Gottfried – Beauty Is Like Candy

August 31, 2018producer Leave a Comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 42:03 — 49.8MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | Google Podcasts | RSS

Trends and forward thinking in the beauty industry, with Wendy Gottfried…

Wendy Gottfried , Beauty and Fashion Consultant, joins Abby Wallach and guest host April Franzino (Good Housekeeping – Episode 29) in the MouthMedia Network studios powered by Sennheiser.

In this episode:

How the proliferation of brands is enormous
What is being seen out there exciting, the impact of what as surprised and delighted consumer
Trends in beauty are now changing seasonally
Looking at difference and value prop in beauty brands, whether is it a lifestyle
Wellness and nutrition are playing big parts, along with clean beauty – these categories are taking off!
No clear definition of clean beauty
Experiences are bringing people into the physical store
Subscription boxes allowing exploration, but lead to brick and mortar visits
How the sampling process has changed, more targeted
Old time candies, like a beauty store and how you merchandise
Personalization wins over the customer
Some major brands are creating niche fragrance brands to get into a new category
There is room for large players because they drive so many trends
Made in USA
Brands pivoting, reacting more quickly to launch new lines with speed
When brands fill perceived voids
Segmenting business are part of what make brands successful
Effectiveness of celebrity and influencers in the beauty business, and the importance of POV
The business of empowering people, and being authentic

057 – Annette Rodrigeuz of Warburg Pincus – Investing in Beauty

August 24, 2018producer Leave a Comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 49:29 — 56.8MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | Google Podcasts | RSS

Global growth equity investing in the beauty sector…

Annette Rodriguez, managing director at Warburg Pincus (a leading global private equity firm focused on thesis-driven growth investing at scale) joins Karen Moon, Regina Gwynn, and guest host Kelly Kovack of BeautyMatter (Episode 24) in the MouthMedia Network studios powered by Sennheiser.

In this episode:

The investing landscape in beauty, where one fits into the ecosystem
Warburg Pincus as a global growth equity firm, across life cycle, size, stage
Growth equity at scale
A lot of money going into more tech enabled beauty businesses
The need to spend time finding the right partner, mutual respect and trust
Defining what you’re looking for
Investing in a whole company not just a product
Considering who is the team you’ve built around you
Building a platform
Have your story really straight, the big picture
Rodriguez’s career progression, why become an investor, got lucky and fell into it
Challenges/opportunities as a woman investor, more of a recruiting challenge

Rodriguez is based in New York, joined Warburg Pincus in 2008, and focuses on investments in the consumer sector. Ms. Rodriguez works closely with and serves on the boards of Gabe’s, a leading off-price retailer in the mid-Atlantic; Glansaol, a global beauty and personal care company launched in partnership with Warburg Pincus; and Outset Medical, a pioneering medical technology company. She is also a board member of New York Professional Advisors for Community Entrepreneurs (NYPACE), a non-profit consulting organization assisting entrepreneurs from under-resourced communities. Ms. Rodriguez previously served on the boards of TriMark, the #1 distributor of foodservice equipment and supplies in North America, and Wencor Group, a leading designer, repair provider and distributor of aftermarket aerospace components. She was involved in the firm’s former investments in Neiman Marcus and Scotsman Industries. Prior to joining Warburg Pincus, Ms. Rodriguez worked at JPMorgan Partners (nka CCMP Capital), the private equity arm of J.P. Morgan, as a Generalist. She received a B.S. magna cum laude in economics with concentrations in finance and accounting from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and an M.B.A. with distinction from Harvard Business School.

056 – Nu Dao of Skin Allies – Clean Beauty, Dermatology, Technology

August 17, 2018producer Leave a Comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 47:58 — 55.0MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | Google Podcasts | RSS

One-stop shop for discovering clean, high-quality skincare products that work best for your skin, tailored for you by world-class dermatologists and estheticians, with Nu Dao of Skin Allies…

Nu Dao, Founder/CEO of Skin Allies, addressing the universal friction in the modern skincare, joins Karen Moon, Regina Gwynn, and guesthouse Kelly Kovack in the MouthMedia Network studios powered by Sennheiser.

In this episode:

Augmenting data-driven recommendations with dermatologist input, personalization with service
Like a three-sided marketplace
Vetting emerging beauty brands, high quality and clean products
Working with experts including dermatologists and estheticians,
Helping experts do their jobs better providing pre-vetted products
The right ingredients to treat certain skin conditions
Content pieces interesting, Glossier, creating community based on content, product development
Most people don’t know how to take care of their skin properly
Consumers inundated with misinformation, most pople don’t have resources to consult with pros on a regular basis
How branded content fits in from ecommerce standpoint
A cool bra startup, merchandising on steroids, used data for bras merchandising, and difficulty forecasting due to holding of inventory
Being not a subscription box
Getting hit with so much info from potential investors, team, partners, customers, synthezising all of that and going into a fundraising meeting and confidently pitching is difficult
The on-demand trend
Investors should come to the table with more than money
Opportunities for experts to be influencers and thought leaders
What’s in a gender-based name?

055 – Caroline Fabrigas of Scent Marketing Inc – Boundless Beauty Possibilities

August 10, 2018producer Leave a Comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 40:13 — 47.7MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | Google Podcasts | RSS

Getting attention and growing brands, a fresh idea of fragrance, why sensing a brand matters, how audiences can grow organically, and a case study of going to market in a huge retailer…

Caroline Fabrigas, CEO of Scent Marketing Inc. & Co-founder Scent Invent Technology, and an entrepreneur dedicated to empowering brands, joins Abby Wallach in theMouthMedia Network studios powered by Sennheiser.

In this episode:

Fabrigas as Wallach’s partner in business
Being an innovator, executive, and entrepreneur in the beauty industry
On the beauty skincare front
How there has never been more boundless possibilities in beauty
Ingredients that couldn’t have existed before
Holographic formulas
The merging of categories, hybridization
Packaging and how products being delivered, looking for multipurpose
Retail experience
Can a business not be global and do well?
Helping big brands to be successful is important for the business, while augmenting what they are doing with new technology and categories
Skincare is having a moment, driven by the “natural” trend
The conversation of “what is natural” is new
Things that are special drive consumer wants more, what’s reliable, but moments and experiences are huge as well
Helping spearhead behind the scenes, Scent Marketing Inc., which Fabrigas inherited from her late husband, scent branding, signature scents for brands, created loyalty, and emotional attachment to hotel or retail store
Transformative products
A case study often opportunity to help co-create the brand Farmacy, and bring to Sephora
The world is moving in direction of organic eating, understanding the origin of food, and “all natural”
With that mandate, if the world needed a skincare brand in the natural realm, what would resonate
Farm fresh, hand picked
Partnering with Sephora from the beginning, partnering on a routine basis, going from idea to venture
How the key was identifying a whites pace, a patented ingredient to tell the tale
Moving fast, looking for innovative forms, and a presentation that had an emotional connection
Creating a winning business model, and being conscious of it at every step, focus groups and feedback, adjusting
Launching in 143 doors, and moving toward success

054 – Gail Sagel of Faces Beautiful – The Beauty of Building Beauty

August 4, 2018producer Leave a Comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 38:20 — 44.0MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | Google Podcasts | RSS

How a tragic accident inspired Gail Sagel to make a move from Wall Street to a new brand, Amazon Beauty, a magnetic makeup organizer and accessory, and an innovative beauty concept store combining beauty services and upscale retail cosmetics…

Gail Sagel, Founder/CEO of FACES Beautiful (focused on making women’s lives and beauty routines more convenient and creating beauty products that solve problems for women, products that simplify life and are healthy) and Creator of Face in a Case (an answer to a woman’s need for organization and is formulated with carefully chosen, healthy vegan ingredients), joins Karen Moon and Regina Gwynn in the MouthMedia Network studios powered by Sennheiser.

In this episode:

How Sagel started on Wall Street, and found it was not her calling
When she was hit by a car riding her bike home, and it became an “ah-ha moment”, realized how unhappy she was
Watching Natalie Wood movie and being compared to Natalie Wood, leading to dying her hair , had to change colors, discovered difficulty finding the right cosmetics
How Sagel got a job freelancing for Laura Mercier
When and why she launched FACES Beautiful
How she had to procure other lines
Originally built on a range of other products
Pre-ecommerce and website selling
Focuson beauty that mattered to the consumers, mix services and retail (hair, color/cuts, aesthetic, facials, makeup, eyebrow services)
The origins of Face in a Case
One retail location that had these services and sold 60 different brands, then a recession came, no online store yet in 2009, decided she needed to create her own brand to have her company surprise
Apples every day
As an artist you always are refining, so prototype took a long time
How the manufacturer took a while too, put first one together herself, then after prototype undertook process for protection of IP name, process, utility purpose of magnetic makeup case that functions as a wallet
The process of getting on and optimizing Amazon
Considerations when hiring someone to represent you
Amazon has own search engine, and the power of so many consumer products searches
Amazon live shows like QVC, but on the web only
Collaborations with designers, influencers
Dreaming of a partnership with Kylie Jenner
A white space that can be explosive
Best Maryland crabcakes at Kocos Greek dive pub
Keeping an ear tuned to what’s new in technology

053 – Marta Wohrle of Truth in Aging – Aging Gracefully Through Science, Art, Innovation

July 26, 2018producer Leave a Comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 54:41 — 63.2MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | Google Podcasts | RSS

Natural anti aging skin care for women…

Marta Wohrle, Founder of Truth In Aging (an online forum where she and her team of consumer journalists offer truth and unbiased guidance to people seeing to improve their physical health and appearance through skincare, hair care, health and beauty products, and beauty and health tips on how to age beautifully, gracefully and truthfully) joins Abby Wallach in the MouthMedia Network studios powered by Sennheiser.

Support for today’s episode comes from luxury footwear brand Tamara Mellon. Visit tamaramellon.com today to receive a $100 gift toward your first order using code BIYB!

In this episode:

Marta Wohrle on exciting information from the world of skincare and what you’re seeing in content world of anti aging
Coming at it from a digital business perspective, how it lowers barriers to entry, getting in front of consumers in a way that wasn’t previously possible
Many indy brands are doing exciting innovation and small players are coming out of medical innovation
Microchondrion (energy inside cells) is one of keys to anti aging, how a company developed molecule that can target microchondrion, and put that power in skin care products
Anti-aging – how get ingredients where they need to go
Cosmetic Industry Research Board vs. Environmental Working Group
Skin-care ingredients, expectations have changed
Community of women all over the country who look for guidance and information
Why Truth in Aging always carefully checks things
Truth in Aging has been around a decade
Touching and sensory experiences are important
Considerations of purchases, especially what penetrates the skin
What is increasing conversation and average order value on a website

052 – Bobbi Brown – Makeup Mogul, Motivator, Mother

July 13, 2018producer Leave a Comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 47:00 — 56.2MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | Google Podcasts | RSS

Starting, growing, and succeeding with a lifestyle brand…

Photo Credit – Martin Lee Studio

Bobbi Brown (the iconic cosmetics entrepreneur, author of nine books on makeup and beauty, hotelier, founder of JustBobbi, and more), joins host Karen Moon, guest host Pavan Bahl, and Josh Wexler (CEO of RevCascade and Souler) on location in front of a live audience at La Marina for a special “Souler Salon” (presented by Souler, the ultimate influencer commerce platform where influencers share and sell the products they love directly to their followers). MouthMedia Network studios are powered by Sennheiser.

In this episode:

Brown on being someone who likes to do things differently, organically, a mother of three “amazing children”, and married almost 30 years
Photo Credit – Martin Lee Studio
The origins of the Bobbi Brown brand, how she was freelance makeup artist and couldn’t find makeup that looked good, often had to fix things, and the makeup she needed didn’t exist
She never had thoughts of starting or being a brand
How Brown met a chemist, asked him to make a lipstick, she sold out for a year, serendipitously met a cosmetics buyer for Bergdorf Goodman,
Brown may have this in her genes, seeing herself as “incredibly naive”, how she doesn’t believe in failure or strategy, and just believes things will work out
How Brown only ever intended to be a makeup artists and a mother
She has a lifestyle brand, sharing content, empowering women, teaching people to be entrepreneurs, and making lifestyle inspired products
Created a hotel based on things she didn’t like about hotels, and involving several of the brands she likes, creating creative partnerships
Why relationships are everything
Photo Credit – Martin Lee Studio
When she was a beauty editor of the Today Show without ever bringing Bobbi Brown products into it in general, and how it all became organic part of company, then going on to Yahoo and more
Brown’s sons give her feedback that’s valuable, and her own focus groups from her personal world
Why things that are simple are important
Brown on networking simply being about being open and just talking with people
Her current book is her ninth, written before she decided to leave the company
Advice for young entrepreneurs – don’t talk about what you’re going to do – just take action
The importance of being positive, and being able to fix things quickly and turn quickly, retaining people to work for you
Working with (or for) Estee Lauder
Being an “intrapreneur” while at Estee Lauder
Why Brown says she shouldn’t be in a corporation
Working with Uber for a fun campaign
“Just Bobbi” – an editorial platform
“Evolution_18” health supplement
The importance of positive energy, and how walking clears one’s brain
A dream dance partner for Brown
The genesis of Brown’s company name as her own name
Setting goals, and purpose vs. profit
The value of not taking loans for business, and why Brown never did

@justbobbibrown

@soulerhq

@tamaramellon

@lamarinanyc

@joshwex

@karen.s.moon

051 – Sonia Kashuk – Breaking Rules

July 7, 2018producer Leave a Comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 17:43 — 20.8MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | Google Podcasts | RSS

Building a reputation into a brand…

Makeup legend Sonia Kashuk joins Karen Moon at South by Southwest in Austin, TX.

In this episode:

Breaking rules, mass vs. prestige
How the industry is a different marketplace, how it is hard to be a first, and it feels like everyhtings been done,
Always room for a great idea, making a difference and doing something new, disruption
How Kashuk got into the beauty industry
How she was studying design, clothing, got an opportunity to do clothing design, was thrown into makeup, loved it, being involved with the music video for the song “Funkytown”
Working with fashion designers, how it was more about not using makeup than using makeup, sometimes not doing something was more important, understanding what’s needed, not needed
Being known as the Queen of Clean, working a lot with photographer Arthur Elgort, learning about using makeup to enhance and perfect
What matters the most is the performance in skincare, and does it work
Both natural and science can be great
Holding confidence and being strong about how you are
Skin care will support and own our faces as they are
Working with CEW Foundation and rights in the workplace with cancer

050 – Elana Drell-Szyfer of ReVive Skincare – Brands, Beauty, and Bossmom

June 29, 2018producer Leave a Comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 59:13 — 69.3MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | Google Podcasts | RSS

Skincare brand for pre & post cosmetic procedures with ReVive Skincare…

Elana Drell-Szyfer, CEO of ReVive Skincare ( a luxury skincare brand that combines beauty with the science of skincare) joins Karen Moon and guest hosts Stephanie Flor [Around the World Beauty – Episode 17] and Sue Phillips [Scenterprises – Episode 5] in the MouthMedia Network studios powered by Sennheiser.

In this episode:

A 20-year-old skin care brand started by plastic and reconstructive surgeon Dr. Gregory Brown who ran the company himself for the first 10 years, and now owned by Tengram Capital Partners
How the brand is based on science and tech that he experimented with as a surgeon, help facilitate healing process on skin grafts, and got the idea from Nobel Prize-winning science
Product was strong, science, relationships with retailers, loyal customer following, could harness it all give focused attention and make bloom
Special price point, packaging, distribution, very luxury
What drew Elana to Revive
How the word “brand” is loosely thrown around
Authenticity speaks to the consumer well with founder involved, and with much credibility
On trends, skincare is on fire, color slowed but still growing, fragrance coming back more than anticipated
Big brands are up in North America for first time in a long time
Younger and younger people getting into BOTOX and fillers – -what that means for industry
Used to be you used surgery or BOTOX or products, now not siloed, the consumer today uses a combination of those, and BOTOX and fillers may be a gateway to larger procedures
How a Middle Eastern country is double the rate of Brazil for per capita for plastic surgery for women
Makeup videos as entertainment and education
Beauty and appearance as a part of mainstream culture
Being a boss lady