The Glossy Beauty Podcast

This week, beauty editor Priya Rao sits down with Nicola Kilner, CEO and co-founder of Deciem, umbrella company to cult-favorite skin-care brand The Ordinary. Kilner discusses why demand should lead product supply, why fashion retailers make good partners and how Deciem is faring following founder Brandon Truaxe’s removal from the company and subsequent death early this year. 

In two short years, direct-to-consumer company Hims launched a sister brand Hers, raised nearly $200 million in funding and became one of few digital-only unicorns. And it all started with taking medicines like finasteride and sildenafil (better known by brand names Propecia and Viagra, respectively), and repositioning them with the end customer in mind. On this week's episode of The Glossy Beauty Podcast, Hilary Coles, cofounder and vice president of product development at Hims and Hers, sits down with Glossy's Priya Rao to discuss whether telemedicine is wellness, how Hims and Hers have evolved their out-of-the-box engagement efforts, and what the company is planning for retail.

Michael Bumgarner was not an avid beauty consumer before launching his CBD skin-care brand Cannuka in 2017, but he did have a history in rural farming that led him to see the power of cannabis. "Because of my background in farming, I got really interested in industrial hemp, and I wanted to create a brand that was very much approachable to the canna-curious consumer," he said. "Looking at the cannabis industry, we saw a big gap in products being developed specifically for that consumer, and so we looked at it as an opportunity to reintroduce cannabis in a different way." Shortly after the Farm Bill passed in December 2018, Cannuka ramped up distribution in nearly all Ulta stores, as well as at Free People, Anthropologie, Riley Rose and Neiman Marcus. On this week’s episode of The Glossy Beauty Podcast, Bumgarner sits down with Glossy’s Priya Rao to discuss why betting on a direct-to-consumer strategy was not viable, why retailers are taking a risk on cannabis and how making a splash in skin care will open the door for cannabis wellness products and ingestibles. 

When beauty influencer and content creator Jackie Aina got her start on YouTube over a decade ago, her very new, public persona wasn't something she necessarily wanted to shout from the roof tops. "If you were a YouTuber in 2009 you were a weirdo," she said. "People were like, 'You're literally talking to yourself' and you're recording the process, so it wasn't something that I was like, 'Oh guys, look what I'm doing.' Clearly, that has changed today as Aina has a 5 million-plus social following across platforms. Her take on beatuy extends to culture, which is why some of the most talked about brands in beauty, like Too Faced and Anastasia Beverly Hills, have come knocking on her door. On this week's episode of The Glossy Beauty Podcast, Aina sits down with Glossy's Priya Rao to discuss developing her social voice, the business of being an influencer and yes, the Kardashians.

Perfect Corp. is on a mission to transform the beauty industry through AR and AI innovation. For Alice Chang, the CEO of the Taiwanese tech company, it all started when she realized the power of giving someone the tools to make themselves feel beautiful. Founded in 2014, the tech company has launched a series of AR apps, like YouCam Perfect, which uses a 'beautify' function and other photo editing software to help users craft the perfect selfie. Perfect Corp. has also partnered with brands and retailers, such as Ulta, to create an in-store, virtual try-on experience, so customers can interact with cosmetics before committing to a purchase. On this week's episode of The Glossy Beauty Podcast, beauty editor Priya Rao sits down with Chang to discuss how Perfect Corp. is marrying tech and beauty, how it's individualizing in-store AR experiences for each brand, and how AI could revolutionize a consumer's beauty experience.

Unlike those suddenly hopping on the bandwagon, Robert Rosenheck has been working in cannabis for years. Growing up in a conservative family, Rosenheck avoided the recreational drug until finally sampling it with some friends during his senior year of college. He found it gave him a temporary release from the depression he had been struggling with for years. A few short years later, after a rock climbing accident left him with a broken ankle and chronic pain, he discovered that topicals infused with cannabis helped alleviate some of his suffering. In 2013, Rosenheck and his wife, Cindy Capobianco, decided it was time to create a brand of their own that celebrated cannabis. Thus, Lord Jones was born. Over the past six years, Lord Jones has garnered endorsements from celebs like Mandy Moore, entered retail partnerships with SoulCycle and Sephora, and most recently, announced a $300 million acquisition from Canadian pot company Cronos. But with all of the brand's success, Rosenheck said the stigma and confusing regulations surrounding CBD and cannabis remain big challenges. On this week's episode of The Glossy Beauty Podcast, Lord Jones founder and CEO Robert Rosenheck sits down with Glossy's Priya Rao to discuss what makes a quality CBD product, what makes SoulCycle and Sephora the perfect retail partners, and whether the brand will branch out to THC.

Since its launch in 2012, Violet Grey has made a name for itself among multi-brand beauty retailers, thanks to a carefully curated selection of products that helps consumers cut through the clutter and get straight to the good stuff. As the company continues to grow and develop its offering, it's making a big push toward content and storytelling, to help consumers learn what Violet Grey is and what it stands for, said CEO April Uchitel. In this week's episode of The Glossy Beauty Podcast, beauty editor Priya Rao sits down with Uchitel to discuss how Violet Grey differentiates itself from other retailers, how it's using editorial content to make luxury seem more accessible and how it's strategizing to build brand awareness.

John Demsey has spent over 13 years working at the Estée Lauder Companies, and throughout that time, he has seen the beauty industry go through massive changes. He's come to realize there's one thing about beauty that will never change: It will always be a good business opportunity, because people will always want to look good. For Demsey, the focus of the company has always been luxury products and authentic relationships with consumers. As consumer behavior has shifted in favor of digital, the company has had to find new ways to translate the personal connection and keep customers coming back. On this week's episode of The Glossy Beauty Podcast, beauty editor Priya Rao sits down with group president of the Estée Lauder Companies, John Demsey, to discuss how Estée Lauder strikes the perfect balance of product and brand identity, blurs the lines between cosmetics and skin care, and remains a pure-play in luxury beauty.

When Esi Eggleston Bracey began her career nearly three decades ago at Proctor & Gamble, she wanted to find a way to help brands solve the problems their consumers were experiencing in their everyday lives. When she began working with Covergirl, she realized that not only did she love the industry, but also that it was chock-full of problems for her to solve. Now, in her position as evp and COO of beauty and personal care at Unilever North America, and faced with the rise of independent beauty disruptors, Eggleston Bracey is finding ways to keep the CPG giant modern and competitive. On this week's episode of The Glossy Beauty Podcast, beauty editor Priya Rao sits down with Eggleston Bracey to discuss why she wanted to be at a company that puts beauty at the forefront, how a shift in consumer values has impacted her brands, and how she decides between the incubation, acquisition and pivoting of brands.

In 2013, Patrick Starrr was working as a makeup artist at MAC, but when the company started cutting his time at the counter, he found himself searching for a way to share his looks with the world. That's when he decided to start a YouTube channel. Now, six years and over 4 million subscribers later, Starrr has turned his hobby into a successful career as a beauty influencer and content creator. Part of this growth has come from expanding his content to all major platforms. According to Starrr, he's able to maintain a successful cross-platform strategy by creating excitement for each. Starrr has also earned numerous brand partnerships, his most recent being a five-collection launch with MAC Cosmetics. Recently, he started his own influencer management agency called The Beauty Coop. On this week's episode of The Glossy Beauty Podcast, beauty editor Priya Rao sits down with Starrr to discuss why he looks at brand partnerships like any other relationship, why he thinks a successful influencer is one who's brand agnostic and what the driving force was behind The Beauty Coop.