The Glossy Beauty Podcast

Olamide Olowe is a born entrepreneur.The Topicals skin-care founder grew up in an entrepreneurial household and pursued track running, which enabled her to earn a scholarship to UCLA, where she initially studied pre-med to become a dermatologist. Topicals was born after Olowe's college roommate revealed a family connection to SheaMoisture. On the latest episode of the Glossy Beauty podcast, Olowe said she learned that skin care, dermatology and beauty could be made accessible over the counter. The name Topicals serves a dual function because it means both something applied on the skin and something that is culturally relevant or topical. Topicals is dedicated to helping chronic skin issues like eczema and psoriasis for all types of consumers and is sold through Sephora and its DTC e-commerce.Topicals has received wide praise since its launch in 2020, including being honored by Allure's Best of Beauty in 2023 and Women's Health 2023 Skincare Awards, among others. But the journey to get there was not easy. Just like many other female and BIPOC-founded brands, Topicals had a difficult fundraising experience, at first. But the brand went on to raise $15 million in outside funding.On the latest Glossy Podcast, Olowe spoke with Emma Sandler, beauty and wellness editor at Glossy, about her entrepreneurial vision for the beauty industry, Topicals' early entry into Sephora and streetwear culture's influence on her business. 

Pritika Swarup has built a large following, thanks, in part, to her successful career as a model. A graduate of Columbia Business School, Swarup founded her skin-care brand, Prakti, in 2021. It was designed to blend Ayurvedic tradition with modern skin-care ingredients. It soft-launched with one product, an exfoliating powder.Today, the brand has six products and sells direct-to-consumer, though expansion into retail will come next year. On this episode of the Glossy Beauty Podcast, Pritika discusses balancing modeling and brand-building, introducing the U.S. consumer to Ayurvedic ingredients, and giving back via Operation Smile, for which she is a global ambassador. 

Mona Kattan has been obsessed with fragrance her whole life. So after building Huda Beauty with her sister, Huda, following its launch in 2013, she decided to build her own brand, Kayali, starting in 2018. Now, Huda Beauty, Kayali and Wishful (which makes skin care) form the Kattan sisters' beauty empire.Kattan's passion for scent is evident when she speaks about perfume. In January, she shared a video on YouTube displaying her "fragrance library," which stores over 3,500 bottles. Kayali, she shares on this episode of the Glossy Beauty podcast, had a big year. It launched its Yum Pistachio Gelato 33 perfume, a limited edition wedding collection timed to Kattan's own nuptials and, most recently, its biggest drop yet, "Oudgasm." The Oudgasm collection focuses on four interpretations of oud, a traditionally Middle Eastern wood note.Kattan spoke with Glossy about her lifelong obsession with fragrance, her approach to building a brand at the right speed and her process of testing up to 500 new scents at a time. 

Dr. Dhaval Bhanusali's office is in New York City. But, on any given day, he could be in Miami or Los Angeles, or just about anywhere else, working on one of the various side projects that keep him busy both in and out of the dermatology office.Dr. Bhanusali has founded multiple companies including Skin Medicinals, a prescribing platform allowing dermatologists to custom-create formulas for their patients at lower prices than traditional prescriptions. There's also HairStim Labs, which similarly aids in the creation of products helping patients experiencing hair loss, and Aire Health, which lets dermatologists create over-the-counter skin-care routines from vetted brands, at a discount. In addition, he's an adviser to Ephemeral — the long-lasting, but not permanent, tattoo startup — and the dermatologist-in-residence for Hailey Bieber's Rhode.Dr. Bhanusali joined the Glossy Beauty Podcast to discuss his various businesses, including how he works with Hailey Bieber on Rhode and how he believes dermatologists can be most effective on social media.

Joey Gonzalez, CEO of Barry’s, said he used to hate working out in group settings.Living in Los Angeles in 2004, Gonzalez found his way into the workout studio and fell in love with it. Barry's -- formerly Barry's Bootcamp until 2015 -- first began in Los Angeles in 1998 under Barry Jay. At the time, Barry's had a military boot camp theme with camouflage decorations and dog tags for clients. But over time, the fitness brand has shed that image in favor of a broader and more high-end aesthetic, including its well-known red lighting. The cult favorite workout studio now celebrates its 25th anniversary, building a solid following of devotees along the way. To date, Barry’s has 84 studios across 14 countries, with six locations in the U.S. It plans to soon expand into Israel, Spain, Bahrain and Egypt.“There are mirrors all around the room [at Barry's]. And that is intended so that you can watch your form and have your eyes on yourself,” said Gonzalez. “It's very much you versus you. It can be competitive [between people], but for the most part, people are there to connect with themselves.”Over the past 25 years, Barry’s has been able to withstand the fitness fads and Covid-19 impacts to emerge more resilient than ever. Today, Barry’s is once again profitable, surpassing $100 million in revenue in 2022, according to the company. It expects a 40% year-over-year increase in 2023.In the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak in 2020, fitness companies suffered. Gonzalez said that, as of the first quarter of 2023, Barry’s revenue is 99% back to where it was just before the pandemic. During this period, Barry’s debuted its virtual workout series called Barry’s X. Additional class forms include Barry’s original HIIT workout consisting of 50% treadmill running and 50% weightlifting, and Barry’s x Ride, which replaced running with stationary bicycling. There is also Barry’s x Lift and Barry’s x Release, which are strength training and recovery classes.Gonzalez spoke with Glossy about how he went from client to CEO, what exercise habits around the world are like, and why when the doors open to the red room, you’re home. 

Makeup artist Violette Serrat, founder of Violette FR, discusses her journey from being discovered by Vogue France to launching her own brand. Topics include the role of skincare products in the anti-foundation philosophy, exploring serums and a new liquid bandage in the product line, and the importance of expert founders in the beauty industry.

Digiday Media and WorkLife is proud to present season two of The Return, a podcast about what it’s like for Gen Z to enter the workforce for the first time in a post-pandemic world.In season one, The Return followed an Atlanta-based advertising agency as the company returned to the office after a two-year pandemic hiatus. There were clear challenges among this population of workers who knew what a “normal” office used to look like. But what about a generation that is entering the workforce post-pandemic and has nothing to compare it to? That’s what we uncover across eight episodes in season two of The Return.We see headlines repeatedly accusing this generation of being lazy, unmotivated, quiet quitters. But what's the real story behind this generation's attitude about work?In season two of The Return, we speak with Gen Zers across the country to lift the lid on what motivates and inspires this young generation of workers, and how they’re not as work-shy as they’re often depicted. We also speak with seasoned workplace experts who can put the changing expectations of these young professionals into context.We dive into why values are so important to Gen Zers, whether or not they are loyal to their employers, how they use TikTok for career advice, what it means to be a young professional who is a boss to older workers, and so much more.Season two of The Return is hosted by Cloey Callahan, a Gen Zer and senior reporter at Digiday Media’s WorkLife, and produced by Digiday Media's audio producer Sara Patterson.Subscribe to the WorkLife podcast now on Apple Podcasts – or wherever you get your podcasts – to hear the first episode on Wednesday, Oct. 18.

Jo Malone, CBE, was born special.She was born with synesthesia, a perceptual phenomenon wherein one sensory stimulation can create involuntary experiences for another. For Malone, this means she can experience smells visually. Malone parlayed this uniqueness into creating Jo Malone London, a global fragrance brand that The Estée Lauder Companies bought in 1999 for an undisclosed sum. Malone left the brand in 2006 after a breast cancer diagnosis, which rendered her unable to smell at the time. After a 5-year hiatus from fragrance, she reentered the category with Jo Loves.“I've learned over the last few years that fragrance is not a business or a career. To me, it's my best friend and the thing I love doing most in the whole world,” said Malone on the latest episode of the Glossy Beauty podcast.Jo Loves has become a Gen-Z favorite. And it's notable for its fragrance paintbrushes, released in 2017, and an in-store tapas bar concept to introduce customers to scents in a playful way. As the brand steadily expands internationally, it’s also adding more hospitality partnerships including Shangri-La The Shard in London and the Park Lane Hotel in New York. For Malone, the goal is to change the world through fragrance.Malone spoke with Glossy about how she restarted a brand from scratch, why Dubai inspires her creatively, what she thinks of clean-beauty fragrances and why she aspires to create 101 fragrances. 

For the past 10 years, Dr. Shereene Idriss has been a practicing dermatologist in New York City. And in 2018, she also became a social media star. Today, Dr. Idriss has 657,000 followers on Instagram, 441,000 on TikTok and 704,000 on YouTube. In October 2021, she opened her own practice, Idriss Dermatology, in Manhattan. Then, a year later, in October 2022, she launched PillowtalkDerm, her skin-care brand, named for the content series she'd become known for. In #PillowtalkDerm social media content, Dr. Idriss can often be found in bed, in her pajamas, educating her followers about skin care in her typical no-B.S. style. While Dr. Idriss built her robust following of "nerds," as she calls her followers, by calling out trends she's deemed unworthy of their hype and mostly shying away from paid brand deals, it's worth noting that she's also very funny.When PillowtalkDerm, the brand, became available for pre-sale in September 2022, it sold out in less than 36 hours. It launched with three products, all aimed at hyperpigmentation and discoloration and labeled the Major Fade collection. Since then, it has released just one more product, the Depuffer, in April 2023. The arnica-filled roller serum was inspired by Dr. Idriss's patients recovering from treatments including injectables and Sculptra.Dr. Shereene Idriss, spoke with Glossy senior reporter Sara Spruch-Feiner about the inception of #PillowtalkDerm on social, the reason she's turned down lucrative brand deals and the decision to kick off the brand with a focus on hyperpigmentation.

It is notoriously difficult to succeed in the luxury indie beauty space, and not many brands do. But by all accounts, Noble Panacea has superseded all expectations.Noble Panacea launched in Oct. 2019, emerging as the result of the scientific discoveries of Sir Fraser Stoddard, a scientist who has received numerous awards, including the 2016 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. His discovery of the organic super molecular vessel technology, also called OSMV, is the core of Nobel Panacea and its unique ingredient delivery system. The brand made a splash with a launch event at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and has since signed on actress Jodie Comer as a brand ambassador. The brand is distributed in 13 countries and sold through retailers like Neiman Marcus, Harrods, Net-a-Porter and Moda Operandi. It has approximately 50 full-time employees.Céline Talabaza, CEO of Noble Panacea, spoke with Glossy beauty and wellness editor Emma Sandler about what attracted her to the brand, how the brand is approaching the Asian market and what a luxury approach to social media looks like.