0:00

Hey guys , welcome back to Skincare Anarchy

0:03

. This is your host , ekta , and I'm really , really excited

0:05

about this episode because , well , one

0:07

, it's a brand new and that I've discovered

0:09

and I've been absolutely loving , but also because the

0:11

founder is absolutely phenomenal

0:14

and I'm a huge fan and a little

0:16

starstruck that she's here with us today . So

0:18

, without further ado , I want to introduce you guys to

0:20

the founder of Yensa , jennifer

0:22

Yen , and a lot of you might recognize her

0:24

from the hit TV series Power Rangers

0:27

. So welcome , jennifer , I'm so honored

0:29

to host you .

0:30

Thank you . Thank you , Akna , for having

0:32

me . It's a pleasure .

0:34

Yeah , no , it's really exciting to host

0:36

you and I love your brand . I've really

0:38

fell in love with it and I can't wait to dive into that

0:40

. But I would love if you could walk us down memory

0:42

lane a little bit , tell us like what led to

0:44

the creation of Yensa , like what

0:46

inspired you to create a line absolutely

0:49

so .

0:50

Um , I think it kind of goes even further

0:52

back to post-college . After graduating

0:54

Boston University , I

0:57

moved to LA because I wanted to be an actress

0:59

, so I landed um

1:01

the role of Vra , which

1:03

is a villain on Power Rangers . The

1:05

kids show Power Rangers and

1:07

I play the evil villainess . And I had

1:09

to wear this heavy , heavy villain in

1:11

makeup for 15 hours

1:14

a day , five days a week and , mind you , this was over

1:16

20 years ago , so there wasn't

1:18

a lot of makeup options . So the makeup that I was

1:20

wearing absolutely wrecked my skin . I developed

1:22

psoriasis , adult acne

1:25

, rosacea . My skin was so sensitive

1:27

. I tried everything I was just so many dermatologists

1:29

and nothing worked . And that's

1:31

when I dove into my heritage and

1:33

I rediscovered my grandmother's Asian beauty

1:35

rituals , like blue lotus and white tea . Now

1:38

that's when I created my first brand , pure Lease

1:40

, which is inspired by Asian rituals

1:42

. It's skincare , but for Yensa

1:44

specifically . You know , back in

1:46

2018 , I had this

1:48

idea actually even way back before

1:51

that . After giving birth to my daughter , my

1:53

skin was once again wrecked , but

1:55

this time I'm hormonal , I'm 12 years older

1:57

, I have melasma

1:59

and sunspots , and my mother

2:02

was taking care of me and she was following

2:04

this Chinese tradition called it

2:07

means throughout the month . It's rooted in 2000

2:09

year old Chinese medicine , where

2:12

the new mom sits down . She integrates superfoods

2:14

into her daily life . So I was eating chicken

2:17

soup with black rice sauteed

2:19

with , like black sesame oil , black

2:21

seaweed , black mushrooms , and

2:23

this brought radiance and vitality back

2:25

into my skin . So I wanted to take this superfood

2:28

concept all these

2:30

nurturing , powerful ingredients and

2:33

then infuse it into complexion makeup

2:35

and that's how I came up with Yensa

2:37

. So Yensa means color in Chinese . It's

2:39

inspired by my life in Yen , which means color

2:41

and faith , and each one of our products

2:44

are infused with eight superfoods . Eight

2:46

represents the luckiest number in Chinese culture

2:48

and Asian culture and

2:50

it symbolizes prosperity , great

2:52

health and infinite possibilities .

2:54

Oh my gosh , I love that . I

2:56

love that , thank you , yeah . No

2:59

, that's so cool , though , that you you know , because

3:01

Pure Lease is a phenomenal brand , like I

3:03

remember when I first discovered it , I was

3:05

like this is really really cool , and it's cool that you

3:07

brought this , you know this take

3:09

to a complexion brand

3:11

, because I never hear really any

3:13

founders talk about complexion products this

3:15

way . You know how you kind of told

3:18

us so far , like in terms of really taking

3:20

care of your skin . You know , in this very holistic

3:22

way , it's usually just you know what

3:28

works the best , what's the best concealer , what's the best foundation . It's not

3:30

about you know how can we really take care of our skin . You know , like

3:33

overall , for the long term .

3:34

That's right . Yeah , exactly , I mean this is why

3:36

this is a very Eastern philosophy

3:38

, Eastern way , and you

3:40

know . And I bring in PureLaces because I

3:43

started out skincare first and in my

3:45

family , the women in my family , they're

3:47

all about skincare . I mean Asian women in

3:49

general are just so obsessed with their skin and

3:51

it makes sense . I mean it was surprising

3:54

to me that people didn't understand that . You know

3:56

, you got to take care of your skin first and

3:58

then your makeup will look better

4:00

, It'll work better , Because no

4:02

amount of makeup will cover

4:04

problematic skin , and I experienced that when I

4:07

was on Power Rangers , so I really had to fix my

4:09

skin first and then comes the makeup . And

4:11

now the idea of Yensa complexion

4:13

products . So I think , okay , we're

4:15

all trained to wear skincare and

4:18

serums at night while

4:20

we're sleeping , but truly we're awake a lot

4:22

more than we are than we're asleep

4:24

. So why are we not demanding

4:27

, expecting the same from our makeup , like we should

4:29

be having nurturing benefits

4:31

to our makeup while we have , while we're

4:33

wearing it , so yeah , so

4:35

the idea was like really natural from that . Okay

4:38

, of course you should have skincare benefits in your

4:40

makeup .

4:41

Right , right , no , I mean , it's like I

4:43

feel like it should have been here . You know , many

4:45

, many years ago we should have been doing this . Because it's

4:48

crazy , like you have a very distinct

4:50

journey that you went on because you were acting

4:52

and you had to wear this makeup every day . But even

4:54

as for me as a general consumer a

4:57

big reason , I know like in

4:59

my 20s and younger ages , I

5:01

shied away from makeup because it always

5:03

broke me out . I could never wear it . It

5:05

was like I love makeup , like every other

5:07

person , right , but for me as a consumer

5:09

, it was like I have to be so picky

5:12

with what I buy because I would

5:14

wear it and then I'd break out . So

5:16

it's a problem that's , I think , been there

5:18

for everybody in some shape

5:20

or form . And so now to see the space growing

5:22

like this , it makes me so happy , you know , because

5:25

it's it should have been like this for you

5:27

know what I mean Like a long time ago . So , yeah

5:29

, very exciting . What is

5:31

there ? like when you're creating Yenza

5:33

, like when you wanted to create these formulas

5:35

, you know what were some of the ingredients

5:37

that you knew . Like off the bat , like I really want this

5:40

. In the product . Like , was there anything that

5:42

you had in mind ? Or or in the product , like , was there anything that

5:44

you had in mind ? Or how did ?

5:44

you approach that ? Yes , so great question . You know

5:46

we have eight superfoods . There's all these

5:48

amazing Asian inspired

5:51

superfoods , superfoods in general , but I really

5:53

broke it down to like what was I eating

5:55

when my mother was taking care of me and

5:57

what was working ? And it was definitely

5:59

black sesame oil , and I always remember

6:02

my family sauteing vegetables . It

6:04

brought out this beautiful aroma , delicious

6:07

flavor , but also they would use

6:09

it on their skin and hair . So black

6:11

sesame oil was number one . It's

6:14

rich in amino acids . It helps

6:16

improve skin texture . And then

6:18

also another one was black seaweed , like we

6:20

would eat it in all of our soups . But

6:22

I also knew that my parents

6:25

, my mom , you know if you eat black

6:27

sesame oil , it's going to leave your hair shiny and black . So

6:30

that was always another ingredient . But

6:32

also we know that you know seaweed

6:34

has very soothing , brightening

6:37

properties . It's rich in vitamins B and C and

6:39

it's going to really help brighten skin . And

6:42

then black rice is another one . It's

6:44

really to really help brighten skin and then black rice is another one . It's really hydrating , but

6:46

I also had nettle , because I was taking nettle

6:48

because it was helping with lactation , like

6:50

creating breast milk . But it also

6:53

was very soothing to my skin and I

6:55

actually would use it on my scalp too , because scalp

6:57

is also an extension of your skin

6:59

. It would decrease

7:02

inflammation , it would help you

7:04

relieve itchiness on my scalp . So that was

7:06

also part of the ingredient

7:09

makeup that I wanted to have in our complexion products

7:11

. So you know our complexion products

7:13

. I want it to be preventative . I wanted

7:15

to have a nourishing , anti aging benefits

7:18

, also soothing for

7:20

sensitive skin , because I have really sensitive skin

7:23

. So I wanted to have all those components

7:25

working together . You have the anti-aging , the

7:27

moisturizing benefits and then you have the soothing

7:29

benefits too . So that's how

7:31

I thought about the ingredient makeup .

7:34

That makes sense . That's really interesting because

7:36

from a formulation standpoint

7:38

I won't lie , I don't know much about

7:40

. When it comes to complexion products

7:42

, because we talk about a lot of skincare

7:45

here on the podcast A lot of

7:47

people will tell me yeah , you can pair these

7:49

ingredients , but some of the things you just

7:51

described , did you have any ? I don't know . Did

7:53

you run into any problems with the

7:55

different iterations for the products or how was

7:57

that like incorporating those ingredients ?

7:59

from the formulation right

8:02

. Some of some of the ingredients were hard to source

8:04

, um , so we we

8:06

did go to asia , to korea , um

8:09

, and we sourced some ingredients from france . I think

8:11

it was more the uniqueness of the of the ingredients

8:13

that was harder source , but we kept looking and we ended

8:15

up finding them . Um , but

8:18

actually , because we use these natural

8:20

actives , they were , they were pretty flexible

8:22

in terms of blending them into our

8:25

complexion product that's

8:27

interesting .

8:28

Yeah , no , I mean , I think that that's the . For

8:30

me it's like the fundamental , like I

8:32

never understand how . Like

8:34

makeup , because I've used your complexion products

8:36

and for me I have oily skin like well , now it's

8:38

oily , but sometimes , you know , it was dry . But

8:41

my biggest problem is that when things

8:43

are packed with nourishing

8:45

ingredients , for some reason I get oilier

8:47

and I don't experience that with your products .

8:49

That's why I'm like oh , thank you how you did

8:51

that yeah , and you know

8:53

we also have a lot of tea extracts in

8:55

our in our formulas as

8:57

well . We have black tea . Is

9:00

is one of the and we use . We use white

9:02

tea and green tea and pure leafs . So

9:04

, yes , a lot of these . These are very balancing

9:06

ingredients and they're really going

9:08

to soothe and balance your skin that

9:11

makes sense because I I really have a great

9:13

.

9:13

My skin responds so well to your products , like it's

9:15

oh , I'm so happy to hear that

9:17

.

9:17

Yeah , no , it's really good .

9:18

And for everyone listening like products like it's oh , I'm so happy to hear that , yeah , no , it's really good . And for everyone listening

9:20

like genuinely like it's really really good

9:22

stuff . And I I'm not somebody who wears

9:24

heavy makeup . I know a lot of people , um

9:26

, especially in like you know , I'm in medicine , so a

9:28

lot of professions don't allow you to have

9:30

like this heavy you know what I mean like just your

9:32

, your like going out kind of makeup

9:35

on , like you have to have oh yeah , you

9:37

know what I mean . So like it's really nice to have

9:39

that as like a real option that

9:41

you've created here for us . I mean it's it's nice

9:43

to see lines that are not focused so

9:45

heavily on this , like kind of I don't know

9:47

stage makeup kind of look right

9:49

, oh my gosh , I'm all about I , I

9:51

get it yeah like

9:53

some people are .

9:55

like you know , I know the eyelash thing

9:57

is like a huge trend and , like

9:59

you know , for a while it's contour heavy makeup . It's like the

10:01

reason why I didn't get into it , because if they knew I was like

10:03

, if you knew , I had to wear these fake

10:05

eyelashes for two years or 15

10:07

hours a day in the heavy makeup . This is why

10:10

I haven't embraced contouring , and

10:12

then the crazy eyelashes is

10:14

because I've already did it , you know , and

10:16

it's like it's so funny how history just like

10:18

comes back . But I will

10:20

have to say that you know , our makeup

10:23

Yensa is the super food . Glow is

10:25

for the everyday superwoman like you and me . You're

10:27

busy , you have careers , you're traveling here

10:29

and here , and

10:32

so our makeup is very functional and you don't need to be a makeup artist

10:34

to apply beautiful makeup . But if you wanted

10:36

to have the heavy point , you can go down

10:39

that direction . But our makeup is really

10:41

about ease and accessibility . Functional

10:43

, you know , works as hard as you do .

10:45

I want to say yeah , no , it's

10:47

a really balanced line , I think . And you know , one

10:49

of the big questions I have because

10:56

I'm sure , like you know , as a founder , you know you've created beautiful lines , you know , and going

10:58

from one thing to another , I guess one of my big

11:00

questions is how was that for you going

11:02

into , like the makeup realm ? Because I know a lot of people

11:04

are talking right now about inclusivity

11:07

in this industry . And I think you're doing

11:09

a wonderful job . By the way , I've looked at your range

11:11

. You know it's beautiful and I think there's definitely

11:14

something here people can resonate with and feel

11:16

included . How was that for you , as a founder

11:18

, like to really be mindful of that and you

11:21

know , and create products for everybody

11:23

you

11:30

know , yeah , great question .

11:30

So when I did first start going into , yeah , when I started developing , I thought , okay

11:32

, I can't just create skincare again Like I do a purely . I

11:35

really wanted to challenge myself because I was truly

11:37

having issues where I

11:39

really wanted to cover up my melasma

11:42

, but not in a heavy made up

11:44

way , but I just wanted my skin to look even

11:46

. I had retinitis , you know . I wanted

11:48

to even out skin , I wanted to have a glow , I wanted to

11:50

have , you know , spf in

11:52

the product . So I had to

11:54

really challenge myself to understand different

11:58

undertones , the skin tones , because

12:01

for me , growing up , I'm Asian

12:03

, I have yellow undertones , I have warm undertones

12:06

. It was hard for me . Now I know it's changed a lot

12:08

, but I didn't feel included either

12:10

, growing up being Asian American , growing

12:12

up as the only Asian American in Alabama . So

12:15

from a marketing perspective

12:17

, I didn't feel included . But also , you know , just

12:19

growing up being around , I was

12:21

the only Asian , so I really stuck out . So I

12:24

knew when we developed this that in this

12:26

was back in 2018 , before there was a lot of talk

12:28

about it was that we were

12:30

indie brand . We don't have , you

12:32

know , venture back . So we had to be very

12:34

mindful too . So

12:37

we started out with eight , eight ranges , but

12:39

I made sure that every

12:41

skin skin tone like from

12:43

fair , light , medium , tan , steep was

12:45

represented . And as we grew a line , now

12:47

we have 16 shades . Now

12:51

you'll see that we're very fair . We have three in

12:53

fair well , two in fair like , three

12:55

in light , four medium , you

12:57

know , and so it it's . When you

12:59

look at an indie brand you're like , okay , we can't

13:01

create a hundred shades , it's just

13:03

not possible . But it's also wasteful

13:06

from a . You know we

13:08

want to be inclusive , but you have to think

13:10

about the entire manufacturing

13:13

process , like how much waste that

13:15

goes along . And because the product

13:17

expires , we're using plastic

13:20

. We try to use 30%

13:22

post-consumer , recycled

13:24

, but it doesn't always happen that way . But

13:26

also , you know the air freight

13:29

, the fuel that comes to transportation

13:32

and then you have to

13:34

also put in a warehouse

13:36

and then where does it go when it doesn't sell ? So you

13:38

know , some some of our shades doesn't sell

13:40

. We do our best , but yeah , it was

13:42

important that we represented equally

13:45

the percentage for all

13:47

the skin tones .

13:49

No , that's why I'm , like , so impressed because

13:51

, like I looked at your range I remember

13:53

, like you know , um long for this interview

13:55

. I looked and I was like , yeah , like you guys , I mean you're

13:57

really doing it . You can see

13:59

that you're doing everything you can . You know what

14:01

I mean to to have this inclusivity there

14:03

, and I think that's what , for me as

14:06

a consumer , when I look at the the you

14:08

know whole category of makeup and

14:10

the brands that are in it , I feel like

14:12

if you , as an indie brand , can

14:15

do your best to put that

14:17

out , that we are here and we are

14:19

inclusive and we do care about you . You know what

14:21

I mean . That's what matters , and I feel

14:23

like that's where I just I found

14:25

you to be such a shining example of that you know

14:27

. So , truly , hats off to you for doing that and for

14:30

creating that , because I know that it

14:32

must be very difficult , you know , in the beginning

14:34

stages of a brand , but just the fact

14:36

that , like that , there there is that thought there , that's

14:39

what matters , you know , to a lot of consumers , and

14:41

so I really applaud you for that . And also

14:43

, like , one of my big things is I like that you're

14:45

bringing like true Chinese culture

14:47

to , you know , to a makeup brand

14:49

, because I don't know much about like Asian

14:51

cultures when it comes to like complexion products

14:54

. I know a lot in the skincare realm , but

14:56

then that's also very interesting to me , so

14:58

if you could tell us a little bit about that , that'd be really

15:00

cool to learn . How do women

15:02

in Asia approach makeup

15:04

as compared to here ? What you've noticed ?

15:06

Yeah , it's always skin first , it's

15:09

always skincare first . Protect your skin from

15:11

the sun , eat

15:13

healthy foods and have

15:16

a healthy mindset . I think it starts there , because my

15:18

grandmother always said that you know to

15:21

have a healthy mindset , to be healthy , to eat

15:23

healthy is number one , because beauty

15:25

does truly radiate from the inside

15:27

out . I think that's

15:30

number one too is , like I said , protecting

15:32

your skin from the sun . You

15:34

know we're in Alabama . My aunt , my mom , will

15:36

walk around with umbrellas because

15:38

it is 95 degrees

15:40

, blazing hot , 100%

15:43

humidity during the summers . I would be

15:45

so embarrassed Then I

15:48

realized why . Now , because I barely

15:50

I try not to , I do , but it's

15:52

always after 3 pm or 2 pm Then

15:54

the sun really is damaging to your skin

15:57

. It affects Asian skin

15:59

differently , because asians we

16:01

tend to get melasma and sunspots

16:03

and wrinkles too . But that's not the

16:05

first . It's always these sunspots that asians are so

16:07

obsessed about not having . So

16:09

we stay out of the sun . Skincare

16:11

and then then it comes makeup

16:14

. But I know most

16:16

asian women that know they

16:18

don't want to apply a

16:21

ton of heavy makeup . They want to look natural and

16:24

it comes with having healthy skin .

16:26

Yeah , no , that makes sense . I like that

16:28

. Like I feel like that's something that I wish somebody

16:30

would have preached for me growing up . You know

16:33

what I mean . Like I really wish , because I

16:35

, you know , growing up , like in the

16:37

US , it was very hard to

16:39

get this , I guess concept

16:41

delivered at a young age where it's like , no

16:43

, you've got to take care of your skin . You know everything

16:45

that sits on top of it will be a reflection

16:48

of how much you take care of your skin . So that

16:50

was really it's interesting to me . That's why I asked

16:52

you . You know how big of

16:54

a role makeup plays in Asian cultures , because

16:56

it always looks good .

16:58

Yeah , exactly . And then I don't know if

17:00

you know this , but we

17:02

recently launched our third brand , which

17:04

is Joy J-O-Y and it's

17:06

skincare for the scalp , like superfood skincare

17:08

for the scalp , and it goes with kind

17:11

of the way I grew up Again

17:13

, my grandmother , my aunt , my mom

17:15

they focus on their scalp health . Scalp

17:17

health first , then beautiful hair

17:19

. It's like skincare first and

17:21

then beautiful makeup . So

17:24

it's the same concept . You

17:26

know you have to take care of what you don't see . Yeah

17:29

, no , that's your health which is your skin

17:31

, which is your scalp , exactly

17:33

.

17:34

Yeah , no , it makes sense . So , like for the

17:36

scalp products , what did you focus

17:39

on with the ingredients ? What are the most

17:41

used ingredients ?

17:43

So , okay , so it's called

17:45

Joy and it's with eight

17:48

fermented superfood ingredients . Okay

17:50

, so I love fermented superfoods because

17:52

it gives rise to amino acids and

17:55

help the ingredients penetrate into your scalp

17:57

more acids and help the ingredients penetrate

17:59

into your scalp more . So we have our first question , which

18:03

is clarify , because it's about cleaning the scalp , exfoliating the scalp and also removing dead skin

18:05

cells and impurities , because we use a lot of product

18:07

and we only see our hair . And

18:09

the first two ingredients that we

18:12

focused on are apple cider vinegar , ferment

18:14

apple cider vinegar , because it helps hone

18:17

your scalp , it helps clarify , it helps balance your

18:19

scalp , helps clarify , it helps balance your scalp and it

18:21

gently removes any distorted stuff

18:23

themselves . And then sea algae is the second one . It's

18:25

the seaweed that is soothing , it

18:27

helps keep your hair shiny . So those

18:29

are the two main ingredients that

18:31

we focused on with the first collection . That's

18:35

interesting . Now I'm gonna have to

18:37

send you some .

18:38

Yeah , no , I have to try it because I'm

18:40

sorry , I'm like picking your brain about this , but I just really

18:42

am so intrigued because there's

18:44

so many ingredients I feel like in Asian culture that

18:47

we just never hear about . You know what I mean . Like we

18:49

, there's a lot of hero ones that have

18:51

come to the forefront , but , like a lot of

18:53

the ones that you're like kind of , you know , shouting

18:55

out here , I've never experienced

18:57

them . So it's very , very intriguing and very

18:59

exciting to hear that there are things

19:01

that are there and they're tried and true

19:03

and to see you incorporate them into products

19:05

is very exciting for me as a consumer , because

19:08

I think we definitely need that Like . It's almost

19:10

like a more holistic approach . You know , and that's

19:12

, I think , been long overdue in the beauty

19:14

industry for a long time is this idea that

19:17

you know there

19:24

is so much knowledge in these ancient cultures that we just need to harness and we

19:26

need to apply and and stop trying to , like you know , go this route of like just super stripping

19:28

ingredients and approaches that are just cheaper . You

19:30

know that's the bottom line and that's what I see a lot

19:33

of , is that there are a lot of brands

19:35

out there that have just found . You know

19:37

, for example , with hair , we were talking about hair I

19:39

know so many products that are just like . I

19:41

look at their ingredient list and I'm like what were you thinking

19:44

? You know this

19:48

is going to dry my scalp out and even if I don't have dandruff , it's going to make me

19:50

have dandruff by the end of it . You know , it's just , it's crazy

19:52

to me . So I'm really excited to see that

19:54

you brought over this kind of new

19:57

way of kind of approaching this whole idea

19:59

of it's health first

20:01

. You know what I mean . Like it's more about exactly

20:03

yeah , exactly , exactly

20:06

.

20:06

I can't wait to send you some because I think you're gonna love it and

20:08

it's I always think okay , I know there's

20:10

science and we do , of course , that science

20:12

because these are like created in labs of chemists

20:15

but it's , I think , about

20:17

how these ingredients have

20:19

been utilized

20:22

by generations of women in

20:24

Asian culture my mom , my aunt

20:26

, my grandmother and they learned that from their mom . I mean , these

20:28

are timeless ingredients . So I'm thinking , okay , it's

20:30

so obvious to me , like why wouldn't it work

20:33

? Of course it does , because it's been used by women

20:35

for thousands of years . For a reason

20:37

, it's not 10-year

20:39

research like five-year research , 15

20:41

years , these are thousands of years . So

20:44

that's why I lean into history

20:46

and these time-tested

20:49

, proven ingredients that have

20:51

kept generations of women

20:53

youthful and beautiful .

20:54

It makes so much sense . I love that . I love

20:56

that so much and I think that you know it's

20:59

. We have a lot to learn too from

21:01

, from these approaches , because , as consumers

21:03

, we're so quick to just say , okay

21:05

, well , our favorite influencer is doing this

21:08

, that must work for me , and that's I always tell people

21:10

you know they reach out to us a lot for recommendations . I'm like

21:12

, no , that's not necessarily the case . Like you have

21:14

to understand , like what do your , what

21:16

does your skin need ? You know , like what does it really

21:19

need ? And then go find it . And I think it's

21:21

very important to have brands like

21:23

the ones you've created , you know , because they're these

21:25

, to me , are real options instead

21:27

of , just like you know , repeated things

21:29

that we keep seeing over and over again and

21:32

and that's where I'm like you know I I

21:34

say that a lot because in the industry

21:36

I always look and I'm like I feel like we have so much packaging

21:39

in this industry and not as much you

21:41

know products , right Like it's . It's crazy

21:44

. So I it's very refreshing to

21:46

see the approach that you're taking and I'm

21:48

a huge fan , thank you , yeah

21:51

, I want to . I just , you know , just some advice

21:53

, like as a question from you

21:55

for any entrepreneurs out

21:57

there that might want to go into their journey

21:59

and start their own life , because I know

22:02

you've had such a successful career in the entrepreneurial

22:04

space .

22:08

Oh my gosh , it wasn't always like that

22:10

. I know it looks like it is , but there's so much

22:12

behind the scenes . I think

22:14

what I realized even starting with my third brand

22:17

now and I was actually telling somebody this it

22:19

is so much harder than you think , it

22:22

takes so many more resources than

22:24

you . I mean I just you should think , oh , I'm going to need to pay for product

22:27

. And then you pay for the product . You're like , oh my God , what's next

22:29

? You know , and it's , there's

22:31

so much more . I think you've got to prepare for

22:33

the unexpected , which is a lot of expenses

22:36

. Marketing is crazy , insane

22:38

. Now Manufacturing costs

22:40

have gone up . I think that's one on the business

22:43

side . Okay , just the pure

22:45

operational . You know hard

22:47

numbers . One Second I think

22:50

really know why

22:52

. You know because it is super

22:54

saturated and crowded . I think

22:56

really have a point of view , a distinctive

22:59

difference in what you're doing , and

23:01

I think that is really , really important . And

23:04

then having really quality

23:06

, incredible , effective

23:08

products .

23:09

Yeah , that makes sense . I love that

23:11

. It's like quality first kind of thing

23:13

. But yeah , I'm sure it's very hard

23:16

. I'm glad that you were very honest

23:18

about that , because I think sometimes you know people

23:20

think that , oh , I'm just going to do it , and it's like you

23:22

don't know what you're getting into .

23:24

Exactly . I mean

23:26

, it is true , Like , yes , like you want to follow

23:29

your dreams , like , do this , but

23:31

like , the reality is because

23:33

I was like that and I know how hard it was . You know

23:36

we launched purely in the recession . I like that and

23:38

I know how hard it was . You know we launched purely

23:40

in the recession , I was barely hanging on and . But from a entrepreneur's perspective

23:42

, you have the hard cost , you have the , you have

23:44

the , the storytelling that

23:46

you have to be unique and have

23:49

a unique point of difference . But from an entrepreneur

23:51

perspective , like , you have to be so unwavering

23:54

belief in yourself to never give up to , to fight

23:57

through Like and it's it's

23:59

hard but it's not impossible . And this

24:01

is why , like , it's entrepreneurship

24:03

, Even what you're doing . It's not easy

24:05

because nobody's telling you got to get up

24:07

and do this , you got to get up and do that

24:09

, you just have to do it , you have to make things

24:11

happen . So it's

24:14

that's also hard but

24:16

it's not impossible . And then I love when people

24:19

, when I love entrepreneurs because spirit

24:21

is so strong and people love

24:23

to , you know , and I love being around entrepreneurs

24:25

because they're so creative and they dream

24:27

, but the reality is it's really

24:29

hard , right .

24:31

Yeah , yeah . No , it's a . It's a tough journey

24:33

. It's . It's like paving your own road . You

24:35

know there's no roadmap , you

24:38

just kind of have to figure it out

24:40

as you go .

24:42

Yeah , that's very cool .

24:44

Well , jen , I think that you're doing such a phenomenal

24:46

job and I congratulate you so much on all your

24:48

success and all your hard work . I mean , it

24:50

really shows in your brands , and I'm a huge

24:52

believer in voting with our dollars for brands that

24:55

are really paving the road to true

24:57

inclusivity in our beauty industry

24:59

and for brands that are , you know , really paving the road to true inclusivity , you know , in our

25:01

beauty industry , and I think you're definitely clearly a shining example of that . So , thank

25:03

you for doing what you do and for creating such

25:05

magnificent products . It's so lovely

25:07

to see that and to see true commitment

25:10

, you know , and something that comes from a genuine

25:12

place . I think that's what it

25:15

matters . So , yeah

25:17

, thank you so much . Well , well , for everyone

25:19

listening . I hope you guys love the episode and I

25:21

, if you have any questions at all , um , please

25:23

shoot them our way . We can definitely pass them along

25:26

to jen's team , but I'll

25:28

be back next time . Thank you , thank you .