The Glossy Beauty Podcast

About 10 years ago, Vicky Tsai chose happiness. After years of working in corporate, she slowly realized that she didn't know what she wanted to do with her career. She had also been struggling with an increasingly bad case of dermatitis that shook her confidence in her appearance and in herself. So one day, she decided to quit her job and travel the world in search of something to believe in. Somewhere along the way she found herself in Kyoto, in more ways than one. After returning to the United States, Tsai looked everywhere for the products that had saved her skin with no luck. Determined to share these secrets with the world, she sold her engagement ring to buy 10,000 blotting papers, and from there Tatcha was born. In this episode of The Glossy Beauty Podcast, beauty editor Priya Rao sits down with Tsai, founder and chief treasure hunter for Tatcha, to discuss the difficulty of introducing foreign beauty concepts to the US market, skincare as self-care and why you can't rush amazing products.

When Frederic Fekkai was a young man, he had no intention of entering the beauty space. In fact, he didn't even know it existed. Shortly after this discovery, Fekkai quit law school, moved to Paris and threw himself into the world of beauty. He began to work fashion shows and photoshoots, and establish meaningful connections with some of the top players in the industry. Over the course of the next four decades, Fekkai would go on to establish and sell his own namesake company, buy and rebrand Côté Bastide to Bastide, and, most recently, buy back Frederic Fekkai. On this week's episode of The Glossy Beauty Podcast, beauty editor Priya Rao talks to Fekkai live at the Glossy Beauty x Wellness Summit about how he got his start in the industry, what it was like to build and sell his namesake company, and why he says up-and-coming brands should stop ripping off Chanel.

Kate Oldham has spent most of her life working at Saks. Her first job with the company, a sales associate at their flagship store, was supposed to be a short term way to make money while she searched for a more formal job in marketing. However, she quickly fell in love with the company, applied for their training program, and would spend the next two decades working her way up. As she moved up the company food chain, she began to work more in the beauty and cosmetic categories, eventually landing her current role as the senior vice president and general merchandising manager of beauty and jewelry. Throughout her time she has watched these categories grow and evolve, but nothing, according to Oldham, has had as much impact as social media. In this week's episode of The Glossy Beauty Podcast, beauty editor Priya Rao talks to Oldham about the ever-changing beauty category, re-designing the Saks beauty floor and why Saks is betting big on hair.

When Jill Scalamandre first started her career, she wasn't interested in beauty. She had spent some time after college working in a fashion house in Paris and was trying to figure out her next steps when someone suggested she give the beauty industry a try. She accepted an opportunity with Revlon and quickly fell in love with the industry. In the decades since, Jill has built a long, successful career in beauty. In her current role of president of BareMinerals, Buxom and global development for Shiseido makeup, she has overseen the relaunch of the Shiseido and BareMinerals brands, and revamped BareMinerals' brick-and-mortar retail strategy. In this episode of The Glossy Beauty Podcast, beauty editor Priya Rao sits down with Scalamandre to discuss the challenges of overseeing such different brands, the benefits of working with influencers and the future of technology in beauty. Below are excerpts from the conversation, edited for clarity.

Zak Normandin is a problem solver. Back in 2009, he founded Little Duck Organics because he was having a hard time finding healthy snacks for his kids. After selling off a majority of that company, he set out on a new mission: to create a fast, easy way to deliver beverages that are good for consumers and, at the same time, shake up an industry that has been untouched for almost 100 years. In 2015, Normandin co-founded Dirty Lemon. From its text-to-order model to its uniquely flavored, health-boosting products, Dirty Lemon is on a mission to do things its own way. On this week's episode of The Glossy Beauty Podcast, Glossy beauty editor Priya Rao sits down with Normandin to talk about how the brand launched on Instagram, why the products can only be ordered through text message and what challenges come with making wellness trends into beverages.  

From the time Carol Hamilton was a little girl, she knew that she had a passion for beauty. What started as a love for lipstick would eventually blossom into a long, successful career in beauty. Now serving as the group president of acquisitions for L'Oréal, Carol has seen the industry from every angle and through massive evolution. In this week's episode of The Glossy Beauty Podcast, beauty editor Priya Rao sat down with Hamilton to discuss what she looks for in the brands she acquires, how she stays ahead of the rapid changes in the industry and why authenticity is key when connecting with younger audiences. 

When Peach & Lily founder and CEO Alicia Yoon moved to the United States from Korea to attend college, she would often share her love for Korean-based beauty via products and facials. Still, she often found it difficult to find those products in the U.S. Then, in 2012, Yoon had her "a-ha moment. "Seven years later, Peach & Lily is largely credited with bringing Korean beauty in the U.S., both curating and creating products that feature a unique cast of ingredients and uses. On this week's episode of The Glossy Beauty Podcast, Yoon discussed why partnering with larger companies expanded the Korean beauty footprint, why good skin-care products take time and how Korean consumers are driving innovation. 

Since former Allure editor in chief Linda Wells landed at Revlon as chief creative officer in February 2017, she has had a busy last 21 months. Not only has she renovated all of the consumer touchpoints, like packaging and the digital and social presences of the heritage company’s portfolio of brands, such as Elizabeth Arden, Almay and Revlon, she also launched Flesh Beauty. In this week’s episode of the Glossy Beauty Podcast, Wells discussed how the industry has become “unrecognizable” because of social media, the shift in power in beauty and how incubation is the future for big beauty companies.

We're only a few short days away from the release of our first episode of The Glossy Beauty Podcast! Here, we're giving you a sneak peak to some of our conversations that we will be sharing this season. We hope you enjoy, and don't forget to check out our premiere episode with Miranda Kerr on Thursday, November 8th!

In the first ever episode of the Glossy Beauty Podcast, Kerr talks about self-funding her business, her dedication to bringing organic products to the world, and achieving an 800% growth since Kora Organics' launch.