I'm surrounded by women whose style I admire. It's natural to be inspired. I'm not a horrible copycat, or if I am, then I admit it and make a joke about it.
— Emily Weiss
In beauty, there's this idea of this perfect picture, and I think, 'How about being present in the now, and a little messy?'
My desk is more of a place where I set my stuff, and then I move around. If I'm at the office, I'm usually wandering around to different meeting rooms all day or taking people out or making tea. I'm rarely at my desk; it's just a place to hang my hat.
I just have to stop biting my nails. I've been on and off that bandwagon so many times. I feel like it's going to be a lifelong struggle.
'Into The Gloss,' what I think it did so well was create a conversation around beauty and make beauty the main event as opposed to the ugly step-sister, which it often is in magazines.
Beauty is very intimate.
In our product development cycle, we ask and listen to our customer about what she wants.
We could be like a lot of consumer brands that start blogs after they start their business. But in our case, I think Glossier is still very much a content company. I think about our products themselves as pieces of content.
I'm on Instagram more than any other social platform.
Everyone says to hydrate on the plane, but I don't.
I feel like I have time to think when I'm in L.A. There's something about the spaciousness of it.
I grew up in a conservative New England town and showed up to my middle school orientation dressed like 'Clueless' while everyone else was wearing J. Crew and lacrosse uniforms. I never really fit into that preppy look.
I eat out alone a lot.
I always thought 'Into The Gloss' would be successful, but I didn't really know what my definition of success was.
For male and female entrepreneurs alike, having a woman investor can bring credibility when discussing product positioning and expansion opportunities.
We're not telling you that you need a concealer. We're providing a concealer in case you want it. We're trying to give you the tools to be able to make whatever decision you want.
If you're interested in a 'Teen Vogue' internship, take note: it's not all fun and games! Working at a magazine requires a ton of energy and endurance from its interns and editors alike.
My wardrobe falls into two camps most of the time: either very monochromatic and tailored or really vintagey, with '30s and '40s-style long floral dresses. I don't buy that much, so every time I invest in something new, it has to elevate what I have hanging in my closet.
I love supporting female-owned companies and women who are awesome.
You can make a million excuses for why something didn't go well, but ultimately, just fix it and get on with it. Be a solutions person.
I've had such an inspiring and formative journey in my career.
Toronto girls are super interested in skincare, which is actually kind of unique. Because in New York, the girls seem to be mostly interested in makeup.
I'm a lover and consumer of beauty.
I read every single comment that comes in.
Making a bougie, expensive beauty brand wasn't helping the mission or very fun for me. We can all be united by that $12 coconut balm. You don't need to charge an arm and a leg.
It's very important to me to have a female venture capitalist.
When your lips get dry, is there anything more frantic?
I like books that explore identity and youth culture or rites of passage.
We incorporate a lot of natural ingredients into our Glossier products, like sweet almond oil, which is great at getting moisture deep into the skin.
I think reality television has made the fashion industry and the beauty industry, any industry - frankly, just life - it has made life seem much different than it really is.
At 'Vogue,' I was responsible for a lot of production work, and production work is highly detailed, and you have to be very resourceful to fit a square peg into a round hole. I learned to push the envelope when it comes to asking questions or making requests.
So much of venture capital is pattern recognition.
If I want to know how to do a black cat eye, I don't drive to a department store. I'll go on YouTube, cross-check reviews of a product, and then maybe talk about it on Instagram.
The great thing about interning at 'Teen Vogue' is that there is so much room for growth; interns here do incredible things if they work hard enough and think outside the box.
There's so much pressure on women to have it all together. There's always this 'next, next, next.' I hope Glossier encourages women to be O.K. wherever you are. Just, everyone, relax!
You learn a lot about people when you're sitting on their bathroom floor or on their toilet seat, rifling through their stuff.
I like people who work hard.
The creation of 'Into The Gloss' took less than a month. Glossier took twelve months and about a million dollars to hire the team, work with the chemists, order the inventory, get an office - you know, the whole thing.
One of the big things I've learned over the years and I'm excited that Glossier perpetuates is that wherever you're at, in terms of your scope of knowledge around beauty, is totally okay. And not just okay, but actually really valuable.
I just grew up loving beauty products. Going to the mall, and the Stila counter in the '90s. I was obsessed with hair dye.
Ultimately, we're making and selling a consumer good that needs to work and that needs to make customers happy.
You don't need most beauty products. They're an emotional purchase. That's why the conversations are really important. What choice do you have but to ask your customer what they want?
If you look dull, the easiest thing to do is wash your face with water, and immediately you look refreshed.
Glossier is not about throwing out everything you're using. If you want to keep using your retinols, your SPFs, of course you should continue.
I like to get rid of things; I don't collect many things. But I do keep great photography and art books.
Your skin is like a plant. You have to water it. Make sure it's hydrated, not just squeaky clean.
With 'Into The Gloss' and now Glossier, the reason it was successful was because there were so many like-minded women out there who were also dissatisfied with their beauty experiences.
I approached fundraising as an opportunity to align myself with partners who have more varied experience and diverse backgrounds than I do to help bring Glossier to life.
I'm not afraid of being told 'no.'
The ideal intern is committed, creative, organized, ambitious, independent, and able to crack a smile, whether meeting a celebrity or folding socks.
