FAITH IS PART OF HER MAKEUP
In 2016, she sold her cosmetic company to L’Oréal for $1.2 billion and became the first female CEO of a L’Oréal brand in its more than 100-year history.
By Jamie Kern Lima
We’d finally gotten it. A face-to-face meeting with the head buyer at Sephora. After hearing no from every major retailer in the country and, maybe the most painful of all, from a potential investor who told me, “I just don’t think women will buy makeup from someone who looks like you, you know, with your body and weight,” this Sephora meeting felt like our big chance. To convince Sephora, with more than 200 stores, that we had the perfect product line for them. IT Cosmetics—IT for
Innovative Technology.
My husband, Paulo, was my business partner, and we’d prepared like crazy for this meeting. Pulling snapshots of “before” and “after” photos of women who’d used our products, pictures they’d posted on our website. Putting together a PowerPoint presentation, packing up samples. I tore apart my closet for the cutest outfit I could find—fashion being the last thing on my mind after working 24/7 in my sweatpants at home.
I flew to San Francisco and walked into the Sephora offices feeling as if it were the cool kids’ club and I had to prove myself worthy. While most of their team was kind and supportive, the head buyer looked me up and down. Then she nodded for me to start my pitch. After 15 minutes, she cut me off.
“If women were excited about this product, I’d be hearing about it, and I’m not...
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