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Emily Weiss on the Insights That Grew Glossier - With Amy Buechler at the Female Founders Conference
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Emily Weiss is the founder and CEO of Glossier. Amy Buechler is Batch Director at YC. Learn more at http://blog.ycombinator.com/emily-weiss-on-the-insights-that-grew-glossier-with-amy-buechler-at-the-female-founders-conference
Segments Timeline
The Birth of Glossier
Emily Weiss shares the origins of Glossier, starting from her beauty blog 'Into the Gloss' which she launched while working at Vogue. She discusses how the blog's audience and content laid the foundation for Glossier, a direct-to-consumer beauty brand that resonates with women, particularly those in the tech space.
"I am Aimee Beger from Y Combinator and I have the distinct pleasure of introducing Emily Weiss here thank you so much for joining us thank you for having me so did you see everybody so Emily you found..."
Empowering Women Through Beauty
Weiss emphasizes the importance of beauty as a means for women to connect and share experiences. She highlights how 'Into the Gloss' has become a platform for women to discuss makeup, product recommendations, and beauty routines, attracting nearly 1.5 million unique visitors monthly.
"making us all feel beautiful every single day so you've said that both into the gloss and glossy a focus on beauty as an element of personal style and celebrate women sharing their own makeup reviews ..."
The Changing Landscape of Beauty
Emily Weiss reflects on the evolving beauty industry, noting that when she started pitching Glossier in 2013, beauty was not a hot topic. She discusses how technology has transformed the beauty landscape, allowing women to curate their own beauty experiences and connect with brands on a personal level.
"so the one common thread that still motivates all of us at glossier today and were you know 95 people in Soho in New York we're actually 77 percent women we have over 40% female tech team and also jus..."
Democratizing Beauty Commerce
Weiss explains how technology has democratized beauty commerce, shifting power from traditional mega-brands to individual consumers. She discusses how 'Into the Gloss' serves as an aggregator of consumer voices, allowing women to elect brands and products that resonate with them.
"here but the conversation around beauty it's a really interesting time to be in not just in startups and and in technology but in beauty and view something that you know when we were pitching when I w..."
Listening to Customer Feedback
Emily Weiss describes Glossier's approach to product development, emphasizing the importance of customer feedback. She shares how the team engages with their audience through social media to gather insights on product ideas, textures, and shades, blending editorial expertise with consumer input.
"just like great connect equalizer like among women you can be you know like meeting someone for the first time really nervous but if you're like I love your lip gloss like what color is that like you ..."
Navigating Subjectivity in Beauty
Weiss discusses the subjective nature of beauty and how Glossier navigates differing opinions. She shares anecdotes about product development decisions, emphasizing the importance of transparency with customers and prioritizing quality in their offerings.
"that if you're going to buy like a Vitamix on Amazon I'm never going to read what Vitamix has to say about it I'm going to go straight to like the stars and the reviews and everything and that's reall..."
The Evolution of Beauty Conversations
Emily Weiss reflects on how beauty discussions have evolved over the years, transitioning from solitary routines to shared experiences. She highlights the role of social media in creating a connected community around beauty, where women can share knowledge and resources.
"products to make but for us there's really only one logical conclusion which is like talk to people whether that's you know I mean I have my opinions about products that I like but having interviewed ..."
The Evolution of Beauty Culture
Weiss reflects on how beauty has transformed from a solitary activity to a shared experience, particularly with the rise of social media. She shares anecdotes from her interviews with powerful women, revealing the societal pressures surrounding beauty and the hidden complexities of women's beauty routines. This segment explores the cultural shifts in beauty perception and the impact of community.
"goes a long way yeah what happened to the gloss and glossy I taught you about women and beauty over the past seven years so much I mean again I think you know personally I love products I mean I grew ..."
The Art of Asking for Access
In this segment, Weiss explains her approach to securing interviews with influential women, emphasizing the importance of persistence and quality in building relationships. She discusses how Glossier's direct-to-consumer model allows for a unique connection with customers, enhancing the brand's ability to understand and meet their needs. This highlights the significance of personal connections in business.
"a lot of cool like anthropological like things around Beauty that are getting unpacked now thanks to things like coffee and lofts and YouTube um and I'm curious about those inner interviews that you c..."
Reinventing the Beauty Experience
Emily Weiss outlines Glossier's innovative approach to the beauty industry, focusing on direct-to-consumer sales and the creation of a community-centric retail experience. She describes how Glossier's showroom in New York serves as a social hub rather than a traditional retail space, emphasizing the brand's commitment to fostering connections among women. This segment showcases Glossier's vision for a modern beauty experience.
"is just goes a long way you've spoken a bit about how Gracia is really reinventing the traditional Beauty experience can you describe that and explain how you plan to transform it yeah so we're mean w..."
Scaling Personal Relationships
In this segment, Weiss addresses the challenge of scaling personal relationships with customers. She likens the approach to how religions scale, emphasizing the importance of individual choice in engagement with the brand. This highlights Glossier's commitment to allowing customers to define their relationship with the brand.
"together yeah sort of in listening to you speak it sounds like you're starting like your starting point was having women create a relationship with themselves then your shoes you're sort of sharing th..."
Growth Through Community
Emily Weiss discusses Glossier's impressive growth, attributing it largely to peer-to-peer recommendations rather than traditional marketing. She emphasizes the importance of community and authentic customer relationships in driving brand loyalty and growth. This segment showcases how Glossier prioritizes customer feedback and community engagement.
"brand and the reason we say that is because not only are we like addressing like multiple categories kind of like you know maybe it'll be a glossier deodorant maybe they'll be like osceola you know li..."
The Future of Retail
Weiss shares her imaginative vision for Glossier's retail spaces, suggesting they should be experiential and engaging rather than merely transactional. She discusses the need for retail to offer unique experiences that resonate with customers, moving beyond traditional sales metrics. This segment captures her innovative approach to the future of beauty retail.
"want to talk about yeah and I know one of the things that you said is that you're opening some some retail and that's super exciting and when you think about the glossy retail experience in your own m..."
Empowering the Customer
In this closing segment, Emily Weiss expresses her excitement about the evolving role of the customer in the beauty industry. She highlights the abundance of options and information available to consumers today, emphasizing that the customer is always right. This segment reflects on the empowerment of consumers in shaping the beauty landscape.
"experiential and so I think more about hospitality that I do about like you know sales per square foot um yeah for sure uh when you think about the beauty space what is it that sort of makes you the m..."
Evolving as a CEO
In this segment, Emily Weiss talks about her evolution as a CEO and manager, highlighting her focus on hiring and nurturing talent within Glossier. She shares her approach to leadership, emphasizing the importance of listening to all team members, regardless of their position. Weiss discusses the company's culture of taking risks on people and how this has contributed to their success, particularly in the rapidly changing marketing landscape.
"that's a good that's a good point yeah um what does it been like for you sort of your evolution as a manager and the CEO what's that been like um that's a great question presentation we were before wa..."