BONUS: Happy International Women’s Day!

18:47Gianne L. Doherty:That's really fun.

18:48Chelsea Riggs:So this is a beauty podcast after all. So Chelsea, question for you. Is there a sleeper hit in the Amika lineup that maybe isn't the bestseller, but people really should know about?

19:01Gianne L. Doherty:We have this amazing lightweight hairstyling oil that we launched last year called Superfruit Star. It's in my hair right now, actually. That's what I traveled with. It's like the hair oil for people who don't like hair oils, but also for people who do like hair oils. I was definitely afraid of them. I would not let an oil near my head. And I love that one. You can use it on wet hair, dry hair, and you truly feel the difference when you use it all the time. Like your hair just has, you know, so much like better length. It doesn't get as tangled. It's silkier. Yeah. And it protects against heat, so you can use it before styling.

19:38Gianne L. Doherty:I love that one.

19:38Chelsea Riggs:Yeah, I traveled with that one here. So good to know. The sleeper hits are maybe we need to gatekeep that one. Don't sell it out. And Gian, what's the number one product from Amica or cocktail of products that you reach for and you're just like, maybe you're having a bad hair day and you're like, I know this is going to give me like a confidence boost. I love the Superfood Star Oil. Oh, yeah? I use it every day. I use it on my natural hair. I use it on extensions. So when it's lightweight and it's you end up smelling delicious. So I'm like, who doesn't want to smell delicious? Yeah, that's true.

20:13Chelsea Riggs:Okay. So this is. Yeah. I feel like the fact that both of you are calling out that body. I'm surprised it's a sleeper hit though, to be honest. Is it?

20:19Gianne L. Doherty:It's not a hit yet, but it will be after this podcast.

20:22Chelsea Riggs:Spread the word. Spread the word, everyone. Now I know that last year Amika made waves when they bottled their iconic signature scent into the aura hair and body mist. Have any of you tried that? Okay, where I get right now. All right, we're seeing nods in the audience. Apparently one sells every 42 seconds at Sephora now. That is incredible. And we understand that you've dropped an even bigger product expansion just recently this week. Yes.

20:50Gianne L. Doherty:So we just unveiled our highly in demand body care range, which has been at least a few, I know a few years in the making just truly to get it out the door. But in my brain and others who I've worked with for years know it's been, you know, like a decade. We had some products that we had 10 years ago. So we've been iterating and tinkering ever since then. But the most highly requested products from our community, we have a signature fragrance, as we talked about, which is in our, it's called Amica Aura. And we have just had so many people tell us they want to like bathe themselves in soul food nourishing mask and, you know, using our shampoo as body cleanser.

21:35Gianne L. Doherty:So we knew we had to do something better than that for our community. And we wanted to do it in a way that was very Amika. Like how do we bring what Amika does very uniquely, which is this intersection of high performance, clinically proven, amazing skincare great ingredients, but also wrap it in a way that's super fun and joyful. And it's like packaging that you just, it's so juicy and you want to look at it all the time and display it. So we had a lot of fun developing the packaging because we didn't want it to just be, you know, adjacent to the hair care range where it looks kind of the same and you're not really sure if it's different.

22:11Gianne L. Doherty:And everything is clinically proven to smooth and to give a glow. It's like three steps to an amazing glow. The big star of the show is Big Embrace, which is our whipped smoothing body butter. And it has this like, we call it playtime. So it's like, you know, sometimes you put on a lotion and you're like rubbing, rubbing, rubbing, rubbing. Oh my gosh, is this ever going to blend in? We wanted to get like that playtime right. So you got a ton of moisture, but you weren't like having to work on it forever. So I love that. And it also uses this amazing ingredient, which I'm sure everyone here has heard of, which is called shea butter.

22:48Gianne L. Doherty:But what's really unique about our shea butter is that we're actually sourcing it with this incredible company called Forested. And so we're actually, it's all regenerative agriculture. We're bringing back in this, in these particular communities, the shea trees were not being harvested and sold for anything other than the wood because there was no one sourcing from these communities. So we actually were able to restore the trees with them, support them. And we actually import the shea butter ourselves directly to our manufacturers. So it is definitely a labor of love. And it's our first product that will have this regenerative shea butter, but we're going to be integrating it into our other products that use this ingredient.

23:32Gianne L. Doherty:And then we're excited for our community to get it in their hands.

23:35Chelsea Riggs:I have a question because y 'all are so nice. And I feel like in the workplace, if anybody here is a manager or if you're listening and you're in a workplace, how do you, this is a real talk question. How do you have that empathetic environment? Like we're all friends here, but then still be professional, you know, like you still need to manage people who need to report to you. You still need to be able to criticize them. So how do you navigate that world? Share feedback, Carly. This is a practical question. Share feedback. Share feedback. See, I'd be fired. I haven't had a boss in like 10 years.

24:15Gianne L. Doherty:It's a great question. And I love the question because we just recently, about a month ago, came back from our company offsite where we did two things. So we had training by this company and an amazing book, which is called Radical Candor, which is all about, you know, giving exactly what you're saying, honest, clear feedback, but also considering the person and being empathetic in your delivery and like truly caring about other people. It's not like Radical Candor of like, you know, you should go and be a butthead to everybody with your feedback. And then we also had a amazing keynote speaker, Danielle Baird Jackson, who talked about, she's a friendship expert.

25:01Gianne L. Doherty:Yes, it's a real job. Wow. She was a former teacher. She was amazing. Definitely one of the best parts of the conference and talked exactly about that. You know, friendships at work. What does it mean to truly be a friend at work? And when you think about being a good friend, you tell your good friends because you care truly about them when maybe they're not doing something in a way that is kind or, you know, just giving them that clear feedback is, is being a friend and showing up when it's, when it's hard, when you've got a lot of things on your plate and having, giving a helping hand, not like, oh, it's not my job.

25:39Gianne L. Doherty:You, you figure it out. So I don't know if Gianni, you want to add to that. I mean, ultimately feedback is a gift, right?

25:47Chelsea Riggs:Who here doesn't want to do better, but talk nice to me, right? Say it nicely, say it professionally, but it is a gift. And it was great at the conference to practice through that because it can feel uncomfortable delivering it. But I know that when I've received feedback, ultimately I am ending up being grateful because it's for my better. I think it says a lot to even just going and doing conferences like that in this day and age when, again, I think a lot of that has been cut. So investing in, you know, the culture of the business and learning to communicate in, you know, a new era and with new generations since I worked at a fashion magazine, I'll tell you that.

26:29Gianne L. Doherty:Yeah, it was a different kind of radical camera back then.

26:31Chelsea Riggs:Devil wears Prada. Devil wears Prada was not that inaccurate. Yes. And on that note, we're talking about lifting each other up as women. What would be one small gesture that you feel has a big impact?

26:47Gianne L. Doherty:I think small gestures look like, you know, even maybe speaking about that person in an uplifting way when they're not in the room, like mentioning their name. Or I was even just talking about the other day, I had like a really insane week and I'm flying home and my friends are texting me. And it was a really just funny story that I was like crying, laughing on the airplane and everyone's looking at me like I'm psychotic. And it's like those things, like send the text, like mention their name, support their business or their brand or their initiative. I think those moments, they do lighten the load of every day.

27:24Gianne L. Doherty:And they are the small things that we can tend to forget to do. But I know that I always feel a lot better when my friends do that for me.

27:31Chelsea Riggs:You make a good point too. I think in the creator community, I've seen some people make TikToks and things. They're like, the people who are closest to me in my life, they don't like my stuff. They don't share my stuff. And they're like, that's, you know, you would just assume that they kind of would. So I like that tip about liking and sharing and just even leaving a comment or saying, you know, to your content creator friend, I like what you did or what have you. I think that's, that's like a very easy lift and like makes a big difference.

27:59Gianne L. Doherty:Or reach out to, I mean, I reached out to a fellow founder who I had met recently at a dinner, but we weren't really close. Lainey, the founder of Say. And she was on an amazing podcast recently with Emma Greed. And I, you know, sent her this like congratulatory note. And, you know, we got to connect at the Sephora Summit that we were recently at and like truly just share and like, hey, what's going on in your business? And that's how you, you know, how you make friends, like putting yourself out there. Yeah.

28:24Chelsea Riggs:Making new friends, it's a good point, is harder as well as you get older. And Gian, do you have any advice putting people up or lifting up? Yeah. I think if you think something kind or nice about someone, don't keep it to yourself. Life is lifing. There's so much going on. And to just be able to look someone in the eyes and be like, I see you. I love your top. When you're taking your selfie, I wanted to be like, beautiful. But I was nervous about the podcast, so I kept it to myself. okay and our last one chelsea who's the dream pal for amika to collaborate with photographer creator a celeb and why this is the million dollar question because we've never had

29:05Gianne L. Doherty:like an ambassador like that for our brand and we've always just considered because our brand is our community it's not like a single person it's hard to pick like who's that one person that's going to represent everyone in our world. But we think about people who that we're drawn to tend to be individuals that are just culturally magnetic, like know who they are unapologetically themselves. They're at the top of their game, their craft, whether that's music or sports. And they're also really carving their own path and kind of creating the culture and the history and just kind of like, because they are who they are, you know, that can be, I'll give you like a couple tidbit names, but we've looked at, you know, like Chapel Rhone or like Rosalia, Olivia Dean, like, you know, they're amazing, stunningly beautiful in all their own ways.

30:02Gianne L. Doherty:But also when you think about them, they're so individually who they are. Yeah. So those are the kind of...

30:09Chelsea Riggs:My suggestion would be Alyssa Liu or Alyssa Liu, the gold medalist. Oh my gosh. She is unbelievable. Yeah, we got a few of those. Yeah. I don't know if you saw her, but she has this, the bleach. The striped hair. The striped. She gets it bleached once a year and that it's like kind of like tree rings, you know, it grows out. And I'm obsessed with her and her individuality and the way, all the way she expresses herself, I think is so incredible. And I think she's maybe 20 years old or 21. like she's so young but just I feel like is such a cool example of just doing your own thing and embracing your own beauty and doing your stuff like and I read that she like quit figure skating

30:50Gianne L. Doherty:after doing it for a long time then went back like but wanted to own it in her own way and she yeah she really shows up in a way that is clearly her yeah I'm obsessed with that so thank you so

31:01Chelsea Riggs:much to both of you we're gonna open it up do any of you have any questions for ourselves or for Chelsea or Gian? I can pass around the microphone if you like. It's cool to hold it. Hi, my question is for Chelsea. So as a CEO running a company that's more community friend based, what are some self-care or wellness tools that you use to keep you creatively grounded, but also avoiding burnout? Because I do believe you can still get burnout doing something that you love. So how do you balance that?

31:36Gianne L. Doherty:That was such a nice question. I don't care so much about me in that question. I feel good. It's a great point. I mean, I've been part of this brand for basically my, almost my whole career. And there are definitely heavy days. I just remind myself, this is, we're not like doing brain surgery or saving lives. You know, this is hair care. is supposed to be fun and light. And there are certainly a lot of heavy moments in the world. And we have the opportunity to really change people's confidence, change the industry, progressing equity in the industry through all the amazing programming that we get to do and working with these founders.

32:18Gianne L. Doherty:And it's those like small little insights too. They're like, oh my gosh, thank you for saying that. And it's like, wow, it's such a small thing. But you know how much of a difference it made to them and how I stay grounded in that is one, trying to remind myself of those things in a heavy moment. The self-care piece is real. I work out, I try to do some level of fitness every day. Some days that's like, you know, walking around the block. We, you know, we were on an airplane all day, but that is how I get decompressed. It's when no one's bothering me. I have like my best thoughts, either doing exercise or in the shower.

32:57Gianne L. Doherty:Yeah, I think, yeah, you've got to make sure that you carve out time for yourself. I have two small kids. So it's like, you want to be there for them. You want to be there for your company and your team. It depends on you. But also like, you can't do any of that if you don't take care of yourself first. So I really try six out of seven days to prioritize what I need in that day to really then give my best to other people. And it's, sometimes it is hard.

33:23Chelsea Riggs:Yeah, for sure. Are there any other questions? I can, I'm just going to repeat the question. So it was to either Gian or Chelsea and it was what piece of advice did you learn early in your, in your career that you may have unlearned and what did you replace it with? Correct? Yeah.

33:38Gianne L. Doherty:I used to think like work was work and like professional, like you had to be professional and you couldn't mix and you couldn't have friends at work. And I do think that you have to be, you still have to have a lot of respect for one another because what happens like with me, I mean, I started here when I was 21, I think I was a sales manager and I had like a group of, of friends and many of them I still work with today and I've progressed in my career. And then I was the boss of some of these people. And I've realized that you can have both, but it does, you do have to have boundaries and mutual respect for one another and how you, and how you show up and like true care.

34:26Gianne L. Doherty:And I don't, I no longer think that it's like just professionals, professional, like keeping work separate? Because I do think there is some, I've seen that can also be a danger in how people operate. They're like, oh, but I operate this way at work. It's like business is business, nothing personal, but like it is because we're working with people and we're here every day. We spend more time with each other than we do with our friends and family. So there has to be a blend in a way, but not, you don't want the lines to blur too much.

34:54Chelsea Riggs:I would say not that I was told not to take up space because I'm a Leo, but But I think as women, sometimes we've been socialized to not take up space, right? And if we do good, like good things will happen for us. We don't need to shout our name from the rooftops, but advocate for yourself, cheerlead for yourself. It's just, it's really important, I think, as women to do that, especially black and brown women, depending culturally what your home life is like, you're seen and not heard, right? So pushing through that to make sure that you're able to achieve your goals is super important. Yeah, that's great.

35:33Chelsea Riggs:That's a hard thing to like have learned and unlearn, right? So it's just, do you have any tips for how you unlearned that? I pep talk myself. You do? I do. I don't know, something with bad words in it. But I'm like, you got this. You're a bad, you're a bad mamacita.

35:56Gianne L. Doherty:There is something to that. Because I used to hype myself up before like meetings. I'd go and meet with like Sephora. I'm like, who am I? I'm like this 22-year-old girl who has nothing to do with beauty. And I'm like, but I deserve to be in this room. Like I believe in this brand. I like, if not me, then who? Like you've got to really hype yourself up. I mean, I still hype myself up. I say it out loud. As long as I'm alone. I'm not saying it out loud in front of other people. I feel like that's part of the manifesting, right?

36:23Chelsea Riggs:Not just thinking. You know who else does this? J-Lo. Another Leo queen. I do know all the Leo sluts.

36:31Gianne L. Doherty:I do.

36:32Chelsea Riggs:But look up this clip because it's pretty powerful when you see her doing it too. You're like, oh yeah, there is something to that. And I also appreciate me back to the Olympics. Clearly I was obsessed. I was like cheerleader on my couch. But when you heard Eileen Gu, I don't know if any of you heard her. She's the Chinese American competed for China in the freestyle skiing. And she talked about, a reporter said to her, you're so well-spoken. Do you think about your answer before you speak? Did you see that? And then she goes, oh, well, I have neuroplasticity on my side. I'm 22. So we have the power to think who we are.

37:08Chelsea Riggs:And the younger we are, the more of a muscle it is to train it. And I was like, whoa, I am blown away by you. And she was just like, I'm like the best freestyle skier in the world. And she talked about how she talks, says that aloud to herself and creates those pathways in her brain. Like she made it, I think she might be, I don't know what her major is, but she's also incredibly impressive in the academic world. And I just thought that was extremely powerful to hear from a young person that your thoughts are who you relate.

37:35Gianne L. Doherty:Me too. Because sometimes you feel like your brain is like an enemy in a way, just like does, has its own life. But she talks about, I evaluate what I said, what I did, and I like recalibrate. So like I retrain my brain and it does feel like you have a lot of power when you do that.

37:52Chelsea Riggs:Yeah. Well, thank you all so much for joining us this evening. And just a friendly reminder for our listeners and for our audience here, we have a very special promo code and you can shop Amika at loveamika.com. You can shop it at Ulta Beauty, Sephora and Amazon. And we have a limited time promotion, which is Breaking Beauty 20 % off all Amika products on loveamika.com from today, March 8th to March 15th. So fill your cards, everyone. Thank you. Thanks, everyone. Thank you.

38:43Chelsea Riggs:inbox so you won't miss a single thing. And get social with us. Let us know what you think of the episode. You can follow us on Instagram at Breaking Beauty Podcast. And did you know we also have a private Facebook group? Just search Breaking Beauty Podcast chat room. You can even leave us a voicemail at any time with questions or feedback at 1-844-227-0302. And don't forget to subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts fixed. Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, and Apple Podcasts, where you can show us some love by writing a review. See you next Wednesday.

39:32Gianne L. Doherty:Please note that this episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct or indirect financial interest in products or services referred to in this episode.