Ep 21: Inclusive beauty isn’t a trend, it’s a movement - with Ateh Jewel

0:12This week we're bringing you something new that we're calling Lift off with. Now, in honour of National Small Business Week, I'm bringing you some of the best kept secrets who are perhaps earlier on in their journeys or really on their way to lift off. We're bringing you a new episode every single day to shine a spotlight on these incredible women that you might not have yet heard of. Right, so let's lift off with. Today we're joined by Ate Jewel, a beauty journalist and founder of her namesake Beauty Brand, a brand that blends radiant self-expression with a powerful message that beauty belongs to everyone.

0:44A celebrated journalist and diversity advocate, Atay has set out to fill a gap within the industry. So, let's find out why she's a lady who launched. Right, before we get into it, if you like this episode, which I know you're going to, please don't forget to like and subscribe and to share it to your group chat. Thanks for being here. I'm so excited. I've really been looking forward to this. Aw, thank you. You know how much I adore you. and as soon as we started this I was like we need Atte on, we need Atte on the pod. So let's start off with an easy one. Yeah. Who is Atte and tell us a little bit about your journey into beauty, media and now entrepreneurship.

1:28So I'm Atte Jewel, if you want to be official. Doctor Atte Jewel. On the media. You better tell them, tell them you're a doctor. I've got an honorary degree from Solon University, which I'm really proud of. So I am a beauty junkie addict. I just have always loved beauty. I studied history at university, at Bristol, and people always say history and beauty, history and beauty. But for me, I've always loved power, identity, status. And I just love looking at it through a colourful, sparkly lens. So it ain't no different. Whether it's 17th century witches, which is all about feminism and burning ladies who spoke up, or if it's talking about why there is not a proper shade, you know, colour match for me because I'm not seen as worthy enough for marketeers back in the day.

2:13It's all the same thing. So I've always loved beauty. I started out 2001. I stalked my way onto InStyle magazine. The magazine came out. I called them every day for two weeks. I said, I've got to work with you. I've got to work with you. See, I love this. And there is no, but there is such a merit in that, like tenacity and that kind of hungry. But like that consistent ambition. I was on fire my whole life I was on fire I grew up in a very ambitious home my dad is Nigerian he was a diplomat my mum's from Trinidad my parents divorced when I was little but I always had the you are a winner you will achieve you can do anything you want and I always had that messaging but then when I looked into the world everyone who looked like me on tv or movies was always represented as very economically or socially depressed anyone who looked like me was either a prostitute a maid or a slave and it just never fit with me the messaging I was in my home the way I felt and it just didn't make sense but I loved beauty and I loved like you know I wanted to be a pop star girl like I'm a performer I didn't know that oh my god no I was a doll I loved that I used to do ballet I used to sing and dance I was told you'll never be a ballet dancer because black bodies are elegant and so you should just give up on your dreams so the messaging was always you're not good enough you're not good enough the messages was always the messaging was always negative negative not for you not good enough this is not your place and that got a fire in me so and along with my family who are like you can do anything you want so i was like i want to work in beauty well my mum's a hippie and she said to me the best advice ever which i will give my children make your hobby your job and you never feel like you're working and i was like preach preach I was like I can bang out a history essay and I love beauty is that a job yes it is it's called beauty writing so that's how I got into beauty oh my gosh it's so good advice like it's that's so so brilliant and how incredible to have and that's something that I really hope that my children get from me but having that real positive messaging under your roof is so so powerful and i think you know it's it could also sometimes be quite there's a pressure because you're a winner a pressure and i've been told i am a winner and managing expectations that actually winners fail too yeah okay and knowing that's part of it but what a beautiful home environment yeah you were raised in your place is anywhere you want it to be that was what i was and i was like you know what 2001 the beauty industry was very different I was always the black one that I was only the only one in the room it was a time where everyone was kind of a size six from Hertfordshire and called Charlotte and that was the beauty industry and I was like I'm coming I'm coming so I was really lucky to have people who championed me who believed in me I went to work at InStyle then I went to Vogue House at Tatler I was there for a year and then I went freelance at 23 24 because I knew deep down I would never be a beauty director because my face and body didn't fit wow I just knew it and I was like ain't gonna be nobody's mammy I'm not and I was like and I twirled into freelance because I just I it was just because you didn't fit the mold yeah I do you have felt different if that wasn't I would apply for things and I'd always get the number two I'd be doing I'd be doing the role it'd be given to someone else who had no experience and they're like oh but it's her time it's her you know I just you just understood that I wasn't going to ever be front of house face of a magazine there's understanding but there's also accepting and you don't seem I didn't accept it girly to accept so I went freelance and worked really really hard and I wrote for everybody left right so the telegraph daily mail um god well that's where we met exactly grazia like marie claire install i wrote for everybody like i wrote for arty i wrote for men's health women's health wonderland and i did that to prove that it's not me it's you so like my mum always told me as well like you know you shame people through excellence so you have to make it so ridiculous not to hire you it's like i'm sorry beyonce i don't think you're a good singer dancer really really yeah you want sharon from the counts to do the to do that headline act and not beyonce you're ridiculous so i was like the beyonce of beauty and i wanted to be excellent that was your i did it outside looking in i saw a meme the other day that says um when someone says you can't do something do it twice and take pictures yeah and i kind of laughed that that's my that's been my mantra that's you that's been my mantra it was it was tough it was tough so you know there's been highs and lows and you know opportunities that perhaps that you weren't dealt because of not fitting the mould.

7:10However, you have been your own champion, as well as having people that believe in you, you've been your own champion. And you've had this sort of incredibly rich career as a journalist and beauty expert. When did you know it was time for you to kind of, I suppose, really take things into your own? Was it the time that you went freelance that you thought, actually, I don't perhaps need to sit behind this big juggernaut and this big machine. Actually, I can carve out my own lane here. And was it that that gave you the confidence into entering the world of business? That's a really interesting question.

7:52I've always carved my own lane. I didn't want to. I'm like, please love me. Please accept me. But like, no. And I'm not going to take no. So I've twirled away. and I would say I'm a serial entrepreneur in terms of, I don't know if you know, I had a production company for about 15 years. I didn't know that about you. No. 2005, like my ex-husband at the time, who was a director, he said there's something called The Blogs. I think you should look into it. I'm like, you'll never catch on. And my friend who was working at L 'Oreal, who was a genius and she was a PR genius and she said, I think we should film backstage at Fashion Week.

8:27I think it's really interesting. What do you think? And I'm like, no, who's going to see it? because there was no internet but as a favor to my friend and this is good karma I got my ex-husband who was a director I'm like put one of your teams together and let's do a bit of filming do the hair the nails the the makeup for my mate at L 'Oreal and she can show at her conference and it was at Matthew Williamson and it was backstage at Julia McDonald and it was another one anyway that suddenly became something called content and then I started working for like Chanel Dior Backstage at all the fashion weeks No way And so I did that for a good Behind the scenes For a good 15 years Which put a couple zeros on my paycheck And I directed produced It's just so interesting to think That there was a time Where that didn't exist Now you wouldn't have a fashion show Without it Without even Considering that people wouldn't see What happens behind the scenes I was doing a This is karma I did a favour for my mate And it turned into a business And so I rode that wave And I had a production company we did shorts we did this we did that and you know I directed I produced I ran edits and that was a good 15 years as well as being a beauty journalist and being an being editorial with also the technical side I learned so much but um so that was like and that was like my second side hustle so 15 year business was your second so to launch into my own beauty brand was a third side hustle but also I had the confidence that I can do anything I set my mind to because you you you you can trust yourself because you've been there and done that before yeah I could make like I've never directed or produced but suddenly I'm in like Milan Max Mara backstage and it's you know I'm doing like I'm with Cheryl Cole back you know doing the pie in the seams of L.Net I did all that commercials and the gold one and like it was just fun and just doing stuff I love so I've always wanted to be a beauty entrepreneur i've always wanted my own range i am in love with makeup i am in love with the way it makes you feel you are the magic and as women we often say that and you know we this is a female podcast and by default a lot of the businesses women have built have been based around beauty right um but when i think of somebody that i know who loves beauty I don't think anyone would come to my mind faster than you.

10:46And it's not just the like love of it. It's the like detailed knowledge and expertise you have is so, I mean, I just want to be a sponge. If you tell me to buy something, best believe I bought two of those. Oh, thank you. No, genuinely, you know that. I'm always like, what do you think about this? When we're on this morning and you do the items. Yes. And I'm like, you're like, take that one because you're going to like that. I'm like putting it all in my bag. Literally, that is my skill set. Do you know what I mean? Like I'm a geek. I love the science. People always, they really look down on beauty, but beauty is culture.

11:20Beauty is politics. Beauty is everything that I'm interested in, but just more sparkly and fabulous. So we can talk about ingredients. I talk to chemists all day. Let's talk about business. I speak to business people all day. Let's talk about artistry. I can speak to artists all day. Let's talk about pigments. Everything that is interesting in the world is in the beauty industry. Yeah. But people are just, I think, some misogyny and just being a bit ignorant. They don't see, you know, they think it's about the male gaze and it's about being an artist and tapping into your spirit. And it's about being visible and feeling magical and playing and nature.

11:54Because I think for me, I like to grab colours and smear them in a palette. And that is my love letter to the world, to nature. We are nature. no culture or you know civilization in the history of the world has not worshipped loved or projected power through the medium of makeup so can we not talk about why is that i mean i don't know i don't i don't want you to drop my mic yeah i'm like ready that was a mic drop moment how is this trivial it's not about you speak such truth such truth so with all of that being said Tell me how you got your own product range off the ground. Because we've spoken about this on and off.

12:43And I know and I appreciate just how hard it is. So tell me how long in the making, you know, I want to know the whole story. So, atrial beauty, it's something I've always wanted to do. But I had to battle imposter syndrome. I had to battle years of people saying, this is not for you. This is not your lane. Black Lives Matter 2020. We all thought the world was ending. And that was my, can I swear on this? You can go. I was like, fuck it. We're all going to die. I'm going to go out swinging, being me. And I was like, literally my life changed. I was more outspoken. I talk about politics. I was talking about all the racism I've had in the industry.

13:25And I've had, there's all the things we would probably have conversations behind closed doors. Yeah. people were having in public you sort of really and I saw that I exploded I bloody loved it though yeah you sort of entered your fuck it era I entered my fuck it era yeah and I was like you know what if we're gonna die I'm gonna just be me and I want to do what I want to do and I started researching the brand and like I always had ideas I always thought maybe this isn't for me and then I it was so difficult I can't tell you I'd go to factories and they were like well it's not really worth the r &d for deeper skin tones they say that to my face they'd be like well why don't you just pick something off the shelf and then if it sells and we'll we'll actually invest some like chemist time with you prove your worth and then we're well and i was like well the point is i've been in this industry 24 years i haven't got a foundation or a blush or stuff that i'm in love with it's really really good but it's wrong and i i say it's like a bad boyfriend the makeup that is on the industry now is amazing there's some incredible things but i'm a geek and i can see that i can see the gaps in the market and it's like having a boyfriend who you think is amazing until you get treated right do you know what i mean and then you're like you thought he was amazing you thought he was and then you get a good boy and then this guy's come and swooped you and you're like what the hell was that and i feel like that with a lot of foundations it's just what we're Used to.

14:49Yeah. And, you know, I would speak to chemists. And I don't know if you know this. They put white in the base of most foundations, even for your skin, my skin, everybody's skin. With blushes, they put white in the base. They put fillers. And I travel to Italy. I travel to factories. And what's the thought process behind that? I didn't know that. The thought is because that's how it's always done. It's cheap filler. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. I spoke to so many chemists who said, darling, we've been doing this 30 years. That's how it's done. You can't break the color wheel. And for foundations for dark skin, they put black to make it go darker.

15:21I do not have black in my skin. No one has white in their skin. No one has black in their skin. And because I love art, I'm like looking at medieval painters. How are they going to, how do they make these colors? Bah, bah, bah, bah. No artist would ever put black in something because it deadens it. They'd mix it with like purples or blues or different things. So I went to pigment houses. I want brown. Oh no, we add black. Why? I just pushed and pushed for years. one woman said to me no one's ever actually asked us no one's ever actually bothered and you know why because no one's looked like me and cared enough this is deeply personal because I'm a beauty geek I want my fantasy product for me for you for my kids for everybody and a lot of the time it's just people who are just I call it the bad photocopier this is how it's been done forever and we keep on photocopying the bad photocopy until someone says sorry what's the original what was the thought behind that and no one has the answer because no one cares enough to do it to push and I push it took five years before even getting any hedgeware I went and bought pigments and I was mixing them in I was like Hogwarts in my house I was mixing potions I was mixing pigments teaching chemists how to do things I kissed a lot of frogs a lot of people helped me a lot of people couldn't do it wouldn't do it and then I did a podcast with Trini Woodall who is my fairy godmother and we did a podcast and I was saying oh you know I'm developing this blush and foundation it's so hard no factories want to work with me and blah blah blah and I said this story about blush which when I was 15 I went to a beauty counter and I oh god I saved up all my money and I went to this very fancy department store I won't say where and I said can I please have a pink blush and the lady went uh black girls don't blush and black girls don't wear pink why don't you go to the back of the beauty hall maybe fashion fair has something for you and then she sprayed the counter and she wiped it as if i was dirty and told me to leave and it broke my heart that is horrific and that's how i've always felt it's been like a pleasure and a prison the beauty industry where you feel you're so welcome but also there's like not for you not for you yeah anyway i did this instagram live with trini it's like that same sort of gym mentality yeah you know when you feel like you're not welcome because everybody knows what they're doing and it's all very intimidating and everyone's got abs and you want it like it's that same sort of culture where beauty hall it can be that intimidating place to be where it's like not for you not for you yeah so i felt really upset about that and i was telling the story so yeah it really it broke something in me spiritually i was telling trillie this story and she was like I won't say what she Well I love her I can only imagine She used to see words on my Instagram live which made me love her a little bit more and anyway she's amazing gave me a number to her factory off we go she is the definition of women supporting women She is so bloody brilliant She is so kind and I got I went to her factory in Italy surprise surprise it was the first factory run by a woman the whole chemistry team were women they're the first person to be like we don't know what you're talking about but we'll give it a go So by surprise, they cracked it.

18:30And so, yeah. And do you know what? If anyone would have the keys to that factory in Vetrini. Yeah. And I kind of love that. And to share and not to gatekeep and to be kind. And so I think the world has changed where there can only be one. And I think now it's like, let's all hold hands together and rise together. And do this in harmony. Exactly that. Absolutely that. There doesn't need to be, I always call it that British mentality whereby we're so, we just tend to gatekeep yeah because if i give it to you it might take off of my plate and literally that's not how life is and i just that was one of the reasons for this podcast like i love connecting women women sharing together and everyone being generous generous with their time and their knowledge and their little black book literally i think it's like old world thinking is hunger games there can be only one um like let's scratch each other's eyes out and i think new world which is why I'm so proud of you and I'm so honored to be here it's like let's hold hands and rise together especially being a black woman in this world there can only be one black girl do you know what I mean like my my cousins used to model back in the day and they'd go to agencies and they'd be told oh we've got a black girl yeah and they'd be like okay thank you and that's so funny I would know I would know when I got to an audition when I was younger like because I used to audition as a kid and I used to do musical theater and so on and so forth I it would be the same girl that was my competition and so you have five for her and then I was in a show called um whistle down the wind in West End and I played a part called Curly and it was always by a mixed race child yeah but it was on my team my character was either played by a boy or by a girl when everyone else kind of had their their roles and that was how it should look but it was just like it's a mixed race child yeah literally that's it and i knew my competition but sometimes my competition was also a male it's crazy because yeah that's just there was a space for one literally yeah which is wild and you know what i feel i mean we're digressing but part of me for my children i feel so grateful that obviously we know there's still a lot to do and there's always going to be a level of unconscious bias but i really think that that dial has changed and is turning and i think i spoke to um the girls from five times more yeah and where they were saying that actually from 2020 then and it was obviously because of the tragedy of george floyd he changed the world but he changed the world and obviously for all of the wrong reasons but there was some there was a lot of power that he left behind and I think it's kind of the conversations that like for example me when I was pitching My Little Coco and loads of retailers didn't get it and we were like at the at the end of sort of going should we just go straight DTC or should I really kind of felt that if you're looking for baby product it needs to be in a retailer because you get kind of invest in that in-store experience and lots of retailers were like we like it we like the association we think that we'd like to back a toiletry band that's by Rochelle Humes and it's not by Rochelle Humes it's a brand it's its own brand founded by me it's very different um we get it all but I think we can lose all the curl products because we don't think there's an appetite and there was I was just that wasn't going to be it was you know a range of seven skews and it wasn't going to be half of that and that was that and I was very very firm on that however if I was having that conversation in 2020 yeah like at the end of the year yeah they would have all bitten my hand off for it and those retailers have since which is so interesting because it's the same people that I had a conversation with two years before they just they oh the things i would say i um i you know i was fundraising in actually 2022 and i was speaking to so many investment bankers so many powerful people all you know and what is really shocking i work in beauty where everyone is a boss bitch and they're all like fabulous and it's a lot of women's focus and then i'm like oh my god when you actually go outside and the keys to the kingdom and the gatekeepers they're still middle-aged men who have to give you a pat on the head in the check and then you can go do your dream and I was speaking to all these guys who would say things like oh we love what you're doing but who's really going to run your business that would be me no no no no no black lady with the pink crown no who's really going to be running it I was like no it's me she's not exaggerating because she does wear a pink crown I do wear a crown and they'd say things like we'd feel more comfortable if there was a CFO and I was like a CFO or a penis and they they just did not like me and they the things they said to me were wild They'll be like, do black people actually have money to buy at a luxury price point?

23:27These were questions in like huge meetings. But you were being asked in real life. In real life. And it was just, I said, my brand is for everybody. I like if you look at the facts and figures, you know, mental reports, like black consumers spend eight times more on like hair and beauty. I just, you know, bombard people with facts. It was just so soul destroying. Well, facts, you can't ever, it's soul destroying, but facts don't lie, right? They're facts for a reason. And I think it speaks volumes. People say, well, if it would work, why haven't it happened before? And I said, well, why have women only had the vote for 100 years?

24:03It's the same thing. Women are very capable, but it's not just about whether something works or not. It's about power. And breaking the mould. Breaking the mould. Gatekeepers. Women could have been working and paying taxes and being in the army for more than 100 years. It's more than that. We should say that like, and Emma Greed speaks so eloquently about this, that there are some, like the most important players in her game have been men. Like she knows that and she's opening the door and dragging the women through that door. But actually that there are some incredible men that really it's breaking that stereotype.

24:39And her kind of, because I asked her, what, how does that, did that ever intimidate you? Like, you know, being so female in certain environments and certain boards. and she's like, no, absolutely not, babe, because if they haven't got my point of view, guess what, they need it. Yeah. So she entered every room in that headspace. Like, you need me, you need me. Yeah, because guess what, there's no one that looks like me here. Yeah. Which is exactly the reason that you need me and why you're going to be taking this meeting. Which is such a positive thing, because you're so gaff. I was gafflet for decades.

25:12Yeah. Oh, this is not for me, this is not the table. But actually change the narrative. Change the narrative. And the way, you know, and the world has moved on so much that actually if I'm not there, guess what? There's a point of view that you're missing out on. Yeah. And I've had many men who've literally had my back and they have been allies. And I've got, I had Angel Investment, which was so beautiful. You can't make it up. I had a meeting that got cancelled. I was sitting in Dean Street Townhouse, irritated having a coffee. And this lady said, I love you. I love what you do. I love you on this morning.

25:43I love you. Good morning, Britain. anything you want to do I let me support you and I was like I need money because I'm launching a brand yeah but I kind of love that because this is just so true to you I'm gonna ask and I'm gonna ask and if I don't ask I'm not gonna get literally and she's like let's have lunch one lunch and a coffee later she invested dragged like well invited my other investor who's William Berry he was one of the people who his family owned Marie Claire and I was like boom and off I go it wasn't enough to do my foundation but I'm always like no one's going to stop me so what can I do what can I do right so let's strip it back so you have this meeting this lunch goes well it's a real fluky situation yeah something else has fallen through but the universe has your back yeah Jane Henderson Jane Henderson meets you loves you and here you go there's money on the table yeah so you launch at a jewel beauty with blushes which is insane for beauty can I just add it's never been done before I wanted to do my 20 shades of foundation, which took five years to develop.

26:46I went, I got offered, I was offered deals like 10 million, but for 40 % of my company, I was offered 2 million. But then he would, the guy was like, but I need you to have written permission for anything you do. So if you want to go in this morning, you'll need my permission. If you want to do a podcast, you need my permission. And I was like, this is 50 shades of grey, but not hot. So no, thank you. like business bondage I am not into so I had different deals on the table but I'm like the whole point of this is sovereignty which were which by the way in moments of like weakness not a weakness probably isn't the right phrase but they are very tempting deals and tempting offers but I am I'm a rebel I am an idealist I'm like I literally want to burn I want to burn old systems down and I want to create a brand new world.

27:37I mean, I worked for Vogue House when I was 22. They asked me, the head of HR said, you're very well educated. Does that make you feel more white? That was the head of HR asked me that question. And I remember sitting there thinking, I need to answer this. So I get in this building and burn it down from the inside. So I was like, education doesn't have a colour. You either are or you're not. And then she went, what do you think about gangs in South London it must be terrible that was my HR for Vogue House back in the day and I was like I've never I don't know about the gangs in South London it must be very sad I live in Mayfair around the corner but I'm sure it's terrible but thanks for the same and I got her blessing I got in so I've always been like I need the blessing to get in and change the game so I went to Harrods they had they had my back in the most beautiful way they're like Atte, we've never launched a beauty brand with just blush, with just three skews.

28:30And I said, well, how do we disrupt the system? Because unless I get a pat on the head and a check from these guys who want my business bondage or they want to ring me off 40 percent, that's how that's how the game is working. And if you really want to support diversity, which you say you do, let let the Black Female founder launch for three blushes. And they were like, let's do it. And God bless Harrod's beauty. so I launched the brand on the 5th of July 2023 into Harrods and across H Beauty I have to add the 1st of July I blew up my 26 year marriage and relationship I mean not an accident not an accident emancipation um and I like so I blew up my marriage on the 1st of July 5th of July I launched and I twirled and it was literally the beginning of a new world if anyone can you can It was ridiculous.

29:20It was just tears. It was this. It was that. But I just. So this brand is about God. It's about reinvention. It's about loving yourself. It's about power. It's so political to me, as well as being the best blush I've ever used in 24 years. It's also about being seen and celebrated. It's for all skin tones. It's so it pops hard on you, on me, my girls, on everyone. Like my Irish friend, Laura Hinton, you know, she who has a very light skin tone and things look. I call her my colour sister because things look ashy on her will look ashy on me. So we're different sides of the colour. We're so far apart, like fascism and communism were actually quite similar.

30:00So we're so far apart of the colour scale, we're actually the same. So I wanted it to pop so hard on Laura and also pop on me and everybody in between. And that is equality. That is power, not a little go to the back of the beauty bus. Maybe there's something for you over there. And so it was really healing my 15 year old heart. It was healing all the power gaps as well as being beautiful. So beauty is not superficial. It is so important. And yeah, my foundations are still at the factory waiting because I need money to get them. But I'm not going to take a bad deal. So that's what that's what position you're in now.

30:33So you're selling you're still in Harrods. I'm in Harrods. I'm in Debenhams. I'm in Beauty Ed at Mayfair. I'm on a line as well with my own website. And I've just got them on Nubian Skin, handpicked Ade Hussein. If you haven't spoken to her, you need to speak to her. She founded Nubian Skin. Yes, no, I know exactly who she is. She's on our list. Is she? She's on our list. Ade Hussein MBE, put respect on her name. I love her. My Nigerian sister, cousin. Yeah. Right. So you're in all of these retailers, also DTC. Yeah. so the next the next phase for at age your beauty is as you walked in i said to you what foundation are you wearing yeah you know me i don't i don't miss i'm like sorry what foundation is this it's yours and can i just say something i don't know if i've told you this have i told you this no i made a color for you called rochelle are you joking yeah i kind of matched it i'll send you a little sample what the hell because i've got 20 shades and i kind of match them to people I love and respect because...

31:32Are you joking? Yeah, I'm going to send it to you. I've got Alison and I've got you. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Yeah, I've got Rochelle and it's your colour and I've got my baby girls. I've got Ola and Adana because... That is so nice. Wow. I spoke to a chemist who said he'd been making foundations for dark skin for 30 years for all the big brands. I will call him Keith. He's not called Keith. And Keith gave me the gift of truth. He said, Atte, for 30 years, I was told to make colours for skin tones which were deeper based on colours that I think look nice on the shelf. What, visually, like in a glass bottle?

32:07Yeah. And I said, thank you for that because it makes sense. So all those weird terracotta colours, all those orangey muddy colours that make no sense, Keith thought they looked nice. So it blew my mind and it makes so much sense. So with my brand, I want you to walk into a beauty hall and not see what Keith thinks looks beautiful, but I want you to see reflections of yourself. So that's why I want to be like, there's a Rochelle shade. There is an Alison shade. There's a Gary plastic boy shade. Oh my God, I wish you brought that. Oh my God, yeah. We need to test it. We've got to test it. Oh my gosh, we need to do this.

32:43So it's real people, real skin, not reflections of other people's, you know. Idea of. And you know, we've been in this industry for a long time and you know we are constantly battling who we are and people's projections of who we are and who we think we are. And for me, that's just in makeup form, what I've always dealt with socially. This is what's like, I just don't think people don't. Yeah, I think the way that you bring like politics and history, like it's so true. Like everything, like this is your DNA. All of this is your DNA. So these foundations, they need to happen. You've got 20 shades.

33:24And I'm talking everybody is invited to the party. they are shades based on the people I love so my South Asian friends my Middle Eastern friends I've got shades which are like I have um shades which are really light which people basically their undertones are always ashy or they're too pink or they're not or they're too yellow and it's about undertones and understanding that like my girls are mixed and they're twins and their shades are completely different we always grew up you know I'm I've always been chestnut I've been chestnut forever and then there's always espresso and espresso is this color that just falls off the edge of the world there's three people in the world that are this matte ridiculous yeah dead color and i'm like you know what my my colors i'm not the end of the rainbow there's like four more colors and there's different undertones within the darker colors you have to understand there's a blue undertone for that kind of espresso-y color there's like a purpley there's a this that yeah i want to be seen literally see me bitches you want your skin you want your skin to look like skin i think that's what's really important when it comes to so so right so we're so these where are we now because this what are we waiting for between pushing go on the world seeing those foundations we're talking we're at next round of investment next yeah so like so i launched i launched the brand with a broken heart i feel i've really underachieved but we have won six awards we've won six awards definitely like uh vogue beauty we've been nominated for vogue beauty war we've been on marie claire we've been on red carpets daniel martin katie jane hughes like so many people and celebrities love it and been using it but i do feel my heart has been broken while launching the brand which was unfortunate but i still think it's been amazing the foundation it's just money it's yeah it's always that thing of money the thing is with that with foundation you can't and i've i've been trying to hack the system foundation is one of those things where it's not like a candle oh at it everyone wants to support you buy a candle pre-order foundation is so different you have to feel it it's very personal touch it it's like and also the markets i'm talking to have been so disillusioned and so underserved and there's such a lack of trust so like how do i do sampling do i do it's like cat mouth you know yeah but yeah it's hard that's phase two that's phase two but i've got a fragrance ready i've got candles i've got bath and body basically my business plan is fix the problems and make products that i want for myself but no but it's you know we say this a lot the best brands the best businesses are born out of something that feels like it's self-indulgent it yeah it feels that way but if it's an if it's self-indulgent to you and it's a need for you guess what it's going to be a need for someone else well for lots of other people fixing my broken beauty heart that is what i do yeah yeah i think but but we've seen that every single step along the way which i think is so so special and so authentic to you i want to do something that we are calling set the table yes and my lovely life coach dior who we love her love and you have met i spent a weekend in berlin with her she's fabulous isn't she she's amazing she's amazing um we talk about designing your future self oh i love this so it so what i want to ask you is how are you setting the table for your next chapter and what is next for at age all the brand but also for you for at age all the brand i want to deliver and launch the foundation because that is the beating heart yes and it's so important to me I want it not just for myself but for everybody and I want it as a you know I want it on shelf but in a way which is empowered and not compromising in any single way and to really help people feel seen and fabulous um I also want to you know I am someone who wants to change the world I know it sounds really naff really we didn't get that and I've got um I have a foundation an education foundation I launched called Dr.

37:32Atejul education foundation and I don't shout about it enough because I feel a bit shy but I launched it in 2021 and I've raised over 160 ,000 pounds from my beauty friends like P &G, Aveda, Space and K donated, Little Light PR, Stewart's Foundation, Cantu, Irene Moore, a lot of people my beauty fam have donated money and I'm putting black and mixed heritage students through higher education at Oxford University I've got a scholarship also at UAL because I had so much trouble with chemists and all these people saying that's not how it's done dear I'm sponsored for the past three years with P &G this cosmetic science course and so I'm pumping out black and mixed heritage science chemists and it's working I went to Neal's Yard Remedy the other day for a factory visit for a press launch and there was a girl there who went I'm one of your scholars and I burst into tears I'm like, it's working.

38:27It's working. So it's just like, you know, diversity. Why do you not shout about this? Because I can feel like it's just, it's like, you know what? It's naff. No, I need to shout about it to get more money to put more people through university. Yes, you do. But also I don't want to be like, oh, I've got an education. But I do need to shout about it because it's good work. I want to do good work. Like I've got 13 year old twin daughters. I'm like, you can be whoever you want. You can do whoever you want. But you know what? Love and pass it on. That is the only reason we're here. Be of service. how are you going to be of service so my brand I want oh god there's so many things I want to do I want my brand to explode I want to do more podcasts I want a book I want a tv show I want to you know I want my Downton Abbey Cotswolds estate I want all you know I want so many fun things but I want ultimately I want things to be better for everybody I want to leave the world a little bit tidier than how I left it you know I'm 47 now I'm middle-aged it's you know I just do not want to waste any more time I really feel I wasted so much time in a bad relationship being gaslit by the world gaslighting myself and I'm literally twirling into a new era of like I have no time to waste let's sprinkle some fucking glitter on this shit oh I just love it and I love it when you sort of you know the way that you talk about ex in a marriage that was toxic and bad for you I just love the way that you No, I know.

39:51But it was, yeah, we outgrew. I grew out that. Yeah, and it was then what was a bad relationship for you. Yeah. But I love your outlook is that you're twirling into something new. I'm twirling. Love and release. You know what? It was a pro, that was, I was 19 when we met. And I was 19 to 45. And that changes. I married my first boyfriend. I was a different person. The world was a different person. And the more empowered and the more authentic myself, the less that relationship fit. which I think happens to lots of people and you know sometimes you just have to love yourself a little bit more exactly that I couldn't agree with you more before we go because I've absolutely loved this you're just honestly like the biggest ray of sunlight ever I want to know how you spend your lunch hour every episode I ask my guests yeah you know because it's that time of day that we should all take sometimes we don't take it because we're working through it however that looks but how do you spend your lunch hour where do you go, what are you eating or are you at the offer, how does it look to you because I'm freelance and I bounce around I mean I've got the ADHD I just got diagnosed last month no shit surprise surprise I hate routine.

41:18I've always bounced around. I've had a very toxic relationship with food. I was 11 stone bigger in my marriage. I gave myself type two diabetes. Food was emotional comfort. So I guess now I'm relearning that that food is love and healing and all the rest of it. And I'm eating protein. I'm also on the Zen pick. I gave myself type two diabetes and it's actually reversing it and I'm getting a more loving relationship with food. I'm a child of the 80s. So I grew up, lunch is for wimps. You work through. And working in magazine world when I did, it was like, oh, that's cute. You want to have a lunch break?

41:52Ha, ha, ha, ha. So it was a different world. I can so appreciate it. I watched The Devil's Wear Prada was a documentary and we all thought that bitch was lazy. And you work harder. Like literally. So I never had a lunch break. But now that I'm in this more loving, gentle era. Giving back to yourself. Yeah. I'm meditating now and eating nut butter and doing Pilates. I love this. Who did? Who did? I love it. Yeah, so lunch break, if I'm not bouncing up and down from London to the Cotswolds or something, I'm trying to look after myself in a better way, in a more loving way, you know, and just being kinder to myself.

42:31As you should. Taking time. And what's your go-to? What are you eating when you're... Oh, my God, high protein. I just had lunch now at Otolenghi. Oh, chicken salads and my things. and just, yeah. Nourishing yourself in the best way. Food is nourishment. I never thought, did you grow up with that? Like food is nourishment? No, but I just kind of think, I all like, to be honest, I really, I did eat well as a kid because my mum was quite like home cooked. It was the same home cooked meal. Yeah. Like disclaimer, she weren't being like adventurous and being like, oh, let me try this. And she wasn't excited by food, but it was home cooked.

43:06It was like green enough and it was good food. but I also think we know so much more now that perhaps our parents didn't and there's that information there. So yeah, I definitely knew like on a Monday it was like a shepherd's pie. It was boring, but it was good. But I think now I like to give my kids variety and I want them to try everything. I do, I get excited and the busier I get, it's not the easiest, is it? But I do like them to try. I'm like try everything once I said this once I was like try everything once because you might like it and then my other one was like the older they get you might want to rethink that information just try everything once if you don't like it it's fine but just try it I agree with that I'm a big foodie I'm a big foodie and if you don't like it that's fine but don't tell me you don't like it before you've tried it you've got to try it and give yourself a chance my kids grew up and babba mama can I have baba ganoush I was so proud See, I, yeah, there you go.

44:10Three-year-olds will ask you for Baba Ganousha. I've got my job. And you've absolutely nailed it. Thank you so much. I've loved this. You are just brilliant. Thank you. And there are humongous things to come for Atta Jewel Beauty. I know it. I know it. Oh, thank you. It's too good not to go the extra mile. I'm not going to lie. It's been hard because you have to face yourself. It's looking at yourself in the mirror and the void and screaming and pushing through everything. I think there's nothing more exposing than launching your brand. All artists, I always tell my children, if you want to be an artist, it means flashing your tits to the world and saying, what do you think?

44:47And being brave enough to hear the answer. Hypothetical. Boom. Hypothetical tits. Hypothetical. If you're an OnlyFans, no judgment. No judgment. You do you, boo. No, listen, I'm with you. I'm with you. Yeah. Anyway. I love that. Thank you so much. Thank you. I love it. I love it.

45:13Don't forget to follow us on Apple and Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts to make sure that you don't miss out because next time we'll be meeting another incredible lady who launched. Or if like me, you're a watcher, don't forget to follow us on YouTube and please don't forget to like and subscribe.

45:35Thank you.