Turning Brows Into a Billion-Dollar Business: Anastasia Soare on Building Anastasia Beverly Hills

0:01I'm Nicole Lappin, the only financial expert you don't need a dictionary to understand. end. It's time for so many rehab.

0:16Today, I sit down with the woman that Oprah called the queen of brows, Anastasia Soiree, the founder of Anastasia Beverly Hills. And if you're wondering to yourself, can brows really be big business? Well, Anastasia scaled her company to a reported $3 billion valuation. And today, she tells me how she did it. From growing up in communist Romania to building one of the most successful beauty brands in the world, Anastasia shares the negotiation tactics that she used early on to get partners to take a chance on her, and what financial moves she made before taking a bet on herself. We also talk about the time she fired her own daughter, whether romantic relationships are a distraction in business, and how the heck she cultivated such an amazing celebrity client list that features names like Kris Jenner, Jennifer Lopez, Hailey Bieber, and more.

1:06Plus, we do a very special edition of Bullish or Bearish, where I ask Anastasia to rate beauty trends today. So whether you're interested in the beauty industry or just profitable businesses, this conversation has something for everyone. All this after a word from our sponsors. I once interviewed the CEO of a credit bureau and he confessed that his assistant has a better credit score than he does. Why? Because she's more organized. Yep, even the head of the credit bureau can use a little help in the credit score department. If you can too, then listen up because Chime has a card that can help you do just that.

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3:19Co-hosts can handle everything from staging your space to communicating with guests to offering on-site support so nothing interferes with your time away from home. Whether you're living the digital nomad life or just taking a well-deserved reset, I love this for you. Looking to get started? Find a co-host at airbnb.com slash host. Anastasia Soire, welcome to Money Rehab. Thank you so much for having me. So excited. So excited to talk about money because you are the brow queen, but also the money queen and love talking about business and money. And I think that's so important to open up about because you came from nothing, nothing.

3:57Zero. That's right. In Romania, communist society, what was your idea about money growing up? Well, my mother was an entrepreneur. Living in a communist regime was quite difficult to own your own business. For some reason, my mother was able to own her own business. She was making clothes for the elite, the wives. And you know, happy wives, happy husband. And my mother was able to have this business. She had a few people working for her. And my father passed away when I was 12. So to be able to keep the business, she pulled me one evening. We sat together at the table. and she said, well, I can't do this by myself.

4:43You have to help me. And I looked at her like, mom, I'm 12. I don't know anything about business. And very nonchalant, she said, no, you are so smart. I will teach you everything. And after school, every day I will go in the atelier. I will do my homework between the sewing machines. I have my little table. And this is how I learn everything about how she market herself, how she was able to do all her finance. She was very savvy and I was lucky enough to learn everything from her. What stood out to me about that story is that at 12 years old, she said you can do it. And I feel that from you. Like you are so confident.

5:25I had to become confident and independent because it was no other way. And do you still worry about money from growing up, seeing a communist society coming here? I'm first generation American and also lost everything in the fire in Los Angeles. So still feeling financial trauma is real. Like it never truly goes away. And some stuff that comes up can still trigger old wounds. For sure. Do you feel like there's a day that you wouldn't have enough again? Or have you gotten over that? You know, when you come from darkness, when you see the light you are happy about. and if it's going to be dark again, you will try to find ways to survive.

6:06Of course, I still want to enjoy my life and being independent because to me, having money means being independent and being able to do things that you want and you love. To me, this is what gives you that freedom. A financially independent woman is a woman that calls her shots wherever she wants, she could do it. You don't need to worry. Oh, my God, I don't have money to pay my electrical bill. I don't have money to pay my rent. My car broke down. I don't have money to fix it. I had that. Yeah, I had it too. And my goal was to find a way to not have that worry anymore. And you did. But you've had no money and you've had a lot of money.

6:51Which one is better? Which one brings you more happiness? Of course. A lot of money brings you happiness. When people said money don't bring happiness, I don't know. I don't think they experience the both side of not having or having. Having is better. Absolutely. When you first came to the U.S., you started working at a salon. And I love this because the owners benefited from the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and the Women's Business Ownership Act. I don't think people realize because before that, you couldn't get credit without a male relative. It was even hard for me to get credit in 1990. People don't understand.

7:30Today, it's so much easier to get that. You worked for two female entrepreneurs at the time. Yes. That was revolutionary. Very revolutionary, yes. And what did that teach you about getting credit, starting a business? Well, every day I was learning. I was like a sponge. I wanted to learn everything from them. And I've done jobs that were not on my job description list. but I wanted to learn. So by doing, you learn, you know, making mistakes, you learn. I think people, when they come here for the first time, it's amazing that your mother was able to be an entrepreneur in a communist society. Super rare.

8:08Very unusual. Incredible. And then coming here, did you even know what a credit card was or a credit score? I didn't know how to write a check. So a friend, one day I invite him to dinner, like, you need to teach me. You need to teach me how to write a check. You need to teach me what is important. And he said, you have to get a credit card. What is a credit card? Well, you go to the bank. And so he walked me through the process. I went to the bank, Wells Fargo Bank in Beverly Hills. And this was in 1990, when you couldn't get credit cards that easily. And they didn't want to give me a credit card because I didn't have history.

8:48My parents didn't have a history. a credit history. I wasn't qualified. And I said to the teller, can I talk with the manager? A gentleman came and I used everything that came in my mind to convince him. I said, well, I work hard. I am successful because at that time it was 1992. I already started working with a lot of celebrities, rented a room in a salon in Beverly Hills. So he still didn't want to give me a credit card. And I said, look, I have$2 ,000 in my checking account. Can you give me a credit, $500 credit card? And I proved that I'm going to pay every month and I'm going to be such a great customer and I'm going to be a Wells Fargo customer forever.

9:39To these days, I'm still banking. They should sponsor you. Yes. I think people don't realize, especially immigrant families, that you need a good credit history to get a credit card, but you need a credit card to get a good history because it's like a catch-22. Correct. Exactly. So you became hugely popular at the salon where you rented the room. You started building out the celebrity client list. At that time, there were cover-off magazines. There were the supermodels. Cindy Crawford, Stephanie Samer, Naomi Campbell. Heidi Klum. Yes, those were the covers of magazine. And then I was working with Michelle Pfeiffer, Faye Dunaway.

10:19I was kind of the best kept secret in Hollywood. I have to say this is what Marina R. Ross that wrote an article in 1994 in Vogue magazine. Then how did you get that word of mouth? You know, when somebody is starting a business, that's so important. Very important. So My goal when I started was to do the best job. I wanted to master my craft. I wanted to do the best eyebrow ever. It didn't matter if you were a celebrity or you were, I don't know, a student. Because in my mind was, this is my advertising. It's a walking advertising. And in early 90s, nobody was doing eyebrows as a service. Of course, we didn't have social media as well.

11:07I was on TV. I was on every beauty editor start kind of coming and getting their eyebrows done. So that was my way of promoting myself, my service. But in the same time, I wanted to be the best in shaping eyebrows. Yeah, because that's how people ask for a referral. They look at your, if you have terrible eyebrows, no one's asking who did your eyebrows. So over the years, you grew. So from the supermodels to Jessica Alba and Jennifer Lopez and Kris Jenner and Oprah. And I think you were at Hailey Bieber's house yesterday. No, she was at my house. Oh. We are neighbors. She's such a wonderful and supportive, wonderful young woman.

11:48I really admire her a lot. And Justin, they are so beautiful together. You just continue to build out your client list, it sounds like. I started working with Jennifer Lopez in 1992 when she started the Selena movie, if you can believe. Wow. And through these days, she's still my client. So how did you figure out how to maintain relationships or continue to get that word of mouth from these high-end clients? I think when people are starting a business, they want tips and tricks of, do you send birthday presents, texts? How do you cultivate that? I used to work the salon from 8.30 in the morning until sometimes 8, 9 o 'clock at night.

12:32And then I will go home, take a shower, change and go out. I used to go out with a hairstylist that was working with me. Her room was next to my room. And we used to promote our business. We had a business card. At that time, you used to hand your business card. And this is how we used to promote our business. So it was nonstop, not only during the day, creating the most beautiful eyebrows and the client will walk and she will send you. You know, when somebody loves their eyebrows, they will send their best friend, their mother, their sisters. So this is how it is. Eyebrow is one of the most important feature on our face and kind of brings balance and proportion.

13:16So that makes you feel so good about yourself. Absolutely. But nobody made it such an empire until you came around. So you started building this amazing client list. And then you asked the salon basically to do your own thing. So you were an intrapreneur before you were an entrepreneur, but they said no. And that was kind of a blessing in disguise. Yeah. I mean, I was in America for two years. I barely spoke the language. I didn't have a credit card. I didn't know how to write a check. So you were just buying everything in cash? Yes, and it was quite difficult for me to even think that I could open my own business.

13:56And when they said no, after a month or two, I thought, I really believe in this eyebrow. This is science combined with beauty. I can't believe nobody even talked about how important eyebrows are. In my art school, my teacher really emphasized if you want to draw a portrait and you want to change an emotion, you change the eyebrow shape on the portrait. I've been nervous this entire time. Why? Thinking about my own eyebrows and my own ratio. Beautiful eyebrows. Thank you. You are doing great. Thank you so much. Beautiful face, gorgeous cheeks. You always need thick eyebrows. Yes. I really was brow-orexic.

14:37What do you call it? The - Anorexic. For a long time. But I, yeah. Thank you so much. I've been nervous the whole time. wondering what you think about my eyebrows. So you have... It's Anastasia approved. Oh! Yes. Dream come true.

14:56Hold on to your wallets. Money Rehab will be right back. And now for some more Money Rehab.

15:09So you saved about$5 ,000 at the time to start your own business. That was a lot of money at the time. Yes, a lot of money. Now you had a bank account. And you also had a problem getting rent. When I say$5 ,000, I rented the room in a salon, the first step in 1990. And from 1992 to 1997, I worked and created an incredible clientele. And I saved$60 ,000. But remember, I didn't have a cleaning lady. I clean, I wash my clothes and my family. I cooked. I never went to a restaurant because I couldn't afford. I had to save every penny. And I drove my Ford that I spent$200 when I came here for probably until 95, I should say.

16:03Was it a Ford Pinto? You know, those long station wagons with the wood on the side? And so when you started to go out on your own, you also were rejected, right, from renting a store. Yes. The owner didn't want to rent me the space. But again, you convinced him. I convinced him I couldn't leave that place without getting an yes from the owner. And how'd you do it? I use every trick. I went there with the article in magazines. I went there, still wasn't impressed. I went there and again I pulled that trick John I am an emigrant I'm sure somebody in your family was an emigrant somebody gave them a chance to do something you have to do this for me I am passionate about my work I work really hard and by the way this place was empty for two years Give it to me for six months.

17:03If it's not going to happen, if I cannot pay the rent, then I will leave anyway and I will go and rent a room. What do you have to lose? And he said, yes. Like, okay, six months. Because I think people don't just invest in businesses. They invest in people. And you are so contagious, sister. Like, I want to give you my wallet right now. For two hours, trust me, he could. He was like, enough. The broker that I went there, this guy's not going to give a like, no, we are not leaving this place until I get the everything. I don't take no as an answer. It doesn't seem like it. What can I do to change your mind, John?

17:41Tell me, please tell me what do you want me to do? I will come and clean your office. What do you want me to do? He started laughing, but I didn't leave that room until I got there. Incredible. And then you decided you wanted to go into products. Well, there were no products for eyebrows. So I was mixing in my kitchen some aloe vera with the eyeshadow and Vaseline and create this pomade. And I went to art store and I got the brush and I cut it to be angle cut. And I start using that to create the perfect arch because, of course, there were a lot of women that they over tweezed their eyebrows. And then after a while, they said, well, after I take my shower, my eyebrow disappears.

18:23We need that product. so and you couldn't name it Anastasia at the time well I named it first Anastasia and I realized that it's so hard to trademark that was one lesson for me and I tell everyone pick a name that is easy to trademark because Anastasia there are so many Anastasia it's a name when you have I mean I don't know any other very difficult to trademark so that's why I had to put Beverly Hills And you also invented the brush that you talked about making at the... Yes, it was the first brush because I used to have like probably 100 clients a day sometimes. And I designed the caddy where my wax was there.

19:10I had to minimize every single move to do eyebrows. I had to master this in five minutes. and I had the brush from the art store, cut it, angle cut, and then I will put the brush down and I will take the spoolie to blend the color. So I will waste time by doing that movement. So I went to a manufacturer. I said, can you put this together? It was so much easier for me to move fast. Yeah, because you have to scale yourself. You're one person. To grow your business, you have to get it down to a science. Correct, exactly. And so you invented this brush that didn't exist, but you didn't patent it. No, I didn't because I didn't know you could patent that.

19:52I know that I inspire so many other brands that they have the brush. So if you could go back to your former self. Yeah, I would say hire a lawyer. Rule number one, when you start a business, hire a smart lawyer. not only for trademark if you have inventions, but a lawyer to make any contract to help you to sign anything. But you were hell-bent on having Anastasia as the name. There was no other option. You added Beverly Hills. I didn't. Did you think of any? Now, I will never put a name, my name on a company. I will definitely put, I don't know, the money news or whatever. Wait a minute. How to make money.

20:40No, I will not steal your trademark. If you were to start another business, you wouldn't go by the name. Because I spend so much money to protect the trademark. So now there's so many dupes with the brushes. How do you feel about that? I mean, it hurts. Do you get annoyed? Yeah, of course. I mean, I made the brow freeze wax. I love it. Thank you. It's great. with the brush that we patent, the spatula with the spoolie. And eight months later, somebody, of course, looks clear, looks the same, but is not performing the same. But it kind of hurts because I spend a lot of time on creating innovating products.

21:26I'm all about innovating products. Even all my eyebrow products, when I started it, I had to start from nothing. I will create a product based on the need of a client, what challenges she had. She had curly hair. She had over tweeze. She never tweezed. You know, every product was specifically for a challenge that one of my clients had, and I had to offer her a product. But copying is like the best way of... Flattering? Flattering. Yeah, but sometimes... I want people to acknowledge that I started. I was the OG of... You were the OG. I invented the eyebrows. We are all acknowledging. We bow down to the OG for sure.

22:08What worries me now, though, too, is that a lot of these dupes are coming from China. Yes. They're dangerous. Yes. And they have weird chemicals. For instance, when we create a product for six months, they go to the lab to stability to make sure people are putting in their face, on their lips. And as you know, the skin is the biggest organ. So you absorb everything in your body. So be careful. Yes. So when you started, and it sounds like to now, you've said that your favorite hobby is work. You work and you work some more. By the way, I say the same thing. Have you ever felt burnt out? No, I've never.

22:46Because I love what I do. For me, it's not work. This is my life. I don't even know what to do if I will not work. If you ask me, Anastasia, take a break for a month and go on vacation, I will really, I don't know what to do with myself. And don't get me wrong, I like vacation, but for me, a vacation is I have to combine with work. And I will take three days for myself as a vacation. But in a way, I will have dinners related to business or I will have a lunch related or somebody with somebody that I do business. But me and my daughter, in the last, myself, because she's way younger, for so many years, this is what we did.

23:33And we don't feel we work. And that's the key. If you want to be an entrepreneur, you have to love what you do. Otherwise, it will be hard. If you don't love it, you will give up because it's hard. I struggle with the work-life balance because I think that there's not such a clear delineation. Yes, it's not. Work is life. Life is work. It's like, okay, I'm cutting. And after 5 o 'clock, I don't do. And I will stop doing business. It didn't work for me. I mean, if you are able to do it, good for you. But I couldn't do it. But you hired your daughter. Yes. I hire and I fire her. Okay, tell me why.

24:15Well, she started working at the salon. She was in school. And of course, like any teenager, she wanted to have fun. This is what she used to say. I want to have fun. I don't want to work like you that much. And I said, well, life is not like that. If you are able to manage, you could have fun as well. Or love what you do and you will have fun. So she's supposed to be at work at 8.30 before the client will arrive at 9 o 'clock. And she was late one day because she would go with her friends out. And she was late one day. The second time I warned her, and I said, if you are late one more time, I'm going to fire you.

24:56I don't think she believed me. And the third time, pack your bags, you're fired. So she went and she got the job, I think, at the insurance company. I never asked her. And after three weeks, four weeks, she came to the salon and asking me for some money. She wants to borrow some money because she didn't have enough money after taxes to pay her bills and rent especially. And I said, I'm sorry, I can't do that for you. And mom, I'm going to lose the apartment. He's going to kick me out. It's like, Claudia, I came here without speaking the language with a little baby. You speak the language. You don't have a kid.

25:39It's like you should get another job or something else. Even so, she was so good at the front desk. My daughter used to do three jobs at the front desk, maybe four. Now we have four people at the front desk. She used to cover everything. Very efficient, very good, and very good with the clients. And I wanted to give her the job back, but I wanted her to ask me, to beg me for the job. So she did, and I rehired her. What did she say? She learned from the best, clearly, not to take no further. You are very good in what you do, but we have rules here. I'm not your mother when you come to work, number one.

26:22Number two, I'm going to be harder on you than all the other employees because I will set an example. Everybody will think, well, she's so tough with her daughter. Imagine what she will say to me. So, yeah, she came back. She was perfect. Never late again. Today, to these days, now I have to reverse and say, I think it's time for you to take a vacation. I mean, until last year, she never took vacation. And yeah, she works. She loves to work. My daughter is a workaholic, but she loves what she does. So it's the best thing. You have to have a purpose in life. And if you are able to do that, you will be the happiest person.