Jamie Kern Lima

And during this journey, I realized even though there were thousands of beauty companies out there, a lot of them I loved, I had never seen a company showing women with skin issues, bright red bumpy skin or whatever it might be. And then I also realized from the time I was a little girl, I would watch those beauty ads, and I loved them. I always aspired to look like them.

And during this journey, I realized even though there were thousands of beauty companies out there, a lot of them I loved, I had never seen a company showing women with skin issues, bright red bumpy skin or whatever it might be. And then I also realized from the time I was a little girl, I would watch those beauty ads, and I loved them. I always aspired to look like them.

But deep down inside, they always made me feel like I wasn't enough.

But deep down inside, they always made me feel like I wasn't enough.

So when we launched IT Cosmetics, we had this huge, wild, crazy vision to literally change the beauty industry and to instead of using airbrushed, photoshopped images and models, we wanted to use real people like me, every age and shape and size and skin tone and skin challenge and call them beautiful and mean it, but it wasn't being done at the time.

So when we launched IT Cosmetics, we had this huge, wild, crazy vision to literally change the beauty industry and to instead of using airbrushed, photoshopped images and models, we wanted to use real people like me, every age and shape and size and skin tone and skin challenge and call them beautiful and mean it, but it wasn't being done at the time.

And no one thought it would work, especially all the experts. Every single retail store said no. And so many of them said, if you have any shot at selling products in our store, you have to use images of unattainable aspiration. They'd always say those words, which means you can't even look like that because it's not real, right? And it's like everyone was doing that at the time.

And no one thought it would work, especially all the experts. Every single retail store said no. And so many of them said, if you have any shot at selling products in our store, you have to use images of unattainable aspiration. They'd always say those words, which means you can't even look like that because it's not real, right? And it's like everyone was doing that at the time.

But I wanted to change that for every little girl out there who's about to see those ads and start doubting herself and every grown woman and person who still does. But literally no one thought it would work. And it is scary to trust yourself, right? Especially when no one around you seems to think that you're right. And after a few years of nonstop no's, literally we had no money left.

But I wanted to change that for every little girl out there who's about to see those ads and start doubting herself and every grown woman and person who still does. But literally no one thought it would work. And it is scary to trust yourself, right? Especially when no one around you seems to think that you're right. And after a few years of nonstop no's, literally we had no money left.

There was a huge moment that happened. I'd always dreamed of us going on QVC, which is a live television shopping channel. It's broadcast to 100 million homes across the country. And when you have a product, QVC is a huge deal because they can sell more there in 10 minutes than in most national store chains across the entire country in a year. So it's massive.

There was a huge moment that happened. I'd always dreamed of us going on QVC, which is a live television shopping channel. It's broadcast to 100 million homes across the country. And when you have a product, QVC is a huge deal because they can sell more there in 10 minutes than in most national store chains across the entire country in a year. So it's massive.

And I got a word that the head of QVC Beauty, who's a legend, a guy named Alan Burke, he wanted to have a call with me. And I was like... Oh my gosh, I've been sending them so many samples for years. And right now, as we're down to no money left, I have no idea how we're going to keep going. Like, this is it. This could change everything. And I remember when I got the call, I was so pumped up.

And I got a word that the head of QVC Beauty, who's a legend, a guy named Alan Burke, he wanted to have a call with me. And I was like... Oh my gosh, I've been sending them so many samples for years. And right now, as we're down to no money left, I have no idea how we're going to keep going. Like, this is it. This could change everything. And I remember when I got the call, I was so pumped up.

I was like pacing around our office, which was our living room, power posing, trying to tell myself, okay, they'll be lucky to have us. And when I answered the call, he said, hello, Jamie, this is Alan Burke with QVC.

I was like pacing around our office, which was our living room, power posing, trying to tell myself, okay, they'll be lucky to have us. And when I answered the call, he said, hello, Jamie, this is Alan Burke with QVC.

And he said, listen, I wanted to call you myself and let you know that we've received your samples, all of them, and I've had a meeting with the entire buying team, and it is unanimous that you are not the right fit for QVC or for our customers. And I remember in that moment, well, the truth is tears started streaming down my face, but I went into re-pitching again.

And he said, listen, I wanted to call you myself and let you know that we've received your samples, all of them, and I've had a meeting with the entire buying team, and it is unanimous that you are not the right fit for QVC or for our customers. And I remember in that moment, well, the truth is tears started streaming down my face, but I went into re-pitching again.

I'm like, oh, but Alan, I am the right fit. and he thanked me for loving QVC and said it's a no. I wanted it to be a yes so bad at the time, and we had been getting so many rejections for years, and I really had hoped that this would be it, but it wasn't. So we kept going and barely keeping the company alive. We continued to get rejection after rejection.

I'm like, oh, but Alan, I am the right fit. and he thanked me for loving QVC and said it's a no. I wanted it to be a yes so bad at the time, and we had been getting so many rejections for years, and I really had hoped that this would be it, but it wasn't. So we kept going and barely keeping the company alive. We continued to get rejection after rejection.