Jamie Kern Lima

Growing up, I would watch Oprah in my living room every single day, and I would dream of one day, like her, sharing other people's stories with the world. So after WSU and after grad school, long before I created IT Cosmetics, I chased a dream to become a TV news anchor.

Growing up, I would watch Oprah in my living room every single day, and I would dream of one day, like her, sharing other people's stories with the world. So after WSU and after grad school, long before I created IT Cosmetics, I chased a dream to become a TV news anchor.

I sent out countless audition tapes, but the rejection letters kept flooding in, many saying, you're great on camera, but your skin isn't. I have rosacea, it gets really bright red, it's bumpy, and no makeup would cover it. And I was told again and again that I wasn't the right look for the job.

I sent out countless audition tapes, but the rejection letters kept flooding in, many saying, you're great on camera, but your skin isn't. I have rosacea, it gets really bright red, it's bumpy, and no makeup would cover it. And I was told again and again that I wasn't the right look for the job.

But I kept going, and I landed an internship at Cap TV in Yakima, Washington, where I actually worked for free. I borrowed my Aunt Karen's station wagon to be able to drive to and from work. She's actually right up here in the audience today. I remember the door panel, it would fall off any time I took it through the car wash. But I was so grateful, y'all. I was so grateful and I was determined.

But I kept going, and I landed an internship at Cap TV in Yakima, Washington, where I actually worked for free. I borrowed my Aunt Karen's station wagon to be able to drive to and from work. She's actually right up here in the audience today. I remember the door panel, it would fall off any time I took it through the car wash. But I was so grateful, y'all. I was so grateful and I was determined.

And eventually I got hired as the main morning anchor at KNDU-TV in Tri-Cities, Washington. Tri-Cities. And then the weekend anchor at KPTV in Portland, Oregon. And I thought, one day I'm going to host a show so big I can interview Oprah. And y'all, I envisioned it. I prayed for it. But what I didn't realize was that my dreams were about to take a huge tumble and a big detour.

And eventually I got hired as the main morning anchor at KNDU-TV in Tri-Cities, Washington. Tri-Cities. And then the weekend anchor at KPTV in Portland, Oregon. And I thought, one day I'm going to host a show so big I can interview Oprah. And y'all, I envisioned it. I prayed for it. But what I didn't realize was that my dreams were about to take a huge tumble and a big detour.

And while anchoring the news live one day, I heard in my earpiece from the producer, there's something on your face. There's something on your face. You need to wipe it off. You need to wipe it off. So I glanced down during the commercial break and I saw the makeup was all breaking up.

And while anchoring the news live one day, I heard in my earpiece from the producer, there's something on your face. There's something on your face. You need to wipe it off. You need to wipe it off. So I glanced down during the commercial break and I saw the makeup was all breaking up.

If you imagine the way desert clay kind of cracks and breaks up and the bright red was coming through, which was all my rosacea. So I tried to cover it up with makeup during the commercial break and it didn't work. And that actually turned into what became a really long season of self-doubt, where every time I'd be live on television, I'd be thinking, am I going to get fired?

If you imagine the way desert clay kind of cracks and breaks up and the bright red was coming through, which was all my rosacea. So I tried to cover it up with makeup during the commercial break and it didn't work. And that actually turned into what became a really long season of self-doubt, where every time I'd be live on television, I'd be thinking, am I going to get fired?

And I'd always hear in my earpiece, Jamie, it's still there. It's still there. I literally thought every single time I was at work, I was going to get fired. And I would spend most of my paycheck just trying to find makeup that would work, and nothing did. And then one day, I felt this whisper. Maybe you've had whispers in your life too.

And I'd always hear in my earpiece, Jamie, it's still there. It's still there. I literally thought every single time I was at work, I was going to get fired. And I would spend most of my paycheck just trying to find makeup that would work, and nothing did. And then one day, I felt this whisper. Maybe you've had whispers in your life too.

I felt this whisper that said, if you cannot find anything that works for you, why don't you figure out how to create something that does? So my gut, my intuition, my knowing said, you can do this. You can start a business and figure out how do you find the best chemists and how do you make an amazing product that's going to help so many other people too.

I felt this whisper that said, if you cannot find anything that works for you, why don't you figure out how to create something that does? So my gut, my intuition, my knowing said, you can do this. You can start a business and figure out how do you find the best chemists and how do you make an amazing product that's going to help so many other people too.

But my self doubt said, oh, but you got no money. You don't know anyone in the beauty industry. You are not qualified. And I made the decision to dare to trust my gut, to trust my knowing over my self-doubt. And my husband Paulo, also right up here in the audience today, my husband Paulo and I, we both quit our jobs.

But my self doubt said, oh, but you got no money. You don't know anyone in the beauty industry. You are not qualified. And I made the decision to dare to trust my gut, to trust my knowing over my self-doubt. And my husband Paulo, also right up here in the audience today, my husband Paulo and I, we both quit our jobs.

We poured everything we had into starting a company called IT Cosmetics in our living room. Now, what I didn't know was from the moment that we went all in, it would be more than three years, more than three years before we could even afford to pay ourselves a single penny, and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of rejections and no's.

We poured everything we had into starting a company called IT Cosmetics in our living room. Now, what I didn't know was from the moment that we went all in, it would be more than three years, more than three years before we could even afford to pay ourselves a single penny, and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of rejections and no's.