Jamie Kern Lima

And during this journey, I realized even though there were thousands of beauty companies out there in existence, I had never seen one showing a model that looked like me, that had real serious skin issues. And I also realized, maybe you've had this experience too, growing up, I used to love seeing those beauty ads.

And during this journey, I realized even though there were thousands of beauty companies out there in existence, I had never seen one showing a model that looked like me, that had real serious skin issues. And I also realized, maybe you've had this experience too, growing up, I used to love seeing those beauty ads.

I loved them, I always aspired to look that way, but deep down inside, they always made me feel like I wasn't enough.

I loved them, I always aspired to look that way, but deep down inside, they always made me feel like I wasn't enough.

So when we launched IT Cosmetics, I had this huge, kind of crazy at the time, wild vision to try to change the entire beauty industry by instead of using those like airbrush, Photoshopped images and models, I wanted to use real people like me, every age and shape and size and skin tone and skin challenge and call them beautiful models and mean it.

So when we launched IT Cosmetics, I had this huge, kind of crazy at the time, wild vision to try to change the entire beauty industry by instead of using those like airbrush, Photoshopped images and models, I wanted to use real people like me, every age and shape and size and skin tone and skin challenge and call them beautiful models and mean it.

But it wasn't being done yet, so nobody thought it would work. especially the experts. Every retail store said no. Sephora, Ulta, QVC, all the department stores. All of them said women will not buy products from images like this. And they'd always say that they'll only buy products from images of unattainable aspiration.

But it wasn't being done yet, so nobody thought it would work. especially the experts. Every retail store said no. Sephora, Ulta, QVC, all the department stores. All of them said women will not buy products from images like this. And they'd always say that they'll only buy products from images of unattainable aspiration.

Those are always the words that they would use, which means you cannot even look like that because it's not even real. And I was like, well, maybe people are sick and tired of buying products from people that don't look like them. But I wanted to change that.

Those are always the words that they would use, which means you cannot even look like that because it's not even real. And I was like, well, maybe people are sick and tired of buying products from people that don't look like them. But I wanted to change that.

I wanted to change it for every little kid who was about to start seeing those ads and start doubting themselves, and every grown person who still does. It is scary to trust yourself, especially when no one else around you seems to think you're right. After a few years of non-stop no's, A huge moment happened.

I wanted to change it for every little kid who was about to start seeing those ads and start doubting themselves, and every grown person who still does. It is scary to trust yourself, especially when no one else around you seems to think you're right. After a few years of non-stop no's, A huge moment happened.

You see, I'd always dreamed of launching our products on QVC, which is a live television shopping channel. It's broadcast to more than 100 million homes across the country. And when you have a product, QVC is huge. It's a huge deal because you can actually sell more there on QVC in a 10-minute window than in most store chains nationwide for an entire year.

You see, I'd always dreamed of launching our products on QVC, which is a live television shopping channel. It's broadcast to more than 100 million homes across the country. And when you have a product, QVC is huge. It's a huge deal because you can actually sell more there on QVC in a 10-minute window than in most store chains nationwide for an entire year.

So it's massive, and I had gotten word that the head of QVC Beauty, a guy named Alan Burke, he's like a living legend, he wanted to have a call, and I thought, I have been sending them our products for years, so many samples for years, and right now, as we're down to no money left, and we had no idea how we were gonna keep going, I was like, this is it, this is finally it, this could change,

So it's massive, and I had gotten word that the head of QVC Beauty, a guy named Alan Burke, he's like a living legend, he wanted to have a call, and I thought, I have been sending them our products for years, so many samples for years, and right now, as we're down to no money left, and we had no idea how we were gonna keep going, I was like, this is it, this is finally it, this could change,

everything for us. And when I got the call, I was so pumped up, I was actually pacing around our entire office, which was our living room, and I was like power posing, I was like trying to tell myself they'd be lucky to have us. And I got the call, and he said, hello, Jamie, this is Alan Burke with QVC. And he said, listen, I want to call you myself and let you know that we received your samples,

everything for us. And when I got the call, I was so pumped up, I was actually pacing around our entire office, which was our living room, and I was like power posing, I was like trying to tell myself they'd be lucky to have us. And I got the call, and he said, hello, Jamie, this is Alan Burke with QVC. And he said, listen, I want to call you myself and let you know that we received your samples,

all of them. And I wanted to tell you myself, I met with the entire buying team and it's unanimous. You are not the right fit or QVC or for our customers. And I remember standing there, y'all, we were so close to bankruptcy at that moment. I remember tears start streaming down my face and I went into pitching. I'm like, Oh, but Alan, we are the right fit. And I told him all the reasons why.

all of them. And I wanted to tell you myself, I met with the entire buying team and it's unanimous. You are not the right fit or QVC or for our customers. And I remember standing there, y'all, we were so close to bankruptcy at that moment. I remember tears start streaming down my face and I went into pitching. I'm like, Oh, but Alan, we are the right fit. And I told him all the reasons why.