Emily Weiss: This is about beauty

Since a young age, Emily Weiss has expressed a love for fashion and cosmetics.

She was focused on becoming a beauty icon and, as founder and CEO of Glossier, she has certainly succeeded.

In 2017, The Forward listed her as “One of The 6 Jews You Need To Follow On Instagram,” alongside Cazzie David, Emily Ratajkowski, Joshua Kushner and Hari Nef.

During high school, she interned at Ralph Lauren for two summers and briefly had a modeling career. As an undergraduate at New York University, she interned at Teen Vogue and appeared on The Hills with Lauren Conrad and Whitney Port.

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After graduating in 2007 with a degree in studio art, Weiss worked as a fashion assistant at W Magazine and as an on-set styling assistant for Vogue where she assisted Elissa Santisi.

By September 2010, Weiss had launched “Into the Gloss,” a blog about women’s beauty and grooming routines, while continuing her work at Vogue. Four years later, she announced the launch of Glossier.com on the blog and began selling Glossier’s first line of beauty products.

By February 2018, Glossier was valued at $1.2b. and, according to Fortune magazine, Weiss had “quietly turned Glossier into one of the most disruptive brands in beauty.”

After reaching 10 million page views per month, she finished at Vogue to focus on her business ventures.

In July 2018, Fortune published their annual ranking of the most influential young people in business – and Weiss, then 33, was ranked at No. 31 out of 40.

“This isn’t about me, this is about beauty,” Weiss wrote on Instagram shortly afterward. “Four years ago, I couldn’t get a text back from most investors. Yet it’s a $450b. industry going to $750b. by 2024. Beauty is powerful, it’s not frivolous; it’s a conduit for connection. I’m so happy it’s finally getting taken seriously – which means women are getting taken seriously.”

She also appeared on Fast Company’s Most Creative People in Business list, and AdWeek’s Top 20 Content Creators.

Over the years, Weiss has also made it a point to empower businesswomen by sharing their pictures and messages on her Instagram account through their use of Glossier merchandise.

Today, Weiss has worked her way up into a position as a real social media influencer. She has built up a strong brand through Instagram to the extent that when shoppers buy Glossier’s products, they aren’t just purchasing make-up and skincare – they are purchasing her lifestyle and image.