Kissing a Beautiful Future Hello with Jenn Harper | LAYC28

Isabel: 00:00:52

Welcome my friends...

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This is an uber exciting day for me.

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I'm always excited to have guests on the Lift As You Climb podcast.

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Today is like a double whammy, because I am excited...

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and I'm scared at the same time...

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because this is a new relationship to me introduced by one of my dear friends

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and inspirations, and lifters of me...

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Linda Lundstrom.

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And if you tuned in earlier...

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You know that I had an amazing podcast episode with Linda called, Original

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Gangster, and that she certainly is...

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On that interview Linda was talking about her absolutely perfect red lipstick, which

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led my curious brain to ask questions...

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And I discovered Cheekbone Beauty.

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That led to this opportunity to introduce to you all today...

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The CEO, the founder, the bad-ass inspiration of that socially

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conscious, sustainable, colorful, amazing, Canadian founded business.

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Cheekbone Beauty, Jenn Harper...

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Welcome to our podcast.

Jenn: 00:02:18

Awe, thank you so much for having me.

Jenn: 00:02:19

And that is a great way to describe Linda.

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She is definitely an OG Gangster.

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Yes, I actually had to ask her to explain that to me, So...

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this is the thing generationally...

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When you're your 60's and 70's some of these things I missed, I was out of

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class that day, but I'm catching up...

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That's the other joy of being at this age in my life...

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Having been a lifelong learner, always...

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But now, I'm completely bold in saying...

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I don't know that, but give me a minute...

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and I'm gonna to Google it...

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and I'll catch up with you.

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She has two pretty hip daughters, I think that teach her a lot of this stuff.

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Right?

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Yeah, definitely...

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She's got some inside magic there with Moshe and Sophie.

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What an amazing...

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formation.

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When we talked about that...

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That Linda was saying how, they...

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Her younger generations.

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And she included you in that conversation....

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We're helping her...

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We're lifting her to teach her new skills, new ways of doing business...

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Opening up all kinds of new possibilities.

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So, for those of you that haven't listened to the podcast...

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The business we are talking about with Linda Lundstrom and her two

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daughters is called Therma Kota.

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And it's as they describe Bespoke Outerwear...

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and definitely worth checking out.

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So, circle back here a little bit with me, Jenn...

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and we'll talk about this...

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and just before I forget...

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For those of you that are listening to the podcast today...

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Thank you...

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Thank you very much for being here again.

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And sometime in the near future...

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I promise you, that you'll actually be able to see us...

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See how...

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Jen and I, without scripting it, without rehearsing it...

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Have got our backgrounds color coordinated.

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And this will be on YouTube.

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I hope very, very soon.

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And you can also see how great I look in the lipstick...

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I'm wearing Shannen right now.

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I wanted to talk to you....

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A...

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Because my friend Linda highly, highly, recommended you as an inspiration, and

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someone who more than just talks...

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You really walk the talk, and you do lift others...

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I'd like you to share your story around that in a moment but, I also

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wanted to talk to you because I get all kind of groupie excited about

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talking to other female entrepreneurs, that have not only created success...

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but did it differently.

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And I know that you have, so I'd love for you to share about that...

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But first, for my audience...

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Jenn, could you please...

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give us a little background of how you got to be in that place

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when you started your company.

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As you said to me earlier, off air...

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Five years ago, but really only full-time in the role...

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When you could quit your day job as they say...

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in the last two or three....

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Correct?

Jenn: 00:05:29

So that was in August of 2019.

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I got to go full-time or all into Cheekbone Beauty.

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Yeah, so I will share, you know, not your typical path

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into entrepreneurship at all...

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I always worked for other people and I was really quite happy doing that.

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I had a great career in sales and marketing for a seafood company,

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for 8 years, before leaving to do this full-time, and prior to that,

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I was always in the food world or industry, cause I was with Sysco,

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which is a broad line distribution food company, North American wide.

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And then, pre that, I was in the hospitality space...

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Mostly working in boutique style hotels...

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Really helping our guests have that incredible, really detailed,

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high-end customer experience.

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And I only say those things and talk about them, cause it's really incredible how

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that your whole career really does find itself in whatever you're doing next....

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And so at Cheekbone Beauty...

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We really try to provide an excellent customer experience...

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But, so had this crazy dream...

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it's January 2015, i like...

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pop out of bed, grab my laptop.

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And I had a dream about native little girls covered in lip gloss...

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and to rewind a little bit...

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I was only learning about my family history really recently.

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I always knew my whole life, that I had this feeling of being

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disconnected from my native family.

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One, because I grew up with my mom, who's not native...

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So had no connection to my community, or my culture, language...

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All of those things.

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And I wanted to learn more.

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There was a problem though...

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I was actually really ashamed of who I was, and where I came from, because

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my entire life, I believed in the stereotypes that existed about my

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people, or that side of my family.

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Which in hindsight, and having that Aha experience...

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When I learned about residential school.

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Learn that was my grandmother's experience, and how that

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truly impacted her life.

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And that it's called generational or trans-generational trauma, when one

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person is handed an event, or events, that they're not equipped to deal with.

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She was 6 years old when she entered the system, she didn't leave until

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she was 16 left with so many scars...

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Went on back to our family's Reservation to have her own family.

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Had eight kids, my dad being one of the oldest...

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and she's not healed from...

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trauma, basically.

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That's what happens when you don't heal...

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It then gets passed on to the next generation...

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So, was passed onto my father, and ultimately passed on to me.

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How that showed up in my life, and in my father's life, and

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in my grandmother's life...

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Unfortunately it was through addiction.

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I battled alcoholism personally, for many years.

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It was in November of 2014 that I got sober, and then had this dream in 2015.

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It's like...

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Connecting the dots...

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Looking back after the fact, and seeing...

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Oh...

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Okay...

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This is why these things happen that way.

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Then from that dream...

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Literally spent all of 2015, and 2016, in full market research...

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I knew nothing about making lip gloss, or how to do that.

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And so, after that dream, I originally thought...

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I'm going to figure out how to make lip gloss...

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and...

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I'm going to start a foundation in my grandmother's name...

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In the dream...

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Those little girls, that were covered in this lip gloss...

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When I woke up, the thing I remember most about that...

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Was their joy, and how happy they were in their laughter.

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Us as a brand at Cheekbone Beauty, our mission and vision is helping

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every Indigenous kid on the planet...

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See and feel their value in the world.

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While we're crafting sustainable color cosmetics.

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That's never left us...

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The reason why we exist.

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Everything we do is about empowering them.

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First, it was about empowering them and sustaining them, with

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the concept of representation.

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For decades, and me as a youth growing up, I never saw anyone in the beauty

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industry or mass marketing or media...

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That looked like me...

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That wasn't actually a bad story that you saw in the media.

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Right?

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A lot of the stories we see in the news, about native communities...

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Always had that undertone of a stereotype or two...

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All of the misconceptions, nothing about how beautiful our culture is and

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how beautiful our language is and...

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The truth was buried.

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The more I learned about that...

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The more building Cheekbone Beauty has honestly helped me

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heal, so many of my past wounds.

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I'm super grateful to 1...

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Be sober still to this day...

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Which is awesome in itself for me...

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Cause that was a long battle.

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I'm not ashamed to talk about anymore, because if you would've met me 10

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years ago, I can't even imagine publicly saying that I had a problem.

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I'm super grateful to be in the space that I am now, and have spent these last

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seven years, building a business that I'm really, really proud of and get to wake

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up everyday and say that that's my job.

Isabel: 00:10:26

Wow.

Isabel: 00:10:27

Wow.

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I'm so glad that you didn't give up...

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Through the difficult times, the recovery and...

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Lord knows...

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The entrepreneurial journey is not an easy one either.

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I'm grateful, that you are sharing your story, so candidly and so

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generously, because by doing that...

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And it's what I do...

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I say, I always sit in my underwear in public, and share...

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Everybody else gets a chance to go...

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Oh my God...

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It's not just me...

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and we can stop that bad behavior, and stop that shaming and feeling of shame.

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So good, good, good!...

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Please continue on your mission...

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I think it's marvelous, and I hope that it continues to perpetuate

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through the whole society and other brands, and other industries.

Isabel: 00:11:22

Thank you.

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I'm curious..., how you chose the name?

Jenn: 00:11:27

Yeah.

Jenn: 00:11:28

So it, it's funny how you have a business and you're working on all these things

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and you don't even have a name for it...

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And it was probably about 9 months...

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But I had just listened to another podcast, listening to Sarah Blakely,

Jenn: 00:11:39

the founder of Spanx, Right?...

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Who doesn't love Sarah Blakely?

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So she talked about...

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How she came up with the name for her business...

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and how the letter K is very memorable for people.

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She had comedian training in her background and she learned that

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when you say things with the word K, it makes people laugh...

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They remember what you're saying.

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So I was just stuck on this K...

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and driving one day, and I was like...

Jenn: 00:12:03

Cheekbone...

Jenn: 00:12:04

I love cheekbones!

Jenn: 00:12:05

I love cheekbones on all human beings.

Jenn: 00:12:07

Indigenous people do have dominant cheekbones.

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That's a feature...

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their high cheekbones...

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And then I got home that night, and I started looking

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up the word and researching it.

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People with high cheekbones were perceived as more trustworthy...

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There was just all these good things that I was finding about it...

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And so, I'm like...

Jenn: 00:12:24

That's it...

Jenn: 00:12:25

Cheekbone Beauty is the name...

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and gratefully the US Patent and Trademark Office, as well

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as Canada, they came later...

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We've been applying for our trademark with our logo, and the

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word Cheekbone for a long time...

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and we own them now, according to those two offices in both countries.

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Which is good news, because it's an actual, real word, which if you've

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talked to other entrepreneurs, real words are hard get trademarked.

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But with the logo...

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We were able to do that.

Isabel: 00:12:53

Beautiful...

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Now, for everyone who's listening...

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You should go check this out because it is a beautiful logo...

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There's a beautiful feather, swoosh and then the cheekbone...

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also while you're on CheekboneBeauty.com ... is that correct?

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There's all kinds of pretty things to look at there, that

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will make you smile as well.

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So...

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dream, awareness, recovery, growth...

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You were not an entrepreneur...

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What were the first steps that you took as an entrepreneur?

Jenn: 00:13:27

One was how I kept reading things about...

Jenn: 00:13:31

What is your value proposition?

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What is your differentiating factor?

Jenn: 00:13:35

And that kept popping up...

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and you tell anyone you want start a business, and right

Jenn: 00:13:39

away, they're questioning you...

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and I didn't tell people right away...

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I let it sit for a year of doing that market research alone

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at night on the weekends...

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and...

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I figured out...

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Okay...

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My differentiating factor was going to be that we were going

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to be more a social enterprise.

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So there wasn't too much research on social enterprises at the time,

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but there was businesses like Tom Shoes, which I really admired.

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That one for one concept.

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And so, Blake, the founder of that company, he went to Argentina...

Jenn: 00:14:09

He saw kids not having shoes, and discovered how he could create jobs

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for people, and have shoes made and then give shoes back to the community.

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And I'm like, that sounds amazing!

Jenn: 00:14:19

Right?

Jenn: 00:14:20

So I, learn later on was a bit of a mistake on his part...

Jenn: 00:14:24

And he did admit it...

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Cause when he was making shoes for a community, he was actually taking

Jenn: 00:14:30

jobs away from that community.

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A lot of communities rely on their own sort of economic stability, which means

Jenn: 00:14:37

a little Shoemaker in an Argentinian and village needs to make shoes...

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That are to be sold to the community.

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So they have jobs.

Jenn: 00:14:44

So anyway, he went on later and figured out...

Jenn: 00:14:46

Okay...

Jenn: 00:14:46

How can I support that?

Jenn: 00:14:48

The local makers...

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and not take jobs away.

Jenn: 00:14:51

That's where I was like...

Jenn: 00:14:52

okay...

Jenn: 00:14:52

what can we do as a community?

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How can we support our community?

Jenn: 00:14:56

So one way we found...

Jenn: 00:14:57

I worked with a business advisory board and they were really adamant

Jenn: 00:15:01

about me not focusing too much on the giving back part of the business.

Jenn: 00:15:05

They really wanted me to just focus on the business because the giving

Jenn: 00:15:08

back the foundation it's in itself is like another whole new business.

Jenn: 00:15:12

But I didn't listen.

Jenn: 00:15:13

That's one advice I never took.

Jenn: 00:15:15

I said, I'm only doing this...

Jenn: 00:15:17

So we can give back.

Jenn: 00:15:18

So I kept, I think I kept...

Jenn: 00:15:20

Dug my heels in, on that portion and always continued to focus on

Jenn: 00:15:24

what we could do as our give back.

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And so what we do now, is we give back a ton of product to Indigenous

Jenn: 00:15:32

organizations across North America.

Jenn: 00:15:34

We're involved in planting trees.

Jenn: 00:15:37

We give cash donations to the First Nation Child and Family Caring Society,

Jenn: 00:15:41

and then we also do seasonal giving back projects, which we call our Give Box...

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we usually do one in the Spring and Summer, and then we also do one

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around the holiday time as well.

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So, just creating that layer into the business, giving back...

Jenn: 00:15:57

That was our first way that we were going to differentiate ourselves.

Jenn: 00:16:01

The more time I spent in the beauty industry, I realized there's a lot of

Jenn: 00:16:05

ways we can differentiate ourselves.

Jenn: 00:16:07

One came to becoming a more sustainable business and brand.

Jenn: 00:16:11

We all know the beauty space is traditionally known for having a ton of

Jenn: 00:16:16

packaging, so we were just working really hard on how to change out things...

Jenn: 00:16:22

Find new kinds of packaging...

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Look for new innovation...

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Work in our own lab here, and figure out what kind of packaging

Jenn: 00:16:29

we can work on and create...

Jenn: 00:16:30

Where we would feel comfortable enough calling ourselves a sustainable brand.

Jenn: 00:16:34

We are super transparent about it.

Jenn: 00:16:36

We say...

Jenn: 00:16:37

Now that we're on a journey, there is no end destination to sustainability.

Jenn: 00:16:41

Unfortunately as human beings, we are over consumers.

Jenn: 00:16:45

So how can we make products that are reusable refillable?

Jenn: 00:16:50

One of the main ingredients in our new foundation that we'll launch next year...

Jenn: 00:16:55

We're using waste as one of the main ingredients.

Jenn: 00:16:58

Waste that comes from plants, instead of being tossed away...

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It's being repurposed.

Jenn: 00:17:04

Getting super creative and innovative, and thinking about

Jenn: 00:17:07

how we can do things differently.

Jenn: 00:17:09

Really re-imagining the beauty industry.

Isabel: 00:17:12

Truly love that because, I think of nature is beauty.

Isabel: 00:17:16

That's the beauty that surrounds us.

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So working with nature to carry on that...

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Beauty in convenient forms, consumer forms, makes so much sense.

Isabel: 00:17:27

it's a completion of that circle.

Isabel: 00:17:29

Thank you for that.

Isabel: 00:17:31

I was very pleased when I received my order...

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That there was a minimal packaging and there was that lovely insert

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with the seeds that I could plant and grow a little beauty of my own yard.

Isabel: 00:17:44

So there was thanks, and I was thinking...

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Yay!

Isabel: 00:17:46

I have a little Canada with me here in Arizona.

Isabel: 00:17:51

And it's true...

Isabel: 00:17:52

Thank you, also, for being candid about that...

Isabel: 00:17:54

The work is never done.

Isabel: 00:17:56

We don't just get to a spot and go...

Isabel: 00:17:58

Okay!

Isabel: 00:17:59

Complacency.

Isabel: 00:17:59

You can take over now.

Isabel: 00:18:02

That doesn't work for any impact or influence going forward in life...

Isabel: 00:18:06

Does it?

Isabel: 00:18:07

I already asked you about, a statement I hadn't personally heard about...

Isabel: 00:18:13

Your company being digitally native.

Isabel: 00:18:16

You explained that to me.

Isabel: 00:18:17

Would you mind repeating it?

Jenn: 00:18:19

Sure...

Jenn: 00:18:20

So that means that we were really built online...

Jenn: 00:18:23

In the last, maybe 8 to 10 years, the e-commerce world...

Jenn: 00:18:28

Where we could go directly to brands and be purchasing from them...

Jenn: 00:18:32

We've seen over the last year during COVID...

Jenn: 00:18:34

There's been so many more pop-up.

Jenn: 00:18:37

What that does...

Jenn: 00:18:37

It actually gives the brand the opportunity to really

Jenn: 00:18:41

get to know their customer.

Jenn: 00:18:43

It also helps you figure out using things like social media...

Jenn: 00:18:48

Using digital ads...

Jenn: 00:18:49

How to build your own community and audience online.

Jenn: 00:18:52

At the end of the day, I feel like for us, it's been such a great

Jenn: 00:18:55

way to get to know our customer.

Jenn: 00:18:58

As a brand you want to know what your customer wants to use, what

Jenn: 00:19:03

they want to see, what they like.

Jenn: 00:19:05

And it's really one of the things that pushed us to become

Jenn: 00:19:08

more of a sustainable brand.

Jenn: 00:19:10

That was the messaging.

Jenn: 00:19:11

That was the tone.

Jenn: 00:19:12

That's what we were seeing and hearing from our communities.

Jenn: 00:19:15

So ... How do we make and ensure that the raw ingredients from harvest, to

Jenn: 00:19:20

end of life of product, are sustainable, biodegradable, breaking down in

Jenn: 00:19:25

ecosystems after they're being used?

Jenn: 00:19:27

These were all literally things that we could see people craving and asking for...

Jenn: 00:19:32

When we create next generation of products.

Jenn: 00:19:35

That's what they're based on.

Jenn: 00:19:36

And it's only because we have this direct relationship direct

Jenn: 00:19:39

to consumer relationship with them that we're able to do that.

Jenn: 00:19:43

And we know historically, for many years brands were designing things

Jenn: 00:19:47

based on what the retailer would tell them that the customers want.

Jenn: 00:19:52

So your customer was the retailer, not the actual customer.

Jenn: 00:19:56

Now I'm thinking about it, just makes sense...

Jenn: 00:19:59

You're like, of course, you want to talk directly to the customer,

Jenn: 00:20:02

they're the ones buying your product.

Jenn: 00:20:04

When you have an e-commerce place or platform to build that relationship

Jenn: 00:20:08

with your community online, it's a great way to get to know them.

Jenn: 00:20:12

And we are launching in Sephora September.

Jenn: 00:20:15

and it's been awesome because we're going to Sephora with

Jenn: 00:20:19

our community already built.

Jenn: 00:20:21

But we're also going to be able to grow our community and get

Jenn: 00:20:24

to know more people, through the Sephora chains and, platforms.

Jenn: 00:20:28

Really exciting...

Jenn: 00:20:30

But definitely I think that is new to the world of technology.

Jenn: 00:20:34

There's so many new things happening all the time and definitely...

Jenn: 00:20:37

building a digital brand is one of those new ways to get to know your customer.

Isabel: 00:20:41

Okay.

Isabel: 00:20:42

You started your business from a digital platform, directly to the

Isabel: 00:20:47

consumer, through the online avenues.

Isabel: 00:20:51

And you did so before COVID...

Isabel: 00:20:53

So thank you, for the timing of what you did.

Isabel: 00:20:57

It seems to me that this is also a bit different than most

Isabel: 00:21:01

businesses, particularly in the personal care consumer business...

Isabel: 00:21:05

That you didn't start with a brick and mortar store.

Isabel: 00:21:10

You started online and then you were ready to take on a business to business

Isabel: 00:21:17

relationship like Sephora, correct?

Jenn: 00:21:20

Correct

Isabel: 00:21:21

And what is that relationship going to be like?

Isabel: 00:21:24

Let the secret out of the bag for everybody.

Jenn: 00:21:27

Yes, we get to start, in Sephora Canada, and obviously, we would love

Jenn: 00:21:32

to be in Sephora in every country.

Jenn: 00:21:34

Next being the United States.

Jenn: 00:21:36

So, we've already had one meeting with the US team.

Jenn: 00:21:39

I've been in sales for so many years...

Jenn: 00:21:41

I know you have to keep knocking on the door to get them to let you in.

Jenn: 00:21:44

I think they're waiting to see what happens with our Sephora Canada plan.

Jenn: 00:21:49

Right?

Jenn: 00:21:50

You want to scale where it's affordable.

Jenn: 00:21:52

I think every entrepreneur knows, scaling too fast and not having enough money.

Jenn: 00:21:57

You don't ever want to be in that predicament.

Jenn: 00:22:00

So I think at this steady pace...

Jenn: 00:22:03

We are excited to build this Sephora Canada relationship, next Sephora USA,

Jenn: 00:22:09

and we've also reached out and started working with the Sephora Australia team.

Jenn: 00:22:15

Indigenous people are global, which is really interesting.

Jenn: 00:22:19

For us, our mission has always been reach...

Jenn: 00:22:21

So to reach every indigenous kid on the planet...

Jenn: 00:22:24

That means we need to be available to them in every Sephora.

Isabel: 00:22:28

All right.

Isabel: 00:22:29

So I wanted to ask that question, who typically are your customers?

Isabel: 00:22:34

I was going to guess that's not...

Isabel: 00:22:36

The majority are not...

Isabel: 00:22:38

Linda Lundstrom and Isabel Banerjee types, in our 60s and blonde fair skin.

Jenn: 00:22:44

But you are there!

Isabel: 00:22:47

Thank you!

Isabel: 00:22:47

Yaa!

Isabel: 00:22:48

It works, its amzing.

Jenn: 00:22:50

Worked really hard to create a relationship with our whole community.

Isabel: 00:22:56

Jenn, you have touched on all the important points.

Isabel: 00:22:59

And in fact, my podcast episode, which released today is called...

Isabel: 00:23:04

The We FIX You Industries...

Isabel: 00:23:07

My protest, my rally, against the industries that are marketing

Isabel: 00:23:13

to me as a woman in my 60s...

Isabel: 00:23:16

To fix everything about me...

Isabel: 00:23:18

To make me look younger, look thinner, look...

Isabel: 00:23:21

you know...

Isabel: 00:23:22

whatever, and I just said, NO!

Isabel: 00:23:25

... No, I'm not giving you my money.

Isabel: 00:23:27

If you're going to try to market by telling me I'm not good enough,

Isabel: 00:23:32

the way I am, or as who I am or how I choose my style to show up, then

Isabel: 00:23:38

I'm taking my business elsewhere.

Isabel: 00:23:41

I'm taking my business to Cheekbone Beauty and other brands that recognize...

Isabel: 00:23:47

That it's identifying the individual beauty, the individuality, the beauty,

Isabel: 00:23:55

and then the right reasons that people choose a product and how that helps...

Isabel: 00:24:00

W hether it's making me feel better...

Isabel: 00:24:03

look better...

Isabel: 00:24:04

be more confident knowing that my purchases are not

Isabel: 00:24:09

poisoning streams and rivers.

Isabel: 00:24:12

Thank you, and keep on doing it.

Isabel: 00:24:13

Okay?

Jenn: 00:24:15

No problem!

Jenn: 00:24:15

On that note...

Jenn: 00:24:15

When you said that, it's interesting...

Jenn: 00:24:18

From the beginning...

Jenn: 00:24:20

We have worked with every photographer...

Jenn: 00:24:22

and we're like...

Jenn: 00:24:22

You're not allowed to touch up these photos...

Jenn: 00:24:26

We want real skin, if someone has a hair...

Jenn: 00:24:30

It was just so important to us to show real people.

Jenn: 00:24:33

We're bringing that messaging...

Jenn: 00:24:35

I have a daughter who's 14.

Jenn: 00:24:37

That, to me, was so important...

Jenn: 00:24:39

To make sure that she never feels like she's not good enough.

Isabel: 00:24:43

We really should get you and I, and Linda together on

Isabel: 00:24:47

another episode, because we had that conversation also about...

Isabel: 00:24:51

How we set examples for our younger generation...

Isabel: 00:24:55

In how we respond to this.

Isabel: 00:24:56

And of course...

Isabel: 00:24:57

Linda, Lundstrom having been a, and still is a fashion icon.

Isabel: 00:25:02

She's got an inside view on one of the most deceptive industries in the world.

Isabel: 00:25:09

If you don't mind...

Isabel: 00:25:10

I want to bring this back, because...

Isabel: 00:25:12

Lift As You Climb is all about this privilege that I have, of

Isabel: 00:25:16

showcasing women who share...

Isabel: 00:25:19

Who are willing to share, defining moments in their life...

Isabel: 00:25:23

About how they were lifted, and how that impact their lives...

Isabel: 00:25:28

and how moments of...

Isabel: 00:25:31

Yeah...

Isabel: 00:25:32

I can...

Isabel: 00:25:33

I can lift somebody else....

Isabel: 00:25:34

Does anything come to your mind specifically, that you would

Isabel: 00:25:38

like to share with our audience?

Jenn: 00:25:41

It's incredible.

Jenn: 00:25:42

the opportunities you do get, I'm just thinking of people that have lifted...

Jenn: 00:25:46

Linda and her daughter, you've already mentioned them..

Jenn: 00:25:49

Are such huge lifters, we've all seen that meme...

Jenn: 00:25:53

Surround yourself with the people that will mention you in

Jenn: 00:25:56

a room full of opportunities.

Jenn: 00:25:58

I am so grateful that I get that...

Jenn: 00:26:02

There's so many people that have said things in those rooms, that have

Jenn: 00:26:06

gotten us to where we are Now...

Jenn: 00:26:08

When I'm here and getting into the spaces, our job as a brand, is

Jenn: 00:26:13

to help other Indigenous kids...

Jenn: 00:26:15

The mission of our brand, and also what I want to do personally, is just

Jenn: 00:26:19

make them feel like there's a chance...

Jenn: 00:26:21

That it's possible.

Jenn: 00:26:22

Right?

Jenn: 00:26:23

I cannot believe that I'm sitting in our headquarters outside of a

Jenn: 00:26:27

lab where we have teams of people...

Jenn: 00:26:30

I can't even imagine, years ago, that possibility for

Jenn: 00:26:33

the brand that we've built.

Jenn: 00:26:35

I definitely want to make sure that I'm doing everything I can.

Jenn: 00:26:39

So what we do as a business...

Jenn: 00:26:41

Whether we write blogs about other indigenous businesses, or we do

Jenn: 00:26:45

collaborations with entrepreneurs that happen to be women, or just doing

Jenn: 00:26:50

whatever we can to connect with people and network, and highlight the things

Jenn: 00:26:55

that we love about another business.

Jenn: 00:26:58

For us, a lot of times it is other indigenous entrepreneurs.

Jenn: 00:27:01

Just taking this personally to remember that that's what we have to do...

Jenn: 00:27:04

Cause it's happened for us.

Jenn: 00:27:05

We've seen it, we're living it, and then when you get to have conversations with

Jenn: 00:27:09

someone helping somebody else out...

Jenn: 00:27:11

It's so powerful.

Jenn: 00:27:13

I'm ashamed to say I grew up a lot in the last few years, cause

Jenn: 00:27:16

when I was a younger woman...

Jenn: 00:27:18

I came from a very competitive business world industry where I felt like I had to,

Jenn: 00:27:25

be a certain way, and it was all wrong.

Jenn: 00:27:29

I can't believe the things you fall for and believe.

Jenn: 00:27:32

When you discover the power of actually loving other people, and caring about

Jenn: 00:27:37

them, and supporting their journeys.

Jenn: 00:27:40

Your entire life, the script flips...

Jenn: 00:27:43

Took me a long time to get here, but there's a lot of anger that

Jenn: 00:27:46

comes from the trauma that I had to grow up in and been raised in.

Jenn: 00:27:50

I won't beat myself up too much for my past bad behavior.

Jenn: 00:27:53

If I sense it with another younger woman, I just know she'll learn and get it.

Jenn: 00:27:58

Cause it took me, I feel like too long to figure that out, but I know that.

Jenn: 00:28:03

I will still support someone, even if you...

Jenn: 00:28:05

Cause everyone's learning...

Jenn: 00:28:07

We're all on this journey together.

Isabel: 00:28:09

Now Jen, you can't own all the responsibility around that attitude of

Isabel: 00:28:15

competition and scarcity of opportunity...

Isabel: 00:28:20

It was, programmed in us right from grade school.

Isabel: 00:28:24

Good for you, and good for me and other women that went...

Isabel: 00:28:28

Crap...

Isabel: 00:28:29

That doesn't feel good.

Isabel: 00:28:31

And you know what?...

Isabel: 00:28:32

It's not even working!

Isabel: 00:28:33

It's not true.

Isabel: 00:28:34

That is not true.

Isabel: 00:28:35

That that's how...

Isabel: 00:28:37

We all get ahead.

Isabel: 00:28:39

As my dear friend, Lee says, opportunity is not like pie.

Isabel: 00:28:44

You don't run out of it...

Isabel: 00:28:46

Plenty for everybody.

Isabel: 00:28:48

When we are collaborating, each and every time that I have brainstormed,

Isabel: 00:28:53

have masterminded, collaborated with other women entrepreneurs...

Isabel: 00:28:57

We create 10 new ideas...

Isabel: 00:29:00

It just exponentially continues to explode.

Isabel: 00:29:03

That's what Lift As You Climb is for me.

Isabel: 00:29:06

It's that belief that while we are doing well, we can do good.

Isabel: 00:29:13

That while we live our legacies, and really stand up there with courage...

Isabel: 00:29:18

Put your big girl panties on and try it.

Isabel: 00:29:21

Even if you don't really know all of how it's going to work out.

Isabel: 00:29:25

Because your impact will then be a success ladder for someone else.

Isabel: 00:29:32

It sounds like you had to figure out a lot of that on your own, glad you were

Isabel: 00:29:37

open to it, and you didn't give up on it.

Jenn: 00:29:40

I totally agree with you that it's been ingrained.

Jenn: 00:29:43

Coming from a sales background...

Jenn: 00:29:45

We lived and died by competition and numbers and all of those things...

Jenn: 00:29:49

Can really make you nauseated.

Jenn: 00:29:51

At the end of the day, when I think about it...

Jenn: 00:29:53

If we worked together as sales teams...

Jenn: 00:29:56

I'm imagining we would have gotten a lot further, instead of competing against

Jenn: 00:30:00

one another in a lot of the businesses.

Jenn: 00:30:03

Yeah..

Jenn: 00:30:03

It's life-changing when you actually learn the power of lifting other people up...

Jenn: 00:30:08

That whole concept of...

Jenn: 00:30:10

There really is more happiness in giving, than receiving.

Jenn: 00:30:15

I feel the greatest joy when I get to give something to someone...

Jenn: 00:30:19

Whether it's a connection...

Jenn: 00:30:20

Another Indigenous beauty brand, I got to email her the other

Jenn: 00:30:24

day, the buyer of Sephora USA...

Jenn: 00:30:26

Why not?...

Jenn: 00:30:27

That's what this is about.

Jenn: 00:30:29

It's so hard to get those emails or those connections.

Jenn: 00:30:33

Why not help someone else out on their journey as well?

Isabel: 00:30:36

Fantastic...

Isabel: 00:30:37

There's a to be continued wish here...

Isabel: 00:30:41

But for today, because I know you are busy building this empire and

Isabel: 00:30:46

building your success ladder...

Isabel: 00:30:48

I gotta wrap...

Isabel: 00:30:49

But I always like to ask a question of my guests...

Isabel: 00:30:53

Can you share something about Jenn Harper that we probably can't find on Google?

Jenn: 00:31:00

This one's going to seem silly, but I know you're

Jenn: 00:31:03

Canadian, and you will get it...

Jenn: 00:31:05

I'm obsessed with Ketchup Chips...

Jenn: 00:31:07

That is my favorite thing in the whole world.

Jenn: 00:31:09

When I want to just have one of those days where I'm doing things that...

Jenn: 00:31:12

You know...

Jenn: 00:31:13

I try to eat lots of fruits and veggies...

Jenn: 00:31:15

but sometimes on a Friday night, I get real crazy and get a Diet

Jenn: 00:31:19

Coke and some Ketchup Chips.

Jenn: 00:31:21

And I'm just having a great time.

Isabel: 00:31:24

be sitting on the couch beside you with Salt and Vinegar...

Isabel: 00:31:28

The Ketchup Yeeaah!

Isabel: 00:31:30

That's pretty darn good too...

Isabel: 00:31:32

They don't have those here.

Jenn: 00:31:33

No, they don't.

Isabel: 00:31:35

Okay.

Isabel: 00:31:35

Well, I guess for all my American friends, when I'm visiting Canada...

Isabel: 00:31:40

I'll have to bring back a suitcase full of chips.

Isabel: 00:31:42

Okay.

Isabel: 00:31:43

Now your turn...

Isabel: 00:31:45

Is there something you would like to share in parting?

Jenn: 00:31:49

Oh, I know you said some of your audience is from the US...

Jenn: 00:31:53

So we would love, if they want to support our brand...

Jenn: 00:31:56

Following our social media's is super helpful...

Jenn: 00:31:59

And tagging that sephora.com Sephora USA...

Jenn: 00:32:03

So that they could learn about Cheekbone.

Jenn: 00:32:06

We always get our community to help us tag those businesses

Jenn: 00:32:10

that we want to connect with.

Jenn: 00:32:11

The more of those they get, the better for us.

Jenn: 00:32:13

They'll see that people are interested in our products to be in their stores.

Isabel: 00:32:17

We're on it for you!

Isabel: 00:32:20

In the show notes, I'm going to include everything I can about your company,

Isabel: 00:32:25

where everybody can follow, and become part of the Cheekbone Beauty movement.

Isabel: 00:32:31

We'll also make sure that we push them buttons, we wave some flags over there

Isabel: 00:32:36

at Sephora to say, Hey, you know what...

Isabel: 00:32:40

We want this here too.

Isabel: 00:32:41

Well, maybe, sometimes we don't want to wait for it to come in the mail.

Isabel: 00:32:44

We want to just pop over to the store and buy it...

Isabel: 00:32:47

So let's, do that.

Isabel: 00:32:49

And more importantly, Sephora...

Isabel: 00:32:50

You will help Jenn Harper and Cheekbone Beauty continue to do the good, work,

Isabel: 00:32:56

and the necessary work, that she's doing to support Indigenous youth.

Isabel: 00:33:01

We're gonna get this rippling around the world.

Isabel: 00:33:05

So everyone, make sure you read those Show Notes and follow

Isabel: 00:33:08

Jenn and Cheekbone Beauty.

Isabel: 00:33:11

Truly, Oh my God...

Isabel: 00:33:12

I'm going to do my own little personal promo...

Isabel: 00:33:15

I have tried many lipsticks in my 66 and two thirds of a century life.

Isabel: 00:33:21

And I did not ever like any of this kind, because I always felt like my lips were

Isabel: 00:33:28

turning into sawdust in a very short period of time or they were burning.

Isabel: 00:33:35

This feels like velvet.

Isabel: 00:33:36

I don't know how you've done it, but it just feels like velvet and look...

Isabel: 00:33:42

Yayy!...

Isabel: 00:33:42

So thank you!

Jenn: 00:33:43

No problem...

Jenn: 00:33:44

Thank you!

Jenn: 00:33:47

Bye!