WoVen celebrates remarkable women working in science, technology and business. Each episode explores specific inflection points in a guests professional lives -- those make or break moments that shaped who they are and where they are today -- and their sources of drive and inspiration.
Michelle Phan was a creator and influencer far before those were even a thing. In 2007, while working as a waitress and struggling to make ends meet to attend art school, Michelle began posting beauty tutorials on YouTube. Her infectious personality and creativity quickly garnered her millions of subscribers. She went on to found IPSY in 2011, a beauty sample subscription service that was valued at $800 million dollars in 2015. She also was one of the first creators ever to launch her own product line, which she did in 2013, launching EM Cosmetics in partnership with L'Oreal.
Michelle has received countless accolades, including being named to Forbes 30 under 30 and Fast Company's 100 Most Creative People. Yet, the demands of all of Michelle's fans and business partnerships, as well as the vanity as a beauty industry, led her to burn out in 2016. Faced with a choice of her career or her mental health, Michelle chose herself. She took a digital hiatus that shocked her millions of fans.
In 2017, Michelle came back to the public eye, but this time on her own terms. She exited IPSY and purchased EM Cosmetics from L'Oreal, relaunching it with full creative control and ownership. Today, she is completely self-funded and contract free for the first time in her more than decade long career. On this episode, Michelle talks about the importance of creative control and learning to say "no".
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