Makeup Artist Laura Geller: Five Things You Need To Know To Succeed In The Modern Beauty Industry

Whether you make sure your complexion looks great by wearing concealer and foundation or wearing a bold lip makes you feel beautiful, everyone is different. For me, it is about enhancing your features. Whether doing so minimally or going all out, do what makes you feel comfortable in your own skin.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Laura Geller, Makeup Artist and Founder of Laura Geller.

From an early age, Laura Geller has had a love affair with beauty. Her passion led her to become a successful make-up artist, working under the bright lights of Broadway and behind-the-scenes with celebrities and socialites. But it was Laura’s devotion to making make-up work for real women that led her to create her own beauty brand and launch it on QVC over 20 years ago. Laura believes that beauty is for everyone and should be uncomplicated, mistake-proof and fun. At heart, she is a teacher. Every time Laura is on air, she conducts a master make-up class, with her uniquely warm and inviting approach. Using tips & tricks, Laura translates professional application into techniques that work for real women, every day. She demonstrates how easy and Fun the transformation of beauty can be.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I grew up in a suburb of NYC and my mother was not a big makeup wearer. However, a lot of the mothers on the street were. I was so fascinated about how they transformed themselves with makeup. One of the mothers loved making me up and doing my hair for special occasions. It was so transformative I thought I need to do this.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

I was running my business by myself for most of my career until I was approached by a bank about the opportunity to sell a portion. At that time, it was not something that ever entered my mind. I never realized that could be an opportunity to scale my business in such a way.

Are you able to identify a “tipping point” in your career when you started to see success? Did you start doing anything different? Are there takeaways or lessons that others can learn from that?

In 1997, QVC asked me to come on air. I always loved being able to accommodate my clients in store and privately, now I have going into millions of homes instead of a one on one. I do not think I realized until I got on air, but that moment changed my entire business.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person to whom you are grateful who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

When I started there were no real mentorships or CEW to help me. I really had to learn on the fly. It was really the people who worked for me, who I valued, who helped me grow my business and bounce ideas off of.

Ok super. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion. The global beauty industry today has grown to more than a half a trillion dollar business. Can you tell us about the innovations that you are bringing to the industry? How do you think that will help people?

The innovations I bring personally are twofold. My ability to communicate and educate “her” on how she can better enhance her natural beauty through my cosmetics. The innovations that we continue to bring through my makeup, like our Spackle franchise and Baked franchise, really change the game. We really helped pioneer primers into the beauty industry.

Can you share 3 things that most excite you about the modern beauty industry?

1. The opportunity to have touchpoints via social media (facebook lives, etc)

2. CEW (Cosmetics Executive Women) really helps breakout through webinars, events, etc, helps engage the beauty industry and provide mentorship

3. This is the opportunity for all brands to give back. This is an opportunity to join a movement and make a difference, i.e. Cancer and Careers, etc. I would recommend everyone in the industry got involved and gave back. Together we can move mountains.

Can you share 3 things that most concern you about the industry? If you had the ability to implement 3 ways to improve the industry, what would you suggest?

1. The beauty industry is getting muddy, making it hard to separate the different brands. Everyone needs to identify their point of difference and communicate that to their customers and the media.
2. Similar to fashion, a lot of celebrities are just putting their names on labels. When I started, you had to be a professional in the industry. Now everyone is calling themselves an expert and did not put in the years or education. Before labeling yourselves as an expert you really need to live and breathe it.
3. Brands needs to give back and have a voice. It is amazing that some brands are already doing so, but more need to step up.

You are an expert about beauty. Can you share a few ideas that anyone can use “to feel beautiful”?

Whether you make sure your complexion looks great by wearing concealer and foundation or wearing a bold lip makes you feel beautiful, everyone is different. For me, it is about enhancing your features. Whether doing so minimally or going all out, do what makes you feel comfortable in your own skin.

Here is the main question for our discussion. Based on your experience and success, Can you please share “Five Things You Need To Know To Succeed In The Modern Beauty Industry”. Please share a story or an example, for each.

1. Have passion. You need to be deeply passionate about what you are doing. It will allow you to get through the highs and lows of what you are going to encounter.
2. You have to be willing to do anything for any amount of money for however long it takes.
3. You have to be patient. The payoff may not be right away, but it is worth it
4. Do your homework. Sometimes when people get passionate, they get so excited and really do not spend the time doing their research. Take a step back, dive in deeper.
5. Be willing to engage, speak to your customer, find out what they need. Make sure they feel heard. Whether it is through live chats, social media, etc. They want to be heard, they want to be responded to.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

I would love to inspire a movement of always giving back. To let the industry be known not only for its cosmetics, but for its ability to do good. Let people look at the cosmetic industry and synonymously think of the good they are doing.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

My father always said “nothing appears at it seems.” I think all of us can relate to that. We always tend to look at people with a form of jealously and think “why do they have that and I don’t?” However you do not always know the hardships that person had to go through to get to where they are. Just remember, “nothing appears as it seems.”

How can our readers follow you online?

@laurajgeller, @lauragellerbeauty

About the Interviewer: Jilea Hemmings is a staunch believer in the power of entrepreneurship. A successful career revamping Fortune 500 companies was not enough for her entrepreneurial spirit, so Jilea began focusing her passion in startups. She has successfully built 6 startups to date. Her passion for entrepreneurship continues to flourish with the development of Stretchy Hair Care, focusing on relieving the pain associated with detangling and styling natural black hair. For far too long, people with tender heads have suffered in pain. Until now.