Fashion

Emily Weiss Talks How She Built Glossier

by Eliza Florendo

There is nothing I love more than seeing a woman absolutely killing it in her own business (which she built from the ground up), especially one that I follow religiously for the best beauty scoop. Enter Emily Weiss of Glossier, who spoke at Disrupt New York 2015 about not only her brand's journey, but how she wants to change the industry using technology.

Into the Gloss is Weiss' brainchild, and it boasts beauty tips, makeup tutorials, reviews, and interviews with the industry's top leaders. Basically, it's a beauty bible. Weiss started Into the Gloss while she was a fashion assistant at Vogue, which gave her the opportunity to get the scoop on the most coveted products and brands by the elite in the fashion industry. Talk about a gold mine. And now, Weiss claims that she has over 1 million unique visitors a month.

As an extension of Into the Gloss, Weiss created Glossier, a skincare and makeup line. Best of all, she wants women on her team. “It’s very important to me to have a female venture capitalist…No offense to the guys out there,” Weiss told Colleen Taylor, whom she spoke to during Disrupt New York 2015. Insert *PRAISE HANDS* emoji.

But, unlike most businesses that produce products first, and then create content, she flipped the model upside down. Using social media, she asked for feedback from consumers about what they truly wanted from not only products, but also the entire experience in general: content, community, and commerce, the three pillars that help brands, according to Weiss. And to get said feedback, she turned to Instagram.

Weiss plans on expanding the business even more, with a focus on the digital product, according to TechCrunch. And, she'll be hiring the best of the best in tech talent. The best businesses listen to their consumer and tailor their products to what the users are truly looking for. It seems Weiss has got this model down, and we can't wait to see where Glossier expands to.

Images: Glossier