EMILY WEISS

Emily Weiss was born in 1985 in Connecticut. She interned at Ralph Lauren and worked as a fashion assistant at W Magazine and Vogue.

In 2010, she launched Into The Gloss, a beauty blog that featured interviews with women about their skincare and makeup routines.

The blog became a cult hit. Instead of beauty editors telling women what to buy, Into The Gloss let real women share what they actually used.

The comments section became a community of beauty enthusiasts trading recommendations.

In 2014, Weiss launched Glossier with four products: a face mist, a skin tint, a lip balm, and a moisturizing primer. The branding was minimal.

The packaging was millennial pink. The message was "skin first, makeup second."

Glossier grew almost entirely through social media and word of mouth. Customers became brand ambassadors, posting selfies with products that were designed to be photographed.

The company raised over $265 million from investors including Index Ventures, Tiger Global, and Sequoia Capital.

By 2019, Glossier was valued at $1.2 billion. By 2021, $1.8 billion.

Weiss was on Forbes covers and was considered one of the most important voices in the DTC (direct-to-consumer) movement.

Then growth slowed. Post-pandemic, Glossier's online-only model faced competition from brands that had retail presence.

Internal culture issues surfaced. In 2022, Weiss stepped down as CEO, replaced by retail executive Kyle Leahy.

The valuation reportedly dropped to around $600 million.

Weiss became executive chairman and shifted to an investor/advisor role. Glossier remains a significant beauty brand with millions of loyal customers.

Glossier is the brand. A beauty and skincare company known for products like Boy Brow, Cloud Paint, and Milky Jelly Cleanser.

Sold primarily online and through a small number of flagship retail stores.

Into The Gloss, the beauty blog that launched Weiss's career, continues to operate as a content platform and community.

Weiss has also made angel investments in DTC and consumer brands.

Community-first brand builder. Weiss didn't invest in companies.

She built a brand by listening to what real people wanted and creating products to match.

Her approach inverted the traditional beauty industry model. Instead of creating products in a lab and marketing them to consumers, she asked consumers what they wanted and then made it.

The community was the R&D department.

Building a $1.8 billion beauty brand with almost zero traditional advertising. Glossier proved that if you build a genuine community and create products they love, the community does the marketing for free.

Boy Brow alone became a cultural phenomenon, selling one every 32 seconds at its peak. The product is essentially clear brow gel.

But the branding, the community, and the aesthetic turned it into a must-have.

Growing too slowly into retail. Glossier's online-only model worked beautifully during COVID when stores were closed.

But as retail reopened, competitors with physical presence took market share. By the time Glossier started opening stores, it had lost momentum.

Internal culture issues also hurt. In 2020, former employees publicized complaints about workplace culture, including allegations of racial insensitivity.

The controversy damaged the brand's progressive image.

The valuation crash from $1.8 billion to $600 million was a painful lesson about the difference between hype and sustainable business.

Community is the best marketing. If your customers love your brand enough to photograph themselves using it, you never need to pay for advertising.

This was Glossier's superpower.

Simplicity sells. In a beauty industry obsessed with complexity, 27-step routines, and overwhelming product lines, Glossier offered simplicity.

Four products to start. Easy to use.

Designed for people who didn't consider themselves "beauty experts."

Direct-to-consumer eliminates the middleman. By selling online and through its own stores, Glossier kept margins that would normally go to department stores and retailers.

Weiss is private about her personal life. She was previously in a relationship with venture capitalist William Gaybrick.

She grew up in Wilton, Connecticut.

Weiss graduated from New York University with a degree in studio art. Her artistic background influenced Glossier's aesthetic, which is as much about visual identity as it is about products.