September 3, 2024 • 20 mins
What if building a successful business also meant uplifting communities and protecting the planet? Join us for a transformative conversation with Jenn Harper, the trailblazing founder of Cheekbone Beauty. Jenn shares her inspiring journey from a life-changing dream to creating a beauty brand deeply rooted in Indigenous values and sustainability.
Inspired by iconic brands like Tom's Shoes and Patagonia, Jenn reveals how prioritizing people and the planet over profits became her guiding light. Learn how she navigated countless books, networking events, and the vital role of resilience and strong personal values in her entrepreneurial success.
Explore the profound connection between Jenn's Indigenous heritage and Cheekbone Beauty's mission. Discover how integrating the Anishinaabe seven grandfather teachings—emphasizing love, humility, bravery, and environmental stewardship—shaped the company’s path. Get practical insights into achieving B Corp certification, building ethical supply chains, and overcoming the inherent challenges of running a purpose-driven business.
Jenn also reflects on her evolution from an idealistic dreamer to a strategic leader, sharing lessons from her Dragon's Den experience and the empowerment that comes from facing personal battles head-on. Tune in to find out how passion, conviction, and community support can propel a brand to make a real difference. Don’t miss this inspiring episode—listen now!
Learn more about Cheekbone Beauty
Visit the website: cheekbonebeauty.com
Instagram: @cheekbonebeauty
For us for actionable tools & tips for your leadership journey
Instagram @Grit.Grace.Podcast
Follow our LinkedIn Page
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jen Kelly (00:01):
Joining us today is Jen Harper, the inspiring
founder of Cheekbone Beauty.
Jenn Harper (00:06):
We're putting people and the planet before
profits, which in most cases inbusiness it's really about.
How are we, you know, fillingstakeholder pockets versus
actually taking care of thoseother things which feel far more
important?
But unfortunately, that's nothow it really works in the
(00:26):
business world.
Jen Kelly (00:27):
In this episode, jen shares her incredible journey of
building a beauty brand fromscratch without prior industry
experience.
Discover how her Indigenousroots and commitment to putting
people before profits haveshaped her mission and values as
an entrepreneur.
Let's dive in.
So, first and foremost, we areall in for a treat.
(00:51):
Jen Harper, welcome to thepodcast.
It is so wonderful to have youhere.
Thank you for joining us.
Thank you for having me, inaddition to your fantastic
company.
One of the things that Ilearned as I was reading up
about you is that in 2022,entrepreneur Magazine named you
as one of 100 women of the year,and when you actually look at
(01:13):
that award, you are in greatcompany and it's so wonderful to
talk to you aboutentrepreneurship and leadership.
So congratulations oneverything that you've
accomplished so far.
Jenn Harper (01:35):
Thank you so much.
I am like a big believer inmanifesting and I was on a
flight and I remember readingthis entrepreneur magazine in an
airport in the U?
S and started reading throughit and there was all these
incredible stories about peoplein business and I said when I
got home I remember cutting outthe top of the magazine and
putting it on my vision board inmy home office and the goal was
(01:56):
one day to talk about Chic WombBeauty in the magazine.
Jen Kelly (01:59):
And how much time had passed from that experience on
the airplane.
Jenn Harper (02:04):
So 2016.
So yeah, so quite some time.
Jen Kelly (02:08):
Well, let's go to the beginning of the company and
your founder journey.
What year was Cheekbone Beautyestablished?
Jenn Harper (02:14):
So we launched as like an online e-commerce store
in November of 2016.
This was like launched from acorner in my basement.
I actually started the wholeidea process after having like
what I call like life-changingdream back in 2015.
So I was selling seafood Iworked for a seafood company at
(02:38):
the time and it's January of2015.
And I have like this pop out ofbed middle of the night dream.
All I remember from this dreamis three native little girls
covered in lip gloss, with theirbrown skin and like rosy little
cheeks.
And I woke up that night and itwas so real to me that this was
like the next part of my life,even though I had zero
(03:01):
experience in the beautyindustry have never owned,
operated a business Like it.
It's kind of crazy when I thinkback to like from that dream.
I was like, yes, I'm going tostart this company, but the
whole idea was I wanted to makea lip gloss from that dream, of
course, and use a portion of theprofits to do something to
support my First Nations orIndigenous community.
(03:23):
And I had no idea what thatlooked like, but I just knew.
I was such a huge fan of brandslike Tom's Shoes at the time
and learning so much aboutPatagonia and their success and
how really that this idea oflike making a social impact was
possible.
When it came to business, Ispent those first two years like
(03:44):
just doing everything andlearning so much about one my
indigenous culture but two aboutentrepreneurship and building a
financial plan, and I read overa hundred books between 2015
and 2016, trying to make surethat I was like learning as much
as I could.
I was just like an absolutesponge.
(04:06):
I would show up at every sortof business networking event I
could possibly afford or get toand try to make as many
connections as possible, andthat was definitely what the
first two years felt and lookedlike.
Jen Kelly (04:20):
You speak to a lot of young entrepreneurs today.
Do you feel like that leg ofthe journey is well understood
in today's world, or are peoplea bit more impatient with how
fast they expect things to cometogether?
Jenn Harper (04:31):
issue, because we see this idea of something
becoming so successful soquickly in the online social
media space and I think it'sharder for us to recognize that
everything is like 10 yearsbefore you really see true
(04:54):
success.
Because if you're going to dothis, it's going to be this
rollercoaster ride forever, andthat's regardless of, like the
revenue dollar amount, whetheryou're doing a million, 10
million a year or when you getto a hundred million, the ups
and downs will always be there.
I think it's just a numbersgame and your problems just get
(05:14):
bigger because of the size ofthe dollar value.
But the problems are stillthere.
They're not going away.
Jen Kelly (05:20):
What did you do to learn to cope and manage through
the highs and the lows?
Jenn Harper (05:25):
What did you do to learn to cope and manage through
the highs and the lows?
The lows feel so low andentrepreneurship is kind of a
lonely path.
We choose it.
I don't have a co-founder and Iknow even co-founders speak of
feeling lonely because we'resort of all doing this from our
individual spaces and so havinga really strong set of values
(05:45):
and principles just in mypersonal life has always been
super helpful.
A routine of great mental,emotional, physical and
spiritual health has beencritical.
Meditation and physical fitnessthose are non-negotiables and
no matter where I am in theworld, that's how the day begins
(06:07):
, and then I feel certainly somuch more well-equipped to
handle anything that's coming myway.
But we should be working harderon ourselves than we do on the
business, because we're the onesrunning and operating the
business.
So if we're not at our fullcapacity then that could really
impact the business.
Jen Kelly (06:25):
I'm a firm believer that your business is a
reflection of you and whereveryou are in your kind of
evolution and journey and all ofyour relationship dynamics, all
of your confidence, it's likeit just becomes a reflection of
you and how you build thecompany.
A lot of your indigenousheritage is rooted in the values
(06:48):
of your company.
Was that something that waslike of high value and
importance to you beforestarting Cheekbone Beauty?
Or was that really brought onby kind of the vision and
mission?
Jenn Harper (07:00):
I would say there's been an evolution of me
understanding my Indigenousroots.
I grew up with my mother, who'snot Indigenous, and so I didn't
really have a strong connectionto my culture or my community
for the majority of my life.
So it wasn't until my mid-30sthat I started to connect, even
with my family.
(07:20):
As a young person, you know, mydad had his own struggles and
at 19, I just decided to cut allties with him.
I thought I'm an adult now, Idon't need to have this
relationship.
I'm an adult now I don't needto have this relationship.
And also me understanding onethe entire systematic abuse
(07:43):
through residential schoolsystem and the systematic abuse
that then that left on myculture, which included my
family, which included my father.
So now I recognize with reallyclear eyes that my father was a
product of the system that hewas raised in, and so I now look
at that completely differentand have so much gratitude for
(08:04):
the love that I got from both ofmy parents, despite what my dad
had to live through and gothrough and experience, and
recognizing and learning aboutthis term called generational or
transgenerational trauma, whichwas impacted greatly by the
residential school system whichmy grandmother survived.
It was passed on to my fatherand then ultimately passed on to
(08:24):
me and my siblings.
And so when you have thatinformation and you know, when
we know better, we can do better.
And so just I then decided,okay, no, this is a big part of
who I am.
For me, I had struggled withaddiction for many years and one
of the ways that I've been ableto manage recovery was just
(08:46):
eliminating this whole idea ofshame, and so now I feel very
proud of who I am and where I'vecome from.
But it's so true that how we'vebeen able to take this company
and incorporate a lot of thoseteachings into the kind of
business I want to build.
And, of course, I want the corevalues to be surrounded by the
(09:07):
things that are really important, and these were being pulled
from my Anishinaabe roots.
So we used what is called ourseven grandfather teachings to
build our core values atCheekbone Beauty, which are
values and principles.
One is just based on love,humility, bravery.
Another teaching is the sevengenerations teaching, which is
(09:28):
really about environmentalimpact and what we do today and
how it impacts not only the nextgeneration but the next seven
generations Learning that theidea of success within our
Indigenous communities is moreabout what you're doing to give
back to community versus whatyou're attaining for yourself.
So they're really in oppositionof like this Western idea of
(09:50):
success really in opposition oflike this Western idea of
success.
For us at Cheekbone Beauty, itwas definitely a way to set
ourselves as a unique positionin the marketplace as well.
There's not a lot ofIndigenous-led or run beauty
companies and at the time whenwe started there, there was very
, very little.
There was none working withSephora, and so we wanted to
(10:10):
uniquely position ourselves andby adding our teachings and our
culture into building thebusiness and brand is really
what sets us apart.
Jen Kelly (10:20):
Jen, how did you actually apply the teachings
practically through the business?
I would love for many morecompanies to kind of be able to
integrate and move in thisdirection.
How should leaders actuallythink about taking this concept
and like what would be some reallife examples that you guys did
?
Jenn Harper (10:37):
So at first it was really challenging in the sense
that.
Is this even possible?
It's like you're likerebuilding a whole new business
model, if you will, and one.
There's expense challenges.
We all know, like capital is abig struggle for entrepreneurs,
always Then having to findinvestors that believed in
(11:00):
building the kind of businessand the kind of business where
we became a B Corp certifiedcompany in 2021.
So this is after we had started.
However, finding the B Corpcommunity really aligned with
the value system that we weretrying to achieve, because it's
this idea that we're puttingpeople and the planet before
(11:21):
profits, which, in most caseswe're in business, are we, you
know, filling stakeholderpockets versus actually taking
care of those other things,which feel far more important,
but unfortunately, that's nothow it really works in the
business world, and so onefinding an investor that
(11:42):
believed in that.
That was key, right, becausethen now, when you're at a board
meeting and you're making adecision and moving all of our
box production out of China andwe want it all done in Canada
and there's a cost to that right.
However, being closer to home isjust helping us manage and
(12:02):
ensure a very ethical supplychain, and that's really
important to us as a businessand as a brand.
And two, a lot of organizationsnow have different
certifications that really speakto their environmental impact,
and so working with the localsuppliers really helped us be
able to manage that better andmake sure that we're doing the
(12:24):
things that we say we're doing.
These are tough decisions,they're expensive in many cases,
and it creates a lot ofconversation around those board
meetings.
In that boardroom I feel likesometimes we're just driving and
going down these roads tryingto prove that if small business
can do it, large business can doit too, and they probably have
(12:45):
the ability to do it far betterthan we do because of their size
.
Right Volume is a big deal in alot of these spaces when it
comes to manufacturing.
Jen Kelly (12:53):
Yeah, and I guess you know there's.
There's the aspiration, there'sthe integration of putting
these systems and practices intothe business, and then there's
holding the line right and beinga leader.
What have been the headwindsthat have challenged you and how
have you held your center?
Jenn Harper (13:09):
I think, market changes.
They've been really challenging, and that is, I think, just
access to the customer.
You know, we grew on socialmedia and we grew during that
time of, like, rapid socialmedia growth and e-commerce
growth and being in that spaceand everything has dramatically
changed since we launched inthat world.
(13:30):
So that has been tough, evenjust like, when I think about it
, all the things in the side,like figuring out how to we make
our formulations, which a lotof makeup companies are just
relying on partners.
They do what is called whitelabel or private label.
So those formulations are oneand done.
But I also think that uniquelypositions us to really see
(13:54):
things differently in themarketplace.
You know there's a lot ofpassion behind startups and
small teams.
That doesn't exist in a largeorganization, right?
Jen Kelly (14:07):
Absolutely.
And as you've thought aboutyour growth as an entrepreneur,
where have you seen the biggestevolution in yourself?
Jenn Harper (14:15):
I've changed so much from the beginning.
I remember just like in theearly days you're so idealistic,
like you're just such a dreamer, yeah, and I still feel like
that's there, but with maturitynow, right like not not just
talking about this dream orfantasy, but really
(14:36):
understanding it's all aboutexecution and strategy and
planning and organization, and Ifeel I've learned so much about
myself along this path, whichis something I feel unexpected
too.
Like you don't think about thatwhile you have this early idea
or set off on this venture tostart something, I've just
(14:58):
learned a lot about myself.
I really know my weaknesses,but I love sharing that with new
entrepreneurs just because Ithink it's so important to
recognize like it doesn't meanyou have to know all those
things in order to actually makesomething work and make it
successful, which is really key.
Jen Kelly (15:15):
Well, and I think this is why your story will
inspire so many people who arekind of on the cusp or in the
journey.
You know, as I was kind ofdoing a bit of research for our
show, I was surprised to learnthat you had been on Dragon's
Den, and even since that timenow your products are in Sephora
.
Like, what did you learnthrough that chapter?
Jenn Harper (15:42):
I never thought that I would have the courage to
be able to go like pitch mybusiness, because that was the
first time I would actuallypitch the business in the sense
where I was doing it.
I think in the traditionalsense of a pitch right Like this
is your got two minutes thatyou have.
So that really helped me focuson what the business is and who
it had to be and all of thosethings, even though it's
dramatically developed andevolved since then.
(16:05):
Like, the things that have mademe the most uncomfortable are
really the really big growthmoments.
For me personally and I thinkfor the business too, like that
was a dramatic, pivotal momentfor the brand.
Tons of it was a greatmarketing opportunity for sure.
I encourage anyone who,especially in CPG or
(16:25):
product-based business, if youhave something like, get on a
platform like that, because it'sgoing to be a really big moment
for for the business.
Yeah.
Jen Kelly (16:34):
I've been thinking a lot about exploring the
difference between confidenceand worthiness.
We can be confident in ourskills, but worthiness
especially as it relates toreceiving help, receiving money
like worthiness is a wholedifferent category in the
subconscious.
Have you experienced thedifference between having to
(16:57):
work on confidence andworthiness in your own
entrepreneurial journey?
Jenn Harper (17:00):
I feel really fortunate because of my sobriety
journey yeah, like it reallyhas set me up for success in
business One, because I feellike I accomplished an absolute
miracle.
Right when you struggle withaddiction and you overcome that,
it feels like a mountain-likeobstacle and overcoming it feels
(17:22):
really powerful and reallyspecial, and so I feel very
blessed because that's given mea lot of real evidence.
So what we need in lifesometimes as people, is we
always need evidence thatsomething is possible, and when
you create your own, it's likefaith, it's like an incentive.
I have faith in myself becauseI've already accomplished
(17:44):
something so big.
Do you know what I mean?
Jen Kelly (17:46):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Jenn Harper (17:47):
And then I also, I have a very personal
relationship with the creator ofthe universe because of my
sobriety journey and for me Ifeel worthy because of that and
I'm just so connected and Iobviously I I've shared this
often, but when I'm in nature,especially like seeing creation
(18:10):
is evidence of me, of thecreator of the universe, and
that I have this, I'm alive LikeI'm in, I exist, and I'm
grateful because I'm meant to behere.
I probably struggle more withlike the confidence thing,
because sometimes I feel likeI'm being fake confident, Right
Cause I'm like oh how so?
Jen Kelly (18:29):
Cause I don't, I feel like I don't have a lot of
skills, skills defined as, likeI, was formally trained in these
things, exactly so because ofthat I feel like I've always
struggled with the confidenceside of things.
Jenn Harper (18:41):
And then so many of wonderful friends and obviously
I think from my female circleare like look at what you've
done in your life.
Despite not having the formaltraining of all the, you have
the training, like so manyfriends that carry MBAs are like
you built the business.
We're just reading case studiesto get a piece of paper that
(19:01):
say we have an MBA, so like, butyou've done it.
Jen Kelly (19:05):
Having the conviction that this is bigger than you,
the mission.
That was the energy that youwere like pushing out there.
And then, when you talk aboutthe confidence, it's like you
know you can have the vision forthe mission and you could feel
terrified that you don't knowhow to do blank, blank, blank,
cause the confidence is allabout yourself.
(19:25):
The mission is like it'soutside of you.
Right, it's the service, it'sthe bigger piece, and I think
that's the energy, at least forme.
That's the energy that'spropelling me forward.
Jenn Harper (19:35):
And it's the thing you almost can't control.
It's really interesting.
There were times when I wouldmeet people in the early days
and you could tell they theyjust they weren't getting what
we were, what I say we, but itwas just me.
They weren't getting it.
But then I would meet thepeople that felt the energy of
it Right and we're like that waslike so, like revitalizing,
(19:59):
when you would have thosemoments where and that and it
would help me not give upliterally.
Jen Kelly (20:04):
Um, I want to formally just thank you so much
for being here.
I was, uh, watching you fromafar like social media, the
brand probably six months beforeI reached out to you to be on
the show, and I'm just soimpressed by everything.
So thank you so much.
Jenn Harper (20:21):
Thank you so much.
That means so much.
Jen Kelly (20:23):
Yeah, yeah, I think people are really going to enjoy
everything you shared.
So thank you, jen, for beinghere today.
Jenn Harper (20:30):
Thanks for having me.
Jen Kelly (20:32):
Thank you for joining us.
Don't forget to follow us onInstagram and LinkedIn, where we
transform the wisdom from ourpodcast into practical tips,
tools and takeaways for yourleadership journey.
Find us at gritgracepodcast.
See you next week.
Joining us today is Jen Harper, the inspiring
founder of Cheekbone Beauty.
Jenn Harper (00:06):
We're putting people and the planet before
profits, which in most cases inbusiness it's really about.
How are we, you know, fillingstakeholder pockets versus
actually taking care of thoseother things which feel far more
important?
But unfortunately, that's nothow it really works in the
(00:26):
business world.
Jen Kelly (00:27):
In this episode, jen shares her incredible journey of
building a beauty brand fromscratch without prior industry
experience.
Discover how her Indigenousroots and commitment to putting
people before profits haveshaped her mission and values as
an entrepreneur.
Let's dive in.
So, first and foremost, we areall in for a treat.
(00:51):
Jen Harper, welcome to thepodcast.
It is so wonderful to have youhere.
Thank you for joining us.
Thank you for having me, inaddition to your fantastic
company.
One of the things that Ilearned as I was reading up
about you is that in 2022,entrepreneur Magazine named you
as one of 100 women of the year,and when you actually look at
(01:13):
that award, you are in greatcompany and it's so wonderful to
talk to you aboutentrepreneurship and leadership.
So congratulations oneverything that you've
accomplished so far.
Jenn Harper (01:35):
Thank you so much.
I am like a big believer inmanifesting and I was on a
flight and I remember readingthis entrepreneur magazine in an
airport in the U?
S and started reading throughit and there was all these
incredible stories about peoplein business and I said when I
got home I remember cutting outthe top of the magazine and
putting it on my vision board inmy home office and the goal was
(01:56):
one day to talk about Chic WombBeauty in the magazine.
Jen Kelly (01:59):
And how much time had passed from that experience on
the airplane.
Jenn Harper (02:04):
So 2016.
So yeah, so quite some time.
Jen Kelly (02:08):
Well, let's go to the beginning of the company and
your founder journey.
What year was Cheekbone Beautyestablished?
Jenn Harper (02:14):
So we launched as like an online e-commerce store
in November of 2016.
This was like launched from acorner in my basement.
I actually started the wholeidea process after having like
what I call like life-changingdream back in 2015.
So I was selling seafood Iworked for a seafood company at
(02:38):
the time and it's January of2015.
And I have like this pop out ofbed middle of the night dream.
All I remember from this dreamis three native little girls
covered in lip gloss, with theirbrown skin and like rosy little
cheeks.
And I woke up that night and itwas so real to me that this was
like the next part of my life,even though I had zero
(03:01):
experience in the beautyindustry have never owned,
operated a business Like it.
It's kind of crazy when I thinkback to like from that dream.
I was like, yes, I'm going tostart this company, but the
whole idea was I wanted to makea lip gloss from that dream, of
course, and use a portion of theprofits to do something to
support my First Nations orIndigenous community.
(03:23):
And I had no idea what thatlooked like, but I just knew.
I was such a huge fan of brandslike Tom's Shoes at the time
and learning so much aboutPatagonia and their success and
how really that this idea oflike making a social impact was
possible.
When it came to business, Ispent those first two years like
(03:44):
just doing everything andlearning so much about one my
indigenous culture but two aboutentrepreneurship and building a
financial plan, and I read overa hundred books between 2015
and 2016, trying to make surethat I was like learning as much
as I could.
I was just like an absolutesponge.
(04:06):
I would show up at every sortof business networking event I
could possibly afford or get toand try to make as many
connections as possible, andthat was definitely what the
first two years felt and lookedlike.
Jen Kelly (04:20):
You speak to a lot of young entrepreneurs today.
Do you feel like that leg ofthe journey is well understood
in today's world, or are peoplea bit more impatient with how
fast they expect things to cometogether?
Jenn Harper (04:31):
issue, because we see this idea of something
becoming so successful soquickly in the online social
media space and I think it'sharder for us to recognize that
everything is like 10 yearsbefore you really see true
(04:54):
success.
Because if you're going to dothis, it's going to be this
rollercoaster ride forever, andthat's regardless of, like the
revenue dollar amount, whetheryou're doing a million, 10
million a year or when you getto a hundred million, the ups
and downs will always be there.
I think it's just a numbersgame and your problems just get
(05:14):
bigger because of the size ofthe dollar value.
But the problems are stillthere.
They're not going away.
Jen Kelly (05:20):
What did you do to learn to cope and manage through
the highs and the lows?
Jenn Harper (05:25):
What did you do to learn to cope and manage through
the highs and the lows?
The lows feel so low andentrepreneurship is kind of a
lonely path.
We choose it.
I don't have a co-founder and Iknow even co-founders speak of
feeling lonely because we'resort of all doing this from our
individual spaces and so havinga really strong set of values
(05:45):
and principles just in mypersonal life has always been
super helpful.
A routine of great mental,emotional, physical and
spiritual health has beencritical.
Meditation and physical fitnessthose are non-negotiables and
no matter where I am in theworld, that's how the day begins
(06:07):
, and then I feel certainly somuch more well-equipped to
handle anything that's coming myway.
But we should be working harderon ourselves than we do on the
business, because we're the onesrunning and operating the
business.
So if we're not at our fullcapacity then that could really
impact the business.
Jen Kelly (06:25):
I'm a firm believer that your business is a
reflection of you and whereveryou are in your kind of
evolution and journey and all ofyour relationship dynamics, all
of your confidence, it's likeit just becomes a reflection of
you and how you build thecompany.
A lot of your indigenousheritage is rooted in the values
(06:48):
of your company.
Was that something that waslike of high value and
importance to you beforestarting Cheekbone Beauty?
Or was that really brought onby kind of the vision and
mission?
Jenn Harper (07:00):
I would say there's been an evolution of me
understanding my Indigenousroots.
I grew up with my mother, who'snot Indigenous, and so I didn't
really have a strong connectionto my culture or my community
for the majority of my life.
So it wasn't until my mid-30sthat I started to connect, even
with my family.
(07:20):
As a young person, you know, mydad had his own struggles and
at 19, I just decided to cut allties with him.
I thought I'm an adult now, Idon't need to have this
relationship.
I'm an adult now I don't needto have this relationship.
And also me understanding onethe entire systematic abuse
(07:43):
through residential schoolsystem and the systematic abuse
that then that left on myculture, which included my
family, which included my father.
So now I recognize with reallyclear eyes that my father was a
product of the system that hewas raised in, and so I now look
at that completely differentand have so much gratitude for
(08:04):
the love that I got from both ofmy parents, despite what my dad
had to live through and gothrough and experience, and
recognizing and learning aboutthis term called generational or
transgenerational trauma, whichwas impacted greatly by the
residential school system whichmy grandmother survived.
It was passed on to my fatherand then ultimately passed on to
(08:24):
me and my siblings.
And so when you have thatinformation and you know, when
we know better, we can do better.
And so just I then decided,okay, no, this is a big part of
who I am.
For me, I had struggled withaddiction for many years and one
of the ways that I've been ableto manage recovery was just
(08:46):
eliminating this whole idea ofshame, and so now I feel very
proud of who I am and where I'vecome from.
But it's so true that how we'vebeen able to take this company
and incorporate a lot of thoseteachings into the kind of
business I want to build.
And, of course, I want the corevalues to be surrounded by the
(09:07):
things that are really important, and these were being pulled
from my Anishinaabe roots.
So we used what is called ourseven grandfather teachings to
build our core values atCheekbone Beauty, which are
values and principles.
One is just based on love,humility, bravery.
Another teaching is the sevengenerations teaching, which is
(09:28):
really about environmentalimpact and what we do today and
how it impacts not only the nextgeneration but the next seven
generations Learning that theidea of success within our
Indigenous communities is moreabout what you're doing to give
back to community versus whatyou're attaining for yourself.
So they're really in oppositionof like this Western idea of
(09:50):
success really in opposition oflike this Western idea of
success.
For us at Cheekbone Beauty, itwas definitely a way to set
ourselves as a unique positionin the marketplace as well.
There's not a lot ofIndigenous-led or run beauty
companies and at the time whenwe started there, there was very
, very little.
There was none working withSephora, and so we wanted to
(10:10):
uniquely position ourselves andby adding our teachings and our
culture into building thebusiness and brand is really
what sets us apart.
Jen Kelly (10:20):
Jen, how did you actually apply the teachings
practically through the business?
I would love for many morecompanies to kind of be able to
integrate and move in thisdirection.
How should leaders actuallythink about taking this concept
and like what would be some reallife examples that you guys did
?
Jenn Harper (10:37):
So at first it was really challenging in the sense
that.
Is this even possible?
It's like you're likerebuilding a whole new business
model, if you will, and one.
There's expense challenges.
We all know, like capital is abig struggle for entrepreneurs,
always Then having to findinvestors that believed in
(11:00):
building the kind of businessand the kind of business where
we became a B Corp certifiedcompany in 2021.
So this is after we had started.
However, finding the B Corpcommunity really aligned with
the value system that we weretrying to achieve, because it's
this idea that we're puttingpeople and the planet before
(11:21):
profits, which, in most caseswe're in business, are we, you
know, filling stakeholderpockets versus actually taking
care of those other things,which feel far more important,
but unfortunately, that's nothow it really works in the
business world, and so onefinding an investor that
(11:42):
believed in that.
That was key, right, becausethen now, when you're at a board
meeting and you're making adecision and moving all of our
box production out of China andwe want it all done in Canada
and there's a cost to that right.
However, being closer to home isjust helping us manage and
(12:02):
ensure a very ethical supplychain, and that's really
important to us as a businessand as a brand.
And two, a lot of organizationsnow have different
certifications that really speakto their environmental impact,
and so working with the localsuppliers really helped us be
able to manage that better andmake sure that we're doing the
(12:24):
things that we say we're doing.
These are tough decisions,they're expensive in many cases,
and it creates a lot ofconversation around those board
meetings.
In that boardroom I feel likesometimes we're just driving and
going down these roads tryingto prove that if small business
can do it, large business can doit too, and they probably have
(12:45):
the ability to do it far betterthan we do because of their size
.
Right Volume is a big deal in alot of these spaces when it
comes to manufacturing.
Jen Kelly (12:53):
Yeah, and I guess you know there's.
There's the aspiration, there'sthe integration of putting
these systems and practices intothe business, and then there's
holding the line right and beinga leader.
What have been the headwindsthat have challenged you and how
have you held your center?
Jenn Harper (13:09):
I think, market changes.
They've been really challenging, and that is, I think, just
access to the customer.
You know, we grew on socialmedia and we grew during that
time of, like, rapid socialmedia growth and e-commerce
growth and being in that spaceand everything has dramatically
changed since we launched inthat world.
(13:30):
So that has been tough, evenjust like, when I think about it
, all the things in the side,like figuring out how to we make
our formulations, which a lotof makeup companies are just
relying on partners.
They do what is called whitelabel or private label.
So those formulations are oneand done.
But I also think that uniquelypositions us to really see
(13:54):
things differently in themarketplace.
You know there's a lot ofpassion behind startups and
small teams.
That doesn't exist in a largeorganization, right?
Jen Kelly (14:07):
Absolutely.
And as you've thought aboutyour growth as an entrepreneur,
where have you seen the biggestevolution in yourself?
Jenn Harper (14:15):
I've changed so much from the beginning.
I remember just like in theearly days you're so idealistic,
like you're just such a dreamer, yeah, and I still feel like
that's there, but with maturitynow, right like not not just
talking about this dream orfantasy, but really
(14:36):
understanding it's all aboutexecution and strategy and
planning and organization, and Ifeel I've learned so much about
myself along this path, whichis something I feel unexpected
too.
Like you don't think about thatwhile you have this early idea
or set off on this venture tostart something, I've just
(14:58):
learned a lot about myself.
I really know my weaknesses,but I love sharing that with new
entrepreneurs just because Ithink it's so important to
recognize like it doesn't meanyou have to know all those
things in order to actually makesomething work and make it
successful, which is really key.
Jen Kelly (15:15):
Well, and I think this is why your story will
inspire so many people who arekind of on the cusp or in the
journey.
You know, as I was kind ofdoing a bit of research for our
show, I was surprised to learnthat you had been on Dragon's
Den, and even since that timenow your products are in Sephora
.
Like, what did you learnthrough that chapter?
Jenn Harper (15:42):
I never thought that I would have the courage to
be able to go like pitch mybusiness, because that was the
first time I would actuallypitch the business in the sense
where I was doing it.
I think in the traditionalsense of a pitch right Like this
is your got two minutes thatyou have.
So that really helped me focuson what the business is and who
it had to be and all of thosethings, even though it's
dramatically developed andevolved since then.
(16:05):
Like, the things that have mademe the most uncomfortable are
really the really big growthmoments.
For me personally and I thinkfor the business too, like that
was a dramatic, pivotal momentfor the brand.
Tons of it was a greatmarketing opportunity for sure.
I encourage anyone who,especially in CPG or
(16:25):
product-based business, if youhave something like, get on a
platform like that, because it'sgoing to be a really big moment
for for the business.
Yeah.
Jen Kelly (16:34):
I've been thinking a lot about exploring the
difference between confidenceand worthiness.
We can be confident in ourskills, but worthiness
especially as it relates toreceiving help, receiving money
like worthiness is a wholedifferent category in the
subconscious.
Have you experienced thedifference between having to
(16:57):
work on confidence andworthiness in your own
entrepreneurial journey?
Jenn Harper (17:00):
I feel really fortunate because of my sobriety
journey yeah, like it reallyhas set me up for success in
business One, because I feellike I accomplished an absolute
miracle.
Right when you struggle withaddiction and you overcome that,
it feels like a mountain-likeobstacle and overcoming it feels
(17:22):
really powerful and reallyspecial, and so I feel very
blessed because that's given mea lot of real evidence.
So what we need in lifesometimes as people, is we
always need evidence thatsomething is possible, and when
you create your own, it's likefaith, it's like an incentive.
I have faith in myself becauseI've already accomplished
(17:44):
something so big.
Do you know what I mean?
Jen Kelly (17:46):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Jenn Harper (17:47):
And then I also, I have a very personal
relationship with the creator ofthe universe because of my
sobriety journey and for me Ifeel worthy because of that and
I'm just so connected and Iobviously I I've shared this
often, but when I'm in nature,especially like seeing creation
(18:10):
is evidence of me, of thecreator of the universe, and
that I have this, I'm alive LikeI'm in, I exist, and I'm
grateful because I'm meant to behere.
I probably struggle more withlike the confidence thing,
because sometimes I feel likeI'm being fake confident, Right
Cause I'm like oh how so?
Jen Kelly (18:29):
Cause I don't, I feel like I don't have a lot of
skills, skills defined as, likeI, was formally trained in these
things, exactly so because ofthat I feel like I've always
struggled with the confidenceside of things.
Jenn Harper (18:41):
And then so many of wonderful friends and obviously
I think from my female circleare like look at what you've
done in your life.
Despite not having the formaltraining of all the, you have
the training, like so manyfriends that carry MBAs are like
you built the business.
We're just reading case studiesto get a piece of paper that
(19:01):
say we have an MBA, so like, butyou've done it.
Jen Kelly (19:05):
Having the conviction that this is bigger than you,
the mission.
That was the energy that youwere like pushing out there.
And then, when you talk aboutthe confidence, it's like you
know you can have the vision forthe mission and you could feel
terrified that you don't knowhow to do blank, blank, blank,
cause the confidence is allabout yourself.
(19:25):
The mission is like it'soutside of you.
Right, it's the service, it'sthe bigger piece, and I think
that's the energy, at least forme.
That's the energy that'spropelling me forward.
Jenn Harper (19:35):
And it's the thing you almost can't control.
It's really interesting.
There were times when I wouldmeet people in the early days
and you could tell they theyjust they weren't getting what
we were, what I say we, but itwas just me.
They weren't getting it.
But then I would meet thepeople that felt the energy of
it Right and we're like that waslike so, like revitalizing,
(19:59):
when you would have thosemoments where and that and it
would help me not give upliterally.
Jen Kelly (20:04):
Um, I want to formally just thank you so much
for being here.
I was, uh, watching you fromafar like social media, the
brand probably six months beforeI reached out to you to be on
the show, and I'm just soimpressed by everything.
So thank you so much.
Jenn Harper (20:21):
Thank you so much.
That means so much.
Jen Kelly (20:23):
Yeah, yeah, I think people are really going to enjoy
everything you shared.
So thank you, jen, for beinghere today.
Jenn Harper (20:30):
Thanks for having me.
Jen Kelly (20:32):
Thank you for joining us.
Don't forget to follow us onInstagram and LinkedIn, where we
transform the wisdom from ourpodcast into practical tips,
tools and takeaways for yourleadership journey.
Find us at gritgracepodcast.
See you next week.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!