Arts
How privileged I am to be learning about racism, rather than experiencing it. Black lives matter. The resources I mentioned that I had found useful can be found here: https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17898196033499578/In episode forty four of the Glow Journal podcast, host Gemma Watts sits down with the founder and CEO of Juice Beauty, Karen Behnke. Credited by Forbes as being the original pioneer of clean beauty, Karen Behnke’s career began as a health and wellness entrepreneur in the early 1980s. By the age of 25, Karen had founded two highly successful businesses in the fitness space, one being the first ever corporate wellness business in the United States- however the bank would not give her a loan unless she were married. Karen explains to me in our conversation that, when you’re an entrepreneur and you feel you have a good idea, you blast forward with blind faith- and that’s precisely what she did. In 2005, she launched Juice Beauty, one of the world’s first organic skincare brands and one that completely quashed the belief that natural products couldn’t match the potency of their traditional counterparts. With Karen widely regarded as an innovator across the health, wellness and beauty spaces, it made sense that when Gwyneth Paltrow was looking to develop skincare under her Goop brand AND find a clean, organic colour cosmetics range, it was Karen and the Juice Beauty team that she chose to work with. Heralding a collaboration between Karen, Gwyneth and their respective companies, 2016 saw the launch of both Goop by Juice Beauty AND Juice Beauty’s Phyto-Pigment collection- a clean yet luxurious line of colour cosmetics, born out of Karen and Gwyneth’s wish for makeup that cared for the skin in the same way their skincare does. Gwyneth was also appointed Juice Beauty’s Creative Director of Makeup, a role she held for three years, with Karen and Gwyneth remaining shareholders in one another’s companies to this day. Today, Karen tells me Juice Beauty’s focus is on returning to its roots. Time is being spent researching and continuing to innovate at the Juice Beauty Farm, with the brand working towards converting the entire farm to organic and continuing to improve upon their existing sustainability initiatives. This episode was recorded remotely, myself being in Australia and Karen in the US, so if you would prefer to read the interview you can find the complete transcript on glowjournal.comIn this conversation, Karen shares her biggest advice for those looking to fund a startup, how Juice Beauty manage to colour their entire makeup collection using plant pigments, and the secrets of the Green Apple Peel that put the brand on the map. You can read this interview now at: glowjournal.com/interview-juice-beauty-founder-karen-behnkeFollow Juice Beauty on Instagram at @juicebeautyStay up to date with Gemma on Instagram at @gemkwatts and @glow.journal, or get in touch at hello@gemkwatts.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.