Iman on how to build a successful business | Master the Art | Bazaar UK

[Music] know your worth and know when to walk away from something that's not serving you well hi i'm iman and i'm here with harper's bazaar uk to share with you how to build a successful business i launched email cosmetics in 1994 but the idea the seed was planted in my head when i arrived in america in 1975. my first job was three days after i arrived i have never worn makeup or heels or seen a fashion magazine so i had no idea what i was walking into and coming to the set there was another model a caucasian model and the makeup artist asked me did you bring your own foundation but it wasn't lost on me that he didn't ask that question to the caucasian model so i had no idea what he was talking about so i said no and he proceeded mixing and some products and he put on my face and i looked in the mirror my chocolate skin looked gray and i was mortified but there was nothing i can do because i had no idea what to do but i made sure from that day on that i had some control of my image so i went and bought every thing i could find in the market that had a little bit of a shade that was closer to my skin and mixed and matched some foundations and will put it on my face and had a polaroid camera and take a picture of my face to see how will that color translate to to photography although it wasn't perfect but it was better than what the makeup artist had and so hence that's how it all started i started to think that i cannot go to any shoot without having a foundation because most of the time they did not have anything that was suitable for me and even when i was doing runway shows i always had and most of black models and some filipino girls models will come to me and say can i use your foundation so it was planted in my head that there is a a need out there and then one day i will and of course that one day became after i retired in 1989. when i was contemplating starting iman cosmetics i had a vision which was a new way of looking at beauty i was not interested in ethnic ethnicity the ethnic background of anybody what i was is that the world is diverse so the idea that black is only african and you know asian is only a different color it really doesn't exist it's like it's a mosaic of colors and we have a lot in common so i wanted a new language when i was starting it was about the multi-cultural rather than an ethnic background every decision person that i've asked for help they said you're on the wrong track you really should stick into your lane and just do makeup for black women and i said well there are a couple of uh brands who exist for black women only but also we are moving forward and we need a new language and so my first campaign was with a latina girl an asian girl african girl and uh a native american girl i was the first cosmetics brand who actually hired and showcased an indigenous of america and for me it was this is what beauty is going to be a new language a new way of looking at people the biggest setbacks i i got is actually from the stores because they will not order enough of the darker foundations because they will say that will not sell and i would tell them how do you know it would not sell it and you've never offered it before but um through time and and and the brand being became successful not only with celebrities and editors but also with regular women so you know you stick to your gun you stay in your lane and you make it sure that regardless of what they think it is that you prove them wrong and always they understand when they make profit they are not racist they just don't understand what they're saying i personally think it's not conviction what you need is what you need is research research research you really need to know inside and out in the market that you're going in you need to find out what is it that you're bringing to the market does it exist and if it exists why would they want you is the idea of supply and demand if it is there is a demand for it you will definitely be successful at it but also you need to do the homework and do the homework and do the homework and do the homework in 1994 when i started in our cosmetics it was like literally we were the only brand that was catering for women with skin of color the core business of my business was on foundations because that was one thing that was lacking because once you have a great foundation on the rest of it is color and cosmetics and all that so we really really were adamant about that so we were known as the best foundations for years and years and what has happened is that there are people who took cue from what we started and i've taken it further and one of them that i'm very proud is that rihanna fantis because she is at least a woman with skin of color who really understood it what we were doing and she understood of where it needs to go next and so she made it right to 50 shades out of the gate and so that is what it's the iman cosmetics legacy is is how we started and all those people that came after it whether it's pat mcgrath whether it's plenty you know and now multiple of other people are coming in with the same idea there is something to be said about fear you know fear does exist but you have to really work through it obviously there's always a self-doubt but you know for me as a business woman i've always thought i don't want to be an override success i want to have longevity because what have can happen in when you're on overnight success you could lose your shirt so there is always that doubt of how do i play the cards where do i go further where do i stay behind but it's only fear it's all in our heads you work through it and you go through it and you do it but thinking systematically i always say start small you can always go big the secret of my success is patience which is the most difficult right patience be patient stay focused uh keep your eye on the price and your time will come it is at most important to hire the right team for example in iman cosmetics almost 98. of my staff are women who are aware of what the brand is and identify with the brain but what's even more important in terms of whether it's beauty or whether it's fashion it's very important to hire people in places of decision makers a lot of the times we hear you know uh a brand will come up with something that the whole social media becomes in an uproar because it um has stones of racism to it if they had people that were there that were making the decisions that would not have happened in the climate we're in now people are aware of what's going on social media has made people more aware of what's going on and how they can participate and people have a voice so when i was starting my cosmetics and i was thinking about how to go about it obviously i've never done it before and i reached out to a woman i met years ago as a model she worked at calvin klein she was the head of calvin klein fragrances her name is robin burns and i've known her since 1980s and by then she was the president of uh estee lauder and she mentored me she taught me everything of how to walk into a room how to talk to them how to ask for what i want to ask and the way i watch and do it what to compromise and what not to compromise at all how to keep my ownership of my brand all the time and she's been my mentor from then on still till today so for young girls out there i would definitely say look for look for a mentor and people who are women who are established i think it is upon us to mentor young girls who want to be entrepreneurs because you can hire an intern and she can learn in the job wherever she is for a mentor it's a never ending because they check on you how is it going and when you say i would like to meet so and so do you know they'll find if they don't know they'll find somebody who knows and they will make the connection so it's great from both ends for a young girl to have a mentor and for people like me and others who are in a position to mentor young girls it's imperative imperative i have mentored three girls and they still in my life my real advice is always believe in the business that you want to go in believe it and what are you bringing to it if you have a point of view a point of difference then what it's out there you will find your place in that business world you will because that is what everybody is looking for so what is that new thing that is inherently out there that people want but are not given you know find out what is it that you are creating if it's out there already right or not that's the kind of a work that you need to do so that you then you believe in your product because nobody else has it there is a market for it you know there are a group of people who are have not been served and think small the idea when i say things small is build small because you can think big but don't build big you can always go bigger systematically and strategically the best business advice i have i was ever given i think is the advice of my life that my mom gave it to me when i was five or six years old know your worth and know when to walk away from something that's not serving you well so if i go into a meeting and i don't know my worth i should be able to say well thank you gentlemen or thank you gentlemen and ladies and good bye there's a lot of things that women as women we're not taught very young is how to say no and how to know when to walk away from from everything put it all on the line walk away from it

Channel: Harper's Bazaar UK

Views: 68,322

Rating: 4.9736109 out of 5

Keywords: harpers bazaar, bazaar, red carpet, catwalk

Id: -zI6_LD7AAA

Length: 11min 50sec (710 seconds)

Published: Mon Jan 18 2021