← Aspire with Emma Grede
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- [00:00]
Charlotte Tilbury
Foreign.
- [00:11]
Emma Greed
Obsession isn't what Charlotte Tilbury does, it's who she is. When I started Aspire, I knew I had to talk to Charlotte. From a young girl dreaming out loud to creating a billion dollar beauty empire, Charlotte Tilbury is here to give you the brand building secrets that works for her. In this conversation, Charlotte shares how obsession, belief and relentless focus can build something the world told you wasn't possible. But behind that success is a story few people ever hear. This podcast is brought to you by Kleenex Lotion Tissues for whatever happens next, grab Kleenex. If you want to have your healthiest year yet and become the most vibrant version of yourself, start here. Cleaning up your skincare products. They're rooted in time tested traditional perspectives that honor ancient wisdom, animal based products and clean living education to guide you in creating non toxic rhythms and transformative results in your daily life. From farms, forests and fields, they source ingredients that are regeneratively grown, organic and wild crafted wherever possible. Nature has given us everything we need. No chemicals, fragrance or filters needed. They are wildly passionate about providing research backed, results driven products without compromising your health. Backed by thousands of 5 star reviews and unbelievable before and after photos, their products are proven to create positive change in your skin and sense of wellness. Swapping for natural options is a must if you want to feel good and glow from the inside out. And Primally Pure has harnessed the power of natural ingredients in their complete line of non toxic beauty products from skin, body, baby, hair and home. And you can't forget their cult following natural deodorant and tallow skincare products. Primally Pure products are handcrafted with real raw ingredients to optimize your results and your overall health. Use Code ASPIRE to get 15% off your primary pure purchase. That's www.p r I m a l l y p u r e.com and use code ASPIRE at checkout for 15% off your order. You know that feeling when the holiday rush finally quiets down? The lights are twinkling, the coffee's warm and you just get to be for a moment. That's the feeling I try to hold onto all season long. For me it's about those little luxuries. Soft slippers, good music and lately my favorite cashmere sweater from Macy's. Macy's has been perfecting cashmere for over half a century and you can feel that experience in every piece. Their collection has over 70 silhouettes and 40 plus colors. So whether you love bold tones, soft pastels or cozy neutrals, you'll Find something that feels perfectly you. And right now, it's the best time to treat yourself. Macy's Friends and family event is happening through December 11, with 30% off the best brands that make the best gifts, plus 15% off beauty and fragrances. There's also 30 to 50% off jewelry from brands like Effie and Lavine. And the perfect way to add a little sparkle to your cashmere look. Head to Macy's today to bring a little everyday luxury into your holiday season. Charlotte Tilbury.
- [03:32]
Charlotte Tilbury
Darling. Emma Greed. Darling.
- [03:34]
Emma Greed
I am so happy to have you here. Words can literally not explain.
- [03:38]
Charlotte Tilbury
Oh, God, I. This was hard.
- [03:40]
Emma Greed
It's hard to get in. I'm not gonna lie, love. You are one busy woman.
- [03:44]
Charlotte Tilbury
She says to another busy lady. I know, I know it's mad, but thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much for not giving up on me and making it happen, because I was so excited. I was so excited. I was like, I have to make this happen because you are amazing, and I'm obsessed with your podcast.
- [03:56]
Emma Greed
I love you for saying that. I mean, listen, day one, out the gate, I was like, I made a list of all the business women. I was like, it has to be Charlotte. And I think there's so many.
- [04:04]
Charlotte Tilbury
Thank you so much. I feel so honored, honestly.
- [04:06]
Emma Greed
You should, like, you should feel honored, but you should also know that we've been dying to chat with you. I think there are so many people that are just desperate to know more about your story. And I feel like, in some kind of crazy way, like, I grew up in the fashion industry knowing so much about you. It was like, charlotte, Charlotte, Charlotte, Charlotte, Charlotte. So I was, like, in the proximity. I knew I was in the proximity of greatness, but so many people that listen to this show are dreaming about building something of their own, and you've done that. But that kind of leap from idea to execution can feel completely impossible for people. So today, I really want to dig into your background, exactly how you did it, and to understand, like, what.
- [04:48]
Charlotte Tilbury
What was the dream? How did it happen?
- [04:49]
Emma Greed
What was the dream? How did it happen? How did it all come to fruition? So the first question that I've got for you is I want to understand, like, the first concrete step that you took to building Charlotte Tilbury. Because as I understand it right now, you're the president, the chief creative officer, and the chairman of Charlotte Tilbury. Did you plan it to be that way?
- [05:08]
Charlotte Tilbury
It started with me wanting to be a makeup artist. You know, I think at a very early age, kind of understanding that that's what I wanted to do, and I wanted to hone my craft on everyone else's dime.
- [05:17]
Emma Greed
Charlotte, for those people that don't understand how fashion works and don't potentially know so much about your background, you were like a backstage makeup artist. You were right at the top of your game, but you were the person that would come to the show, create all of the looks. You'd be backstage yourself, in charge of the overall creative direction of the makeup, and then you gravitated into this consultancy role where people were using you to actually help develop their own lines. Correct.
- [05:46]
Charlotte Tilbury
Own lines. Exactly. So I'd had this career as a kind of world's top makeup artist, sort of, you know, where we kind of knew each other, and then ended up sort of being a creative consultant for, you know, with Tom Ford, which is amazing. I mean, he's such a kind of legend and love working with him. And then Helena Rubenstein and Giorgio Armani and Mac and Alexander McQueen. Those were just kind of the sum of the product. Working with all the labs, creating blue sky development, coming up with concepts, ideas, and leaving a lot of kind of amazing bestsellers in my wake, but at the same time, having a project which I called the Ibiza Project, which was a book that I kept with all the kind of. When I just saw this massive gap in the industry where people come up to me and say, oh, my God, I want to look like, you know, whoever Penelope Cruz or Kate Moss, whoever I was working with, and I would always feel that they couldn't get the look or I didn't quite have the products. I was like, fine, for me, because I was sitting there with mixing media and a mixer.
- [06:34]
Emma Greed
And a mixer, exactly.
- [06:35]
Charlotte Tilbury
And a blender, trying to get the kind of right products to kind of make it happen. But I couldn't just give them those products will get the look. And I also felt that they said, oh, I could never look like that. And that made me feel actually, no, no, no, you don't. We don't. Everyone doesn't come from a different planet. Celebrities, they know the power of makeup. They know how, you know, that can make them look and feel. I wanted to kind of decode that and demystify it and give it to everyone. And so I came up with the kind of concept of my brand, which was basically a very obvious idea. And I always think the best idea is sparkling simplicity. And so it was, you know, and it was get the look. It was like 10 looks. And the fact that when you think about people, actually there was something that you know, we're both. You and I are both dyslexic, but that kind of understanding of actually pattern recognition. Yes, I'm really good. I'm sure you're really good at pattern recognition. You realize over decades, who you were exactly. Who are the different looks. So 34 years of experience now a kind of like a data, kind of algorithm that I've just sort of, by osmosis, sort of sucked into this library. Having worked with so many people with kind of, you know, different hair color, different skin tone, different eye color, different, you know, all these amazing, brilliant visionaries and creators that I have the privilege and honor to have worked with. And all of this has sort of gone into my kind of brain. And then you sort of realize you end up sort of. It sort of spits that out kind of pattern recognition and an algorithm of this kind of library of data that is in my brain, which is unbelievable. Which is. Which is what? And that's why, kind of, you know, I've been doing this for 34 years, having been kind of, you know, I'll give you one of the world's top makeup artists doing the fashion shows, working on the kind of Runway couture, red carpet, which, again, an editorial, which was quite a rare career because, as you.
- [08:08]
Emma Greed
Know, you were one of very, very few. What I'd like to understand is when did you know it was time to launch your own thing? Because to my mind, like, did you.
- [08:19]
Charlotte Tilbury
Always knew? Always knew. Always knew. From a young child, I remember telling my parents, I was like. I was like, I'm going to create a brand. They're like that, darling. Marvelous. Like. Yep. But. But, yeah. And I always knew that that's what I wanted to do, but I wanted to catalyst my craft and then go on to do it, I think. I mean, I had to learn a few lessons along the way. I think kind of, you know, I wasn't. You know, you go from being a makeup artist to being an entrepreneur to being the founder, kind of president, you know, chief creative officer of my company and creating what I've created today, which is, you know, the biggest beauty empire ever to have existed in the. In the UK and a global brand. And, you know, it's like. And I'm. I'm.
- [08:54]
Emma Greed
Are you so proud of yourself when you say that?
- [08:56]
Charlotte Tilbury
I'm so proud of myself. I am, because, you know, it's. It ain't always easy, but it's really. But it's really rewarding and it's really fun.
- [09:05]
Emma Greed
We're gonna talk about that. So you are. So let me just paint the picture. You're at the top of your game at this point, right? You really, really are. And you're carrying around the Ibiza book, which is your book of everything that you believe is needed. You've created the archetypes. Where did you go before you had investors, before you had staff?
- [09:22]
Charlotte Tilbury
Like, so wait, let me just say, what'd you do? So I've gone off, I've kind of honed my craft fully. Fashion show season, around the world, red carpet, editorial couture, doing it. All right, That's a very rare career. Number one, Very so because most artists are either one or the other or not all three, then I have gone off and become a creative consultant to some of the biggest houses, luxury houses in the world and created some of the best selling products and everything. Pretty much I did kind of sold out.
- [09:47]
Emma Greed
How were you remunerated over there? Like, if you're making some of the best selling products in the world, were you seeing your product selling and going like, oh, that was a nice, I love it.
- [09:56]
Charlotte Tilbury
I loved that. And still some of them today. I mean I, you know, I was, I was paid extremely well, but I didn't have equity in those brands. And I was like. And that was fine, you know, for me, I was also holding back also I was somebody else's vision that I was working for. So it would bring my, my brilliance to it and my, my craft and my know how and my expertise of quality and formula and design and ergonomics, etc. But to a certain degree, because it was their house and to a certain degree their budget, their where that, what labs they wanted to work with, what kind of efficacy. I was like, fine, if you want to take it to a certain level, that's fine. I'm going to keep the best for moi.
- [10:31]
Emma Greed
I'm going to keep the best for me. All right, so you've had this extraordinary career. You're working for the best houses in the world and then you're like, you have the book.
- [10:41]
Charlotte Tilbury
So then, so I'm working with the best houses in the world. I've got this vision that I'm always going to go and create my own brand, that I am just honing my craft by doing what I'm doing. I get to the point where I'm like, okay, it's now I've got to do it. After having some of these amazing consultants with some of the great houses, I had to grow up and be a businesswoman. So I slightly got messed around and then but then I was like, right, you need to grow up and become a businesswoman, but you've got to kind of be a lawyer, you've got to be able to be an accountant, you've got to be able to do it all. You've got to be able to understand and read a P and L. You've got to go through every single clause, you've got to read everything because. And I am a bit of a control freak. So in a way I was like, that was part of the journey to kind of becoming a businesswoman. And I think I have this tin shed that I kept. Basically this with the hysterical tin shed where I would keep the Ibiza project, which I wrote about the kind of. I looked at the. At the really kind of the end to end consumer journey because I'm obsessed with the consumer, as we all are. And you and I are very good consumers. So we're kind of naturally kind of hardwired that way. I really thought about what was missing in the beauty space. What the world was so ripe for disruption. Five conglomerates owned the world. Everyone told me I was mad. Everyone told me that, you know, I couldn't do it, that, you know, five people owned the world and that was just the way it was. And things were done the way that they were for like 100 years. And I was like, it's ripe for disruption. And also having been an expert at what I do at the top of my game, seeing what was missing for the consumer, seeing the white space that was out there in the market, seeing that when I went into the shops, it was confusing, demystifying. It wasn't easy to choose, it wasn't easy to use, it wasn't easy to gift and just reimagining that whole end to end 360 journey for the consumer. And I think just there is that thing of, you know, I really kind of live by, feel the fear and do it anyway. That kind of fearless. If I believe, you know, a total belief. And I'm also a big believer in, you know, creative visualization. I do, I do that all the time. So I wrote my business plan, I had my tin shed, I had my Ibiza project. I imagined.
- [12:36]
Emma Greed
Who helped you? Did you have anyone with you at that point or was this just you?
- [12:41]
Charlotte Tilbury
So I had so creatively, I had done all of my kind of, you know, I basically had my tin shed. I had the kind of Ibiza project where I had literally imagined what the counters would look like, what the products were. I mean, still the products to did.
- [12:53]
Emma Greed
It look like how the counters look with those like ten faces in the beginning. So crazy that was for me.
- [12:59]
Charlotte Tilbury
As soon as I saw those 10.
- [13:00]
Emma Greed
Looks, I was like, no, I need five. No, I need six. I need all 10.
- [13:04]
Charlotte Tilbury
Look, you need all 10.
- [13:05]
Emma Greed
You need all 10.
- [13:06]
Charlotte Tilbury
You need a makeup wardrobe. Yeah, totally need a makeup wardrobe. And also technology. Like at the time I really kind of had this vision of could we create this amazing app. But actually augmented reality wasn't the place I wanted to be. So my kind of vision and my of where I wanted beauty tech to be wasn't really there all those years ago. But it's all written down in this book. And then I go and find, through this great friend of mine, Isabella Cordo and Marcusiri, I find actually this guy who helped Tamara Mellon, I think, write her business plan. So then he sat with me and we went through all the labs, wrote the business plan, started to understand the P and L, how it worked, what it was, and so.
- [13:40]
Emma Greed
And you bought him on as a consultant?
- [13:43]
Charlotte Tilbury
He was just a consultant.
- [13:44]
Emma Greed
He helped you write the plan?
- [13:45]
Charlotte Tilbury
Yeah, he just helped me write the plan. But then you, but then you write your own plan because you have to understand it. You know, your labs, you know, your cost of goods. And then I went out to market and basically raised money. Ultimately, I backed myself, I put a lot of my own money into this round. I backed myself and I didn't really take a salary for the first few years of the, of the brand.
- [14:02]
Emma Greed
Take me back to that part, because I feel like that's where people get so stuck. They don't know where to start. And you were able to just go, was it easy for you to raise money? How did you raise that first?
- [14:12]
Charlotte Tilbury
No, I think, I mean, I think I didn't have a track record as a business one, but I had a track record of being a beauty. I was kind of a beauty entrepreneur at that point. I suppose it was like I was a makeup artist that had created bestselling products and I had a lot of best selling products. I buy a lot of the top brands in the market.
- [14:28]
Emma Greed
The word in the fashion community was that like these things that we were all using were developed by you and that you very much were someone who was like super innovative and was just crying out for your own brand. So I think if you were somebody that just didn't know you that well, but knew you by reputation alone, there was this like thing that was kind of happening and sizzling around and quite honestly, people were probably lining up to give you money. But did you experience it like that? Was it easy for you to go out?
- [14:56]
Charlotte Tilbury
No, I think it's not. Like, I knew a huge amount of the investment community at the time. I'm obviously one now, knows everyone, but, you know, at the time I didn't. And you go and see a few people and they're just like, they don't really kind of believe in it, really get it. But then I was just like, idiots if they don't get it, because it's going to be huge. Then I had this amazing investor, actually, Marcus here, who I loved, who actually was one with me on the journey all the way.
- [15:17]
Emma Greed
This was like your first investor?
- [15:19]
Charlotte Tilbury
Yeah, he was my lead investor.
- [15:20]
Emma Greed
How much did you have to raise in the beginning? Like, I just want to understand, like, did you have to go and raise tens of millions of dollars or was it a little bit?
- [15:26]
Charlotte Tilbury
No, I didn't. No, I didn't. It was like about a million pounds at the beginning, but it's like, it wasn't a lot of money. But then we raised money every single year. Wow. So we raised money because. And that's how I ended up owning so much of the brand, because I was like, I'm not giving away. You know, I backed myself. I put a lot of my own money into it. But then we grew so fast. I always knew how fast we would grow. I don't think anyone really quite realized how fast we would grow. From day one, it was just like. It was a runaway success for me.
- [15:52]
Emma Greed
It was a runaway success, and I think that's what everybody remembers. But so then you had to keep raising, like, year after year after year after year. How did you manage to keep hold of the business considering you had to go out and keep raising money?
- [16:02]
Charlotte Tilbury
You do it. I mean, you know, it's like now I kind of. I mean, I still work. I'm still incredibly passionate about what I do. I kind of work. You know, we both work round the clock because we love it, because we're passionate about it and, you know, obsessed, I would say. You know, I remember every summer holiday, I'd be still raising money. It was like, through my summer holidays, it was like I was probably raising money. And then you kind of do it all kind of. You know, you sort of get to that point where you realize, okay, we need another injection, because actually, the growth is so big and the opportunity is so big. So. But I'm glad I did it like that because I managed to hold on so much of the company.
- [16:31]
Emma Greed
I mean, it's so smart.
- [16:33]
Charlotte Tilbury
And then we bought Silicon Valley in about Sequoia in about when we were about half a billion. And then kind of, you know, from then on we sort of. They came in and then that was, that was a. That was a game changer because it was like my whole kind of beauty tech vision of how I saw the beauty industry going and giving a consumer what she wants, where she wants. When I was reimagining this whole end to end journey, this cycle of what did I disrupt in the beauty industry? What was the white space that I saw? And what it was was that when a consumer would go into the shop, it was a confusing. It was five conglomerates around the world. You didn't know what to choose, you didn't know what to use. It was a very homogenized space.
- [17:08]
Emma Greed
Totally.
- [17:09]
Charlotte Tilbury
It was like everything looked the same, everything was black, homogenized. There was no personality, there was no backstage, there was no bring me into my world, excite me, have fun, delight me. Retail theater, it had all been taken away. And you could see that, and I could see that. And I was like, what happened to retail theater? Where's the fun gone? And then I thought about all these women that would say to me, I wish I could look like celebrities or the supermodels you'd make up. And I was like, okay. So that's when I realized that, you know, I came up with the whole kind of vision of the archetypes. And I realized that that was really my kind of the algorithm in my brain that had some recognition of realizing over and over, looking at people being like, oh, here we go again. It's a golden goddess. It's like, it's that type of woman. So it's that type of archetype. So then did you find that difficult.
- [17:51]
Emma Greed
To explain to people? Because again, in creative and beauty, you know, lifestyle spaces, there's less understanding, I imagine, in the financial community for them. Like, grasp your ideas. How did you make your ideas understood? Because typically I imagine that you were pitching men who are not the end user of your product. So how did you actually go into those spaces and give everybody the belief that you were really going to build something meaningful?
- [18:19]
Charlotte Tilbury
I'm going to pitch yours almost as if you are them.
- [18:21]
Emma Greed
Yeah, go on.
- [18:22]
Charlotte Tilbury
So.
- [18:23]
Emma Greed
Exactly.
- [18:23]
Charlotte Tilbury
We're doing a shark tag. We're doing shark. Okay, let's. All right, let's go. It's an overcrowded space. 5. It's ripe for disruption. Five people own the world. It's not easy to choose. It's not easy to use people. There's you've got a bunch of consumers that don't think they can look like certain celebrities. I'm an expert. I'm now seeing an opportunity to come up with some of these incredible innovation, incredible quality of products that don't exist in the market, so they aren't out there for consumers. And to make products that are quick and easy, speedy, easy makeup. Coming up with new categories of makeup and reinventing categories in makeup. So I reinvented powder, I reinvented setting spray, and I invented glow category in beauty. So all of these products are missing. Then if you think about the consumer, when they go into a store, they can't find what they don't know what suits me, what do I choose, how do I get a look, what lipstick goes with what blush with what eye makeup. So I immediately bring all of my expertise of all the red carpet, all the 70s, all the models, I put it into 10 looks. I bring my backstage to the front stage, which basically I turn it into kind of, you know, my incredible merchandising, my shop. So as a consumer then walks in, it's easy to choose, it's easy to use. And when they get home, I then reimagine the technology.
- [19:30]
Emma Greed
Yes.
- [19:30]
Charlotte Tilbury
And so I'm then doing tutorials on every single product I then have ended up creating. I now have a CDO and I end up creating an amazing beauty app where, you know, give the customer what she wants, where she wants. So now we bring the shop to you, we do virtual try ons, the dermatologists come up with a kind of AI that reads your skin, bringing the shop to the consumer. Making, giving the consumer what she wants, where she wants, however she wants it and making it easy for her. But with the most luxurious, incredible products that are so easy, my 10 year old son could do it. And I was obsessed with kind of crazy things. Like I looked around and I thought McDonald's was just genius. It was time is money, speedy, easy, quick looks. And I was like, that's so clever. And like, yeah. And I just looked around and I was like Apple, Steve Jobs, I was like, he's just so brilliant. I like everything. The ergonomics of everything he created, the slickness, the ease of use, everything in the palm of your hand. So like I was inspired by so many things outside of beauty.
- [20:26]
Emma Greed
I love that.
- [20:26]
Charlotte Tilbury
And I think that type of thinking, it was nothing to do with beauty. It was just imagining outside of beauty and then having my real expertise of blue sky. Thinking of when I was working with the laboratories and I Came up with so many bestsellers that they then said, please, will you innovate with us on just blue skies, thinking and formulas. I'm obsessed with. With customer need states.
- [20:45]
Emma Greed
No, but it's. I think it's so obvious that you are obsessed with customers. Like, you said that you built things that, like, just didn't exist. And I'm interested to understand, like, the first gap you were obsessed with fitting. Like, how did you know that that was a need? And that was something that customers would go after? Especially when, like, it doesn't exist.
- [21:04]
Charlotte Tilbury
Okay, so you look around and you would go, instagram filters, right? You're like, okay, I need an Instagram filter. I'm on the red carpet. I'm here with, like, whoever. Salma Haya. I'm whatever. And you're like, I need an Instagram filter. I'm like, but I need. On the face, in the bottle, in a harsh daylight that's gonna perform speedy, easy, and it's gonna look fabulous. Because women have no time for me. I'm always looking at the world. Where is the economic state of the world? What are people going through? What do they need? What is the. Because it's all a reflection of everything that's going on.
- [21:32]
Emma Greed
It's all interlinked.
- [21:33]
Charlotte Tilbury
It's all interlinked. It's totally interlinked. So I think you realize what's happening in the world is it kind of people are seeing filters. They're different types of filters. They're kind of like, they want to glow. They want to. They're on a beach, but it's in January. What do they want? What do women want? And actually, always thinking, a lot of consumers, like, when I created Hollywood Flawless filter, which was this amazing glow that had never existed, it was a. It was a revolutionary product in the market. And actually, I remember at the time, some of the retailers were like, they were into it, but they were like, oh, I'm not sure. I'm like. Because when you. When you're disrupting and innovating, you have to sometimes really sell in your idea. And they're like, okay, you listen, crazy lady. You say stuff that works, and then it works, and then it sells out. Well, okay, we'll go with you. Well, I was like, pillow talk, you know, I was like, pillow talk. Now, that kind of, you know, Hollywood Floor Till sells, like, one every two seconds. And Pillow talk was a kind of a color that is now the world's number one lipstick and the world's number one lip liner. And it was a, you know, can you imagine? It was just a pinky nudie color that I just obsessed forensically over lips and the pigment in lips. And I was like, but it's a color that had never existed before. And so, and then it just goes, you know, it goes like a viral whisper and then comes, you're selling one every two seconds. But it's that forensic examination of what do women want, what do women need? What do they wish they had? Where's the consumer? Where are they dreaming? I always say I'm selling pots of dreams and making dreams come true.
- [22:55]
Emma Greed
You know that feeling when the holiday rush finally quiets down? The lights are twinkling, the coffee's warm, and you just get to be for a moment. That's the feeling I try to hold onto all season long. For me, it's about those little luxuries. Soft slippers, good music, and lately, my favorite cashmere sweater from Macy's. Macy's has been perfecting cashmere for over half a century and you can feel that experience in every piece. Their collection has over 70 silhouettes and 40 plus colors. So whether you love bold tones, soft pastels or cozy neutrals, you'll find something that feels perfect for you. And right now, it's the best time to treat yourself. Macy's friends and family event is happening through December 11th. With 30% off the best brands that make the best gifts, plus 15% off beauty and fragrances. There's also 30 to 50% off jewelry from brands like Effie and Lavine. And the perfect way to add a little sparkle to your cashmere look. Head to Macy's today to bring a little everyday luxury into your holiday season. You know that moment when your hair actually feels alive again. That's what happens with Virtue Hair Luxury hair care. Powered by science and born from regenerative medicine, it delivers that salon level luxury hair experience right at home with results that you can actually see and feel. Its secret, alpha keratin 60ku. A protein that's identical to the keratin that makes up our hair. It's clinically proven to repair damage not by masking it, but by rebuilding your hair from the inside out. Heat, damage, coloring, chemical treatments. Virtue reverses it all, restoring strength, shine and resilience with Virtue shampoos and conditioners. Every wash acts as a restorative treatment. And Virtue's award winning damage reverse serum, which by the way I use every day, instantly repairs up to 98% of split ends. Every formula is vegan, cruelty free and free of sulfates, parabens and patholates Take Virtue's Quick care quiz@virtualabs.com to find your perfect match and save 20% with code VIRTUE20. Where do you get the inputs from? I'm very interested in that because how do you know that what everybody is going to want is like, super Shine? How do you know that that's the exact right shade? Is that like a gut decision? Is that taking in input from trend? Like, where does that part come?
- [25:27]
Charlotte Tilbury
No, actually, I'm very intuitive, but I'm constantly scanning. My brain is like a scanner. So I'm constantly. Whatever I'm doing, whether I'm scrolling on Instagram, whether I'm meeting people, whether I'm meeting consumers, where I'm looking at kind of just life on every level. It's not that I go to a trend book and suddenly discover. Cause I was like, then you're already, you know, you're already late to the party, right?
- [25:45]
Emma Greed
If it's in the book, it's over.
- [25:46]
Charlotte Tilbury
It'S over, it's over.
- [25:48]
Emma Greed
So I'm obsessed. Obsessed with the fact that you are the chairman and the chief creative officer. I mean, it's pretty nuts. Are these conscious decisions that you've made, did it just end up like that? Like, are you just an obsessive?
- [26:04]
Charlotte Tilbury
I think I am a bit of a control freak. And I have to understand every single part of my business. And I've grown my business from zero to where it is today. And it's a big business. You know, we're kind of three.
- [26:14]
Emma Greed
Oh, really?
- [26:14]
Charlotte Tilbury
Yeah, it's business. We're 3,000 people. We're four and a half thousand points of distribution around the world. So it's like, it's not a small business when you've grown something from zero to where it is today. You have been in supply chain, in legal, in obviously, product development, always marketing, always. But your leadership team, your business, your vision, your mission, your strategy. And I think you don't grow something to this level unless you are forensically all over the detail. And I just kind of think any great founder really has sort of built that is top down, bottom up. And. And I think that's. It's like I've. When I sit around my leadership. Leadership team, and you know, that's grown and changed over the years, sometimes they'll say, oh, no, we can't do it. I'm like, no, no, I know you can, because I did that job and I know how long that takes. And I'm very intuitive with things. My gut is always right. I literally. I just. It's it's even when I'm looking at the P. L Like, I'd say, you know, there's always room for improvement. How can you improve your cost of goods, et cetera, whatever it is, but you're looking at something. And then it would just be like, something will take me to. Can you. I wanna interrogate that. My CFO always says, you always ask me the most difficult question. We will go double prepare when we're with you.
- [27:22]
Emma Greed
I absolutely love that. But where did that come from? Because obviously, you know, working backstage as a makeup artist, like that is not what your skill set is. Right. So how did you actually learn? I talk to a lot of young founders that say, I'm not good with the numbers. I don't understand the financial. What did you do to learn it?
- [27:41]
Charlotte Tilbury
I think for me it was just basically like, well, how difficult can this be? I'm not stupid. We're not stupid. I'm quite obsessed with numbers. So I kind of. So maybe. But to a certain point, right, okay, to a certain point. And also being a bit of a control freak, so then I was just like, well, how difficult can this be? And I'm never afraid to sound stupid. I don't care. I'm like, I want to go, why? I'm always like, who, what, why, where? Why, why, why, why? I never start asking those questions. I'm like, because I'm genuinely fascinated.
- [28:08]
Emma Greed
So there's a deep curiosity, but there is no sharing with you. You will. You don't mind looking stupid.
- [28:13]
Charlotte Tilbury
No, I don't mind. I don't care. I don't care. And by the way, half the time when people go on about an abbreviation, I'm like, what does that, what does that actually mean? What does that. And then they can't even tell you anyway. And they're like, they can't tell you anyway. They can't remember. They can't remember. Hysterical.
- [28:26]
Emma Greed
But I think that that's really important because again, I think that a lot of female founders feel like they need to know everything and that they should be across everything. And what you're saying is what you didn't know, you learned. And then you asked a lot of questions what you didn't know.
- [28:39]
Charlotte Tilbury
Exactly. What you don't know, you learn. And by the way, you won't stop learning to the day you die. Now with AI with the consumer changing it as it is, as it is, I'm like, I can build my three year plans, get out my PNLs, look at my strategy, look at my distribution, create My marketing, create my products, and then I got to trade my business. Because trading your business right now, that consumer is changing every goddamn weekday. Exactly. So it's every day. It's like. And you've got to meet them, so you've got to trade. You've got to talk to them. You've got to pivot, you've got to be agile, you've got to move. You've got to. And that's the thing. This. You know, even though we're really big, we might be. We have lots of juxtapositions in the brand where it's kind of. You're like a heritage brand, but you're like an indie brand. But you're, you know, the agility of an indie brand. But people think of me because I've been in the fashion industry and beauty industry for 34 years. They think of me as a heritage brand.
- [29:24]
Emma Greed
Very interesting positioning.
- [29:25]
Charlotte Tilbury
Exactly. And then it's like. But I'm. It's founder, expert, led. But it's found fun, and it's chic, but it's shouty, you know, like, you know, in terms of, like, the fun that we have with the marketing, the luxury positioning of it. But the inclusivity and the kind of, you know, it's all these juxtapositions in the book. Yes. That we kind of. That we're.
- [29:40]
Emma Greed
That you've been able to play with, that you've been able to really own to some degree.
- [29:44]
Charlotte Tilbury
Yeah, I design my packaging. I design. Can you. I have an amazing team, by the way, that I kind of dream team.
- [29:48]
Emma Greed
Talk to me about that.
- [29:49]
Charlotte Tilbury
You couldn't have done it without in the early days.
- [29:52]
Emma Greed
If you take me back to those early days and it's you, and you have, you know, the guy that helps with the business plan. You go out and you raise that first tranche of money. You know, what products you want to do. You have this big, big vision. Who did you bring in then? I'm really interested to understand what moves you made.
- [30:07]
Charlotte Tilbury
Yeah.
- [30:08]
Emma Greed
That really helped you, like, get this brand off the ground. And if there are things that you might have done differently.
- [30:14]
Charlotte Tilbury
I don't think I regret anything. I think, actually, I think some of the mistakes are fantastic. Sometimes I think about, you know, wanting to get my brand off the ground before I got my brand off the ground. And I kind of work with somebody who, you know, promised me to sort of do my brand, but kind of. It didn't really work out.
- [30:29]
Emma Greed
Aren't you so glad that didn't work?
- [30:31]
Charlotte Tilbury
And I'm like, thank you so much. I learned so much from you. And I wasn't ready to be that businesswoman that I became fair.
- [30:37]
Emma Greed
Was that a hard recovery for you, Charlotte, when you, when you kind of, when you could see, oh, my brand's about to happen, and then it didn't, like, was that difficult?
- [30:44]
Charlotte Tilbury
You know what? I'm very good at dusting it off and just getting back up very quickly.
- [30:48]
Emma Greed
How do you do that? Because that's another place where I feel like people really fault it. They think if they fail, that it's finite, that they can't go again. How did you pick yourself up and say, all right, I'm going to give this another crack?
- [30:59]
Charlotte Tilbury
Because I'm a great believer in, you write your future, you write your future. And I'm a great believer in quantum thinking. I'm a great believer in creative visualization. I have unwavering self belief. I do. But we're all human. We're just, we're going to be challenged. We're going to be challenged. But in the face of adversity, you have to literally just be like, I believe. And I'm going to, I'm never going to give up. I'm going to stay focused. There's a reason, the reason the universe is doing this to me, this, they're putting this in my path. What do I need to learn? Where do I need to grow up? What do I need to do? How, which way do I need to pivot? What do I need to look at? What am I not looking at? What am I not meeting? And I believe the adversity is put there to take us to where we need to go. And if you have big dreams and I have big dreams, you know, I'm like, I'm like unapologetically, let's conquer the world. You know, why not? If you have that, well, then you're going to have to kind of, you're going to be thrown curveballs and, you know, situations that you're gonna have to kind of navigate to get to where you want to go to. But I believe that if you stay as optimistic and positive, then you will get to where you need to get to. And those are the building blocks that are put in place that are necessary for you to pivot and change and be agile to get to where you.
- [32:09]
Emma Greed
Need to get to a million percent. Well, I mean, you don't have a billion dollar brand without that type of thinking. Like, that's clear. Do you think there's something that has made you very different from a lot of your contemporaries that have started brands, because, as you say, you really are considered like a legacy brand. I don't feel any different buying a.
- [32:26]
Charlotte Tilbury
I'm 12 years old.
- [32:28]
Emma Greed
I could go into a Sephora tomorrow and pick up, you know, a Saint Laurent lipstick or, you know, whatever brand and pick up yours. I could get exactly the same value.
- [32:39]
Charlotte Tilbury
Well, better value, actually. Sorry. Lovely.
- [32:41]
Emma Greed
Yeah. Sorry, babes.
- [32:44]
Charlotte Tilbury
She is concerned, consumer obsessed, Clearly.
- [32:47]
Emma Greed
Actually, I'm $3 cheaper.
- [32:49]
Charlotte Tilbury
But anyway, yeah, no, the reason why is the quality. It's the quality and performance. Because I can come up with the best marketing in the world. I can get the best investment, I can get the kind of the best position in the shop. At the end of the day, product is queen. That's it. And it comes down to the quality, the performance, the innovation, and then it's how you take that to market.
- [33:09]
Emma Greed
So you think that you made better products than everyone else?
- [33:11]
Charlotte Tilbury
Yeah, I did just. I did. I did. My quality, my quality, my performance. It really is. It is. It's known in the industry. I am known as, like, leading innovation in this industry. Wish some of them had more ideas. Be lovely.
- [33:25]
Emma Greed
I'll take that.
- [33:29]
Charlotte Tilbury
All the time. The way that I test, Sometimes I've got 800 women testing foundations on them. You know, sometimes I've got. Sometimes I've got things. I mean, my laboratories, they go, oh, my God. You're like, your standards are ridiculous. I'm like, no, I'm exacting. I'm. I'm a perfectionist as much as I can do that.
- [33:44]
Emma Greed
In the early days, like, when you couldn't, like, you know, have a testing company testing 800 women, we got models.
- [33:50]
Charlotte Tilbury
In, but, you know, we had all of our artists, so maybe we weren't testing 800, which we are now when we create a huge line of foundations. But we. When we. Even when we had our 10 looks at the beginning, we were still testing on maybe like 20, 30, 50 cohort, kind of, you know, groups of women.
- [34:02]
Emma Greed
Was that important to you in the beginning?
- [34:04]
Charlotte Tilbury
Really important. That. Yeah. But also it is important to me because, don't forget, I also have tested on thousands of women. So I have an algorithm in my brain that has captured eye color, skin tone, hair color, like literally thousands and thousands and thousands of faces data in my mind. So I just know, do you know what I mean? Like, by looking at someone, what colors they need, what color skin tone. But that's undertone, overtone. That's already embedded in this algorithm of my brain, like a live brain.
- [34:30]
Emma Greed
But I love that you Say that, Charlotte, because your success, right, you've got the success of a brand that feels like it's been in the market for 50 years and it's only been 12. But it's actually everything that came before that, all of the experience, it's all of those backstages, it's all of that consultancy, it's every individual face, it's every little thing that you've done with your hands that led you to being able to be this successful now. Because you were excellent at what you did.
- [34:56]
Charlotte Tilbury
Exactly. And that's what I said. So I said I was going to be the best makeup artist, I was going to work with, leave the best selling products in my wig. I was going to create the best brand with the best quality. I'm going to find the best laboratories. I mean, my scientists are probably going to be like, oh, no, not her. Because she's such a perfectionist. We'll be here for 20 years and I tell you, some products. I've been working with some of these labs for 20 years because I was working before my brand with other things and I'm like, we're still there. Like Blue sky formula. We're trying.
- [35:19]
Emma Greed
Where are we going?
- [35:19]
Charlotte Tilbury
Who knows? But if they'll be ready to, you know, before I die, if we'll even create some of them. Because, you know, you have these crazy visions. It's whether, again, whether the science will catch up with your vision. Yes. Yeah.
- [35:29]
Emma Greed
Talk to me a little bit about leadership, because you don't get to where you are with the size of company you have without being an incredible leader. And it's very clear to me that creatively you've got it. We might not be able to put our exact finger on it, but it's like from all the work you've done, your gut, it's like, that is clear. Charlotte is a creative genius in her space, but when it comes to running a business, it takes something very different. And I wonder if you would share like, maybe like a leadership lesson that you've learned something that you've learned the hard way.
- [35:58]
Charlotte Tilbury
I was like, let's rip up the rule book. This industry was ripe for disruption. It was done a certain way. Why do we have to do it a certain way? Why can't you? When I would go to selfish and be like, I want the kind of Apple, the store that Apple has, or the store that only Kusama the artist, or lvmh, why can't I have it? I've got a dream. And so I would sell them in a Dream and a vision of what I wanted. And I just don't understand the concept of. No, I understand the concept of ripping up the rule book, rewriting history. But you got to out create and you got to out think. You cannot just be whiny and say, I want this because I'm fabulous. No, you have to out create and out think. You have to disinnovate and disrupt. So I have a North Star equation. That sort of really is my mission and vision really for how I kind of run the business. And that is basically product, tech, talent, community, media.
- [36:49]
Emma Greed
When you talk about your, it's kind of, that's what you wake up thinking about.
- [36:53]
Charlotte Tilbury
That's I wake up thinking about the whole time because it's basically that customer journey me. It's like, what product am I delivering? What content am I delivering to basically through to my consumer? What talent am I am I talking to influence? Am I talking to, you know, communities, celebrities, who am I talking to? The media. How am I kind of using that media? What form of media, what platforms, what, how am I disseminating that? How am I using that? What am I doing? Everything you do has to be through that lens because you're, how you're doing that kind of end to end consumer journey of, you know, developing a product to kind of using all of those different mediums.
- [37:24]
Emma Greed
And so when you think about leadership lessons and the people that have helped you along the way, what does that really look like? Like, how did you build a team that can create a billion dollar beauty brand?
- [37:37]
Charlotte Tilbury
Maria's been in product development with me. I mean, she's been with me for 20 years. 20 years. 20 years. I mean, so many people have been with me for so, so many years.
- [37:44]
Emma Greed
And what's it look like?
- [37:46]
Charlotte Tilbury
I think some people you take and you train them because it's like it has a very particular voice, this brand. I mean, obviously kind of, you know, there's me kind of at the face of it, but it's like I've got a very particular language, you know, style, the look and feel of the brand.
- [38:00]
Emma Greed
Totally.
- [38:00]
Charlotte Tilbury
You know, it's got a very particular signature and vision. So when you come here, the way I want to sort of speak to my consumers, the way I'm not a faceless conglomerate, I'm a live person. I'm an expert, an innovator, I'm a disruptor. I want to be agile. I want to think. If you're going to sit around my leadership table, we have to think in that way where you're like, yes, You're a large company, but you've got to think like an agile disruptor. You've got to keep on innovating. So there's a business ethos to my brand which is all about disrupt, innovate, embrace the challenge, you know, share the magic, win together. I love that. So that, that and that. It's really the mentality and the ethos of what you're going to be here. We have to kind of. Because the consumer is changing all the time. I'm sort of unapologetically demanding of myself maybe, and other people. I kind of feel like if you're here, that I attract these sort of amazing entrepreneurs. These kind of. They've all got that entrepreneurial spirit. They always. They've got all got the passion, they've all got that kind of drive to do something, to leave their mark in the world. And they are brilliant. And I really do have an incredible team. I have to say, I do work with some of the best people in industry and I'm incredibly grateful and honored to be working with them because it does take that kind of. Everyone's very passionate. That works, you know, with me.
- [39:11]
Emma Greed
What does it take to come and work with you? Like, what are you looking for?
- [39:14]
Charlotte Tilbury
Really good at your job.
- [39:23]
Emma Greed
Basically. Basically, he says you gotta be really, really, really good at your job. That's just it.
- [39:29]
Charlotte Tilbury
That's it.
- [39:29]
Emma Greed
I mean, it's not that difficult.
- [39:31]
Charlotte Tilbury
You really do like. And it's known, it's known like if you work here, you are really good.
- [39:35]
Emma Greed
Because you have exacting standards.
- [39:37]
Charlotte Tilbury
Yeah, I listen, if you've got a mission to take over the world and create the best quality products on the market and you want to disrupt and innovate, you've already showing up with your A game. Right. Like, I constantly. Yeah, I demand that of myself. You demand that of yourself. And the people, they naturally are like that. They're so brilliant. They come up, they are that. They're sort of. They are inspired, they are excited, they're passionate, they want to show up with Eric and they want to kind of deliver this brilliance as well. So I think that is very much the kind of the culture that I have fostered. I love that at the company. I'm really lucky to have such amazing people working with me. That same mentality, they really go the extra mile and they really care.
- [40:17]
Emma Greed
And you must have had times where you get people that are not that great at their job, that don't care that much, that don't exhibit the passion. And again, as a female leader, sometimes it can be difficult to let go of people that you had in the early days, the people that got you to that kind of 100 million, 200 million, 500 million for you. How have you dealt with the change of what, you know, I'm envisaging. There are people that have been with you for 20 years, but not everybody stays on that journey.
- [40:44]
Charlotte Tilbury
No, not everyone stays on that journey. I mean, I think, listen, some people grow with you, and that's fantastic. And they want, you know, as it gets bigger, the company, they've got to embrace the challenge. They've got to kind of grow, you know, they've got to.
- [40:54]
Emma Greed
Everyone needs to up their gang.
- [40:55]
Charlotte Tilbury
Some people want to do it and some people don't, and that's okay. Sometimes, you know, maybe you've given people the wrong title sometimes, and maybe you've realized that they, you know, you just keep on moving.
- [41:05]
Emma Greed
You just keep on moving. You keep on moving and you don't look back.
- [41:09]
Charlotte Tilbury
Don't look back and don't regret. I think you learn, learn from your mistakes. As I said before, you kind of, you know, mistakes can be there in a way that are kind of fabulous, and you learn from them.
- [41:18]
Emma Greed
Where did you decide in your business that you have certain strengths, but you needed other people to come in? How did you identify those decisions and how did you bring people in in the early days?
- [41:27]
Charlotte Tilbury
The early days? Well, I think, you know, basically, so I had, you know, my amazing lead investor, Marcus theory, who is brilliant. I think the person that has made the biggest difference to me would be my cfo. I have to say, he really. Having the wrong cfo, which I definitely had at one point, was difficult. Yeah. And having the right CFO is. Is. Can game change your business because, you know, it's a game changer. When you look at that, when you're going through that P L and you're being able to kind of, you know, you know, really get your margin to exactly where you need it to be and all the opportunities. I mean, I always say the health of your business is in the numbers, Right? Everything is in the numbers.
- [42:02]
Emma Greed
Everything's in the numbers.
- [42:03]
Charlotte Tilbury
Everything's in the numbers.
- [42:03]
Emma Greed
It's not about innovation. It's not about product. It's in the numbers.
- [42:06]
Charlotte Tilbury
It's in the numbers. And I think having that and having, you know, a great team around me in terms of that, that's been really helpful because we're only one person. Even though I kind of feel like I could do everything. You've got 100%.
- [42:15]
Emma Greed
You're just one person.
- [42:16]
Charlotte Tilbury
You're just one person. But everyone around me, I have to say, I've got brilliant people and brilliant people in product development, brilliant people in packaging, brilliant people in, you know, again, my cfo. But I am all over it with them. And I want to kind of, you know, be very detailed in the business and asking those questions and really understanding it and being. But I think you have to, because I think art and commerce, this whole business is. It's. I don't see creativity as one thing. Numbers is another thing. It's art and commerce. They are soulmates. They feed in together. And you have to think, I think, in a very kind of left, right brain way. And I sort of switch hats quite often. So I'll be looking at something with my creative hat, and then I'll be looking through my commercial hats and I'll be looking through merchandising hat, you know, just lots of different hats of the way that I scan things, look at things.
- [42:59]
Emma Greed
But that's wonderful, Charlotte, because I think that again, so many people, they say I'm a creative, and then every. Somebody else has to do everything else. And I don't think as a founder, you get that privilege. It's like you gotta wear multiple hats and you've gotta have an understanding and an appreciation. And it's very, very clear to me that what you've done so amazingly is be this, like, incredible creative that's learned enough about all the other facets of their business.
- [43:22]
Charlotte Tilbury
You have to.
- [43:22]
Emma Greed
You have to.
- [43:22]
Charlotte Tilbury
I mean, you're doing supply chain right at the beginning, right? You're doing. You're. You're talking to legal, you're doing finance, legal, supply chain, product.
- [43:28]
Emma Greed
You don't have a choice.
- [43:29]
Charlotte Tilbury
Marketing, I mean, you're doing everything right? So it's like every part of it. Then you have this tiny team that then you grow and then you grow and you grow and you grow and you get bigger and bigger. But when you have exacting standards, when you are consumer obsessed, when you are looking at what innovating and disrupting, what is the need state of a consumer when you are. When you love challenge, challenge is opportunity. And I love being challenged. Like, that's. I very much foster that kind of culture of the brand as well. I love Anyone for me has a great idea. I'm like, whether it's the intern or whoever, like, I'm just like, I'd love to hear what you have to say. And I love to be challenged by. I'm very un. Hierarchical as well.
- [44:03]
Emma Greed
And so can you be challenged in.
- [44:04]
Charlotte Tilbury
The business, then to be challenged. My favorite thing is to be challenged because I want. That's. That, that's what I want. Because for me, either if I'm challenged, it either hones my argument or it makes me think differently because there's a reason. I'm like, tell me why you don't think it will work or why you don't think it works. So then it's like, changes. It makes you think in a different way. And that I find really exciting.
- [44:27]
Emma Greed
How do you foster that culture? How do you foster a culture where the boss can be challenged?
- [44:30]
Charlotte Tilbury
Oh, God, I love it. I'm like, I literally. No. But I invite that around the table. I think it's really important. I love it. I think it's like, really, really important. And I'm not hierarchical in that way. No, I'm just.
- [44:41]
Emma Greed
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- [48:51]
Charlotte Tilbury
Yeah, I do, I think. Yeah, because there's even more opportunity now. I mean, you know, think about it. Social media was just starting when I started my brand. I always say necessity is the mother of all invention, you know, and it's like. And again where, you know, whenever you look at that space, whenever you, the white space, whether it's even today, when you're, you know, I'm. The reason I'm still so excited and so passionate about this brand is I can't. There's so much room to still innovate, disrupt, create, and whether or not some of those products will even be within my lifetime, but there's. I'm doing some of them. I've got a pipeline. I'm excited about meeting the consumer. I'm excited about the technology of being able to give her what she wants, where she's at.
- [49:27]
Emma Greed
How do you stay this excited? Because I can. It's so palpable. With you, like, all these years later, you are this excited about what you do.
- [49:36]
Charlotte Tilbury
I am so excited.
- [49:37]
Emma Greed
How is that?
- [49:38]
Charlotte Tilbury
I have disrupted the beauty industry. I have led the way for many beauty entrepreneurs. England never had a company, you know, the Germans had, the French had it, the Americans had it, but we didn't have it. We didn't have it.
- [49:49]
Emma Greed
We didn't have it.
- [49:49]
Charlotte Tilbury
We didn't have it. I want to create a great British beauty empire. To do that is so exciting. And then to do it where it kind of went all the way around the world and kind of, you know, and the products resonate everyone. You have the number ones in each category. You have number one powder in the world or the number one lip liner. The number one powder or the number. You know, that is so exciting. You know, what is more important to me than anything is the purpose behind my brand. Is the purpose behind. Because the reason I really do it. Yes. That's euphoric. To kind of succeed in business is. Gives you the most incredible feeling of gratitude. You know that feeling, Emma, that feeling of gratitude. The high I get having had this brand has given me unbelievable feelings of euphoric gratitude, you know, of. Literally, it is so amazing, but that I am so grateful for. But actually, the purpose behind it is to make everyone look and feel like the most beautiful, confident, empowered versions of themselves. Because if you can change that one person, that one person, you change the community, you change the world. It's like the reason people make it in life and don't make it is confidence. It is confidence. And it's. The beauty is just. It's so underrated. It's like. And it was so important to me to make people feel that it is not super, you know, to demystify it. And it is not superficial at all. And it is, you know, that societal value of beauty is so. Because we are the human race, we judge ourselves. We look in the mirror, we judge ourselves. Oh, you look tired. You look exhausted. You're this.
- [51:13]
Emma Greed
Yeah, I'm gonna have a good day. I'm gonna have a bad day.
- [51:15]
Charlotte Tilbury
Exactly. And to give people that. To give people that converse, I, you know, I've all the stories that you know, I get from so many people who I've met, and, you know, these thousands of people now that I meet everywhere, and they, you know, out at parties, DM me, write to me, kind of, whatever. But all these gorgeous customers, you know, talk about how clinging to a lipstick has really changed their life. And whether it's clinging to a pillow talk lipstick that just made them feel, you know, that confident, that empowerment to be able to manifest their dreams, you know, and if that is so important to me and people, it is so underrated how, you know, it's not. It's not about the makeup, the skincare, or the fragrance. It's about the feelings, and it's about how people feel. And we want a world that is more positive and confident and happy and bringing joy to everyone. And that is why I am so passionate to this day to deliver that to people and give them things that they never thought they could. And coming from the world that I came from, which was working with all these amazing celebrities and VIPs and supermodels and everything, and people just feeling, I can't be, I am less than. It's like, no, we are going to democratize this. We are going to make this easy for you. We are going to give you the tools to empower you to feel those feelings, to feel like the most beautiful, confident version of yourself. I mean, that is the reason I am so passionate about doing this. And the legacy and the mark I want to leave on this world to help people. That feeling of when people come to you to say, this has helped me change my life. This has made me feel this way. Honestly, I'm so grateful, so grateful and so honored.
- [52:44]
Emma Greed
I mean, it shows. I think it shows in everything you do. I think it shows in everything piece of content you put out in every new product launch. In everything that I own. That is Charlotte Tilbury, I love you. No, because I think it's really true. And, you know, we just had Simon Sinek on this show, and he talks about, you know, the guy that wrote with Y Y. And so it's so clear to me, you could put every brand in the world and split them down the middle and say, here are the brands that have an extremely clear why, and here is everything else. And for me, Charlotte Tilbury is just, first of all, it's the living, breathing product embodiment of you as a person, right? Like your vision. You're this incredible, strong woman. You're so passionate about what you do, but you have a why. Like you were doing all of these like things, the shows, the consultancy. Because you had a deep why inside you, and you've just lifted that into your brand. And I think that a lot of young founders really have to understand that it's gotta be about so much more than just building a business, making money, figuring out, triggering some product out.
- [53:50]
Charlotte Tilbury
Totally.
- [53:50]
Emma Greed
Like, to be truly successful and to have the success that you've had for this long and to have so much Runway in front of you that comes from something much, much, much deeper. It's a purpose.
- [54:01]
Charlotte Tilbury
It's a purpose. It's a purpose. It's the purpose. I didn't start this just to make money. Yes, money is. Is. Is a measure of your success. You know, money is. It gives you. Gets you respect in the business world. Money is a marker of that. But it's. For me, it's a much bigger, higher purpose. And that is the reason I think I've been blessed. And I think that I have this incredible team and have been able to create amazing things, sometimes scientifically they didn't think could happen. I've always had. My parents sort of taught me this as a creative visualization, really, as a child, and that kind of belief, mindset that you don't have to limit yourself, that you can think limitlessly, you can do anything you want in the world. And. And, you know, I remember, you know, working with one of the people I work with, and they came in, I was like, you have to. I make everyone read the kind of, you know, the book the Secret. I'm like, you have to believe in creative visualization. I do. It's like, so we've got a bit of a movement and a community if you work here. I'm like, you've got it. Like, get rid of your limitations in your mind. We can do anything. Do not limit your brilliant. Does she do the same?
- [55:04]
Emma Greed
Yes. She was the one who gave me.
- [55:07]
Charlotte Tilbury
That book I love.
- [55:08]
Emma Greed
Literally, like, create your visualization back in the day. And then the Secret.
- [55:11]
Charlotte Tilbury
And I was like, I love that.
- [55:12]
Emma Greed
I am drinking this Kool Aid. It worked for her.
- [55:14]
Charlotte Tilbury
Hello. Exactly. Look at her.
- [55:16]
Emma Greed
Okay, girl, I want the bun go. I know, it's so funny. I want to talk to you about the thing that you're not driven by money, money, money.
- [55:25]
Charlotte Tilbury
I'm not driven by money. But the fact is, is that that is a measure of success and respect. So it's like, it's not that I'm not driven by it. It's like, of course. It's like, for me, it's very important. I'm like, If I'm gonna build a dream, I want to be honored for that dream, and I want to that marker of success. But the fact is, it's not only about money. It is a higher purpose. It is something that I want to make people think, you know, believe that they could be live a certain dream totally that they didn't think that they could have and deliver these pots of dreams that we're kind of, you know, selling them and making dreams come true. So, you know, I always say that there are little pots of dreams that I'm selling pots of dreams that making dreams and, you know, making them come true.
- [56:04]
Emma Greed
I think it's very clear that you have a brand that's rooted in power.
- [56:06]
Charlotte Tilbury
But of course you want to be successful and conquer the wal. And it has to be kind of.
- [56:09]
Emma Greed
Like that because I have a lot of female founders on this show and not that many that want to talk to me about money. And Charlotte, I like to talk about money. I think if you. If, you know, if we avoid the subject of money, it really avoids us. So let's get into it. You are essentially, you're estimated to be worth like, I don't know, £350 million. That's pounds, not dollars. That's more. And I'm not gonna ask you to. Wrong. She's like, wrong. She's like, I'm way more loaded than that. That's what she's gonna. That's what she's saying. Not saying, okay, go. Here's the thing. You're not poor. You've made a few quid. And I really want to understand your relationship to money now, because when you're a global brand and when your name is associated with this big, like, billion dollar brand, like, things change a little bit and people change sometimes around you, and I wonder if anything has changed for you now that you've got a few quid.
- [56:59]
Charlotte Tilbury
As I said before, money is a validation of your success. Right. Which is we love you didn't grow.
- [57:04]
Emma Greed
Up with loads of money, right?
- [57:05]
Charlotte Tilbury
No. I mean, my parents weren't poor, but it's like, it was like, fine. We had a kind of, you know, quite glamorous lifestyle, but it wasn't quite bohemian. It's like, my grandparents were fairly wealthy. We won't go down that kind of one. Got disinherited, whatever. But you know, someone. So they kind of, you know. So I did have a fairly kind of bohemian but quite glamorous lifestyle. So I think sometimes people try and charge you more money because it's you. It's like Tilbury Tax. You're like, really? It's like, but you know what, why.
- [57:33]
Emma Greed
Did my haircut just cost four grand?
- [57:37]
Charlotte Tilbury
But the fact is, is you didn't build an empire by not being an astute businesswoman. Right? So when they do try and do that, you're like, I know the price of milk, I know the price of what things cost. I have a budget for my kind of my home life as well as my business life. And I look through that P and L just as much, and I look through every single penny and make sure that it's working for itself. I love to be really generous. I, you know, I'm philanthropic. I do kind of support charities, you know, the King's Trust, which now you're an ambassador of, which is so amazing. I mean, lots of, you know, different kind of missions that obviously it's really important to me to give back if you're blessed in life and you're able to do that in the Clooney foundation for justice as well. I kind of work with them, which is amazing, what they do. I think my main thing is I still have the same group of friends. Right. My life hasn't really changed. I've got, like, I'm really close to my family. I've got the same group of friends that I've always loved. Yes. I've made new ones and fabulous ones because I love people. I don't want to change. To be honest with you, I quite like just being me. I like to be feet firmly on the ground.
- [58:34]
Emma Greed
You like to feet firmly on ground. Is there anything that having money has taught you about yourself?
- [58:39]
Charlotte Tilbury
I don't feel any different. I genuinely don't. I like to be exactly the same. It's just who I am. I just. I don't want to feel like, why do you suddenly have to feel different because you have money? You know, it's like, why do you have to change? Why. Why do you have to do that? So why can't you just be the way you've always been? I mean, I mean, yes, you know, maybe someone want. The builder wants to charge you more money for something, but, you know, well, that's going to be, you know, they can try, but it's a no.
- [59:02]
Emma Greed
Do you manage your own money?
- [59:04]
Charlotte Tilbury
I do manage my own money and I am also do have managers that kind of. That work with me.
- [59:08]
Emma Greed
Are you someone who is like, are you a gambler at heart or are you someone that, like, likes to keep and invest your money? Like, is it something that you look at and you're like, I need to make this money work for me.
- [59:18]
Charlotte Tilbury
Or is that not a gambler? I am not. You know, some people might say I gambled creating this brand, but for me it was very measured risk. It wasn't kind of like I. For me it was like, well, that's definitely gonna happen. So I wouldn't say I'm not a gambler, but I'm a risk taker. When I take risk, it's very measured. Like if I'm really gonna put something behind it. Yes. When it comes to managing my money, you have people who manage your money because, you know, when you're, when you have a certain, you know, amount of wealth, then you kind of have to do that. So yeah, there are people, you know and you. But I do look at every single pennant in my home life and in my work life, you know, the health of your life or your business or even your home life. The numbers will tell you.
- [59:58]
Emma Greed
The numbers will tell you everything.
- [60:00]
Charlotte Tilbury
And they will give you the opportunity. Exactly. They'll give you the opportunity.
- [60:03]
Emma Greed
It's clear to me that your personality is such a huge part of who you are and what your brand is and how informed your brand is by like who you are at the very kind of heart of it. Do you feel like your individuality has been a superpower for you?
- [60:18]
Charlotte Tilbury
I always think people should just be themselves. I don't understand this thing of imposter syndrome. I don't get it. My parents were quite visionary. I realized they were like, they sort of sent me to Rudolph Steiner School. They sent me to, you know, with a guy who actually taught us about astrophysics and quantum physics when I was 11 years old. I mean like, really visionary. Visionary. I was like, creative visualization when you're a kid. I'm like, I was 11. I was like, how do I even understand any of this? I didn't even know how I go. It was crazy.
- [60:42]
Emma Greed
Are you a similar type parent?
- [60:44]
Charlotte Tilbury
I'm in England. They were in Ibiza. It's just a different time. Different time, different time, different schools. But I do try to teach them like about, you know, you've got to believe in, you know, the kind of self fulfilling prophecy of the magical chain reaction of confidence and trying your best and just putting your best foot forward in life. And you know, I do try and tell them about, talk to them about creative visualization and how to not limit themselves. That mentality of what my parents taught me was really important. I do try to instill that in them. While I was a teenager, they don't really listen to me. So my parents were always like, be yourself. That was like their mantra. Don't try and be anyone else. And I think when you are growing up, you hang up with different crowds. Maybe you try to kind of like, be something you're not. And actually, very quickly, they were just like, no. They were always, like, always be honest kind of. Honesty is the best policy. And I think that whole thing of when you are yourself and when you are honest, I think it really empowers you.
- [61:38]
Emma Greed
Have you always had that confidence?
- [61:41]
Charlotte Tilbury
I have pretty much always had that confidence. I think I was kind of born this way then. My mother also always just, thank God. But, I mean, as mother's dude darling, she just told me I was fabulous. Thank God for Mummy. She just said I was fabulous.
- [61:50]
Emma Greed
So I believed I was.
- [61:51]
Charlotte Tilbury
I believed her.
- [61:52]
Emma Greed
You were like, I am fabulous. My mom said, I am.
- [61:56]
Charlotte Tilbury
But you know, somewhere, you know, when I listen to a lot of entrepreneurs, you know, Jimmy, I think there's always one parent that tells you, you're amazing.
- [62:02]
Emma Greed
You are a million percent right that everyone who comes on this show. And I think even in my own life, you know, it's like that a mom or a dad or someone who said, listen, you're special. You need to, like, lean into that. You know, my mum always used to say, emma, you know, you're not better than anyone else, but nor is anyone better than you. And I really believed it. I was like, no one's better than me, you know, and growing up in England, where there is. But there's such a class society in England, but I never felt that because I was really taught that no one's better than me. And so it's so important. And I think if you can be that someone in someone's life, like, how incredible, because at the end of the day, what your brand is doing is giving so many women that type of confidence. And so I think it's really interesting that you were raised that way and it's so clear. You sit with you for five minutes and you're like, you know, if you leave the room and people say anything, it's, wow, what confidence she has. You know, when you think about confidence and individuality and it being a business trait and not just a personal trait, how do you think you've managed to weave that into your business so successfully?
- [63:09]
Charlotte Tilbury
That's my premise. Life is about confidence. That's why I created this brand. It's why I do what I do. It's when people sit in my makeup chair and they put makeup on. I can see their confidence, their heart. They sit up straighter. You know about neuroplasticity. Like I have trained my mind, darling, when you walk around with red hair, sweetie, it's like, I mean, darling, you know, you get teased, you get bullied, you get. But that's.
- [63:32]
Emma Greed
You don't say.
- [63:33]
Charlotte Tilbury
You don't say darling, you don't say exactly. So, you know, you'll have your kind of. You stand out. Like you always stand out. I've always stood out. That can be positive and negative. But then you're just like. You have one parent who just tells you you're fabulous. You drink the Kool Aid and believe it all. Human beings suffer from insecurity, right? All. And so when you think about that, there'll be moments and then you're just like, I've trained my mind to just believe in myself and be positive and optimistic. I speak to myself in a certain way, I train myself in a certain way. I show up, I work hard. I work really hard. I have created my success, I have created my luck. I have done that and I am very grateful. But I am not a slacker. So like, you know, and I deserve it because of what I've done. You know, it's like it's 34 years of winning awards and going for it and working 18 hour days and working weekends and sacrificing certain things and you know, but it's not life for everyone. But I love it. I love it. And I've had a good time and I've got a lot of energy. So I can, you know, I can party, I can go out, I can party. I can party. Dolly, she can party.
- [64:38]
Emma Greed
I've been to those parties. You know, you wait and you wait and you wait. You go to Ibiza every year and then one day she knows who you are and you're like, I'm in.
- [64:49]
Charlotte Tilbury
Oh my God, it's so bonus.
- [64:51]
Emma Greed
What do you say to women though? Because obviously not everybody is born without confidence. Not everybody has that person in their corner that gives them that self belief. And I do think that oftentimes we're told, like, not necessarily to stand out, right? Like to tone ourselves down. So what do you say? Do you think that women need to tone themselves down to be taken seriously? And how should, like, how do they do it otherwise? Like what, what do you do instead?
- [65:16]
Charlotte Tilbury
I know there's this, this person I sort of, you know, I was working with said that they were in a company where they said they had to choose. I mean, this is years ago. They had to choose makeup or high heels skills. And I was like, oh, to be in a business world, I don't count us out. Yeah, exactly. But I think we live slightly different. Well, I think we're living in a slightly different world now. People will say to me, don't be fooled by the laughter. Right with me. And it's like, we're astute, we're smart, we're businesswomen, we've created empires. Why can't I laugh? Why can't I dance? Why can't I wear high heels? Why can't I wear sexy outfits? I just want to be unapologetically me. Why can't I be sexy and charming and naughty and funny and bright and a businesswoman? Like, why not? I definitely have been underestimated. But you know, that's been a superpower too. I've used that. So I'm like, you know, it's like, if you wanna underestimate me, no problem. I'm like, go right ahead. That's actually kind of I can win. So you just. I'll prove it.
- [66:07]
Emma Greed
It's completely amazing.
- [66:08]
Charlotte Tilbury
It is. So I think live life to the full. Be yourself. And I don't think you should apologize for who you are and try and be something you're not. Cause actually I think it comes out in your energy and your frequency.
- [66:18]
Emma Greed
Yeah, it does.
- [66:18]
Charlotte Tilbury
And I think that people pick. We have got that animalistic instinct where people pick up on that. They can pick up on something where you're not being authentic. And authenticity is 40 times more powerful than the love frequency. Right, 40 times, 40 times more powerful.
- [66:36]
Emma Greed
Meaning that we're so much more attracted to authenticity.
- [66:39]
Charlotte Tilbury
Yes. And also imagine today's world of social media and where we're at and work.
- [66:43]
Emma Greed
Through so much bs, it's like, it's.
- [66:45]
Charlotte Tilbury
Just that authenticity cuts through so much more.
- [66:49]
Emma Greed
So I believe that. Yeah, I believe that because you can feel it. Right. You can say.
- [66:52]
Charlotte Tilbury
Exactly.
- [66:53]
Emma Greed
I want to ask you about what has given, like, what have been your trade offs. Because it's really my belief that when you've had a career like yours, when you've been so successful, there's always some underbelly to it. Right. And I wonder what you've given on the other side of all of your success.
- [67:11]
Charlotte Tilbury
Not everyone has as much energy as I do. Right. Like I'm not being fun. When I was doing all the, you know, every single fashion show, flying around the world, doing 18 hour days, I still go out. And everyone else would go, I know that Too, right? And everyone else will go. So not everyone wants. Not everyone has that wants to do that. I'm like, why? I'm like, I'm gonna have it all. I'm like, I'm gonna have a fabulous business. I'm gonna be the, you know, world's whatever, like, arguably top makeup artist. I'm gonna basically go out, I'm gonna have fun. I'm gonna have kids. I'm like, I'm gonna have a family. Why not? Definitely. There have been times when, you know, would I have liked more sleep? Yes. Would I have liked more time? Yes.
- [67:46]
Emma Greed
You didn't give any relationships you didn't like. There was. I'm trying to understand because it's my belief that you can have it all. You can't have it all, all of the time. And I know that you are someone who really put the hours in Charlotte. Like, know what? You. You worked. You're not somebody just like, you know, did a four hour shoot. You went back to back to back.
- [68:06]
Charlotte Tilbury
To back to back.
- [68:06]
Emma Greed
You did all the shows non stop, you know, and those were. Those were amazing days. It's all wonderful backstage, but it was also hard graft.
- [68:15]
Charlotte Tilbury
Hard graft.
- [68:15]
Emma Greed
And I do think that there is, you know, when you're building a business, it's not all wonderful and magic. There's some kind of shutting down.
- [68:23]
Charlotte Tilbury
I've missed parties, I've missed weddings. I've missed times that I really wanted to show up for my friends, that I wasn't able to be there. But on the whole, I mean, listen time, I always want more time because I'm just like, I'm a 247 girl. I like, I've got. We're on this earth for such a short period of time, and there's so much I want to do and so much to achieve, but somehow I kind of we bent time. I don't know how I've done it, but like, literally, you know what?
- [68:47]
Emma Greed
She's like, it will be mine.
- [68:49]
Charlotte Tilbury
It will be mine. I will work. But, like, I will party. I will kind of go out for like 20 hours. Like, no, but that's kind of, you know, whereas most people don't want to do that. Honestly, I don't have regrets. I don't have regrets. I listen the few times, a couple of weddings of really good friends of mine, I was just like, I really wish I'd been there. And a couple of fun times where I was like, you know, amazing parties, people having a great time, but there's always another party. Maybe there's not always another wedding. Now I do kind of prioritize being there for my friends. Cause they are so there for me. Am I at every play? My kids play at school? No, I'm not. But I'm not at school gates every morning either. But I'm just not that mother. The mother that I am is like, I will show up for your major sports day or your kind of musical event or whatever it is, but otherwise I am building an empire and I am happy and I am fun and I'm not a. You know what I mean? And so we're just. How old are you kids? So my kids are 16 and 11.
- [69:38]
Emma Greed
And so your kids were little while you were building the empire?
- [69:42]
Charlotte Tilbury
They were like, no, no, no, no, no Toddlers. One year I got divorced, remarried, had another baby and launched my brand in America and moved house in one year.
- [69:57]
Emma Greed
I went to a lot of parties.
- [69:59]
Charlotte Tilbury
I went to a lot of parties. I remember just being like, oh, maybe you bit off more than you can chew this year.
- [70:09]
Emma Greed
That had to start.
- [70:10]
Charlotte Tilbury
Yeah.
- [70:11]
Emma Greed
And if so, so I guess your kids have never known any different. Your kids have always known you to be Mummy that leaves, works, travels, does what she needs.
- [70:18]
Charlotte Tilbury
Yeah. And I take the holidays. I try to take the holidays and I try to kind of like. And be present. I'm very much like, I'm very. That kind of mindset where I'm very present in whatever I'm doing. I have a kind of when I'm in business, I'm like obsessing about business and I'm totally focused in the room. I'm not very attached to my telephone. I'm very like totally focused or I'm kind of, I'm very in the moment of whatever I'm doing, whether I'm having fun, whether I'm doing, you know, whether I'm working, whether I'm kind of with the kids. It's sort of try to be kind of very present in whatever that is.
- [70:45]
Emma Greed
Did you ever suffer with Mum guilt?
- [70:48]
Charlotte Tilbury
No. No, I just don't believe in that. I don't believe in guilt. I believe we show up in life, we do our best and that's it. It. I'm like, I just don't believe in it. Throw the guilt in the bin. Like, as long as I'm trying my best, because I am like, you know, I. I really love my kids. I'm really family orientated. But have I been there all the time? No, but like, you know, would I like to have been there a bit more? Yes. But like, at least we really love each other. And love conquers all. And all you need is love is. That's what my father always used to say to me. All you need is love. And that's it. So I'm like, and as long as I'm a happy mother, do you know what I mean? I think, and I turn up to the right moments, then I feel like I'm doing my best. We're gonna have a good time.
- [71:30]
Emma Greed
You've probably heard it isn't what you say, it's how you say it. And I've realized that that's true not just in life, but how you move through it. You need to set an example, take the lead, and adapt to whatever comes your way. That's why I love the Range Rover Sport. It's a car that matches that mindset, blending power, poise and performance. Performance. With its distinctly British design and exquisite interiors, it's immediately clear that this isn't just a car, it's a statement. Inside, you'll find innovations like the cabin air purification system and active noise cancellation, creating a level of comfort and control that feels effortless. And with seven terrain modes and a choice of powerful engines, including a plug in hybrid with an estimated range of 53 miles, the range Rover Sport balances raw power with refinement. It's dynamic, agile and truly instinctive, the way I like to drive and live. Build your Range Rover Sport@range Rover.com USSport you know that time of year when everyone's calendars are full, the house smells like cinnamon, the kids are hyped on sugar, and somewhere in the background someone's sniffling? Always. That's basically my house. Every holiday season, between school events, family gatherings and trying to keep up with work, cold and flu season always seems to hit right when things get the busiest. And honestly, as a mum, I've learned that the smallest comforts can make the biggest difference for me. One of those little comforts is Kleenex lotion facial tissues. They're like this tiny active care made with skin loving ingredients like coconut oil and aloe that actually help protect, soothe and moisturize your skin. And during cold season, when noses and hands are getting wiped constantly, that matters. Instead of grabbing napkins or toilet paper that feel like sandpaper, I reach for Kleenex lotion tissues. They're gentle, they're effective, and they just make everyone a little more comfortable. Every year, I have this vision of a perfect holiday season. Cozy matching pajamas, cocoa by the tree, Carol's in the background. And every year, reality looks a little more like one kid sneezing, someone else coughing, and me chasing tissues around the house while the dog eats half of what the toddler drives drops. It's chaos. But it's our chaos. And honestly, that's what makes it special. That's why I keep Kleenex lotion tissues in every room, the kitchen, the car, and every guest room. Because you never know when you're going to need them. Whether it's to wipe a nose or to catch a few emotional tears when the family movie montage hits, Kleenex lotion tissues are there for all of it. And if you're a parent, you know half the battle is just getting your kid to use tissues. Instead of this, let's Kleenex lotion tissues feel soft enough that my kids don't complain. Which honestly, feels like a holiday miracle in itself. When you've got Kleenex, you're ready to face whatever the holiday season throws at you. The germs, the emotions, the laughter. It's such a simple way to take care of your family and yourself. So whether you're reminiscing about last year's colds that made the rounds or you're prepping for another round of family gatherings this year year, just know that Kleenex lotion tissues are the comforting ally you'll be glad to have nearby. Because let's be real, the holidays aren't about perfection. They're about showing up, sniffles and all, with love, laughter, and maybe a box of Kleenex in every room. You can't always predict how the holidays will go, but with Kleenex lotion facial tissues, you can be prepared for them for whatever happens next. Grab Kleenex. It's that time of year. The Black Friday Cyber Monday madness. And while most brands have sales throughout the year, Merit only has one. And it's happening right now. So if you've been eyeing their minimalist elevated beauty staples, this is your sign to stock up. I've been using Merit Beauty for a while now, and their products have truly become my everyday go to. The Flush Balm is my favorite. It gives that effortless, healthy glow that looks fresh and never overdone. And on those no makeup days, their signature lightweight lipstick gives me that put together look in literally seconds. What I love most is how simple and intentional everything feels. Merit's formulas are clean, they're vegan, they're cruelty free, and they're packed with skincare ingredients that actually make your skin feel so much better over time. These are products that you will use down to the Last drop.
- [76:01]
Charlotte Tilbury
Drop.
- [76:02]
Emma Greed
I know because I do. Merit's annual sale is on now until December 1st. Get 20 off site wide plus a gift with purchase with every order while supplies last at meritbeauty.com that's M E R-I-T beauty.com merit beauty.com. Charlotte, what are the biggest that you've learned when you look at your career and your life and what a career. What have you learned? And what would you say to young founders, young women that want to emulate what you've done and have the same type of success as you have now?
- [76:43]
Charlotte Tilbury
I think my motto in life, and this is what I live by and stand by, is dare to dream it, dare to believe it, most importantly, and then dare to do it. Because I think the biggest difference in life is that people have a dream but they don't even try. And if you don't try, you'll never know. And if you just believe in that, if you just put one step in front of the other building blocks. Just try your best. That's why I say to my kids, just try your best. It's all you can do. And then literally it just starts to happen. And never give up and always believe and embrace the challenge. And challenge is opportunity and don't see it in a negative way. And rewire your brain. Rewire your brain to think optimistically and to think about challenges, opportunity, and drive yourself there and you will achieve your dreams. I mean, when I think of the Einstein quotes, which I basically die and live by, which because he understood a thing or two, old Einstein, one or two. Exactly. Which he said like his thing was everything is energy and that's all there is to it. So we all resonate at an energy. Match the frequency of the reality you want and you will get that reality. There can be no other way. And that's it. The universe doesn't speak Mandarin or English or anything else or French. It speaks frequency and energy. And so if you resonate at believing, if you're authentically who you are and you don't lie and you basically are unapologetic about who you are, why should you feel ashamed or insecure? Like, show up, love yourself. It's like, and, and train yourself. Because everyone, there's plenty of people who tell you you're not fabulous. Plenty of people will tell you that you can't do things. I mean, I have had that. I've been told I've been teased. I have been told I won't. I, I am crazy. I have been told I won't what am I doing? I'm mad. Do you know what? Whatever the naysayers, thank you, goodbye. And literally rewire your brain to ottoman. You just carry on your change, you see your white space, you keep going, you do what you need to do and it will come true, your dreams will happen.
- [78:52]
Emma Greed
You have the mindset of an absolute champion. That is it. I need a winner's mindset. I need it on our like, on our bronzer, on our blush it. I want it to be like, dream it, believe it, do it. And every dab it. Charlotte said.
- [79:08]
Charlotte Tilbury
But it's the winner's mindset, right? It is anyone, you've got it. Everyone's. It's the winner's mindset. Look at all those athletes. As I was saying, this person like I was working with when I gave them the Rhonda Byrne the secret, they're like, oh my God, this rubbish. Creative visualization. What is this thing that you're talking about? Like woo, woo, whatever. And I was like, uh, this is real. This is like, this is the secret codes to life, to success. This is it. And they read it and they came back and they said, Roger Bannister broke the four minute mile. It was considered to be humanly impossible. He didn't have the lungs capacity at the time. They didn't think that it was humanly impossible to do. And he believed he could. So he did. And so. And that is the same, it's like it's the same thing that Einstein's talking about where all energy matched the frequency. The frequency doesn't speak anything else but frequency. That. What is frequency? Feeling, feel it, manifest it, and then it will be. There can be no other way.
- [80:07]
Emma Greed
I believe this like it's on my core.
- [80:09]
Charlotte Tilbury
Exactly.
- [80:09]
Emma Greed
I can't even like. I know first of all, you know it's to be true.
- [80:12]
Charlotte Tilbury
All the amazing things that you've done.
- [80:13]
Emma Greed
I know it to be true, all.
- [80:14]
Charlotte Tilbury
The amazing things that you've achieved. You, you and I think the same way. Anyone that's achieved in anything in life, they all think the same way. People will still come tell you you're crazy, you're this and the other and you're like, okay, whatever, but you just. And positive thoughts and optimism. I talk about, you know, lucky girl syndrome, right? You know about this and it's a thing that kind of like picked up on TikTok, but actually lucky girl syndrome is something that you and I have done for years. We have rewired our brain neuroplasticity to literally optimize, to just think Positive, like a negative thought comes in, out positive. What are we doing? What are the buildups? Where are we going?
- [80:49]
Emma Greed
And then up, up, up.
- [80:51]
Charlotte Tilbury
And then the reality that becomes our reality. It's like conceive, believe, receive. You end up receiving. And so it's. It's. And you're wiring your brain in that way. And that's what I always tell people, that you can do it. And you know what's amazing about rewiring your brain is you can do it fast, really fast. That's that whole quantum thinking. It can change like that. And that's what people don't realize.
- [81:10]
Emma Greed
I love that you say that. We had Tracee Ellis Ross here, and she says, you know, Emma, I manifest real fast. And we all were just like, you know, because when you know it, and that's part of your routine, and that is your default way of thinking, it can happen really fast.
- [81:24]
Charlotte Tilbury
Really fast, Charlotte. It doesn't need to take time. You are the blocker.
- [81:27]
Emma Greed
You are the blocker.
- [81:27]
Charlotte Tilbury
You are the blocker.
- [81:28]
Emma Greed
Yeah.
- [81:28]
Charlotte Tilbury
You are the only person. And what people don't realize in life is actually, I remember, you know, a friend of mine just broke up with someone and I was saying, you know what the problem is not the other person, it's you. And wherever you go, whether you're going to marry a fisherman or a kind of a banker or whatever, it's like, it's you. What are you searching? What is the mirror in life that you're kind of searching for? Or how's that showing up? What is it that you need to change within you?
- [81:54]
Emma Greed
You know, I believe this. I mean, I've just written a book called Start With Yourself.
- [81:57]
Charlotte Tilbury
I mean, oh, my God, is that what it's.
- [82:01]
Emma Greed
It all starts here, right? I mean, it's so true. What do you think? If you had to choose, like, the red thread that goes through your life, through your career, through your success, what is it? What goes through your entire story?
- [82:15]
Charlotte Tilbury
I think unwavering belief. Unwavering belief. Unwavering belief and visualization of what I wanted. I was very clear as a young child. It was probably very. I was very young when I knew exactly what I wanted. I knew I wanted to be a makeup artist.
- [82:29]
Emma Greed
16.
- [82:30]
Charlotte Tilbury
I didn't become a makeup artist until I was like, go to makeup school about eight, eighteen and a half. I wanted to always create a brand. I knew that pretty early on. I was fortunate enough to kind of know where I wanted to go or what I wanted to do very early on and then really set out about kind of really achieving it and just never giving up. Never give up. Never give up. Never give up. And self belief and train your brain. Train your brain. Everyone can do it. Everyone can do. We don't, Emma, you and I just don't come from. We don't come from a different planet. Yes, we had amazing patterns that told us we're amazing. Yes, we believed, we trained ourselves, we trained ourselves, we worked hard. We, you know, we would. You and I probably couldn't read a piano. We're both dyslexic. I'm like. But we learned to do it and we became amazing businesswomen that built empires. So why, you know, anyone can do it. And that's my point. They have to look at you and I and be inspired in the way that I'm inspired by so many other people. You're inspired by other people. If we could do it, so many other people can do it.
- [83:24]
Emma Greed
So many other people can do it.
- [83:25]
Charlotte Tilbury
And I love that. You know, since I launched my brand, thousands of people, I mean, I literally disrupted the industry of five conglomerates and then I literally went. They were like, well, if she can do it, I can do it. And it went. Thousands and thousands and thousands of brands literally around the world kind of, you know, coming.
- [83:40]
Emma Greed
You must love that. No, I do.
- [83:41]
Charlotte Tilbury
I love. And you know what I love? I really love celebrating female entrepreneurs and just entrepreneurs in general. It's so amazing to have, you know, innovated and disrupted and to led the way for so many great people and to grow the pie and grow the industry. There's enough room for everyone.
- [83:54]
Emma Greed
Oh, there's enough room for everyone. And so many people. Credit you again. I speak to so many young founders that are like, I did this because I saw Charlotte Tilbury did it.
- [84:01]
Charlotte Tilbury
And the stage of everybody hills come up to me and be like, you know, you launched five people on the world and then thousands, 3,000 brands launched after you. And now it's thousands and thousands. But it's great. It's wonderful. It's wonderful to be able to do that. What we both have is like bravery and courage. I think you have to. And that it goes back to feel the fear and do it anyway. Right? We have, we've all, we've all felt that insecurity. We've all felt that kind of fear at some point. But we've all taken the courage to just. I'm just gonna do my best. And I just believe that, you know, and then what people also underestimate is that practice makes perfect.
- [84:35]
Emma Greed
Oh, it's so Fast.
- [84:37]
Charlotte Tilbury
I wasn't the one business woman I am today. 10 years ago.
- [84:39]
Emma Greed
Talk about 10,000 hours. I mean, you might have put a hundred thousand hours in. No, definitely.
- [84:43]
Charlotte Tilbury
Done a few MBAs. 10,000 Fashion Week, University of Life.
- [84:48]
Emma Greed
You know what I love so much about you and just had this conversation with Simon Sinek, so I'm not gonna. I'm not gonna steal it, but I think that the true mark of a great leader, a great founder, a great entrepreneur, yes, is courage, but it's courage coupled with integrity, as he would say. And I think that what comes across in you, Charlotte, and I know this because I've known you for so many years. You have such unbelievable integrity. And when I met you as like, literally a. A child backstage, gaffering wires to the floor so you didn't trip over. Back in those old days, you were so kind. You were so like, eyes, eyes, eyes. Hello, girl on the floor. How are ya? Here's some chip from my kit. Like, you were so nice to everyone, and I think that you have a lot of integrity, not just in your work and in your incredible craft, that you've turned into this business, but as a person. We all know that, that Charlotte Tilbury is Charlotte Tilbury. And I think that that goes a really, really long way. And I don't think that I sit opposite many people and feel like this level of happiness for their success that you deserve.
- [86:00]
Charlotte Tilbury
Thank you so much. All your success. Both of us have known each other. I mean, look at what you've created and look at. You've inspired so many women. Even I sit there and go, how does she do it? All three empires. I'm like, I've got one. I'm like, and you've got three. I'm. And then you've got three kids. I've got two kids.
- [86:16]
Emma Greed
I'm like four now.
- [86:17]
Charlotte Tilbury
Emma, four now.
- [86:17]
Emma Greed
Legend.
- [86:18]
Charlotte Tilbury
Emma's a legend.
- [86:19]
Emma Greed
I'm like, no, it's too much. Charlotte, you spoke a couple of times about being customer obsessed, but what does that actually look like in real terms?
- [86:28]
Charlotte Tilbury
Yeah, I think for me, being customer obsessed is looking at the need state of a consumer. Number one, looking at the white space in the market, looking at what they thinking about what they need before they know that they need it. And then it's that emotional connectivity to the consumer. I think one of the superpowers of why my brand has done really well. It's that as we talked about authenticity, we talked about being completely who you are and how that really resonates with people. I love my Community. And I think it's so important to me to connect emotionally with them. And I think if you think about it today, how do you market in an incredible way and it is that mass intimacy that is really important to me. I really consider them to be all my friends and they're my daughter darlings. Right. And they love you and I love them. And so it's that. And that emotional connectivity is so important for me to switch on and turn on, you know, with, with that consumer.
- [87:18]
Emma Greed
Well, it's so clear that they, they really trust you. Right. You have this trust thing going on with your customers.
- [87:24]
Charlotte Tilbury
Trust is not just a soft metric. It really kind of. It drives loyalty, it drives long retention and long term profitability. It is amazing. It is. And people feel safe because they can trust the quality of your products, they can trust your formulas and they know you've got their back.
- [87:40]
Emma Greed
Look at me trusting my Charlotte Tilbury face right now.
- [87:42]
Charlotte Tilbury
You can trust me. Gorgeous Emma Greed, you are gorgeous.
- [87:45]
Emma Greed
From 7am to 7pm so amazing. Every damn day.
- [87:49]
Charlotte Tilbury
I know you and I, darling. Look at me. Fishing for a contract over here. I love it. You've got one.
- [87:55]
Emma Greed
All right, we're going to move to the wrapping finish. What's the first thing you do when you wake up, darling?
- [88:00]
Charlotte Tilbury
I put on my makeup and my skincare.
- [88:03]
Emma Greed
What are you using?
- [88:04]
Charlotte Tilbury
Is that what you're using?
- [88:05]
Emma Greed
Charlotte Tilbury, what's the last thing you do before you go to bed?
- [88:10]
Charlotte Tilbury
Rinse, repeat, no doubt.
- [88:13]
Emma Greed
Who is a woman that inspires your confidence?
- [88:17]
Charlotte Tilbury
My mother.
- [88:18]
Emma Greed
Oh, I love that.
- [88:19]
Charlotte Tilbury
My mother.
- [88:20]
Emma Greed
That's so nice. Do you have a book that changed your life?
- [88:23]
Charlotte Tilbury
I do have a book that, yeah. Rhonda Byrne, the Secret Telling. I have to say, you and I both feel that. Right? We both. Yeah, that definitely. I definitely. And the Celestine Prophecy. My mother gave that to me when I was younger.
- [88:34]
Emma Greed
I'm gonna reread that. I haven't read that.
- [88:36]
Charlotte Tilbury
Do you remember? Yes. Celestine Prophecy and the Secret by Rhonda Bunn. Those two have really had. Really had an effect on my life.
- [88:43]
Emma Greed
That's gonna be my, my Christmas reread.
- [88:45]
Charlotte Tilbury
I give it to everyone that works with me. It really kind of helps shift their mindset and create that community and that kind of vision. To strive to do things that. To think, you know, to live a life without limits, basically. Live a life without limits.
- [88:56]
Emma Greed
Damn right. What are you aspiring for next in your business life?
- [89:00]
Charlotte Tilbury
Conquer the world, darling.
- [89:02]
Emma Greed
And what about in your personal life?
- [89:04]
Charlotte Tilbury
In my personal life, I would just always Wish for more time. Can we just bend it? Can we just create it?
- [89:09]
Emma Greed
Well, you might.
- [89:09]
Charlotte Tilbury
Can we con something?
- [89:10]
Emma Greed
If anyone can.
- [89:10]
Charlotte Tilbury
Can we con some jump hands?
- [89:12]
Emma Greed
We could probably do it. What is something that you valued when you were starting out your career that you no longer value?
- [89:20]
Charlotte Tilbury
I think it'll always be time. Time. I think, you know, I think I'm always just want more time.
- [89:26]
Emma Greed
What is something that you value deeply right now in your life that you couldn't care less about when you started out?
- [89:33]
Charlotte Tilbury
It's time.
- [89:34]
Emma Greed
It's still time.
- [89:35]
Charlotte Tilbury
It's still time. I just want more time. I just love life. I love people. I love life. I love my family, I love my job. I love everything. It's like, I just wanna have fun. As I said before. It's like. It's so annoying that I'm human and I have to sleep.
- [89:51]
Emma Greed
How many hours do you sleep a night?
- [89:53]
Charlotte Tilbury
I probably listen. I'd love an eight hour. I love a lion. Oh, I'd love a lazy lion, but I don't do an eight hour. No, I guess.
- [89:59]
Emma Greed
Come on, darling.
- [90:02]
Charlotte Tilbury
No, no, no, no. It's not happening. It's not happening.
- [90:04]
Emma Greed
It's a solid six.
- [90:06]
Charlotte Tilbury
Try for a six.
- [90:07]
Emma Greed
Okay.
- [90:08]
Charlotte Tilbury
Sometimes it's a four. That's never great. Like tonight, last night I had four hours sleep, so it just is because you're traveling. Jet lag, just whatever. It's just, you know, four hours solid six. And sometimes when I'm having a lazy Saturday or Sunday, a lie is I. Oh, I love to have a lion, but, you know. But it's probably a kind of a regular six.
- [90:26]
Emma Greed
A regular six.
- [90:27]
Charlotte Tilbury
Six. Six.
- [90:28]
Emma Greed
Makes sense.
- [90:28]
Charlotte Tilbury
A regular six.
- [90:29]
Emma Greed
She's busy. Thank God for the flawless finish then.
- [90:31]
Charlotte Tilbury
Exactly, darling. Magic. My mother's like, you can't just rely on Magic Cream for everything. I was like, yes, you can.
- [90:35]
Emma Greed
You're like, you know what, mum?
- [90:36]
Charlotte Tilbury
You can. And filter. Magic.
- [90:38]
Emma Greed
Coming.
- [90:38]
Charlotte Tilbury
A full face of silbery. It's vibe cheese. Fake it to make it.
- [90:42]
Emma Greed
I love it, Charlotte. I have loved every second. I wish I could say for two hours.
- [90:46]
Charlotte Tilbury
Me too. Me too. Me too.
- [90:48]
Emma Greed
Thank you.
- [90:48]
Charlotte Tilbury
Thank you so much. It's such a treat. You're the best. And we've known each other for years and it's so amazing. And I'm just in awe of everything you've done and you're so inspiring and this is just honestly, such a treat and an honor to be on here with you.
- [90:59]
Emma Greed
For you to say that like, you made me go cold.
- [91:01]
Charlotte Tilbury
I love you. Thank you. I love you. Too.
- [91:02]
Emma Greed
You're the best. If you're loving this podcast, be sure to click Follow on your favorite listening platform. While you're there, give us a review and a five star rating and share an episode you loved with a friend. We'll be so grateful. Aspire with Em Agreed is presented by Audacy. I'm your host, Emma Greed. Our executive producers are Corrine Gilliatt Fisher, Derek Brown and me. Our executive producers from Audacy are Maddy Sprung Keyser, Leah Reese Dennis, Asha Salouja and Jenna Weiss Berman. Stephen Key is our senior producer. Sound design and engineering by Beyond Schultz. Angela Peluso is our booker. Original music by Charles Black Video production by Evan Cox, Kirk Courtney, Andrew Steele, Carlos Delgado and Arnie Agassiz Social media by Olivia Homan Special thanks to Brittany Smith, Sydney Ford My teams at the lead company and WME Maura Curran, Josephina Francis, Hilary Schuff, Eric Donnelly, Kate Hutchinson, Rush, Tim Meekol, Sean Cherry and Lauren Vieira. If you have questions for me, you can DM me at Aspire with Emma Greed. Greed is spelled G R E D E. That's Aspire A S P I R E with Emma Greed. Or you can submit a question to me on my website Emagreed me. Look, we get it. You can hardly go anywhere or do anything these days without hearing about AI this or AI that. And if you're like most people when it comes to AI, you're impressed. But you have a few concerns. What if AI was used not as a tool to replace people, but as a way to help understand people better? AI from SurveyMonkey is designed to do just that. From crafting the perfect survey, which is way harder than you might think, to analysis that digs deep, finds patterns and surfaces trends quickly. SurveyMonkey's powerful suite of AI capabilities makes it faster and easier than ever before to get insight from real people, helping you make confident decisions in your business. Use promo code Emma for two months free when you sign up for an annual plan@surveymonkey.com Emma.