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- [00:00]
Molly Sims
The real through line was, are they going to take me serious? And then I kind of accidentally went into modeling and then accidentally going into hosting and then acting and then momming, then producing, then podcasting. And it's taking those moments, taking those chances, digging in, digging deep. And that is an it girl. The it girl is like, fuck you, I've got this. Watch me, watch me. You have to mess up, you have to make mistakes, you have to learn from them. That's how I got it to be where I am today.
- [00:31]
Interviewer
You understood that gatekeeping information was not the way forward anymore.
- [00:37]
Molly Sims
We would say things and we wouldn't gatekeep, and that literally is lipstick on the rim. I've spent 2 million and a half dollars with my own money. Like we literally developed wise on a couch in the basement of my house. It was a gut punch. And the next day we did $100,000. And yeah, even though like seven hours, you just keep going, but it does fuel you. It did fue. You have to be that North Star. You have to make everyone in your company feel like you got it. What a brand, what a brand, what
- [01:09]
Interviewer
a brand, what a mighty good brand.
- [01:11]
Molly Sims
Say it again now.
- [01:13]
Interviewer
What a brand, what a brand, what
- [01:15]
Molly Sims
a brand, what a mighty good brand.
- [01:17]
Interviewer
Molly, I don't even know how to introduce you. You are the most multi hyphenated person I've ever met. How do you, how do you introduce yourself? Where do you start?
- [01:28]
Molly Sims
I think Molly, mom, mama, podcast host, producer, founder, maybe I'm really excited to
- [01:38]
Interviewer
talk to you because you, you really flip on its head not only like a celebrity beauty brand, but you really understand media. And it's like when you talk about world building, like that is a component that most people don't, don't realize you have to have. And you've been in that game for so long.
- [01:57]
Molly Sims
I think, listen, I think a lot of experience, a lot of time, a lot of tears, a lot of how do you figure it the fuck out? I think that's, that's how you build it, you know, and if you build it, they will come. But I think, I think people look at things very narrowly. Like I always say to, like the young girls who work with me say yes. You know, because we're always so used to saying no, oh, no, no, no. Turn your, turn your nose into a yes. You know, and I think when you're building something, I didn't even know, I just knew. I'm like, I loved Vanderbilt. I went to a great university, I went to public school. I'm from Murray, Kentucky. But it was always kind of like, wait, what's next? I think, listen, it's made me crazy, but it's also served me, I think living in Europe, it's made me more, made me more worldly. It made me look at things like as a bigger picture. But I think from like my mom and my dad, because they were self made, they owned different companies. They started out with a book company and then a recycling paper company. They were always just like, okay, well let's try it, let's see how it goes. Right?
- [03:17]
Interviewer
Yeah.
- [03:18]
Molly Sims
But they also had intention behind it.
- [03:21]
Interviewer
It's interesting because when I read your story in Elle, there's such this through line of yes, but what's next? And like you're, you're constantly pushing through. So you kind of accidentally became a model but then like really became a model.
- [03:37]
Molly Sims
Well, I think it was like, I think the through line is that. But I think for me the real through line was are they going to take me serious?
- [03:46]
Interviewer
Yeah.
- [03:48]
Molly Sims
You know, because to your point, I was a college kid eating fries, you know, pizza, being a sorority, like doing my thing. And then I kind of accidentally went into modeling. And then so it was always like, well, I'm accidentally going into hosting and then acting and, and then, you know, momming, then producing, then podcasting. And I think I'm always kind of driven by. I really think I can do this. Like I remember writing I found I had to clean out my, my childhood home when both my parents died recently. And I found this crazy black book and it had all my modeling. Like I was just so detailed. And I found this postcard that I'd written my mom and dad. I think I was in Germany at that point or London. It was, it was not very far in. But I, I found my letter that I wrote Vanderbilt that I'm just going to have this moment instead of doing the London School of Economics. I'm just going to just see what this. I'll be back in one semester. And then I found this postcard. So my parents being like, you know what I think I might can do was really sweet.
- [04:57]
Interviewer
That is really sweet.
- [04:58]
Molly Sims
You.
- [04:58]
Interviewer
When we, one of the times we first met, you were just had launched your it girl campaign. And this idea that an it girl isn't. I want you to explain it because when you went through all your journeys, your it girl isn't like it's not this popular girl. It says okay, okay, go ahead, go ahead, go ahead, go ahead.
- [05:18]
Molly Sims
So when we were kind of really discussing like what does it Mean, so I. I wanted to call this new gloss. It's a peach, peachy, shimmery, great gloss. And it's just like the everyday girl. And I'm like, oh, we should call it It Girl. And for me, a lot of things, you know, yes, I'm tall, I'm blonde, I'm pretty. That's how it makes an It Girl. And so when I really sat down and explained it to my team, they were kind of like, I'm like, an it girl is a girl who takes chances. It's an it girl who. And I kind of took like, seven to 10 pictures of my life. And in 1981, 83, I was the girl with two bottles of Aussie scrunch spray. I wanted to be Julia Roberts. I was a little chunky. I had a mall poof. And I fucking loved my hair. And everyone thought I looked ridiculous, but I thought I looked amazing. That is an it girl. An it girl is like, oh, really? You're gonna leave Vanderbilt to go and model? That is an it girl. Oh, really? You're. Now that you're in, you know, you know, Germany, you really think you can model? Go get your jeans and let's see how fat you are and see if you can actually make it, because right now you can't. That's an ink girl for saying Las Vegas. I was on a show on NBC that was very popular. Oh, my God. It's never going to go.
- [06:47]
Interviewer
It's.
- [06:48]
Molly Sims
It's only going to go three episodes. It's. It's. It's never going to go. It went for five years. You know, it's taking those moments, taking those chances, digging in, digging deep. And that is an it girl. It's the it girl who's like, you. I've got this. Watch me, watch me. That's an it girl.
- [07:06]
Interviewer
I love when you said too. And I've heard you talk about this a few times, even going blonde, like, oh, my God.
- [07:13]
Molly Sims
They were like, you look. You're gonna look like a hooker. You're like, what are you doing to be like ombre? And I'm like, I know. I just feel like I need something new. And you have to remember, I started during the heroin chic, which you guys are too young to kind of know what that is, but that was the Kate Moss, you know, Karin Day grungy. So I chopped up all my hair. I did the last color on the Clairol box at cvs. I was.
- [07:42]
Interviewer
You did it yourself.
- [07:43]
Molly Sims
I did it myself.
- [07:45]
Interviewer
That's an it girl.
- [07:46]
Molly Sims
And I was Jet black. And I chopped it all off. And again, it girl. And then the it girl moment was like, I don't really think this is working for me. You know, like. Or, you know, oh, you'll never do Runway. Oh, you'll always be a catalog girl. Or you'll always, like. I can't tell you the amount of people who've said, oh, you'll always be this or you'll only be that. And I think, look, it was very daunting when I was younger at a lot. A lot of criticism, and also just, you don't fucking belong. And I think the mix of when you talk about someone's outer, which is all about outer as a model, which is so what I hated the most, you felt like a human clothes hanger, is that you couldn't really do anything about it. You are who you are. I mean, I was telling. I was telling Claire Stern, who. We did this. L. Office hours. I was like, I didn't know that my nose was crooked. And, I mean, I didn't start modeling until I was, like, 21. And I. The photographer kept going, like, you like this? A little bit. I go, like this. He goes, okay, go back a little bit. He goes, don't. Dead straight. You know, don't, don't. He's like, you're not symmetrical. I was like, come again? You know, and he was like, you know, this is crooked, right? I never, in the 21 years that I looked in the mirror every single day, thought about it. But the moment someone tells you that or they point out something. And so that was. That was kind of like, my issues with modeling is that you get hung up on, oh, my God, you're too muscular, you're too thin, you're too tall, you're too blonde. You have to cut your hair. You have to grow it. And literally, my agents were like, you're never gonna make it as a blonde. I'm like, well, I think I'm just gonna try it. So I think the same thing as a founder now that I had very early on as a kid. Watch me.
- [09:40]
Interviewer
That's also why I think Wise has been so successful, is there's. There's such an authentic confidence, and that's
- [09:47]
Molly Sims
what you want in beauty. You want.
- [09:49]
Interviewer
Like, you want to. It's not about being the it girl.
- [09:51]
Molly Sims
It's. It's about being the it girl.
- [09:54]
Interviewer
Right?
- [09:54]
Molly Sims
Like, being that woman. Being that woman who I think, you know, especially for our youth, and, like, it's so hard to. To mess up.
- [10:04]
Interviewer
Yeah.
- [10:04]
Molly Sims
To make mistakes. You have to mess up, you have to make mistakes. You have to learn from them. That's how I got it to be where I am today. But also really having that point of view, that grounding. And I think that I do have that for my woman, for my IT girls, because I do know what they want. Because they're me.
- [10:24]
Schaefer Covet
Yeah.
- [10:26]
Molly Sims
Yeah, they're me. I wanted something that was clinically effective, but that was also cool. Why couldn't we have both? I mean, I remember when glossier came back, when glossier came out and I loved her story. I love her. I love Emily. Like, I just. And I was like, ah, it's so, so cool. But like, yes, I can do the bomb dot com. I can do the glasses. But like, there's nothing like efficacious in terms of like, it's just. It's not my demographic or you go to like a derm, you know, a very heavy derm brand, a skinceuticals who I love, but super complicated. Yeah. You know, great products, great ingredients, great actives. But like, okay, I always had problem. And I've been in beauty for so many years. Like, okay, which step do I first do first? When do I do that? And if I have problems with that, my everyday woman who doesn't have access like me, she's never going to use that. And it was also a lot too harsh. You know, we don't have downtime. Like, I don't want to. I remember even five years ago, you got to do the CO2, you got to laser your face off. I'm like, I don't know. It's just like, it's not all or nothing. Like. Yeah. And again, I think, listen, I've learned a lot. I've gotten full body of armor from the entertainment business. But it is a business.
- [11:44]
Interviewer
Yeah, it is. But I. But that's what's so cool, is what makes you so unique is when you talk the way that you talk, the way that you share information, you've been building this platform in this community along the way that you know what they want, you know what they feel.
- [11:58]
Molly Sims
So I also ask them and I also meet. Meet them where they are. Yes, but you have a.
- [12:04]
Interviewer
You broke through. You understood that gatekeeping information was not the way forward anymore. And especially in a. In a market where the people who made it here in Hollywood, it was very much Hearst pr, like, very like,
- [12:21]
Molly Sims
like behind closed doors.
- [12:23]
Interviewer
Yeah. So talk about how you got into podcasting and why.
- [12:28]
Molly Sims
I hated gatekeeping. I hated it even as a young girl. I would always Be like, oh, if I met someone in London, I'm like, oh, my God, what are you doing? Where. Where did you get that? You know, oh, my God. And it wasn't so much about. And maybe I was trying to emulate, and maybe I was trying to, like, just trying to be something I. I knew that I wasn't. So I always ask questions. I've always been curious. Oh, my God, where'd you get that great shirt? Where'd you get the jeans? Well, like, I've. All that is my mother. And my mother is also a sharer of information. So that's always, like, connecting. That's always come naturally to me. But I think I found it really disappointing when. When I got to Hollywood and, you know, actresses or people in the entertainment business would literally ask me, you know, okay, well, what do you do? I'm like, okay, I do Botox. I sat in a sauna for two hours. I starved my. Like, I, you know, and I would just. And they just wouldn't give the information back. I had one actress who I will not name, would call me all the time and never, never reciprocate. And it became kind of like this falsehood about kind of what we all do, because your average woman knew that she wasn't just drinking water and sleeping eight hours. Right. So it kind of became disingenuous, and I just was determined not to be that. And it was a little controversial when we started Lipstick on the rim in 2021. But at the same time, we were on a girls trip in Cabo, and we would all meet downstairs in the morning. You know, we get out our iPhones, we'd start talking like, jasmine, what did you do? You know, Vicky, what did you do? And Michelle. Michelle, like, all of my girls were like, okay. And it. It kind of became like that kind of morning, morning talk. I fucking hate him. You know, I'm divorcing him. Or I'm, you know, it was. But we would talk about, like, real things, and we'd sprinkle in beauty and. But we'd also be vulnerable. Yeah. And we would say things and we wouldn't gatekeep. And that literally is lipstick on the Rim. It's about letting women know, like, what's out there. What can they do? Who can they be? What can they do next? How can they be better? How can they be happier? People always think, okay, yes, why is amazing. It's going to make you look good. But if you look good, you feel good. And if you feel good, you look good.
- [14:53]
Interviewer
Yeah.
- [14:54]
Molly Sims
And I Think it's very much, you know, how you set things up. For example, you have to believe you can do something. You have to set yourself up. You know, my. My sweet little Gray is in, like a reading program, right? And he thinks in his mind, he. He and his dad wrote this book and his grandpa's doing the illustrations, and in him. In his mind, he's in a gifted program, right? But it's all how I have propositioned it, how I've tied it up in that boat. You have to do that for yourself. You have to be your biggest fucking cheerleader. You have to figure out, like I was saying before, how to turn a no into a yes. But with that, you kind of have to lean in. You have to be positive. You have to help people. Starting this company was very daunting for me, and it went back to kind of what we talked about, with the it girl always feeling like, oh, my God, I don't fit in, or I just. I don't know if I can be in this sandbox. Because when I launched Wise Beauty, five skincare color cosmetics brands had launched before me. And the biggest thing was, why do we need another celebrity skincare brand? And, you know, weeks and months and we had to push because of, you know, problems in ops. And we didn't really have OPS then, but problem in ops we had problem we have now. It's. We have an ops thing. But it was very. I just remember Schaefer, we launched April 25, 2023, and I was sitting in that hotel room in New York City, and I was like, oh, my freaking God, here we go. But it was that kid in me of like, I just don't know if it's going to work. And I don't. A lot of people don't know this. The day before, we had done like a tease on Instagram. Wait, hold on. Shaffer, come here. So this is Schaefer. And Schaefer was my very first employee. It was only my assistant, who was my assistant and my social media manager. And then she became my podcast producer, Ashley Gasparian. And she was like, I think we need this girl. She's really good. Good with. With. It was creative stuff. Creative. And she's like, got good vision. Like, vision and really good at graphic design. I'm like, what's graphic design? Anyway, Schaefer, we hired Schaefer Covet hit. But we had this idea. We literally developed Wise on a couch in the basement of my house, in my office.
- [17:42]
Schaefer Covet
So we're taking scissors and we're cutting out Things that we love. And we're making the website and we're like, honestly scrapbooking exactly how we want it to look. Molly, like, is very involved in everything. So it's not just like me doing it. Molly's on her hands and knees doing it with me.
- [17:56]
Molly Sims
We are cutting. We are making a move board. We are making visuals. Who is this woman? Who is this girl? What does she like? What does she eat? What does she do? What do you like?
- [18:04]
Schaefer Covet
Yeah, it was honestly such fun times, I must say. It was easier times. But what she was going to mention,
- [18:11]
Molly Sims
though, is we have two year. We are three years in now. It is April. It is the eve of April 25th. This is April 24th, 2023. We are in New York City. We are ready. We are locked, we are loaded.
- [18:27]
Schaefer Covet
It's our coming out party.
- [18:28]
Molly Sims
It's our coming out party. And she's like, we're gonna do a collab to announce it, to tease it. I'm like, let's go.
- [18:36]
Schaefer Covet
So the thing is, is one thing with Molly, though. She does have a gut feeling on things. And usually she's always right.
- [18:41]
Molly Sims
There was a part of her that
- [18:43]
Schaefer Covet
was like, okay, we can do it, but, like, I have a feeling it's
- [18:46]
Molly Sims
not going to work.
- [18:46]
Schaefer Covet
Are you sure you want to do it?
- [18:48]
Molly Sims
Goes to the point about, like, I don't know if, like, there's always that little, little kid in meeting, like, oh, they're going to work.
- [18:54]
Schaefer Covet
Exactly. And so I was like, no, it definitely will work.
- [18:58]
Molly Sims
Everyone does collabs.
- [18:59]
Schaefer Covet
We did the collab. Literally no one saw it. It was the worst views we ever got, ever, Ever. There was like a glitch. Something happened. It was like, literally we had like 4 likes in an hour. It almost seemed like her friends didn't.
- [19:11]
Molly Sims
None of my friends, because I'm sure did you see it did us.
- [19:16]
Schaefer Covet
We were, like, freaking out. We felt like losers.
- [19:19]
Molly Sims
We, we, we felt. We were like, this shit's not going to work. I spent 2 million and a half dollars of my own money. Like, yeah.
- [19:25]
Schaefer Covet
Constantly updating to see, but, like, it was a glitch.
- [19:28]
Molly Sims
Because that doesn't happen glitch, like, randomly on that day. It was like a gut punch. It was a gut. It was a gut punch. And the next day we, we did $100,000. And yeah, even now, like seven hours. But it was definitely. That's where I always say, pull down your oxygen mask, you know, get ready because it's stomach churning. Yeah.
- [19:49]
Interviewer
That is an amazing story.
- [19:50]
Molly Sims
It's an amazing story. Right simple things.
- [19:52]
Schaefer Covet
Then, yeah, we try to suppress these things, but. But it's an origin story for a reason. It's where you came from. And then things get easier, you know.
- [19:59]
Molly Sims
And I think our biggest thing besides that was, you know, can you play in the same sandbox as all the six people who've launched? Because they were pretty. It was pretty nasty in the way that the media was just very skeptical, as they should be, of another celebrity skincare brand. They were very hard.
- [20:20]
Interviewer
Yeah. Were there people that you were shocked that didn't support you?
- [20:23]
Molly Sims
Yes.
- [20:24]
Interviewer
What was that like?
- [20:27]
Molly Sims
I mean, she's always like, I just can't believe some of your friends who you've helped.
- [20:32]
Schaefer Covet
I'm texting her like, she is off the Christmas list.
- [20:35]
Molly Sims
How do I get there? Brands who did not support me, which I supported for 10 years. It was a little disappointing, right? It was disappointing. But deep down, you kind of knew who they were, you know, they kind of knew. I felt a little used. I sliver. I've. I have helped a lot of people. And I, Like, I was with Jen Garner last night and like, I look across the table at her and I'm like, if I asked her to go and clean my car right now, she would. They're just certain people, friends, people, you know, of influence entertainment like that, you know, that will do that. Yes. Some of them didn't do that. And it was super disappointing. And I try not to kind of think about it. I'm like, oh, maybe you'll get to it.
- [21:21]
Schaefer Covet
Right?
- [21:21]
Molly Sims
I would always say, like, you know, everyone's busy, but some of them didn't ever.
- [21:26]
Interviewer
How do you navigate that with having your hand in a few different pots, you know, like, do you just put on. Do you just put on the work face? And like, now I know your territory. Or, like, how do you separate that? But if.
- [21:37]
Molly Sims
I mean, I think, listen, I had three children at that point. I'm very mama bearish. So I also. I don't know. I know this is. This is gonna sound so weird, but it kind of fuels me more.
- [21:52]
Interviewer
I believe it. I'm not gonna lie to you. Like, I'm probably a bit of a proponent of this, but there's this. People think online that, you know, when you're connected, like, if only you were connected, you know, like, that's the easy point. And there's such a different side to it. When especially. That's why I want to talk about what you've built around it. Because it's it. That's the difference. Right? And it's it's that component of, yes, you know, people, but also, if they don't support you and you want a production company, how do you. Like, how do you navigate that. That diplomacy?
- [22:28]
Molly Sims
I mean, I think you navigate it the best way you can. You just keep going. But it does feel you. It did fuel me. It still does. Like, I know. I know people who haven't helped me, and they cannot believe that I just did a $15 million Series A. Oh, that little. That little skincare room. That little. That little.
- [22:54]
Interviewer
You actually blew it up. Like, you blew it up.
- [22:57]
Molly Sims
So sometimes it just fuels you, but you know who they are, and it goes back to the same people who gatekeep. You know, it's kind of the same, like, you know, I.
- [23:07]
Schaefer Covet
It's.
- [23:08]
Molly Sims
It's of the same kind of through line. It's like, you know who your friends are, you know who will help you, you know who will. And it's kind of the same with my community. Like, I have these incredible loyal customers. I have my ride or dies. I have, you know, women. I can be like, okay, do you like this? Or, like, I don't like this. I love this. Do this, don't do that. Like, building that community, building that trust and building, you know, up these women is how I also build on myself. Like, their. Their support and their. I don't mean this in a bad way, but, like, their support and their kind of, like, directness. Directness is way better than any celebrity backing me.
- [23:52]
Interviewer
True that. And what has been some, like, shocking like. Or not shocking, like shocking, but, like, interesting feedback that you've gotten from your community that you've used to pivot.
- [24:03]
Molly Sims
I want it simple. I want your products to do a lot of different things in one. A lot of my girls don't want a 15, 20 step. They don't have time. Yeah, moms are very tired. Eye patches, things that depuff instantly, that help with dark circles, that help with a little blurring, like, kind of everything. I know it sounds weird, but we kind of lead everything back to Glow because my girl likes a tint. She wants a blur. She wants a glow. She wants an evening. She doesn't want to be red. She doesn't want to be dry. She doesn't want to be harsh. And look, there are so many incredible Actives. And I think what we learned very early on at Wise is that if you up those Actives, there is a price to pay. So you've always kind of hover in terms of your raw materials, in terms of your beta gluconolactone. Your ectoin, like, all the things you need that can't counterbalance the brightening, the stripping. I mean, look, I can strip all day long. I can do a laser, I can do a CO2, I can do every type of peel, but that's not really good for my skin. It's just harsh and downtime, and you look thinner and you look older.
- [25:12]
Interviewer
Yeah, that's true. How much, like, you seem like you're pretty deep in this. Like, how obsessed have you gotten with beauty and skincare and analyzing?
- [25:21]
Molly Sims
I mean, I think. I think that's how I found you, because you were always like, was it memorable? Like, you had this line. I don't. Listen. It's like a line. You go, it's good. It's great. But is it memorable? Like. And that always stuck with me because I think, again, I can have the best products, but how I feed it into the world, how I give it life, there's very different ways to do that. You have helped me be like, that's good. But is it memorable?
- [25:55]
Interviewer
I mean, that's like the way, like, especially when in beauty, when everything feels so fleeting. Like, how do you make something that makes you feel right? Like, that evokes emotion. Did you know that Victoria Beckham designed the Evoke? The Range Rover Evoke. And the reason why she called it the Evoke is because she wanted to evoke emotion. And I just. I love. My brain always thinks about, you know, when you do anything, how do you make somebody feel, feel.
- [26:21]
Molly Sims
What's the emotion you want them to feel? Yeah, like, I want my girl to feel like I've got her. I know what she likes, what she wants to do, what she wants to eat, which, you know, she wants. You know, she wants to still be in the game. Right. A lot of it is how women see themselves. And a lot of women, for me, 40 plus, starting out, kind of were forgotten. Camille.
- [26:47]
Interviewer
Totally.
- [26:47]
Molly Sims
That's the why success of Wise. We weren't. We had the most amount of money, but we kind of were overlooked. You either had the young, cool, fun, or you had, like, form from a Dr. Derm perspective. But, like, where were we? Where was the woman who had two kids? She's 37 years old. She's kind of not a millennial anymore, but she is. But then she doesn't really have anything that's like, for her.
- [27:12]
Interviewer
Yeah.
- [27:12]
Molly Sims
And being overlooked and being forgotten was a big driver of Wise and the white space that I saw because it's why. It's how I felt. I Felt like I went from this, like, you know, 40 year old Victoria's Secret, you know, no makeup. Makeup. I got this to be like, okay, 43 years old, 44 years old. I've got three kids, I've got bags, I look tired. I, I. And then there wasn't anything for me.
- [27:42]
Interviewer
Yeah.
- [27:43]
Molly Sims
You know, and I think, I don't know, like, even naming, I'm like, I cannot tell you how many people went against my names. Really. Oh, my God. Oh, no, no, no, no, no. You can't do what? You can't do that. I remember Schaefer and I trying to explain whys. And I would be like, well, I don't, I don't really believe in, like, lines of things. And like, you're looking at these beauty people thinking like, like, are they looking out of their mind? I'm like a clarifying line, a darkening line, an iconing line. I'm like, no. I think of every product as a holy grail.
- [28:20]
Interviewer
Yeah.
- [28:21]
Molly Sims
How can it do multi things for yourself in very, in a very easy way? So we, it's like the house of wise. The core products are the brightening line that's in the kitchen, but what's in the guest bedroom, what's in the Estes bedroom, what's in the bar, what's in like. And it's not lines, it's not seven products in this line. That line, like, that's not how wise is.
- [28:42]
Interviewer
Why did you name it Wise?
- [28:45]
Molly Sims
It came a lot from my mom. We, you know, always feel that with wise, you're gonna know something a little bit more than you did before after meeting us. And I mean, that was my mom.
- [29:01]
Interviewer
Was she wise? She was awesome.
- [29:04]
Schaefer Covet
Molly used to tell me she would still wear a face mask and have the floss on when she would visit
- [29:07]
Molly Sims
her in the hospital.
- [29:09]
Schaefer Covet
Like, she was her thing.
- [29:11]
Interviewer
I love that.
- [29:12]
Molly Sims
I think the day she died, she
- [29:13]
Interviewer
did a fucking mask. But she was just, she was the best.
- [29:23]
Molly Sims
She was just so good at making
- [29:26]
Interviewer
someone else feel good. And she just had that power. She had that.
- [29:32]
Molly Sims
And she didn't care. Excuse me. She didn't care what you looked like. She didn't care how much money you had. She'd be like, okay, here's what you're gonna do. And that is, that is the Persona of Wise, of being wise, of giving back. And I think that's the whole thing about, like the gatekeeping of it all. Like, that is the brand, you know what I mean? Like, it's having someone in your corner, it's having someone in Your corner. But also listening to them, because listen, it's. And more doesn't mean always better. I think that's like the biggest. Like, you know, we look at some of these things that are so expensive and you're like, a lot of it is just in the packaging. You know, when we really got into working with contract manufacturers and really, you know, I, I didn't actually know you could buy a formula.
- [30:32]
Interviewer
Isn't that crazy?
- [30:32]
Molly Sims
I know. I mean, we didn't know. We, we were like, okay, this is what we want. We weren'. We went to beauty school. Like we were going to be. We didn't even know. Like, you know, and then. But then I would be like. She was like, oh, you have to have a vitamin C. I'm like, oh, there's so many amazing vitamin C's on the market. Like, I don't even know. And I go. And she was like, yeah, but think a little deeper about it. And then when I thought about it, I'm like, a lot of people don't wear vitamin C in the morning because it peels underneath their makeup.
- [30:55]
Interviewer
Yeah. And you said it smell like hot dog.
- [30:57]
Molly Sims
It smells like hot dog. And then it's sticky and it's tacky. And it's the same thing with the eye cream. Women want to wear an eye cream. Women want to wear vitamin C. It's the number one thing for brightening. But all the different things. And I think, you know, you guys were here today when I was trying on. On product that I'm thinking about doing that we're kind of getting down to where we've got to say yes on and what's the experience? Can you easily do it? Is it sticky? Is it tacky? Can you, like, what is it going to serve? What is it going to do? What can it do for me in 10 minutes? And it's not just, oh, my God, these are great raws, great clinicals, great. But, like, how does it make you feel? It's. That's part of how we look at every single product we, we come out with.
- [31:47]
Interviewer
It's actually the difference of the brands that are successful when they just know their customer so well and every decision you make is with their shared values in mind. It's what makes.
- [31:57]
Molly Sims
It's interesting because when you reinvent the pad. No pad, the brightening pad. I know everyone and their mother is copying right now, which is super flattering, but what sets the. Your favorite expads, Our number one skew. What sets us up? We just had another brand launch and I'M like, no, no, that's still old school. You're still trying to, like, damage the skin. You're stripping it. Yeah, dripping that skin. That, that is pads. Our pad is stripping, Brightening. Stripping, brightening, cushioning. Stripping, brightening, cushioning. You got a cushion. Because if you don't cushion, you look raw. And it's still that same kind of like a facial in a day. Or like you're like, that's, that's not the point of it. That's the reason why I started. I loved biologic recherche P50, 1970. It was terrible for me. It would strip, it would make me dry, it would make me red. It would just, I would be on
- [32:55]
Schaefer Covet
fire to me, by the way, for the first time. And I go, are you trying to poison make.
- [32:59]
Molly Sims
Destroyed my skin. It was amazing. It was amazing. Until it wasn't. It was a great product until it wasn't. But I took all those learnings. I'm like, I can't be on fire. But yeah, I think it's really taking into like, how you want, like, just again, more is not better. Oh, let's just do it. Let's just do appeal every week. Like, you cannot do that.
- [33:20]
Interviewer
But it was. Are those the names that people don't like? Because I love your favorite act.
- [33:24]
Schaefer Covet
It was more so like, not in Cocktail.
- [33:26]
Molly Sims
We love Morning.
- [33:29]
Schaefer Covet
We just love.
- [33:30]
Molly Sims
They didn't want, they just had never seen names like this before.
- [33:33]
Schaefer Covet
They're not going to take you seriously.
- [33:35]
Molly Sims
Yeah, they, they, this is the best thing. Yeah, yeah. They're not going to take you serious.
- [33:39]
Interviewer
But it's like, I feel like this is like, you're, like, you should have been like, I know I'm on to something because I've only seen this story be played a hundred times before in my life.
- [33:48]
Schaefer Covet
I know, but they wound up to it. Everyone got a little bit better. But like, Molly, like, specifically definitely was, like, fighting for it because she goes, these are fun and what they want, what people want. Gen X shouldn't have all the fun. Sorry. Gen Z shouldn't have all the fun. There should be Fun packaging for 35.
- [34:05]
Interviewer
We're even talking about this crazy lacrosse tournament you're going to next week and you're already talking about, in terms of, like, how fun it's going to be, how crazy it's going to be to
- [34:13]
Molly Sims
have a good mindset. There's 100 fields, Camille. Yeah, I mean, listen, I, I, I think, you know, but find fun where you are. Like, find fun where you are, but you also have to have a strong sense, you have to have a strong sense of. Because a lot of people are like, those names are weird. I'm like, and I don't care.
- [34:36]
Schaefer Covet
You gotta take a risk.
- [34:37]
Molly Sims
You gotta take a risk. That's. If I could give anybody advice.
- [34:40]
Schaefer Covet
Take a risk.
- [34:40]
Molly Sims
But to me, like, this is great
- [34:41]
Interviewer
marketing because it makes you feel like it evokes emotion. It's storytelling.
- [34:45]
Molly Sims
Like, when you pick it up, you like, you. Your.
- [34:49]
Interviewer
You're. You're going somewhere. When you see your products, you feel like you're like you're in on the joke. Like, you feel like a part of it. But I mean, you know, formulators, you know, aren't typically also the marketing department, so. So, I mean, we can leave that there.
- [35:05]
Molly Sims
It's different strings.
- [35:06]
Schaefer Covet
Yeah.
- [35:06]
Interviewer
What has shocked you the most about owning a beauty brand?
- [35:15]
Molly Sims
I didn't think I would be in every vertical. I think I'm, you know, it's great. You know, we're both incredible marketers. That's our superpowers. Creativity, marketing, you know, ops. Getting something, even though, you know, just bringing, you know, this to life. I'd never done it. I was always on the end of just holding it up, being the model I'd never thought an idea of, like, oh, I'd like to create a gel exfoliating that will, you know, like, that has no package, no name, no, like, from nothing. That was the hardest part. But I think being in every vertical I went, I always say I, like, almost went back to Harvard Business School because I now had to, you know, I know ebitda, I know a P and L. Like, I didn't know any. I'm not great with an Excel. She's much better. But I think being involved in the verticals, I think this year, that's my goal. As you know, we got the money. And kind of where I see myself, like, I think in the beginning, it's because we. We've done so extremely well, and I'm so blessed at that. But with that came a lot of, like, whack a mole. Like, okay, okay, we ran out of this. Okay, so what? How can we get it? But, like, it's. It's. And I know there's always going to be problem solving, and I know there's always going to be. But, like, the erraticness, the. I don't know, like, that has been hard, the pivoting and it not working because doesn't work sometimes, right?
- [36:48]
Schaefer Covet
Like, we're about to launch a product and then they say the day before, can't do it anymore. And we're like, oh, okay.
- [36:53]
Molly Sims
Everything we just worked on for three weeks is gone. Right? So we had that happen. We had a. Our Wide Awake that just relaunched with the new shade extensions. We sold it out in two and a half weeks and didn't have any inventory for eight months. So it was like, you know, you think, oh my God, it's sold out, but it's actually not. It means you're poorly run is actually what it means. But yeah, I think that's the hardest part, I think for me, taking a step back and really focusing on like my superpower. And like, I'm good with pd, I'm good with marketing, but like I have to have, you know, the rest really run. And I have a great team. And so I feel in that way we're kind of growing up. You know, Mama doesn't need to be micromanaging everything.
- [37:44]
Interviewer
It's kind of, it's crazy. But you're also so involved as well.
- [37:47]
Molly Sims
I am involved. If I'm micromanaging, you know, she will say it's not going well. Yeah, it's not going. It's not. I want to rethink something. When she'll interview something and she's like, like, listen, you feel like you need to be. It's not gonna go well. I really do try to hire people who have a point of view, who work really hard, who can be independent. Like, you don't want me, you don't want me in there, do you?
- [38:21]
Interviewer
Like, from my understanding of what producing is, it's, it's like being a CEO, right? Like you're overseeing all the different projects. Do you feel like that was a translatable skill into owning a product based business?
- [38:33]
Molly Sims
Yes. I feel like I'm a line producer. Because you have all the different hair and makeup, costume, wardrobe, lighting, art department, marketing, like budget, you know, it's. It's the same. Which is harder and which was funny because when I, a year ago I got, I actually hired a line producer, but I kept calling it a line producer and everyone was like, what's a line producer? I'm like someone who tracks everything from start to finish and then postmortems that it's called a line producer in our business, but I didn't know how. Anyway, I have an incredible line producer now. Her name is Angelique. But yeah, making sure we're on task, making sure every department talks to the project manager, quote, line producer, to make things come to life. Because you have the ops part of it. We call them the dream Killers. And then we have marketing. We card them, the dream makers, the dream whisperers. And, you know, it's somewhere in the
- [39:32]
Interviewer
middle, which is harder. Producing a movie, running a beauty brand.
- [39:38]
Molly Sims
You know, I think with producing, it's amazing because you kind of. Kind of like a product or a brand. You. You see it literally come to life when someone sits. I was in on a pitch yesterday with a very famous writer, Lucy Foley, who I'm obsessed with. If you ever loved thriller, she came to see me with Gabby. And, you know, to have an author's, you know, words in a book that you've loved, and then to see it, you know, four years later come to life, it's really rewarding. Cool. The only thing with producing, I think for me, that I have more control with a brand. You do have to kind of let up with producing because ultimately it's the director, it's their vision, and you kind of have to have. You have to have a little bit of a hands off and a little bit of like, let's see what you're gonna do.
- [40:39]
Interviewer
So you produce around the director's vision.
- [40:43]
Molly Sims
I mean, I'm really respectful of a director and their vision. I mean, I hope my vision is in there, but it's really. You have to kind of let your baby go and start to. To crawl and then to walk. And it's a little bit like that in a brand. It's just. You can still have control. A lot of times, you know, you don't get the actor, you don't get the setting, you don't get the house, you don't get the budget. Like, there's a lot of things that play a little bit like a brand. But I think with producing, you really want to have a director and a partner in it that you feel really good with because it's ultimately going to be their vision come to life.
- [41:20]
Interviewer
Cool. Cool. Yeah.
- [41:23]
Molly Sims
Yeah. Thank you.
- [41:24]
Interviewer
You're the best. I want to wrap up with some like. Like.
- [41:28]
Molly Sims
But.
- [41:28]
Interviewer
Yeah. Yes. But also, like, mindset that you live
- [41:32]
Molly Sims
with, like your gut. Trust your gut and it. And I really mean this in the best way. Like, you're gonna have a lot of things come at you, and one, at one point, it is going to be your decision, and you have to be that north star. You have to make everyone in your company feel like you. It. There were so many times when people would say, oh, she's always in a bad mood, where, you know, or she looks so pissed off, or she crying in her office. Like, I think I didn't. It's like being a mom. I didn't want to worry the children, but at the same time, you know, I'm off budget by $500,000.
- [42:13]
Interviewer
Yeah.
- [42:13]
Molly Sims
Or I'm not going to get the funding because I thought I was getting a two million dollar loan. And ultimately it's against your product. So you're really only getting a $300,000. Those. Look, I have an incredible partner. I have an incredible husband. This isn't my first rodeo, but the lack of a better word, the balls you have to have. You better giddy up, because people be like, I. I will not name this person. Very big brand came to see me. This was about. This was about February. So I launched in April. About three months before I launched. I was looking for a general manager to help me run it. I'd taken it, you know, as far as I could take it, and I needed help. And this woman came so highly recommended, and she literally asked me for 10% of my company.
- [43:16]
Interviewer
Mm.
- [43:18]
Molly Sims
And I know she thought I was gonna do it because I was so desperate. I was like, moving on. You know, you have to have, like, the best piece of advice. Surround yourself with really good people. I think the finance, if I look back, if I go back two and a half years ago, I have an incredible fractional cfo. His name's Carter Hammond. He is incredible. Having that peace, not having that peace fully was not great, because you. I love to do a lot of things, but it doesn't mean I should having accountability. Having someone be like, okay, Jasmine, or okay, Camille, that's great that you want to do that, but that's going to cost you $52,000. So in order to do that, you're going to have to make 152,000 for it to work. So really, like, making the decisions, not from, like, oh, my God, I love it.
- [44:19]
Interviewer
Yeah.
- [44:20]
Molly Sims
You know, you kind of grow up, you start to. But I think that piece has been really, really instrumental. I always say you can have an idea, but you do need that finance person to help you bring it to light, keep you on task, and make sure you don't run out of money. I mean, there's a lot of times I'm like, oh, my God, I'm going to run out of money. I was told that I could start this business for $750,000, and it was 2.2.
- [44:52]
Interviewer
But you did it, right?
- [44:54]
Molly Sims
I did. Listen, I think the product is great, like, branding money, like, that matters. I did the clinicals when everyone and their mother told me not to spend money on A clinical. So if you're doing a clinical on a product, so let's say it's last call Retinol serum, it costs between 30 and $50,000 per product, per clinical run. And a lot of times if you get the formula, you have some clinicals built in, but once you start adding in your raws that you want to make it to what you want, then you've got to run your own clinicals and they are very pricey. So you're looking at, you know, five, six products, you know, 50,000, like it's, it really adds up.
- [45:44]
Interviewer
Yeah.
- [45:45]
Molly Sims
And then, you know, but your, but
- [45:47]
Interviewer
your community can trust you.
- [45:48]
Molly Sims
They can trust me. And that was, I think, the big thing that you go back to the it girl. You go back to like, oh my God, that little girl is like, I don't know if I don't want them. I don't know if they're going to believe me. Like, that also kind of like why I did. I know it sounds really weird, but like that's also why I did the clinicals. Because I'm like, because everybody was like, oh, you should just call on a Molly Sims brand. I'm like, this isn't a Molly Sims brand. This is a brand. This is not a Molly Sims brand. She uses it, she loves it, she likes it. It's better than me, but it's more than me. And I think that played very heavily into the clinicals. And I also wanted to know, to be honest with you, and I needed to have the clinicals. I'm like, like, I think it works, but I'm like, I need 30 women, four weeks to sit down every single day. I mean, listen, I have my core group of people. That's kind of how it all started. I would put boxes of, you know, product to all my girls and they would give me feedback. But having me out of it was really important for my community to believe me. This is what it's going to do for you.
- [46:49]
Interviewer
But that's the same reason of also why you did the podcast. Like you did it. It's not for you, it's for these women. It's why you have your production company. You were creating, what was the line that you said, like hilarious movies for
- [47:02]
Molly Sims
creating stories that matter with women at the center. Yeah, it's important. It's important to, you know, I think even if you're 10, I have a 10 year old. Or even if you're 20, or even if you're 30, even if you're 50, people want to feel like They're a part of something. They want to feel like they're in the game.
- [47:27]
Interviewer
Yeah.
- [47:28]
Molly Sims
And a lot of us don't. A lot of us, you know, oh, my God. You get married or you get engaged, then you get married, then you have. Are you gonna have a baby? Are you not gonna have a baby? Then you get divorced. Like, it's just sometimes life can get in the way.
- [47:44]
Interviewer
Yeah.
- [47:45]
Molly Sims
And I think it can be really hard if you don't have that community. We last year lost our entire community. I live in the Pacific Palisades. And it was just a good lesson of, like, how important. Investing in your community. And that's what I say about when women are like, do you have good girlfriends? I have good girlfriends because they're good to me, but I'm also good to them. I invest in the bank. It's not just. Just, oh, I did I want to go to dinner last night? I did not. But this woman who has been with me on a journey, she's 72 years old. I love her. She's like, I put this. And I'm like, you know what? I will be there. She's like, we're eating at six o'.
- [48:31]
Interviewer
Clock.
- [48:31]
Molly Sims
I'm like, I'm in Pasadena. But making. Because guess what? When you need it, they will be there for you. And it's a really big lesson for women who. It takes time to make friends. It takes time to invest in them. But let me tell you, it. It definitely pays off. I mean, my friends, even on this journey of wise and, you know, being a mom, have really. Because it's not always been easy. I lost both my parents in the past five years. I've had some medical issues. You know, there's.
- [49:11]
Interviewer
It's your house.
- [49:12]
Molly Sims
Yeah, we lost our house. It's been over a year now, and it seemed like it's yesterday, but that community, that village, is super important.
- [49:20]
Interviewer
Yeah. I mean, totally being a part of something. I think you like. Have you read Dahl Miller how to Build a Story Brand? It's actually a fantastic book, but you understand it intuitively. And the idea is that the best stories is that the customer is the hero and you are the guide. And everything that you have done, you are the ultimate guide. And you are, like, guiding that woman that she is the hero. And you're helping her, you know, have a great laugh, you know, like, understand, like, what women are doing, breaking down protein and then giving them products and make them feel happy.
- [49:54]
Molly Sims
I think for me, I always lead and I always ask myself, like, what's My why? Like, why am I doing it? You know, I got broken up with really bad a couple times, but one, I thought I was going to marry him. Clearly my favorite ex. Your favorite X. But it's. I don't know. It's just, like, always kind of looking at things like, what's my why? Why didn't I go back? Why am I going to do this? Why am I going to start a brand? Why do I need to. What is the why? Yeah, and I think if you kind of, you know, I'm not a. I don't meditate. I don't journal, but I do dig deep in those ways that people don't see. I want to. I want to learn. I'm a Gemini. I can't meditate, but I can't be quiet. I'm, like, too talkative. Like, I'll, like, pretend. I'll close my eyes. I'm like, okay, I'm not going to talk. And then I'm like, I can't not talk. I'm like, what is happening? I get a lot done in the shower, but. Yeah. What's your why? It's a big thing. It's a big thing for me.
- [50:55]
Interviewer
It is. I mean, it's. I feel like it's what's propelled you to have an incredible life. You constantly keep pushing that. Why.
- [51:02]
Molly Sims
Yeah, but I also, you know, what am I gonna do? Go to a country club and, like, play tennis all day?
- [51:10]
Interviewer
There's way less Molly Sims than there are of. Of any other type. You are a wire breed.
- [51:15]
Molly Sims
I want to go to the country club. I want to learn to play tennis again.
- [51:20]
Interviewer
Yeah, but, like, you're. I mean, they look at your schedule
- [51:22]
Molly Sims
like, yeah, no, I know.
- [51:24]
Interviewer
Maybe at 80.
- [51:25]
Molly Sims
I know.
- [51:26]
Interviewer
Can't probably be launching another brand by then. Or. Again, this was awesome.
- [51:30]
Molly Sims
Does everybody know that how I found Camille? So I am actually not. I know I have a very pretty big social presence, but I don't love social media. I don't. I've never. I envy how much you love breaking something down, but the reason why I found you was because you would post mortem things, and I'm always interested in, like, okay, did it work? How did it work and why? Yeah, that's how I found you. And you did this whole postmortem on this. This campaign, and I was like, that was so spot on. And if you were very specific on, you know, again, you weren't. You were just. You were just being honest of like, okay, this worked. This didn't. But it was so thoughtful. And I was like, I wonder what she would think about my brand. Like, if you can break it down, like, that's how I found you. Anyway, it doesn't matter. Well, and I would start like, then I would screenshot, and you're like, don't do this, don't do that, don't do this. I'm like, I do that.
- [52:41]
Interviewer
But it's like the best. It's the best way to find your shared values person. I know because it's like it. It allows me to. I have the best job in the world because the only people I work with are people that align with of my mindset.
- [52:54]
Molly Sims
Why's your sunk in love your brand?
- [52:55]
Interviewer
I'm a cancer. But I'm a cancer Gemini. I'm a cusper.
- [52:59]
Molly Sims
I'm a cusper. I'm the cusp of cancer.
- [53:01]
Interviewer
Wait, When's your birthday?
- [53:02]
Molly Sims
May 25th.
- [53:03]
Interviewer
I'm June 22nd. Yeah, so we're on the. The opposite. But I. I love your cancer rising. Is it rising?
- [53:11]
Molly Sims
Cancer rising?
- [53:12]
Interviewer
I don't know. All I know is that I'm.
- [53:14]
Molly Sims
I'm very much a Gemini.
- [53:16]
Interviewer
Are you?
- [53:16]
Molly Sims
Oh, my God.
- [53:17]
Interviewer
So there's very much two sides.
- [53:19]
Molly Sims
There's like nine sides. Yeah. Yeah. But I'm in it. You'll always know where you stand with me. You'll never not know. I always hate when I don't know where I stand with someone. It always bothers me. Or like, I hate when someone says, I really need to talk to you.
- [53:36]
Interviewer
Just do it now.
- [53:38]
Molly Sims
Like, get it done now. I'm like, we can't put on that. I'm the worst with that. That's like one of my biggest pet peeves are when someone can't buy you coffee or. I don't know. I was on a. I didn't really date, and they're like, do you want to split the bill? I'm like, no, I'll just buy you dinner, you idiot.
- [53:57]
Interviewer
Obviously, that didn't go anywhere.
- [53:59]
Molly Sims
No, it did not. I literally bought him dinner. I'm like, we're good,
- [54:05]
Interviewer
Mo. You're the best.
- [54:06]
Molly Sims
Oh, thank you for having me.
- [54:07]
Interviewer
This is awesome. What's the one product that they should try other than your favorite X, which I'm dying to hear. When this hangs up when. Who's that?
- [54:16]
Molly Sims
Skin Glow PF30. It's the best. It's a primer. It's a filter in a bottle. It blurs, it brightens, It's. It protects. It's. It's truly amazing.
- [54:25]
Interviewer
Did you walk through toy secret bash model show at 40.
- [54:29]
Molly Sims
Oh, my God. I don't know when I walked it last.
- [54:32]
Interviewer
You said that in the episode you were 40. I'm like, 40?
- [54:34]
Molly Sims
Was I 40? Maybe. I don't know.
- [54:36]
Interviewer
How many times did you watch the show?
- [54:38]
Molly Sims
I have no idea.
- [54:39]
Interviewer
Like, ballpark, like, breathed your. Four times.
- [54:41]
Molly Sims
Like, two times. I think I did it. I get mixed up with Victoria's Secrets and Sports Illustrated, so it's like, it's all like the. The blur.
- [54:52]
Interviewer
It's a blur. We don't know how many times.
- [54:54]
Molly Sims
You got me there.
- [54:54]
Interviewer
I should Google fact check that. Like, do you go, like, roughly? Like, was it roughly, like, 10 years ago? We don't know. Okay. Wow. Well, thanks for joining me, Molly.
- [55:04]
Molly Sims
Thanks for having me. That was awesome. Thanks.