Glossy : ambition, beauty, and the inside story of Emily Weiss's Glossier

Glossy Ambition, beauty, and the inside story of Emily Weiss's Glossier

Marisa Meltzer, 1977-

Book - 2023

"Called "one of the most disruptive brands in beauty" by Forbes, Glossier revolutionized the beauty industry with its sophisticated branding and unique approach to influencer marketing, almost instantly making the company a juggernaut with rabid fans lining up for a chance to buy its coveted products. It also taught a generation of business leaders how to talk to Millennial and Gen Z customers and build a cult following online. At the center of the story lies Emily Weiss, the elusive former Teen Vogue "Superintern" on the reality show The Hills turned Into the Gloss beauty blogger who had the vision, guts, and searing ambition needed to launch Glossier. She cannily turned every meeting into an opportunity to fuel he...r own personal success. Together with her signature style and singular vision for the future of consumerism, she could not be stopped. Just how did a young woman from suburban Connecticut with no real job experience work her way into the bathrooms of the most influential names in the world and build that access into a $1.8 billion business? Is she solely responsible for its success? And why, eight years after her start, at the seeming height of Glossier mania, did she step down? In Glossy, journalist and author Marisa Meltzer weaves together in-depth interviews with former Glossier employees, investors, and Weiss herself to bring you inside the walls of this fascinationg and secretive company. From fundraising to product launches to unconventional hiring practices, Meltzer exposes the inner workings of Glossier's culture, culminating in the story of Weiss herself. The Devil Wears Prada for the Bad Blood generation, Glossy is not only a gripping portrait of one of the most important business leaders of Weiss's time but also a chronicle of an era" --

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Subjects
Weiss, Emily > (Businesswoman)
Beauty, Personal.
Businesswomen > Biography.
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / E-Commerce / Digital Marketing.
Biographies.
Genres
Biographies
Published
New York : One Signal Publishers/Atria, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc 2023.
Language
English
Main Author
Marisa Meltzer, 1977- (author)
Edition
First One Signal Publishers/Atria Books hardcover edition
Physical Description
vi, 293 pages ; 22 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 275-293).
ISBN
9781982190606
  • The Crosby
  • Part 1. The Superintern
  • Part 2. The Makeover
  • Part 3. The Last Girlboss
  • Spring Street
  • Author's Note
  • Acknowledgments
  • Notes
Review by Booklist Review

Delivering behind-the-scenes intel makes a business book engaging. Glossy shares the writer's experiences gleaning information as well as stories both positive and negative from company insiders at the popular cosmetics company, Glossier. The result covers both the process of developing, funding, and operating a successful business and the ups and downs of the personalities behind the work. The impact of a variety of do's and don'ts, including the benefit of nurturing contacts, the importance of time to think and innovate, the willingness to change, and the need to be intentional in establishing company culture, is vividly portrayed. The writing, representing more than a decade of interviews, sheds light on considerations such as sharing power and building trust during transitions. Efforts to document a final take-away on the evolution of a leader are frustrated by an experience so internalized it cannot be readily articulated and that, too, is part of the lesson. Recommended as a case study of business development for business-school collections while also appealing to public-library patrons interested in a beauty and fashion tell-all.

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

By age 34, Emily Weiss had transformed a beauty blog, Into the Gloss, into a startup cosmetics company, Glossier, with a billion-dollar valuation. As journalist Meltzer (This Is Big) chronicles in this perceptive corporate history, Weiss herself was something of a rarity, a female CEO who received $100 million in Series D funding from Sequoia Capital (the venture capital firm behind Apple, Google, and Zoom) in 2019, a year when less than 2% of venture capital investment went to female founders. In 2010, while working as a Vogue style assistant, Weiss began blogging every morning from 4 a.m. to 8 a.m., quickly building a large online following. Though Meltzer interviews former Glossier staff and associates, and describes the company's transition from Weiss's apartment to its corporate headquarters in Manhattan's SoHo neighborhood, readers will still find it hard to understand what inspired Sequoia Capital to bet millions on the company. Meltzer is on surer footing when conveying the allure of Glossier's product line--such as the genius of launching Boy Brow (an eyebrow pomade) during the ascendance of model Cara Delevingne, who is known for her striking brows. Lean-in--style feminists and fashionistas alike will revel in the rise of this woman-led business. (Sept.)

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Kirkus Book Review

The origin story of beauty brand Glossier and its enterprising founder. Journalist Meltzer, author of This Is Big and Girl Power, charts Emily Weiss' trajectory to industry mogul. The daughter of a shipping-company executive and a stay-at-home mom in upscale suburban Connecticut, Weiss was mature, entrepreneurial, and obsessed with fashion from a young age. In high school, she showed up for an internship at Ralph Lauren in clothes she made herself. This proactive attitude led to a stint at Teen Vogue, but even a cameo on MTV's The Hills failed to distract her from her goal of a career in fashion "with longevity." Her style blog Into the Gloss debuted in late 2010. With the help of a venture capitalist, Weiss used the blog as a launching pad for an e-commerce site featuring a few base products for the Glossier line. The line's social media "voice" became an amalgam of the specific marketing and advertising qualities Weiss wanted to spotlight. After weathering the initial product-line tweaks, she focused on promotion and strategy. Building her customer base, she ushered the luxury beauty "unicorn" to massive success with a clothing line in 2019. Weiss stepped down as CEO in 2022. Meltzer paints her subject as a shrewd, determined entrepreneur and a professional who's unwilling to discuss the details of her personal life, then or now. The tone of the book is energetic but overly gushing, spotlighting Weiss' career with a devotee's applauding admiration. Meltzer regards their ongoing relationship as "warmly professional," but the text is often overly fawning, taking on the tone of a book-length infomercial. Recounting a meeting with Weiss, the author writes, "Her confidence was striking. She seemed to always know what to say." Meltzer's subject is certainly intriguing, but many readers may wish for a more evenhanded approach. Occasionally entertaining but bloated business success story written from the cheering section. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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