Empowering Diversity: Michelle Lee's Journey in Beauty

Tune into this vulnerable conversation between Sarah, Sabrina, and the *goat* of the beauty industry, Michelle Lee. Discover how Michelle’s vision is reshaping beauty standards and challenging industry norms. This episode will get into:

• Michelle’s early career to her current role now as founder of Monologue
• Growing confidence in yourself as a woman of color in the workforce
• Understanding the challenges in the beauty industry and why they’re falling short
• The importance of DEI in the workplace and media
• Learning the why behind the Voices of Beauty Summit and what to expect

Thank you for listening and thank you Michelle for joining us this episode! Stay tuned for the next Full Stack Beauty episode and follow @LandingInternational and @ClearForMe.

Interested in attending the Voices of Beauty Summit? Use code FULLSTACK20 to save 20% off your ticket purchase! Visit voicesofbeautysummit.com and apply at checkout.

About Michelle:

Michelle Lee is the founder of Monologue, a marketing/PR agency for beauty and lifestyle brands. A 2021 Adcolor Legend, she was VP of Global Editorial & Publishing at Netflix and Editor in Chief of Allure. Michelle won Adweek’s 2017 Editor of the Year for Allure's groundbreaking moments, such as the 2017 This Is American Beauty cover featuring Halima Aden in a hijab and for committing to ban the term “anti-aging.” She previously served as Editor in Chief and CMO of NYLON and as a Scout for Sequoia Capital and is currently a Board Member at Gold House, advisor to Provenance investments, and writes the beauty Substack "Go Ahead, Try Me."

Follow Michelle at @heymichellelee

Learn more about Monologue at https://www.hellomonologue.com/

[00:00] Catching up

[09:17] Introducing Michelle’s background and the Voices of Beauty Summit

[17:14] Welcoming Michelle to the Podcast

[22:08] How Michelle got started with her career and where she is now

[26:14] Learning Michelle’s vision of breaking down outdated beauty standards within the beauty industry

[31:15] Michelle shares her impact on the AAPI community at Allure

[33:00] Getting people to think that every decision you make is an important one

[35:05] How Michelle’s perception of herself shifted as she gained confidence through her career

[38:39] Why the best teams have a little tension and the importance of having different opinions

[39:40] How does Michelle view the beauty industry today and where the industry is missing the mark

[41:23] Why it’s so important to hire more women and people of color in executive positions

[42:30] Michelle’s parenting advice as a mom with 3 kids and her IVF journey

[46:40] The value of having open communication with your kids

[50:00] Wrapping up and talking more about how the Voices of Beauty Summit started

[52:51] Sarah and Sabrina share their quotes for the episode