Jessica Le on Sustainable Scaling, Subscription Models, and Clean Beauty Innovation

As a part of our series about “Five Things You Need To Know To Succeed In The Modern Beauty Industry”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Jessica Le.

Jessica Le’s story is the quintessential American Dream: Originally from Vietnam and educated with a medical background, she came to the United States with a drive to succeed. Through her passion for beauty and driven by an entrepreneurial spirit, Jessica became a business owner, then pioneered a flourishing lash franchise operation with several hundred stores across the nation before acquiring four patents for her novel cosmetic inventions. Jessica has been a disruptor in the beauty industry for over 15 years, but this year, her newest venture was born: VIC, a premium beauty brand named after her youngest daughter Victoria. From skincare and makeup to upcoming wellness and hair care products, Jessica creates premium products without the premium price tag. She has always been a natural visionary with high expectations and a strong sense of generosity, doing good, and lifting others. Her goal is to make luxury beauty products — crafted with the highest standards of innovation and formulation — accessible to all. Being a female entrepreneur, she is passionate about supporting women and helping them reach their personal and professional goals.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I have always tried to learn as much as possible to put myself in a good position to be successful. During the early 2000s, I recognized that healthcare was a booming industry and went to school to train to be an echocardiogram and vascular technician. While this was a very rewarding career, I knew my real passion was beauty so I earned a degree in Cosmetology. I started a small business that grew to become a franchise, Amazing Lash Studios, and I have never looked back!

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

My most interesting story since I began my career is that I developed a clean beauty brand in honor of my daughter. My daughter, Victoria, is only 7 years old right now and she is who I named my company after. She has so much potential and I truly see myself in her which has inspired me to develop clean beauty products. I want to make sure I am developing products that are top quality and effective and will benefit the next generation, for my daughter. I want her to know that she has an option to use products that not only benefit her skin and body but also are environmentally safe, for her future.

Are you able to identify a “tipping point” in your career when you started to see success? Did you start doing anything different? Are there takeaways or lessons that others can learn from that?

I started a small lash extension business, Amazing Lash Studio, because I knew this was something women wanted and I knew there was a better way to do it. The tipping point was the introduction of the subscription-based model. This was a win-win for both the customer and the stylist. The customer got an economical, consistent lash treatment and the stylist was able to have a dependable clientele as the customer would return each month. I think the lesson here is to look at opportunities from all perspectives. With this model, we were able to better service our customers while providing a more consistent revenue model for the stylists.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person to whom you are grateful who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

The biggest help that I received was not from a person but a service; I actually owe a lot of my early success to Groupon. I ran an offer in Groupon and the results were overwhelming; the success of this program showed me that we had a tiger by the tail. Women wanted my services and it was my job to figure out a way to satisfy the demand. Franchising became the solution and the rest is history!

Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion. The global beauty industry today has grown to more than a half a trillion dollar business. Can you tell us about the innovations that you are bringing to the industry? How do you think that will help people?

The beauty industry is constantly evolving, and so is VIC. We help people with an inside-out holistic- health beauty approach. This all starts with our innovative packaging that is eco-friendly and our products are made with sustainable ingredients. We are helping future generations by providing clean beauty. This ensures our customers feel secure about what they are purchasing, no guilt attached.

Can you share 3 things that most excite you about the modern beauty industry?

1. Clean beauty isn’t just a trend for the VIC brand. I am excited to see big companies follow in our footsteps by prioritizing clean beauty in their business practices.

2. Environmental stewardship is a topic that excites me because we are seeing businesses continue to have a customer-first-focus, and now prioritizing environmental practices closely with that. VIC prioritizes its sustainability initiatives and uses sustainable ingredients in our products. An example of this is that our products include the botanically-derived ingredient, squalane, which contains benefits for all skin types.

3. Inclusivity is something that has always and will continue to be an integral part of VIC. I am excited to see more companies implementing diversity and inclusion initiatives into their businesses, as VIC has always strived to hire diversely.

Can you share 3 things that most concern you about the industry? If you had the ability to implement 3 ways to improve the industry, what would you suggest?

1. Mass production of non-EWG certified products is one of the biggest concerns and challenges in the beauty industry, especially when it comes to competition. Big beauty stores continue to sell products with a lack of consumer knowledge on whether or not a product is environmentally friendly or if they test on animals, so transparency with the customer is not apparent.

2. Along with the first point, another concern is toxicity when it comes to many beauty products. Beauty products that are non-EWG certified or that don’t have sustainable packaging are harmful to the environment and create more pollution in the world.

3. Companies that value revenue more than what is going to benefit their customers are a large concern in the beauty industry. Company leaders need to be forward-thinking and focus on long-term goals instead of having a short-term drive for revenue.

You are an expert about beauty. Can you share a few ideas that anyone can use “to feel beautiful”?

First of all, no matter what race, ethnicity, age, religion or other diverse background, every woman is beautiful. Beauty is all about self-assurance and self-confidence, from the inside out; you can gain these by taking care of yourself and by nurturing your heart, mind, body and soul. Everyone should have a list of positive affirmations — some examples: I am beautiful, I am healthy, I am confident, I am valued, I am worthy — and should look in the mirror each day and say these affirmations out loud to yourself. You should take time to gain a deeper understanding of yourself by asking yourself who you are, what you want and what makes you unique. By doing this, you will be able to make meaningful choices that matter to you when it comes to product choices and other important options.

Here is the main question for our discussion. Based on your experience and success, Can you please share “Five Things You Need To Know To Succeed In The Modern Beauty Industry”. Please share a story or an example, for each.

1. You need to be passionate: When I started my first business, Amazing Lash Studios, I had a lot of passion behind what I was doing because women were excited that I was offering a better way to do lash extensions. When that business grew large enough for me to franchise, it ignited my passion to start today’s independent beauty brand, VIC. I never gave up on the pursuit of my dream because there was always something I was passionate about in the process of building my businesses.

2. You need to have authenticity: Our team stays true to our mission, which is to support and empower women with resources, education and inspiration to help them discover and celebrate their own beauty in order to live out their very best life. By being authentic and true to your intentions, your company will flourish.

3. You need to have strong ethical values and integrity: VIC was born and has grown in California, and our company has a manufacturing facility in Los Angeles. I am intimately involved with each process of production, from product sourcing to quality control, and I think every business owner should be just as involved in their company.

4. You need to have knowledge about the beauty industry: If you are a beauty brand, you should know the beauty industry inside and out. It is one thing to simply be selling products in this space; you should have extensive knowledge about trends and innovations in the industry so that you can be well-informed and resourceful when making executive decisions.

5. You need to have a commitment to clean beauty: Clean beauty is something that is here to stay. If you want to succeed in the beauty industry, you should be making an effort to adopt clean and sustainable practices when it comes to your products.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

If I could inspire a movement that would bring the most good to the most people, I would want to create a worry-free community where everyone feels safe, included and nurtured. One of VIC’s most important strategic pillars is giving back to the community, and we do this by donating a percentage of our business to charities that support education initiatives for women and children. We are driven to give back because we have seen the impact and difference that it can make in a community.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

My favorite life lesson quote is “Never give up on your dreams because anything is possible.” As an immigrant to the United States, I wanted to create a successful business but initially didn’t know how to do that in a country I was not familiar with. Through a lot of hard work, courage and dedication to my business, I was able to learn more about U.S. culture and created my own American Dream through entrepreneurship.

How can our readers follow you online?

Vicbeautybrand.com

Instagram: @vicbeautyofficial

Facebook: @VICBeautyOfficial

Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational.