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From Women’s Shelter to Vogue: EVIO Beauty Founder Talks About How She Leveraged CSR Strategy to Create a Successful Beauty Brand An Interview with EVIO Beauty’s CEO & Founder
Brandi Leifso
Level5 Strategy
An Interview with EVIO Beauty’s CEO & Founder
Brandi Leifso by Lily Hou
Brandi Leifso started a green cosmetics brand while living in a women’s shelter. Today, her company EVIO Beauty is worth millions. Level5 talked to her about her journey, the importance of female empowerment, and consumer engagement amid COVID-19. Meet Brandi, in her own words.
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BusinessWomen of Influence
In 2012 you founded a cosmetics company from a women’s shelter and today you run a multimillion-dollar company. Can you tell us about your journey, what you went through and how you got to where you are today? I originally founded Karmaface Cosmetics while I was living in the women’s shelter in 2012. It was my second time living in a shelter. The first time I was there I was less than a year old. I was certain that my adult life would look nothing like my childhood, and I was determined to change my circumstances. I was a competitive ice dancer and I was on my way to being at the Olympics. I was sure that I was going to achieve big things and create a lifestyle for myself that would be healthy. But at 21, I found myself living in a shelter and my adult life was no different than my childhood. 70% of children who grow up in abusive environments end up being abused or abusing others in their adulthood. I then started to understand this statistic better, as well as the hereditary patterns and subconscious beliefs that go into it. I had $15 in my pocket and a laptop and I started to watch YouTube videos to distract me from what was going on in real life. I taught myself how to use Photoshop and I catalogued beauty products and created a make-believe brand called Karmaface Cosmetics. I named it that because I planned to dedicate part of the proceeds to helping women in the shelter. I didn’t tell anyone that I was one of those women in the shelter. I took that photoshopped catalogue and, in a 30-minute rampage of courage, decided to present it to local boutiques. I told them that there would be a three-month turnaround time
“I planned to dedicate part of the proceeds to helping women in the shelter. I didn’t tell anyone that I was one of those women in the shelter.”
and, to my amazement, people bought it. Then I had to go through the next challenge of getting the actual product to the shelf. I made it happen with bootstrapped money while living in the shelter. I started to get on my feet and get things moving. But in July 2012, my ex-boyfriend sued me for trademark infringement because he trademarked the name Karmaface Cosmetics. So, all the products had to come off the shelf. Everything that I had built was being challenged and I had no idea where my next meal was going to come from. But I bounced back eventually. I made money doing make up for weddings and bridal parties. My agent encouraged me not to give up on having my own brand and the two of us went into business together. We quickly realized that we didn’t share the same vision. I was pedal to the metal and I had a huge belief in this venture. I had no idea where it came from and, in retrospect, maybe I was a bit naive. But I still had the sense that something big was about to occur. I wanted to constantly change the status quo because of where I came from. I wanted to break stigmas and break the statistics of people who were going through tough circumstances. I wanted to change the way the world looked at those people. I started to sell the products wholesale and I was always on the lookout for ways to be more innovative. I wanted to create a kinder, more conscious future – I wanted to accomplish more than just sell makeup. In every business, there needs to be the “why.” I wanted to contribute to society and I realized that cannabis could make us a kinder company. Hemp fibers could help us reduce the use of plastics by 40%. I thought of ways to go completely vegan by replacing beeswax. I wanted to help create a more transparent industry because the cosmetics industry is self-regulated. I started talking about cannabis to the media and a lot of people thought that I was a wild card. Cannabis at the time was still illegal, but we ended up sparking the first deal between a cosmetics company and a publicly traded marijuana producer Aurora Cannabis
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“I wanted to create a kinder, more conscious future – I wanted to accomplish more than just sell makeup. In every business, there needs to be the ‘why.’”
in 2018. It only took a few years before I went from living in a shelter to having a multi-million-dollar valuation of my company. We all use skin care products, but skin care is often considered a female category. An even more interesting twist to this is that cosmetics is a maledominated industry while females comprise the majority of consumers. What kept you going during these hard times? You obviously had a wealth of inspiration that fueled your ambitions. And, what gets you excited every morning now that you’re a successful entrepreneur? What keeps you going to keep building your business? There’s a difference between what used to keep me going when I was starting my brand and what’s driving me now through my current challenges. At first, it was the community and the kindness. It was so inspiring to see people rooting for me, wanting me to win. Many people invested in me, emotionally and financially. I wanted to prove these people right. Now, I’m motivated to prove things to myself. I’ll know 4
that I’ve accomplished this goal when no one wants to talk about my story anymore because it will no longer be an anomaly. It will be when the people who experience the same challenges as I have – domestic violence and negative hereditary patterns – are able to achieve the same level of success. I think I’ll always feel like I have to get over the impostor syndrome – which I don’t think is a bad thing necessarily. I think it has kept me humble, strong and thriving for more. Once I started succeeding, I realized how much inner work this was. I think that, in the early stage of my career, I experienced lots of superficial success. I reached a point where I thought, “OK, I got my first million so, why am I not happy?” I want to continue to prove myself to the people who have stuck with me through the ebbs and flows, including an incredible team that I’m grateful for. That’s what keeps me going: self-fulfilling success. How are you able to find ‘self-fulfilling success’ as you call it? I thought that when Vogue writes about us, or when we’re in the NY Times, or when the first million lands
BusinessWomen of Influence
“We all use skin care products, but skin care is often considered a female category. An even more interesting twist to this is that cosmetics is a male-dominated industry while females comprise the majority of consumers.” in, I’ll be happy. I used to look at people who won the most prestigious awards in the industry and think that they had it all figured out. But then, when I won those same awards, I felt that I didn’t have anything figured out. I thought, “If those things don’t make me happy, what does?” They made me see that there was more inner work ahead of me. I don’t think that you can level up to your true potential without the hard work – and that’s my biggest fear in life: not living up to my full potential.
media outlet. It will feature content in the categories of beauty, culture and cannabis that helps us be kinder and more conscious. So, instead of saying “Here, buy this mask” we’re asking our community (which is very vocal by the way) the areas of their life where they’re looking to be kinder and more conscious. Then, we seek out experts in those areas to research and find resources that say, “This is what’s working for other people, it may work for you.” It’s our mission to help people elevate their kindness and consciousness because we’re all in this together.
Consumer engagement relies so much on blogs and social media today. It’s almost impossible to drive consumer interest and engagement without thought leadership and smart content. Where is EVIO headed in terms of consumer engagement?
The cosmetic space is changing due to COVID-19. In addition to this disruption, what else is going on in the beauty space right now and how is EVIO responding to that?
People don’t buy when they understand what you do – they buy when they feel understood. We’re now shifting gears because we never thought of ourselves as a beauty brand. We’ve always had difficulties expressing who we are to the world. We’re a collective of human beings trying to figure things out. For this reason, we’re shifting our focus to content. Our new website that’s coming out soon will feel more like a
Business in general is challenging now and no one knows for sure what’s going on. People are not leaving their houses, which is affecting the makeup industry. They’re not getting dressed up. We’re witnessing a shift to comfort while makeup and cosmetics are shifting into skin care. But this is happening as people are becoming more health conscious. This trend has been going on for a while, but COVID-19 is 5
Level5 Strategy
“There’s so much power in being female, especially in business. Makeup plays a big part in channeling that power and recognizing who you are if you choose to put it in your toolbelt. I think we need to celebrate makeup as an empowerment tool.” 6
BusinessWomen of Influence
accelerating it. Most people refer to it as a trend, but I see it as an elevation. Sephora, for example, didn’t even have a green beauty section ten years ago. But over the past decade, green beauty has gained a lot of traction. People are asking themselves, “What am I consuming?” and “Are the ingredients in these makeup products good for me?” While putting on makeup is a positive ritual for women, a negative bias persists in our society about makeup. How has EVIO been working to change that? I think that the best way to address this issue is to ask, “Who’s telling us that we’re wearing too much makeup?” Women are starting to wear makeup at an earlier age than previous generations. For women, makeup is about accessing their power and identity. Today, women tend to go for lighter makeup that isn’t as obvious. For example, I put on a little bit of mascara and a bit of concealer and it makes me feel put together. It makes me feel like I can conquer the world. It gives me the same feeling of empowerment that my partner gets from putting on a pair of Superman socks.
No one sees them, but they’re there. There’s so much power in being female, especially in business. Makeup plays a big part in channeling that power and recognizing who you are if you choose to put it in your toolbelt. I think we need to celebrate makeup as an empowerment tool. For centuries, women were expected to take on more submissive roles and take their cues from men. Now, women are claiming back that power and doing things for themselves.
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About EVIO Beauty
About Level5 Strategy
EVIO initially launched in 2014 in Vancouver, Canada as Evelyn Iona, a small batch, organic collection of natural and organic makeup. EVIO is a judgement-free zone where affordable beauty – made with good-for-you ingredients – builds community, fuelled by kindness. As an alumni of the esteemed Sephora Accelerate program, one of Chatelaine Magazine’s 2018 Women of the Year and one of 2020’s Top 25 Women of Influence, Leifso continues to lead EVIO with kindness in mind with initiatives such as the 20,000 acts of kindness for 2020 and its 1-for-1 program that donates product for every product purchased to organizations that support the underdog, such as Woodgreen’s Homeward Bound.
Level5 Strategy is a leading strategy and transformation consulting firm that helps our clients achieve profitable growth and a superior ROI by leveraging the power of their brand. We focus on four distinct yet interconnected core services: Insights, Strategy, Transformation and Customer Experience. Since our inception in 2002, Level5 Strategy has partnered with over 300 clients across B2B, B2C, government and not-for-profit sectors in Canada, the U.S. and other parts of the globe to navigate their most critical challenges and opportunities and to build and execute practical strategies that convert decisions into actions.
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