Episodes

We couldn’t wait to speak with Komel Caruso, Co-Founder & Chief Growth Officer of HerMD, a comprehensive women's healthcare clinic that’s creating a safe, inclusive space for patients. We were particularly interested in HerMD’s mission in breaking the shame-cycle so often surrounding issues like menopause and sexual health. Komel founded HerMD with her sister Somi, inspired by their mother’s experience of being repeatedly dismissed by doctors when she was experiencing pain. While Somi had experi...

As far as Health Innovators go, Ron Robinson has cemented his place in the ever-shifting beauty landscape as a go-to-guy for all things skincare. He created BeautyStat first as a blog, and now as a successful skincare line. Along with BeautyStat, Ron has a social media following where he helps his audience navigate which ingredients work and which ones don’t. But looking back, Ron tells us his career journey wasn’t always a given to those who knew him from the beginning. Growing up, there were ...

We are so excited to be diving deeper into the Health Innovations theme with Dr. Jennifer Linder, board certified dermatologist, Mohs Skin Care Surgeon and founder of Linder Health. As a military kid, Dr. Linder was keenly aware that life can change in an instant, so she learned how to adapt. Science became a huge part of her life, leading her to study engineering in college which scratched a problem-solving itch. The next piece of the puzzle was helping people. Well, living people… Dr. Linder ...

We couldn’t think of a better way to kick off our Health Innovations Series than with Alan D. Widgerow, Chief Scientific Officer at Galderma and Head of Innovation at Alastin Skincare. Alan began his career in South Africa, where he was in private practice for over 20 years. He is currently Division Chief of Research at UC Irvine Medical Center and it’s evident from speaking with him that his passion lies in the laboratory. But interestingly enough, he might have never ended up there if not for ...

We know and love our latest guest Ian Michael Crumm from his podcast BeautyCurious, so we couldn’t wait to dig into the career journey of this esthetician and fellow podcaster. Ian first took an interest in skincare as a teen when, struggling with his own skincare concerns he sought out the help of a dermatologist and eventually subscribed to an online dermatologist’s journal. Ian started an “online journal” of his own in high school when he began blogging. By the time Ian was in college, his li...

Growing up in a family restaurant, Giovanni Vaccaro was accustomed to the hospitality industry, but at a young age he realized that he was destined for a different type of hospitality. An experience at a hair salon watching the transformation women underwent in the chairs from slouching to smiling after a beauty treatment left him feeling that this was a world he needed to be a part of. While Gio knew where he wanted to be, how to get there was a different story. Gio tells us of a moment that c...

Most kids dread going to get their first haircut. There’s usually a bribe involved, maybe some tears, definitely a worn-out stylist by the end of it all. Ian Mayer-Marszalek, Lead Colorist & National Corporate Trainer for Schwarzkopf Professional on the other hand, looks back on those childhood trips to the salon fondly. Ian remembers feeling special sitting in that chair, like he had found a place he fit right in, knowing this was something he wanted to be a part of. Ian was a natural at beaut...

When Kia Ragland says she has “the perfect eye”, she’s not kidding. Kia has been tested for nuances in the way her eyes detect color, and it should come as no surprise that the Director of Product Development at Kylie Cosmetics is a shade above the crowd when it comes to spotting the differences in say, Ruby Woo and Dior 999. Kia tells us she got into the beauty game early on, but it was slightly out of necessity. As a bi-racial woman in a predominantly white area, she learned how to do her own...

When Makeup Artist and On-Air Beauty Expert Neil Scibelli says that he feels like he has already lived several lifetimes, we can understand why: from hosting a radio show in 3rd grade, auditioning for Tony Bennett in junior high school, to talking his way into a job at Fresh Skin Care- he has clearly shown persistence and a passion for the entertainment and makeup industries. We loved chatting with Neil about his journey to becoming a well-respected on-air personality, often seen on Good Mornin...

Ndeye Peinda didn’t start her career journey with “digital creator” in mind. In fact, after majoring in political science, she got a teaching job in the South Bronx. Hearing her reminisce about her time teaching, it’s easy to see how she easily bridged the gap between teaching and Influencing. Knowing that each of her students were unique individuals with differing opinions and emotions, Ndeye welcomed hard conversations in the classroom. We can see why she is able to make such a connection wit...

One of the things we’re learning throughout our Influencer Journey Quarter is the focus Influencers place on education. All of the Influencers we’ve spoken with have been so passionate about educating their audiences and that brings us to none other than Monae Everett: Celebrity Hairstylist, Author, & Diversity, Equity Inclusion Consultant. Monae’s career journey has led her from newcomer to the world of cosmetology to becoming an industry leader. Not only does Monae have over 20 years of exper...

We were so thrilled to welcome skin and hair obsessed influencer Amy Chang to the podcast to discuss her career journey. As Amy’s 1.6 million TikTok followers know, Amy is refreshingly candid about everything from her skincare routine, motherhood, to her own adoption journey - she’s even an ambassador for the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption! WBMB listeners at all stages of their careers will appreciate hearing Amy’s path from being in her 20’s, from not knowing what she wanted to do with he...

Here at Where Brains Meet Beauty, we’re always fascinated by multi-hyphenates; those who do it all. So we couldn't have been more excited to speak with Madison Headrick, Model, Influencer, Founder & CEO of care.e.on. Discovered at a Walmart in her hometown of Charleston, South Carolina by a talent scout, Madison has been working as a model since she was 14 years old. She even had to put college on hold for fashion week! But after years of jet-setting around the globe, Madison noticed something w...

We couldn’t imagine a better guest for Mental Health Awareness Month than Amy Keller Laird: Founder & CEO of Mental. We sat down with Amy to ask about her career journey from Editor in Chief of Women's Health Magazine to founder of the first digital mental health & lifestyle brand for women. As someone who had worked in the beauty and wellness space as Beauty Director of Allure, Amy had seen the world of mental health talked about, but not in the way she had personally experienced. Amy has live...

As a career journey podcast with a passion for all things skincare, Dr. Dustin Portela is pretty much our dream guest. Dr. Portela is a dermatologist, skincare Influencer with over 2.4 million followers on TikTok, and we were thrilled to speak with him about how he balances his social media platform with day to day life as a father of three. Dr. Portela has a love for education which he credits to his father, a teacher, who distilled in him a love of science early on. While Dr. Portela maintain...

I was so excited to kick off our Influencer Journey Quarter by speaking with Teni Panosian, content creator and Co-Founder of skincare line Monday Born. Teni and I kicked off our convo chatting about her first job working in a theater box office, where she learned an important lesson that she carries with her to this day: “Early is on time, On time is late.” Is it just us or do most successful people tend to be early birds? We asked Teni what advice she would give to aspiring influencers and h...

Making the jump from a childhood spent working on a farm dreaming of being a paleontologist to founding a vegan hair care line might sound out there at first, but for Vegamour Founder & CEO Dan Hodgdon, it all comes down to a passion for our planet. “How do we create something that’s not going to hurt the earth?” During our chat, Dan explained to us how growing up on a farm inspired him to create products using only clean, natural ingredients in addition to “eco-friendly sustainable jobs, creat...

I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Sneha Narahalli Head of Product at Sephora who shared her thoughts on effectively managing her time as well as her thoughts on the biases women face on their career journeys. Sneha revealed to us that she has trained her brain to think in the currency of time: “Why do we need to do this? Why now? And is it more important than other things that we're doing?” Sneha and I also dug into what more can be done to move the needle forward for women ente...

I recently had the opportunity to chat with former KPOP star and current CEO of Matter of Fact, Paul Baek about his inspiring career journey that has taken him from the Deep South to South Korea and beyond! In this episode, Paul tells us about the tenacity that took him from his childhood home in the South to an internship in Korea pursuing a music career in KPOP! “I was like a moth to the flame. I needed to get closer to this music that meant so much to me.” Talking to Paul it’s clear that hi...

Milani Cosmetics CEO Mary Van Praag was born with an entrepreneurial spirit that has served her well. We chatted with Mary about everything from her journey “selling Avon on the locker block” to being a leader who listens. “Sales teaches you to find the win/win in most situations…when you get a no, how do you find the win in those situations?” Mary’s positive attitude about turning the dreaded “no” in sales into a teaching moment is a refreshing take. “I try to listen. How do you get that perso...

In this engaging episode of Where Brains Meet Beauty, I had the pleasure of interviewing Denis Asamoah, the Co-Founder of FORVR Mood, a luxury lifestyle brand he launched with his fiancée and influencer, Jackie Aina, in 2020. At FORVR Mood, Denis and his team strive to make self-care more accessible to consumers while emphasizing that quality products shouldn't come at a high cost. At the start of our conversation, we touched on Denis's childhood dream of becoming a soccer player and how he disc...

In this episode of Where Brains Meet Beauty, I had the privilege of sitting down with Jill Scalamandre, a seasoned industry expert with over two decades of experience in leadership positions at renowned companies such as Revlon, Shiseido, Prada, Coty, Fekkai, and Bare Minerals. As the current CEO of Beekman 1802, the world's largest goat milk body-care brand, Jill shared her journey and insights on the beauty industry. During our conversation, she talked about how her passion for fashion evolved...

As a young girl living in Korea, Yanghee Paik dreamt of becoming a K-pop star. As time went on, she discovered she also had a love for business. Yanghee eventually found a job that fulfilled both aspirations as an entertainment executive at Disney. She enjoyed her position there, but it wasn’t until she had lunch with her now co-founder that she realized it was time to change her career path. The topic of discussion was how difficult it was to find natural and organic feminine care products. Aft...

In 2015, David Gaylord graduated with a degree in Digital Marketing from Fairleigh Dickinson University. During his early years in the marketing world, his dad insisted on him using his technical skills to help the family business (Gaylord Hardwood Flooring) and create a website. David decided that a smart move for his family business would be to become a Shopify merchant. This ended up being a great move for the family business and eventually David started working for Shopify to learn more abou...