Michelle Phan is obsessed with pyramids.
Not like "I think pyramids are pretty cool, but I like hexagons too." She can name any documentary on Egyptian history, no matter how obscure. She has a pyramid-shaped copper chair in her apartment for meditation. And she just spent the last 10 minutes explaining to me why the Egyptians didn't build the pyramids just to be aesthetically pleasing, and they're probably much older than we think. (I'll have to take my word for it because I don't know much about pyramids beyond the fact that they exist.)
"If I had to do it again," Phan says, "I'd probably be an archaeologist. She already has a tagline:"What does carbon tell us?" »
We are seated in ipsy Open Studios in Santa Monica, CA. Phan's glam team discusses which lip color best complements an emerald blazer. They don't seem to notice the huge gold medallion around her neck until it's time to select jewelry.
Related: Video:Michelle Phan's Means I/O cover shoot
"Oh that? Phan said casually. "It's a necklace that helps reduce electromagnetic energy from phones. You can judge me, it's cool.
The gold-covered necklace is called a V-sensor, created by New Age scientist and inventor Patrick Flanagan. A quick internet search reveals that the round, concave medallion is adorned with different sizes of pyramidal structures that somehow shield the body from harmful energies, but that's a story for a different day. Phan knows she sounds crazy talking about transformations and the healing power of pyramid structures, but she stopped caring what other people think a long time ago.
JEFF KATZ
Its Vietnamese name is Tuyět Băng, which roughly translates to “snow explosion” or “avalanche”. His father said Phan lived up to his name by approaching life and challenges with unstoppable energy – and his resume backs it up.
"If I see an opportunity that most people don't, it's because I'm always looking for a way to take an idea and move it forward. »
Over the past decade, Phan has worked tirelessly to build a multi-million dollar beauty and lifestyle empire. Dynasty includes a monthly subscription beauty service, ipsy, valued at over $500 million. There's also a makeup line, EM Cosmetics, set to relaunch this year after Phan bought it from L'Oréal in 2016. The root of it all is a multi-channel beauty and lifestyle network on YouTube. featuring over 200 beauty influencers. She's also written a book, has over 1.1 billion lifetime views on her YouTube channel, and was the first official video makeup artist for beauty giant Lancôme.
"I'm an opportunist," says Phan . "If I see an opportunity that most people don't, it's because I'm always looking for a way to take an idea and move it forward. Even as a child, Phan found unique ways to achieve the things she wanted. There was never enough money to grow, so she built her own Barbie Dreamhouse from a cardboard box and used the blank pages in the back of the phone book as a sketchbook. br />JEFF KATZ
“I don't live with the idea that everything is rare. Success is not uncommon at all. Everyone can find their own version of success, but you have to define it your way. ”
Phan's journey began with a grainy video, shot in 2007 from the floor of a living room in Tampa, Florida.
***
Phan looks directly at the camera and smiles a little. She wears a plain white tank top and her layered black hair is pushed back behind a headband. Soft, melodic music plays and a black title card reads "Natural Makeup Tutorial." For the next seven minutes and nine seconds, Phan details how to curl your lashes without pinching the eyelid and stresses the importance of minimizing, not erasing, dark circles under the eyes, as she says nine out of 10 people have dark circles. . It is a losing battle. She throws in some stills of the finished look and says "Good luck!" – a post that will become his signature.
The image is of poor quality. Mascara is misspelled in one of the title cards. The upholstered sofa in the background catches the eye, and Phan repeatedly watches the rear-facing video in the lower left corner. But she's young, beautiful, and has such a soothing voice, you could probably listen with delight if she gave a tutorial on changing a light bulb. Within a week, the video had over 40,000 views on YouTube (today it's at 11.6 million). It's the start of something, of everything. And Phan seems to know it even then.
“You succeed based on everything you encounter in life, good or bad. It shapes who you are and who you need to be today. »
The video was recorded during her freshman year at Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida. Her mother, Jennifer, wanted Phan to go to medical school, but a life of drawing, doodling and creating led her down the path of being an artist. A few days before the video, she interviewed for a job at L'Oréal's makeup counter at the mall. Her skills were on point, but they turned her down for lack of sales experience. This reinforced what Phan already knew:life happens beyond your control. But you can control your response.
“I believe that you succeed based on everything you encounter in life, good or bad,” says Phan. “It shapes who you are and who you need to be today.”
Related: 34 Things You Need to Know to Succeed
***
Phan was an outsider. She was the kid who drew anime characters in class, played video games, and generally kept to herself. Before stepping on camera, she spent most of her free time drawing comics and blogging on her Xanga account under the username RiceBunny. The name doesn't matter much other than the fact that she loves rice and was born in the year of the Rabbit. But this online persona was a way out of a childhood fraught with instability and loneliness.
“RiceBunny was a character, someone I aspired to be,” she writes in her book Makeup:your life's guide to beauty, style and success – online and offline. “She came from a happy family, she lived in a nice house, she had nice clothes. Real life was a stark contrast.
Born in Boston, Phan's family of four moved to where the money was – or the hope of money. His father was in construction and work was always scarce. It took them from Boston to San Francisco, all around the Bay Area and finally to Tampa, Florida. It wasn't easy, but they were together. Until they aren't. Phan's father had a gambling problem resulting in the family being kicked out of apartments on several occasions. The constant upheaval always meant being the new kid in school. Michelle struggled to make friends and her older brother, Steve, failed first grade.
CHAMBRAY BLAZER AND BELT:RAVEN + LI; BROWN HEELS:HUMA BLANCO; PHOTO BY JEFF KATZ.
When Phan was 6, she woke up to find her father was gone. It would have taken nearly a decade before they reconnected. She succeeded. She even jokes that if her childhood had been different, normal, she might have been leading a boring life as a children's book illustrator somewhere. They forged me. It's like bones:every time you break the bone, it gets stronger. »
Phan has dense bones. She was bullied at school, enduring racist taunts from children as she walked back and forth in class. There weren't many Asian Americans in Tampa, and school can be a cruel place. She couldn't invite friends to her house because at the time the only "home" they could afford was a single room in another family's house. Phan's bed was a sleeping bag on the floor. A cardboard box served as a chest of drawers.
When the real world became too much, she fled to her other life. RiceBunny was a happy, innovative and creative teenager who saw a ninja costume where others saw a T-shirt. She started writing tutorials on her innovative craft, using step-by-step photos. She also blogged about the real things, about wanting a better life and the crushing weight of loneliness. Her digital family responded with support and positivity. Here, it was normal, accepted, even popular. Here she could be anyone she wanted to be.
***
Phan's videos were viral before viral videos were a thing. After the first, subscribers started asking for tutorials:how to get a smoky eye – a dark and dramatic mix of eyeshadow and eyeliner usually reserved for nightlife – how to make your eyes bigger, how to look like Lady Gaga for Halloween. It was a pivotal moment, and the fan response prompted Phan to focus his energy exclusively on the videos.
“There really is no excuse; is it just how hungry you are? How badly do you want this? Why do you want this? »
She wasn't making money, but that wasn't what she was looking for at the time. The family living room served as a makeshift studio. Had the best lighting if you waited until 1pm. The iMovie app on her MacBook Pro, given to all Ringling freshmen, had all the editing tools she needed. The rest was just hard work and dedication.
Related: Are you ready to do whatever it takes?
“There really is no excuse; how hungry are you? " She says. “How badly do you want this? Why do you want this? ”
JEFF KATZ
As Phan's YouTube channel grew, his fans wanted more. They asked for advice on love and life, what lenses go with different face shapes. Phan connected with his “subbies” (YouTube subscribers) in a real and authentic way. She kept pushing herself. Everything had to be perfect, from the choice of music to the voiceover and the length of the video. She still has three different versions of the very first video she ever created.
“I was so passionate about it,” Phan recalls. “It was just me sharing and passing on my knowledge. I knew it would be a safe space for me to open up and of course I made the right choice.
Phan wasn't the only video blogger and certainly not the only one to create makeup tutorials, but his had a unique and personalized look. She's a storyteller at heart. She says we humans are all storytellers. the stories we tell ourselves and others are what connect us and make us feel like we are not alone. The internet just provided the platform to share his story with more people.
After that, things started to move quickly. Her Ringling teachers didn't take her hobby seriously and her classmates called her a nerd. But Google loves nerds, and before long she started earning a percentage of ad revenue:25 cents a day at first, but before long $200 a week, enough for her to quit a job as a waitress for focus on making videos full time.
“You have to risk losing everything by getting rid of everything to invest in what you really believe in,” says Phan. It was a money skill she picked up from her father's gambling addiction.
She was only making strides in the YouTube community now. Lancôme soon came knocking and former Vogue Editor-in-chief Anna Wintour wrote that beauty bloggers such as Phan were “making a global industry stand up and take notice.”
When Phan was a little girl, she drew herself into superhero and dreamed of the day when she could save her family from poverty and misfortune. Makeup became her superpower.
***
Much of Phan's current world is a direct response to her childhood, when her relationship with makeup and beauty began. First at family gatherings where she was arrested and punished for drawing on the walls, only to start again the next day. Then in the long hours spent at the nail salon where her mother worked. She would trace the rows of brightly colored nail polish and collect perfume samples from the pages of her favorite magazine, Allure .
She loved colors, yes, but she also loved how beauty could change a person's perspective. How a new nail color, haircut or shade of lipstick can make you feel like you can handle anything.
"My mom was not someone who made people beautiful; she made them feel beautiful,” Phan says.
JEFF KATZ
Phan wasn’t allowed to wear makeup until she was a teenager, and then just a bit. It all started with eyeliner, then mascara, then tinted lip gloss. It was like drawing, except her face was the canvas. Every day was a new opportunity to experiment. The possibilities were endless.
“I'm not trying to say I'm a makeup artist. I'm not a makeup artist; I am a creator of beauty. I create content and I use beauty as my vessel, as my palette, and that's how I express myself. ”
Her mom took care to instill a wholesome and nurturing view of beauty in her daughter. She explained to him the transformative power of makeup but also why you don't need makeup to feel beautiful.
"We are inherently beautiful," says Phan. "The way we perceive beauty is different and that's what's exciting and fun. She adds, "It's an expression of how we see ourselves on the inside." »
When she was not creating, Phan read and taught herself to paint and play the piano. Each new experience made him hungry for more. What she couldn't afford to do, she read about doing. She read everything she could get, encyclopedias and biographies. When other kids were sleeping and watching Full house marathons, she spent hours at Barnes &Noble, her personal library.
"Seeing how unhappy my mother and family were because they didn't have enough money, they encouraged me and empowered me to better myself in every way,” Phan explains.
His goal was never to amass wealth or power, fame or notoriety; Phan just didn't want her mother working 14-hour days in a chemical-filled nail salon just to put food on the table. And even as a youngster, she knew the beauty industry was ready for a little disruption. After all, her only access to beauty was through books or the 75-cent makeup bag at the local drugstore.
Those humble early years drove Phan to set a goal of facilitating retirement from his mother before his 25th birthday. She called her mom the day she launched her cosmetics line, EM, in 2013 (when she was 26) and told her not to go to work the next day. They both cried. But growing up poor also opened Phan up to being manipulated when she moved to Los Angeles.
That was years ago, though. Phan is smarter, smarter, and doesn't really "do" the L.A. scene anymore. In fact, she doesn't "do" anything that doesn't align with her current goals. She wants to cut out the noise, surround herself with uplifting people, have inner peace. And, at the same time, she wants to bring light to the world.
***
For many years, Phan lived a life many only dreamed of. As the first Vietnamese beauty spokesperson for Lancôme, she traveled the world, wore designer clothes and makeup, and met the biggest names in the industry.
JEFF KATZ
But the grind wore her out. Phan divides his time between Los Angeles and New York. She never took a day off, often sleeping only five hours a night, as outside of her duties with Lancôme she continued to create videos on her own and constantly dreamed up the next big idea.
Related: How to turn your ideas into action
And then in 2015, she ran out. It was not obvious. There were no signs of a breakdown, no ranting on Twitter or a dramatic collapse of Facebook. Phan simply decided it was time to step back, take a deep breath, and reevaluate why she was doing all of this. She calls it her year of deconstruction.
"I was always sad and crying and I didn't know why," Phan says. "I took an online quiz and answered everything honestly and when I saw the result he said, 'You are seriously depressed. ""
She began to travel, but with a different destination in mind:to restore balance and peace. She started meditating, spending time in nature, and visiting places she liked to read, like the Egyptian pyramids. She traveled where her phone wouldn't work because it's the only way to truly escape.
“In a way, I kind of felt like I woke up from the Matrix says Phan. “Knowing that gave me the power to have the direction and clarity to take back the freedom and freedom in my life, and re-navigate it to where I wanted it to be. »
Phan no longer makes videos. It's been almost a year since the last one was uploaded to Michelle Phan's YouTube channel. It may not be forever, she said. But she has been creating content for more than a decade. It's time to think bigger. It's time to look ahead and help others find their own niche. She still has the laptop. And all three versions of that first video from 10 years ago.
"I'll never get rid of [the laptop]," she says. She calls it 'The Brick', a reminder of where she was and what it took to get here.
Nowadays, Phan's life is still busy but more balanced. She had never had days off, endlessly obsessed with her intention of reaching the next milestone, the next rung of the ladder. It wasn't until she started to listen to her body that she found peace. Now she does regular progress reports with herself. For once, Phan had to be his own superhero.
“You can't really save other people. But you can save yourself and set an example for people to do the same. Be the best influence by being the best version of yourself. »
***
Phan is a surprising person. The petite, soft-spoken 30-year-old commands a room with a calm presence. She's opinionated about politics and feminism (she's not a feminist or even a humanist - because what about animals?) and believes that success should be measured by how often you can wear sweatpants for work. She's calm, determined, and talks about her ideas in flux, like she still knows her purpose.
“I want to empower everyone. I want to be inclusive to anyone who wants to solve a problem they see in society or an industry…. When you bring people with you on your journey, you can share many paths and you can jump over them and see a different point of view, and it just gives you a bigger perspective on where you want to go. »
JEFF KATZ
Before I met her, I imagined that Phan would never leave the house without the perfect pair of heels and flawless makeup, but she really doesn't wear makeup unless she has it. need. She loves makeup, sure, but she's just as comfortable stepping out naked in running shoes and gym clothes.
“If I had focused on one or two things, I'd probably would have been less exhausted, happier and less stressed,” she says softly. “But I had to go through all the trials to be able to come back and tell people what I learned. She thinks of the depressed time the same way she thinks of those long days in the nail salon. "These hardships force me to become who I am today."
Having met Phan, it's not hard to imagine him as an archaeologist, or a teacher, or a co-founder of a multi-million dollar beauty company. She can do whatever she wants, and that's how she's always lived her life. But it took a burnout to find the balance to be happy while chasing her dreams.
JEFF KATZ
“I come from an immigrant family that had nothing,” says Phan . “I made it through the American Dream and I still wasn’t happy. What made me happy was finding peace and knowledge and that is something everyone can have. And everyone should have access to it. »
***
The ipsy Open Studios space is like a cool big sister room that you are never allowed to play in. One wall is lined with enough nail polish bottles to stock at least three salons. Secret gray filing cabinets line another wall and hold ideas for future Glam bags — the personalized monthly subscription beauty bags. There are bins, boxes and drawers full of makeup, shelves of clothes you're not cool enough to buy but would love to wear and walls full of magazine cutouts, color cards and quotes. inspiring.
Phan says the place is a “tribute to my younger self, the girl who searches the pages of a magazine for samples and buys other people’s unwanted products.”
Phan would have been perfectly happy living off the earnings of 1.5 million Glam bags being shipped each month. She could have continued to travel the world, to live the peaceful life. But she has a vision for the future economy, and it starts with creating a generation of what she calls “self-producers.”
“We provide free education to beauty influencers who want to get started but don't know really how,” she said. "The more people you have who self-produce, the more likely they are to create a company that offers meaningful jobs to more people."
If his "teach a man to fish" philosophy seems too much generous, it's because Phan believes in a form of karma:what you put out into the universe, you get back. But she is also a businesswoman and knows that the digital age opens the way to many opportunities. She not only believes in creating new jobs, but in creating meaningful careers.
“I've been successful, but I'm just one person,” says Phan. “Imagine if I can activate more people to see their inner potential? »
Related: 4 changes you can make to reach your full potential
Ipsy was Phan's niche and his most successful business to date. The monthly beauty bag with “deluxe” makeup, hair, nails and skin samples costs subscribers $10 for five personalized items chosen using a complex algorithm that matches products with the personality and physical attributes.
The concept of membership is not new. Ipsy entered the scene competing with established brands such as Birchbox. But Phan didn't just want to sell a sample-sized monthly makeup gift bag. She wanted to build trust and a relationship with her fans. She employs beauty influencers to create personalized and exclusive tutorials to show users how to apply this month's products. It is more than a service; it is a community.
“We have to be a country that produces again. It doesn't necessarily have to be in Silicon Valley or Wall Street anymore; it could be all over America because you have great minds everywhere. »
Even in a crowded market, Phan created a niche of trust for ipsy, raising $100 million in a single funding round in 2015, when he had previously raised only $3 million, while Birchbox raised a total of $71 million across multiple rounds of funding.
“I see a change. Everything changed. It was about beauty editors five or six years ago,” she says. “Today, we don't have beauty authorities; we have a beauty community. ”
***
When we talk about the future, Phan's face is serious, his dark eyes intense. She is no longer chasing a dream. She has already realized her dreams. This is different. This is his job, his mission. She calls it her year of light.
“There is so much darkness here that I want to be the light, and I want to inspire other people to be the light,” says Phan.
I ask her what that really means, assuming I'll hear the legacy she wants to leave for future generations. But Phan doesn't care about the inheritance. For her, a true legacy is the impact you have on the world. We remember not what you created, but the opportunities you created for others, the lives you touched.
"You don't really think of Steve Jobs when you turn on your iPhone or think to Thomas Edison every time you turn on your light switch. »
That’s why she opens the doors of ipsy Open Studios. She does not charge for camera equipment, overhead, or snacks in the kitchen. She works one-on-one with beauty influencers who are trying to make their own mark in the world and have their own stories to tell.
“I disrupt beauty, but there are other spaces that require a major disturbance. We are only at the beginning of all this disruption, because now people are seeing that they don't necessarily have to follow the standard paradigm that has been set for them. ”
But it’s bigger than that. ipsy, like YouTube, was only a means to an end. She always looks at the big picture. She wants to help others see the big picture.
“Look at what I was able to build. And I'm just one person,” says Phan. “Imagine if more people followed their call. We are all called every day, but not all answer.
Phan starts talking about a new ecosystem with the same intensity as his story about the pyramids. She spent weeks in China studying its economy and now she's talking about the future of ipsy - retail - but it's not e-commerce and it's not brick and mortar stores . It's kind of a hybrid between commerce and social commerce.
JEFF KATZ
“[Ipsy] was a way for us to build trust and show people who subscribed to us that we bring value to their life. ”
She wants to hasten a world where people create their own future. Where they work not just for themselves, but within an interdependent community. Where everyone has their own niche space, where niche no longer means small, just different. Cela semble magique, mais elle dit que nous y sommes déjà en route.
«La vie est comme une toile vierge», explique Phan. Ses yeux brillent mais elle n’en donne pas trop. « Ce que vous mettez sur la toile dépend de vous. »
Related: 5 étapes pour réaliser la vie dont vous avez toujours rêvé
Cet article a été initialement publié dans le numéro de mai 2017 de SUCCÈS magazine.
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