Glossier, informally known as the ‘Millennial Beauty Brand’, established in 2014, was valued at $1.2 billion in 2019, five years into the market. Those who know about Glossier and its products, certain know about Emily Weiss, the founder of the company.
Conventionally, when a company is established, investors are the first set of people who know about the founders, the vision and the product catalog of the brand. But entrepreneurs like
Emily Weiss take the market by storm via their unconventional, modern business approach.
Emily, while working at Vogue, started a beauty blog – ‘Into the Gloss’, in the year 2010. She used the platform to reach her potential consumers directly, no intermediaries in between (D2C marketing). Before entering the business space full-time with the launch of Glossier, she spent years interacting with her target audience, understanding their pain points, identifying what other brands/products were still not providing, sharing useful e-content on beauty and skin care, all through her blog.
With 200,000 unique visitors per month within two years of the launch, needless to say, the blog was a hit. So, when in 2014, Emily finally started looking for investors to launch Glossier.com, she was absolutely ready with everything she needed to convince the investors and enter the market: understanding of the industry, market insights, understanding of her target audience and potential customer follower base. She knew her customers and her customers knew her, already.
The blog acted as a springboard for the company and immensely contributed towards its early success.
This story ties back to the question put forward by this blog – is it ok for an entrepreneur to have a personal brand? Well, there is absolutely no alternative to this question than ‘Yes’.
Building a personal brand helps both sides of the equation – the entrepreneur and the customer. It enables the entrepreneur to build a relationship with its target audience and understand what they need or understand if they are ready for the product or service there is to offer. It empowers the end consumer to communicate with the product manufacturer or service provider directly and let them know of their struggles and desires.
Personal Brand empowers and builds trust amongst all the participants involved.
The Flawed One 
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