The Interview —

Jamie Kern Lima, Co-Founder & CEO of IT Cosmetics

I have a skin condition called rosacea, and I couldn’t find any makeup products out there that could cover it without making it look like I was wearing a thick mask. After trying everything out there, I realized that if you have perfect skin, most makeup works, but if you have something that needs coverage, there really wasn’t anything out there that covered but truly looked like real skin. That’s when the idea for IT Cosmetics was born. We’re all about game-changing, skin-changing, life-changing products that give you your most beautiful skin and your most beautiful you!

I had no idea how hard it would be to be an entrepreneur! I’ve worked hard my whole life, but once it’s your own company it’s unremitting 24/7 pressure, and it’s all on you. It’s also the most exciting journey at the same time! One of the biggest challenges for me was when I worked 100-hour weeks for almost 10 years to build IT Cosmetics into what it is today. 

I love the countless emails, letters, and DMs from real girls and women everywhere who share their stories of gaining their confidence back. When they tell me they feel beautiful for the first time, or for the first time in a long time, it reminds me of my "why!" What makes me jump out of bed each morning is reminding every woman she’s beautiful and deserves to feel confident, and she alone is worth it! 

Your gut is stronger than anyone else’s advice, make sure to listen to it! When all of the experts told us what we needed to do to succeed in beauty and what type of models we needed to use, my gut told me something different. We were the first brand to launch on QVC and into stores using real women of all ages, skin tones, skin challenges, and sizes as models. This was nine years ago before anyone was doing it, and I just knew it was the right thing to do even though everyone told me it wouldn’t work. Today, IT Cosmetics is the second-largest luxury makeup brand in the country. Go with your gut!

Every day I have staples that I love! Confidence in a Cleanser, Miracle Water, Confidence in a Cream for skincare. I use our Your Skin But Better CC+ Cream with SPF 50+ as my foundation most days. And my go-to's after that are Bye Bye Pores Powder, Brow Power, Superhero Mascara, Superhero Liner, and Je Ne Sais Quoi Lip Serum.

We’ve grown from one employee in my living room to now over 1,000 employees across the country. During the first three years of the company, I heard “no” from everyone and every retailer, and today we're so blessed to have amazing partnerships with everyone who once said “no,” and we’re actually the number-one brand in most of their stores. So, every day is different! Just over two years ago, L’Oreal acquired 100% of IT Cosmetics, making me the first female CEO in their 100+ year history, and with that position comes new, exciting challenges of expanding IT Cosmetics internationally. So many of my days recently are focused on upcoming country launches. 

Light-filled, faith-filled, love-filled

I often have a photographic memory. So in college, even if I didn’t understand something, I could often recall what it looked like written on my study notes, so I would remember what the answer looked like and that helped me on tests. 

Confidence! And being of service to other people. When your heart comes from that place, it radiates from you, and you’re your most beautiful! I’ve never met someone where this isn’t true.

What lights my soul on fire is my mission to inspire women to step into their power—to spark that light inside of them and to reclaim their own confidence. My passion is to do this in the most impactful ways in my lifetime, and I’m just getting started!