Six Tips On Growing A Beauty Business From Rose Inc.’s Rosie Huntington-Whiteley And Sunnies Face’s Georgina Wilson

British model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley is a recognizable face in fashion through campaigns for brands such as Burberry, Victoria’s Secret and Ugg in a career spanning some 16 years. When it comes to being a beauty entrepreneur at the helm of Los Angeles-based content destination Rose Inc., though, she still has much to prove.

“I really want to build my authority in the beauty industry,” she said at a panel titled “The Business of Beauty & Modern Entrepreneurship” held last week at The Wing in West Hollywood, Calif. She was joined at the private women’s club by Georgina Wilson, co-founder of the rising Filipino cosmetics brand Sunnies Face, and fellow L.A. entrepreneur Julissa Prado, founder of natural hair line Rizos Curls, who moderated the talk between them.

The similarities between Huntington-Whiteley and Wilson are uncanny. Not only did they both grow up on farms in England and started working as models in their teens, but they also launched their respective beauty businesses in 2018. They participated in the talk on Dec. 10 just hours before Rose Inc. went live with a collaboration with Sunnies Face featuring two $65 limited-edition makeup kits—The On-Duty Kit and The Off-Duty Kit—each with two lipsticks, a blush and a bag from Sunnies Face.

Guided by Prado’s questions, Huntington-Whiteley and Wilson shared insights on how to cultivate a community and why diversity is crucial in the beauty industry. Here are six key takeaways from their discussion.

1. It takes time to prep a launch

The behind-the-scenes work of shaping a beauty business can consume years. “I had the idea four or five years ago to start this content platform. People wanted to know what kind of access I had, what I was using, what I was wearing,” said Huntington-Whiteley. “I literally spent a year before [the website’s launch] building it.”

Wilson, who moved into reality television in the Philippines after modeling, said Sunnies Face spent a long time developing its beauty collection. She shared, “We went through 250 colors just to get to the perfect nine.”

Makeup is the latest addition to the Sunnies Face concept, which launched in 2015 with sunglasses and has since expanded to include optical eyewear, cafés and hotels. The Sunnies Face office employs 150 people.

“We really started this as a lifestyle brand,” said Wilson. “We wanted to create a [makeup] brand that took that price point and changed the experience completely. If the price is affordable, why does the experience have to be so terrible?”

2. Standing out from the crowd is a must

Huntington-Whiteley knows firsthand how crowded the beauty market is. “I see so much product,” she said of the packages that companies send her. Still, Sunnies Face’s lipstick stood out enough that she thought, “Oh, this is cute.” She filmed herself playing around with one of its tubes and posted it on social media. She later saw celebrity makeup artist Hung Van Ngo put Sunnies Face lipsticks in his kit.

“Especially in the beauty industry, you have to have a strong voice and a strong vision,” Wilson told the audience. She hasn’t stopped reaching out to influential makeup artists to validate and spread the word about her brand. While in Southern California, she plans to meet with Pati Dubroff, a celebrity makeup artist that counts actresses Laura Dern, Margot Robbie, Elizabeth Olsen and Dakota Johnson on her client list.

3. Community is essential

Huntington-Whiteley and Wilson began amassing communities before offering a single beauty item for sale. “It’s community first, and commerce second,” stressed Huntington-Whiteley. “When you listen to your audience, there’s so much value in it. You have so much insight and so much to learn.” By emphasizing connection before commerce, she demonstrates Rose Inc. is “a true passion project first,” she said. “There’s an authenticity that is undeniable when you go that way. You see a lot of heritage brands try to build a community around [product]. It’s hard to reverse-engineer it.”

Wilson underscored that a brand needs to have “a two-way relationship” with fans. “You can’t be taking, taking and taking from the community,” she said. “Consumers are so jaded, and they’re so smart. If you don’t treat them as such, you’re out.”

Nurturing a loyal community has paid off for Sunnies Face. For its online launch in August 2018, the brand’s site recorded 2 million hits and crashed in minutes. In addition, Wilson mentioned that a partner site sold out of stock. One of Sunnies Face’s brick-and-mortar stores that opened after the e-commerce launch sold six months’ worth of stock in three weeks. The brand has 14 stores in the Philippines.

4. Representation matters

As a brand from Asia appealing to a new generation of consumers, Sunnies Face understands it’s important to show diversity in its marketing. While Wilson is biracial with a Filipino mother and a white British father, she pointed out that there’s a wide array of people in the Philippines with “faces that haven’t been represented.” She said, “Representing that community is so huge for us. We developed the product with skin universality in mind.”

5. Balance listening to fans with solidifying a brand voice

In response to a question from the crowd about responding to the demands of the community, Huntington-Whiteley said, “The most important thing is to follow your voice. The integrity of your decision-making is really what the audience sees.” She continued, “If you listen to everybody and take advice from everybody, you can get off-page and that becomes inauthentic.” Sunnies Face welcomes the direct feedback from customers, but doesn’t act on every suggestion. Wilson said. “It’s about having a dialogue.”

6. Maintain a connection with employees

As a new entrepreneur, Huntington-Whiteley is open to receiving recommendations from other executives. She recounted  recently meeting a female founder heading a 200-person company who interviews every job candidate. Impressed by the founder’s commitment to employees, Huntington-Whiteley said, “As [Rose Inc.] grows, it’s really important for me to have a connection and work with them. When you inspire people, you give them the gift of feeling good and feeling empowered. That’s reflected in the work.”