Beauty Bosses

<figure class=" sqs-block-image-figure intrinsic " > <a data-sqsp-image-classic-block-image-link class=" sqs-block-image-link " href="https://mestizanewyork.com/" target="_blank" > Alessandra Perez-Rubio &amp; Louisa Rechter | Mestiza (click image for more info.) This week on Beauty Bosses, Dr. Lara Devgan sits down with Alessandra Perez-Rubio and Louisa Rechter, the co-founders of Mestiza New York — the vibrant luxury fashion brand known for its joyful color, statement silhouettes, and modern heirloom energy.From building a brand rooted in friendship to creating an entire world inspired by heritage, tradition, and celebration, Alessandra and Louisa share the story behind Mestiza’s unmistakable point of view. The conversation explores entrepreneurship, creativity, cultural identity, and what it really looks like to build a fashion brand alongside your best friend.Expect stories about color, craftsmanship, risk-taking, and the magic that happens when personal history becomes part of a brand’s DNA.

In this episode of Beauty Bosses, Dr. Lara Devgan sits down with Isabelle Kenyon, a trailblazing healthcare entrepreneur redefining metabolic health. From founding Calibrate to launching a new platform for GLP-1 users, Isabelle shares her journey, the science behind these life-changing medications, and their impact on weight management and overall health.Discover how GLP-1s are reshaping healthcare, overcoming stigma, and empowering millions. With insights into personalized medicine and the future of metabolic health, this conversation is a must-listen for anyone intrigued by the intersection of science, innovation, and self-care. Tune in for inspiration and cutting-edge perspectives! Beauty Bosses RSS

In this episode of Beauty Bosses, we sit down with Allison Conrad, founder of Arey, the groundbreaking anti-grey haircare brand. With a mission to help people take control of the natural aging process, Conrad shares the story behind her brand’s creation, her entrepreneurial journey, and how science and innovation are at the heart of her brand’s commitment to longevity – not just living longer, but living better.The conversation dives deep into the evolving perspective on aging. We explore how Arey empowers individuals to embrace their age with confidence by offering solutions that support healthy hair growth and prevent further greying, allowing people to feel their best at every stage of life. Tune in to learn how beauty, science, and longevity intersect, and tips to embrace aging gracefully! Beauty Bosses RSS

Dr. Devgan sits down with the hilarious and brilliant Shallon Lester, author, editor and YouTube personality. Listen as they discuss her YouTube channel where she offers no-nonsense advice focused on millennial dating, love lessons and current celebrity news, the Jordan Wood interview and how her journey began as a young single girl in the city. Shallon has over 900 million views, loves Bieber and loves to brag about how Barack Obama follows her on Twitter.

Dr. Devgan sits down the Julia Von Boehm and Maria Encalada, co-founders of the newly launched lifestyle site juliavonboehm.com. Julia is the fashion director of InStyle Magazine, Nicole Kidman’s stylist, and consultant and fashion director to many major fashion brands. After seeing how much information there is out there and how “unedited” it was she wanted to create a space to simplify and make all that useful information accessible. From fashion and style tips, to restaurants and mom tips, their new website is a gold mine of information.

Dr. Devgan sits down with Ariane Goldman, founder and CEO of HATCH. HATCH provides a collection of chic clothing solutions to invest in during pregnancy and to wear long after the bump is gone. The HATCH Collection now includes complete head-to-toe styling, as well as HATCH Mama, a line of toxin-free lotions and potions for women during pregnancy and postpartum. Additionally, HATCH has recently opened its first retail location in Soho New York to complement its fast growing direct-to-consumer business model. Ariane’s commitment to giving women what they need during life’s most challenging and important moments extends as well to her commitment to Every Mother Counts, a charity founded by Christy Turlington Burns to ensure maternal health for millions of women globally.

Dr. Devgan sits down with Taryn Toomey, founder of The Class a music-driven, mat-based practice of self-study through physical conditioning. Taryn has always been someone who gathers community to feel alive and inspired and uses music and movement as her medicine. The Class began with no name, in the basement of her building and now seven years later has become a complete lifestyle. With anywhere from 3 people to 1400 people per class any one can do it.  

Dr. Devgan sits down with Caitlin Kiernan, Beauty Director of Star and OK! Magazines and author of Pretty Sick, The Beauty Guide for Women with Cancer. As Beauty Director of Star and OK magazines Caitlin talks about Beauty all day along. Spending her days interviewing celebrities and their glam teams Caitlin is an expert in everything Beauty. But when she received a terrible diagnosis, she had to discover another side to beauty, a way to look her best while feeling her worst.

Dr. Devgan sits down with James Sun, CEO and Founder of Beautytap. James was originally on "The Apprentice" and placed as the runner up on the show. His latest endeavor is Beautytap, which began as an online K-beauty retail site, and after huge success and the desire to connect with and educate their community and customers in-person, James launched Beautytap's first retail store only —- 3 months ago.

Dr. Devgan sits down with KJ Miller and Amanda Johnson, Co-founders of Mented Cosmetics an upscale make up brand for women of color. They met at Harvard business school and clicked instantly. One night over wine they discovered that neither of them could find a lipstick they liked, and so began their global makeup story. With the help of YouTube, some wax, oils, fragrances, a hot plate and a lot of hard work, Mented was born.

Dr. Devgan sits down with power mom duo and Co-founders of the new app Masse, Elizabeth Shaffer and Lizzy Brockhoff. Masse is a shopping platform that makes it simple for friends to ask for and share product recommendations with each other. The new app is reinventing the way consumers find and purchase products. Listen as they turn their mutual struggle to pick out a stroller into the ultimate shopping platform.  

Dr. Devgan sits down with Stephanie Nass, better known as Chefanie, a professionally-trained savory and pastry chef and Founder of Victory Club and Chefanie Sheets. Stephanie studied in France and then staged some of the most highly rated restaurants in Manhattan. With a passion for desserts, Stephanie caters in NYC, and her clients include celebrities, fashion designers, and media. Dr. Devgan hopes you enjoy this delicious episode.

Dr. Devgan sits down with Liz Bert, founder of Valnoir, Columbia Law student and fashion model. Listen as Liz talks about her luxury fashion brand, that sits at the intersection between luxury and lounge, her incredibly successful modeling career, working with brands such as Rimmel and Michael Kors, and her analytical side that she expresses through her studies at Columbia.

Dr. Devgan sits down with Erika Wasser, founder of Glam+Go. Erika is a dynamic young entrepreneur whose brand of blow dry salons Glam+Go has become the fastest-growing salon chain in the country, doubling in size in 2018. Erika, a former standup comedian and TV host, has turned the traditional blow dry bar model on its head: partnering with hospitality and fitness venues, she developed a service menu of 30-minutes-or-less traditional blowouts and 15-minutes or less dry blowouts, giving women great hair where they need it most.

Dr. Devgan sits down with Lauryn Evarts Bosstick, Founder of The Skinny Confidential. The Skinny Confidential is a cheeky resource that has evolved from a fitness blog into a full-on lifestyle. The Skinny Confidential has created a community where woman from around the world can connect and discuss all things wellness, relationships, fashion, home décor, beauty travel, & everything in between.

Along with an insatiable appetite for all things aesthetic — Claire Olshan has been equally absorbed by her passion for health and wellness. In 2012, Claire founded Fivestory, the go-to shop to find emerging designers with a whimsical approach to dressing up. In a sense, Claire has always supported those that think out of the box and weave a sense of play into their work. With DADA Daily, Claire bridges the gap between the fashion and food worlds: elevating healthy snacking to an artful event.

Dr. Devgan sits down with Barbara Close, Founder and CEO of Naturopathica. Starting in 1995, Naturopathica is a holistic beauty brand offering skin, body and herbal remedies rooted in naturopathic medicine to support overall well-being. From the beginning, Barbara’s mission has been to educate on the benefits of a holistic approach to skin health, reinforcing that the skin mirrors what is going on inside of the body.

Jill Donenfeld and Tiana Tenet of The Culinistas are bridging the gap for busy households by giving them access to delicious, balanced and routinely home cooked meals. The Culinistas offer customized in-home private chef services for family-friendly weekly cooking and special occasions in New York City. The Culinistas develop weekly menus of vegetable-forward, modern homestyle cooking that is prepared in the home by trained chefs, and served or stored for the week ahead. The Culinistas handle the menu planning, personalized local grocery shopping, cooking, and clean-up. Find them year-round in New York City, the Hamptons for the summer, and Aspen and Palm Beach for the holidays.

Dr. Devgan sits down with Dr. Zahir Dossa, Co-founder & CEO of Function of Beauty. Graduating from MIT with a PhD in sustainable development, Zahir is a wealth of knowledge. Combining his background in computer science and ecommerce with a deep understanding that the beauty industry is constantly changing, Zahir created Function of Beauty. With a mission to celebrate every person’s unique beauty and an innovative and industry-leading algorithm, Function of Beauty can create 27 trillion unique formulations for shampoo and conditioner.  

Dr. Devgan sits down with Lucy Lang, a career prosecutor who was recently appointed as the Executive Director for the Institute for Innovation in Prosecution at John Jay College. Lucy grew up in New York City with a passion for public service. She has been a Manhattan Assistant District Attorney for 12 years, ran Manhattan’s Intelligence Driven Prosecution Symposium, and pioneered a first-of-its-kind college in prison class in which incarcerated students study criminal justice alongside prosecutors.

Dr. Devgan sits down with visionary hairstylist Ursula Stephen. Ursula is the owner of “Ursula Stephen The Salon”, in Brooklyn, NY, and a Unilever global haircare brand ambassador. Born and raised in Brooklyn, Ursula attended a vocational high school and earned her cosmetology license even before her high school diploma. From there she has gone on to become one of the most sought-out stylists by artists such as Rihanna, Kerry Washington, Queen Latifa, and Zendaya, to name a few.

Shirin von Wulffen is co-founder of the beauty and lifestyle brand, Bastide, from Aix-en-Provence (along with her husband Frédéric Fekkai). Born in Iran to German parents, with an American education and fluent command of four languages, Shirin is truly a citizen of the world. She is also the former VP of Public Relations for YSL, VP of Public Relations for Tom Ford, and former communications director for Gucci.

Dr. Devgan sits down with Craig Elbert, co-founder and CEO of Care/of. Care/of brings a refreshing honesty and personalization to the vitamin experience. Care/of delivers personalized daily supplement packs to your door monthly. Inside each pack is a mix of vitamins and supplements unique to you and based upon your goals, lifestyle and values. Prior to founding Care/of, Craig Elbert led marketing at Bonobos, where he helped grow the company from 10 employees to over 250. Craig has an MBA from Wharton, where he graduated as a Palmer Scholar, and a BA from Dartmouth College. He lives in New York with his wife and son. Because raising a newborn and launching a company in the same year is maybe a bit draining, he is a fan of the herb Rhodiola Rosea.  

Nina Lorez Collins founded the Facebook group, “What Would Virginia Woolf Do?” two years ago. The Facebook group is a closed community where literary-minded feminists over 40 years old come together to offer support, resources, inspirational stories, and laughs. It was through this community that Nina felt inspired to write her own book, which is appropriately named, What Would Virginia Woolf Do? Dr. Devgan talks with Nina about how she got her start as a writer, what inspires her, reinvention, and how the amazing community she has built has gotten her through the toughest of times.

Jane Larkworthy is recognized as one of the beauty industry’s most respected editors. She is known for her authentic voice, and using it to help navigate all the complexities that come with being a woman. Using her expertise she has kept us connected in the beauty world through her work with publications such as W, Elle Decor, Coveteur, The Cut, L'Officiel, In The Groove, as well as has her own blog, The Fraudulent Chef. Listen in as she sits down with Dr. Devgan to discuss everything from her favorite beauty products, how she started her career as a beauty writer, and the importance of being able to constantly adapt to change. 

Ellie Burrows is the Co-founder and CEO of MNDFL, a meditation studio in New York City. She talks with Dr. Devgan about how she was able to establish herself as an insider in New York’s rapidly growing wellness industry.  Listen in as Ellie takes us through her journey in creating a modern, non-religious, drop-in studio where one can explore traditional meditation techniques in a contemporary context. MNDFL’s mission is simple and yet profound: MNDFL exists to enable humans to feel good. Ellie touches on simple ways people can implement mindfulness and meditation into their everyday lives.

Aleen Kuperman and Samantha Fishbein, two of the three founders of Betches, sit down with Dr. Lara Devgan to discuss how they started their careers and developed their company from a website into a wildly successful social media and digital media company. They dish up some secrets about exciting up-coming projects including their third book, When’s Happy Hour, which will be released on October 23, 2018. They talk about some of the challenges they faced and surmounted, and how building up their confidence has helped them get through the difficult times.

Listen in as fashion mogul Sharifa Murdock talks with Dr. Lara Devgan about her journey to the top of the fashion game. Sharifa is responsible for the launch of countless brands through Liberty Fairs, which she co-founded with her dear friend and mentor Sam BenAvraham.  Sharifa grew up wanting to be a dancer but always loved fashion. In her early twenties she worked in the customer service department of Louis Vuitton before she took a leap of faith to leave and launch Project, one of the industry’s contemporary fashion forums. She is currently the co-founder, at Liberty Fairs where she concentrates on bringing new brands to life through the industry’s newest menswear showcase. Through her journey to success, she learned that the relationships you nurture and the people you meet are often more important than any specific decision you make.

Seema Bansal and Sunny Chadha are partners in life and business, and that is not entirely coincidental. A disappointing Valentine’s Day bouquet prompted them to jointly find a better answer to a question many have asked but very few have decently answered: how can you make those beautiful flowers last? In this episode of Beauty Bosses, Dr. Lara Devgan speaks with Seema and Sunny about bootstrapping their business, working together as a couple, and the boost their business got after being flagged by the Kardashians.

Marikh Mathias ended up not finding love on the latest season of The Bachelor but luckily for her this was but one of the many things she has going on in her active life.  In this episode of Beauty Bosses, Dr. Lara Devgan speaks with Marikh Mathias about what goes on behinds the scenes in the house on The Bachelor, running her own restaurant, and the next steps in her already stellar career. 

Joey Zauzig came to New York City to launch a career in public relations and broadcast journalism but ended up becoming a leading fashion influencer on social media, an LGBT activist and a health & wellness advocate.  On this episode of Beauty Bosses, Dr. Lara Devgan talks to Joey about why social media is the new normal in marketing, just how much hard work goes into looking relaxed on Instagram, and why being comfortable with yourself the key to style and happiness.

For Katia Beauchamp there had to be a better way to find great cosmetics than the status quo which was "frustrating, inefficient, and confusing". That is why she, together with Hayley Barna, founded Birchbox which allows customers to learn about new products through monthly samples, and then offers them a convenient on-line place to buy the products they like.In this episode of Beauty Bosses, Katia Beauchamp talks with Dr. Lara Devgan about why having a months' long waitlist for your product is not as much fun as it sounds, revolutionizing beauty shopping, and juggling motherhood and entrepreneurship.

For Lauren Schwab and Marissa Vosper, being negative isn't bad if it means rejecting everything you don't like about something, and keeping only the things you do.  For them this meant creating a line of intimates that ditched the uncomfortable designs, silly frills and embarrassing advertising, and became a cult-favorite line of lingerie.  In this episode of Beauty Bosses, Dr. Lara Devgan talks with Lauren and Marissa about how it took four years to become an overnight success, selling out of the their best-selling product ten times, and why confidence is the key to beauty.  

Tanya Zuckerbrot wondered why some people can eat whatever they want until their heart's content while others see even the slightest dietary peccadilloes betrayed by their waistline.  Putting her masters-level training in nutrition to work, Tanya formulated the F-Factor diet which made fiber fabulous and turned Tanya into THE person fashionable New Yorkers go to when they seek to shed a few pounds.  In this episode of Beauty Bosses, Tanya Zuckerbrot talks to Dr. Lara Devgan about why perseverance is the key to success and happiness, and why life is too short to not have a bite (or three) of your favorite food.  

Tanya Zuckerbrot wondered why some people can eat whatever they want to their heart's content, while others will see any dietary peccadillo immediately betrayed by their waistline.  Putting her masters-level training in nutrition to work, she came up with the F-Factor diet which made fiber fabulous and turned Tanya into THE person fashionable New Yorkers go to when they want to shed a few pounds. In this episode of Beauty Bosses, Dr. Lara Devgan talks with Tanya about how perseverance is the key to success and happiness, and why life is too short to not enjoy a bite (or three) of your favorite foods.  

In 2014, Divya Gugnani and Lindsay Ellingson decided that the best solution to dealing with the overwhelming offering of new beauty products on the market as to, well..., to bring to market a new product!  Four years and millions of sold products later, the consumer clearly agrees that there is a durable demand for Wander Beauty's high quality and fuss-free make-up.  In this episode of Beauty Bosses, Dr. Lara Devgan talks to Divya Gugnani about her journey as a serial entrepreneur, mom and beauty maven.  

Kate Siegel and Kim Friedman (Kate's mom, biggest supporter and frequent critic) have taken the internet by storm with their crazy hilarious instagram account @crazyjewishmom.  With nearly 800,000 followers, recent author of, 'Mother Can You Not?', and host of 'Ask Mom & Spawn' podcast, Kate has created a brand around her ‘Crazy Jewish Mom’!  Dr. Devgan talks to Kate and Kim about their one-of-a-kind relationship, the decision to pursue @crazyjewishmom full time, and the hilarious day-to-day conversations they have while running a successful brand together.  They also provide insight into their experiences in the professional world as women, and give advice on so many relatable situations in a modern women's life. 

Pioneering the world of online sample sales and on-demand beauty, we have to thank no other than the serial entrepreneur and co-founder behind behind Gilt Groupe, GlamSquad and Fitz - Alexandra Wilkis Wilson.  Alexandra speaks to her experiences launching start-ups and shares advice for budding entrepreneurs looking to explore their passions.  In this episode of Beauty Bosses, Dr. Lara Devgan talks to Alexandra about her success journey, and how her mother and grandmother shaped her idea that happy people are beautiful, and beauty comes from within.

Verena von Pfetten, a fashion and lifestyle writer who has contributed to many leading publications including Vogue and the Huffington Post, isn't about to do anything without a bit of class and creativity.  And that includes launching Gossamer, a glossy new magazine "for people who also smoke weed."  In this episode of Beauty Bosses, Dr. Lara Devgan talks with Verena von Pfetten about why it is time to drop all the negative connotations around cannabis and how you explain to your dad why you're quitting writing for the New York Times so you can launch "a magazine about pot".

So after many, many years you finally manage to fill up your closet with at least a bunch of the clothes you've been pining for for so long, only for those prized pieces to be worn (or washed...) too rarely because they are labelled: "Dry Cleaning Only" and life is too short (and too busy and too expensive) to want to deal with that.  If you recognize yourself in this, well, then you are in the good company of Gwen Whiting and Lindsey Boyd, the founders of The Laundress. In this episode of Beauty Bosses, they talk with Dr. Lara Devgan about how their revolutionary line of laundry products, now sold in 1,500 stores around the world, can help you avoid the dreaded dry cleaning runs and actually deal with those annoying red wine stains.

If Natalie Portman, Bella and Gigi Hadid, Emma Stone, Margot Robbie, Lily Aldridge, Rachel McAdams, Kate Upton and countless other stunning celebrities trust him with their hair, then Bryce Scarlett probably does know a thing or two about beauty! In this episode of Beauty Bosses, Dr. Lara Devgan talks to Bryce Scarlett about how he became a real boss in the hair styling business and his personal, and compelling, definition of beauty.

In less than 5 years Bustle has grown from an idea into a site that attracts 80 million women who love the eclectic content mix that ranges from career advice and book reviews to fashion trends and popular memes.  In this episode of Beauty Bosses, Dr. Lara Devgan talks to Kate Ward, Bustle's Editor-In-Chief, and Lindsay Mannering, Vice President of Editorial Strategy, about how they ended up at the same company but reached it very different ways, and why there should be no shame in plastic surgery.

If some of the best business ideas stem from an entrepreneur's solution to a problem they are trying to solve for themselves, then there is no better example than Bandier.  Jennifer Bandier started walking a lot as way to recover from a foot fracture, but she was frustrated that athletic wear was more frump than fashionista.  So she decided to start the "Barney's of athleisure wear", and, in 2014, she did just that.  Dr. Lara Devgan talks with Jennifer Bandier about how she went from managing R&B trio TLC to managing a quintet of high-end fashion boutiques, and how, through sheer force of will, she turned what even her friends called "the worst business idea they'd ever heard of" into one of the hottest new concepts in retail. 

Natalie Kraiem is now an award-winning interior designer but she did not follow a traditional path to get there.  Even though aesthetics were always very much a part of her life growing up in Buenos Aires, Argentina, she also had a knack for numbers and forged ahead with a career in finance. After moving to New York City to work as a private banker, Natalie decorated her apartment with her architect mother and felt inspired to go back to her first love: design. On this episode of Beauty Bosses, Natalie speaks with Dr. Lara Devgan about knowing the moment office work wasn’t meant for her, and how she used her finance background to build a celebrated interior design business.

In the wake of her favorite ballet-inspired fitness studio closing, Jennifer Vaughan Maanavi saw an opportunity to open her own replacement studio.  Jennifer left her Wall Street job and teamed up with Tanya Becker, a leading Lotte Berk Method instructor, to create a modern Lotte Berk inspired workout – Physique 57.  In 2006, the duo opened their first Physique 57 studio on West 57th Street, where it became an overnight success, with long waitlists, celebrity clients and talk of studio expansions. On this episode of Beauty Bosses, Jennifer and Tanya speak with Dr. Lara Devgan about defining the concept of boutique fitness before it was a trend, expanding globally, and the challenges entrepreneurs face when building a business. 

When Philip Burchard took the reins of family-owned Merz, the more than 100 year-old German company had diversified into wide array of pharmaceutical products.  Recognizing the potential of some key Merz products, Philip refocused the company primarily on aesthetics and neurotoxins while relentlessly growing the business geographically.  Six years later, it is thriving in an industry otherwise dominated by multi-national behemoths.  Dr. Lara Devgan talks with Philip Burchard, CEO of Merz, about why Christie Brinkley is a great spokesperson for the company, the need for continuous innovation, and why a boss is personally responsible for his or her employees' well-being. 

Jasmine Lobe graduated from Vassar full of ideals about #GirlPower.  Spending six years in Los Angeles as a young actress left her with a slightly more jaded view of how the world really works.  Writing about those experiences led her back to New York where she took over Candace Bushnell's famous Observer column which served as the basis for Sex and the City.  Dr. Lara Devgan talks with Jasmine Lobe about her #MeToo experiences with some well-known protagonists and how beauty is all about feeling confident in the way you look.

Aidan Donnelley Rowley, a Yale and Columbia-educated lawyer, realized that secret dream of probably every young lawyer: quit it all and write a successful novel.  What stayed firmly secret however was how alcohol was playing an increasingly large role in her life as she dealt with the challenges of being a mom to three young daughters.  She realized that, as a writer, she could add nuance to the discussion and she started to write increasingly about drinking while partaking ever less in it.  In this episode of Beauty Bosses, Dr. Lara Devgan talks with Aidan Donnelley Rowley about motherhood, beauty, and how life can be better without booze.

When Nell Diamond was looking for bedding for her first "grown-up" apartment she faced the classic dilemma of being priced out of what she liked while being unimpressed with what she could afford.  So she joined her business school's incubator and turned a life-long passion for design and decorating into Hill House Home which purveys luxury bedlinen at reasonable prices.  In this episode of Beauty Bosses, Nell Diamond talks to Dr. Lara Devgan about the high ups and deep lows of starting a business, the crazy things people monogram on their bedding, and making her girlhood dream of getting a canopy bed come true.  

Marvin Eisenstadt was a young man helping build his father's company, Cumberland Packaging Corp., which had invented the sugar packet only a few years earlier.  Marvin had been tinkering with saccharin, a powerful sweetener, when he found that by combining it with certain other chemical compounds he could make a new sweetener that tasted much better than saccharin alone, and had a fraction of the calories of sugar.  This was the beginning of the Sweet'N Low story which changed the way we sweeten our beverages.  Now, more than 60 years and 500 billion packets later, Marvin Eisenstadt shares his and his family's story with Dr. Lara Devgan in Episode 11 of Beauty Bosses.