On October 23, the beauty industry will gather in Los Angeles for the BeautyMatter NEXT50 Growth Summit, where we will push the boundaries and open minds with ideas and conversations about the current dynamics driving the global beauty industry.
We are operating in a moment of extreme uncertainty and disruption. While it may feel like it rolled up suddenly with dramatic intensity, it has been simmering for years. As markets waver with too much noise and too little context, it's a time to sharpen strategies by parsing the numbers and reading the signs beyond the headlines.
Today, it feels like the world operates at the speed of TikTok, but not everything has to be a sprint. It's okay to build slow, solid, and soulful businesses. It's possible to miss a trend and be successful in the long run. Succeeding during disruption requires leaning in, not away, and giving consumers more reasons to buy, not less. Building a lasting, sustainable business is the real flex.
Meet our lineup of powerhouse speakers and sessions for NEXT50.
Beauty That Breaks Through: How Brands Make It at Sephora
What does it really take to become a standout brand at Sephora? For many beauty and wellness founders, Sephora is the Holy Grail of beauty retailers; seeing their products on the coveted black shelves would be a major milestone. In this candid fireside chat, Carolyn Bojanowski, EVP of US Merchandising at Sephora, pulls back the curtain on what the retailer looks for in a brand partner. Dieux co-founder Charlotte Palermino and Ciele Cosmetics co-founder Nikki DeRoest will share what success looks like through a founder's lens by offering an inside look at how Sephora collaborates with emerging brands to bring bold ideas to life—and to shelves.
From TikTok to Top-Seller: Turning Virality into Long-Term Brand Power
In today’s beauty landscape, a single viral moment can turn an under-the-radar product into a household name overnight. TikTok has become the epicenter of product discovery, driving shopper behavior, especially on platforms like Amazon. But what happens after the spike? How do brands transform that momentum into lasting relevance? This panel will unpack the lifecycle of a viral beauty product, from becoming a hero SKU to building a sustainable brand strategy and cross-platform playbooks that convert attention into measurable growth.
The Beauty Translators: A Fireside Chat with The Lipstick Lesbians
In a year where volatility has taken on an entirely new meaning, our BeautyMatter Person(s) of the Year are a breath of fresh air. Alexis Androulakis and Dr. Christina Basias Androulakis, aka The Lipstick Lesbians, love of beauty is contagious, and their commitment to decoding beauty marketing and educating consumers is good for the industry. In a time when AI drives our decisions and algorithms predict behavior, their content has broken through the creator noise.We'll dive into their recipe for success.
AI Is Everywhere: The Question Is Not Whether to Adopt AI, but How
Beyond the hype in the age of AI, the question is not whether to adopt the technology, but how. AI gets interesting when you move beyond the conceptual impact and dive into real stories of how businesses are actually using it: to create faster, personalize smarter, and predict better. Less buzz, more business impact. We'll explore the complexities of where to start and how to build practical implementation strategies.
The Indie Advantage: Agility in a Connected Commerce World
Indie brands have the speed and authenticity to thrive in a fragmented shopper landscape. Learn how connecting brand equity, demand creation, DTC storytelling, and Amazon scale creates outsized impact against legacy competitors. We’ll explore how founders can turn cultural momentum into measurable growth and why agility, creativity, and consumer connection are the ultimate competitive edge in today’s Connected Commerce era.
Bootstrapping: Building and Scaling on Your Own Terms
To raise or not to raise? Over the last decade, the beauty ecosystem glorified fundraising, but the rise and fall of easy money has made founders think more pragmatically about what it takes to scale a brand and turn a profit. There is no right or wrong choice because every business is different. Still, the decision between bootstrapping and fundraising can reveal a lot about the founder and their business, and it always comes with insightful stories. We’ll dive into what it takes to bootstrap a business.
How Do Brands Capture Culture for Social Currency?
While some beauty brands create cultural moments as part of their DNA, others are more reactive, jumping on the bandwagon to be part of the zeitgeist. Conveying authenticity while trying to build social capital can be a delicate balance for beauty brands. We'll explore how brands can build trust with customers while navigating the whiplash of constant cultural shifts, as well as how to develop an ethos that translates to every marketing and social media communication.
Bigger Than Beauty: Building Brands That Matter
The power of beauty can be transformative, especially in the hands of entrepreneurs with big ideas building cult brands with a cause. For them, profit isn't enough, and words matter, but actions matter more. The idea that businesses should serve the interests of consumers, suppliers, workers, society, and shareholders isn’t new, but striking the right balance between profit and purpose is crucial to achieving long-term success and lasting impact.
Regulatory Radar: Updates and Implications
We are in the most unsettled and complex regulatory environment for the beauty industry in decades, with changes coming faster than many can manage and showing no signs of slowing down. From state-by-state activity in the US to EU regulation causing changes on an international level, we’ll discuss what’s in the pipeline and what needs to be top of mind. Compliance and regulation are foundational blocks of building a successful brand. They require cross-functional collaboration making it crucial for product developers, marketers, CEOs, and founders to stay on top of changes.
Let others chase headlines—while you chase clarity. The beauty business has always been a long game fueled by ideas, resilience, and tenacity.
Slowdown. Think. Reimagine. Refocus.
BeautyMatter isn't about passive engagement; we believe the company you keep matters, and community is at the center of everything we do.
Join us in LA for NEXT50 on October 23. Everyone is welcome.
