In a time when beauty brands are launching at a frenetic pace, it’s important to take a moment to acknowledge an indie beauty brand that’s celebrating their tenth anniversary. Beauty entrepreneur Stacey Schieffelin, founder of ybf (Your Best Friend), has built a brand with staying power that disrupted the industry when it launched but has managed to evolve, remaining more then just relevant—they are the number-one color cosmetic line in the direct sales channels globally.
Executive Vice President Michele de Bourbon sums the success up: “ybf’s very unique message of inclusion is not only evident in the product offering, but it is also reflected in the brand name as well as all of the promotion surrounding the brand. The message of self-respect is a focus of communication—it’s not about looking good for others, it’s about looking good for one’s own good—that message coupled with making products that women rely on and need (much like they do their friends) gives the ybf line a unique and timely relevance, but more importantly, it creates demand.”
“Over the past decade we have seen tremendous growth with this brand—we know it has legs and staying power in the market. The selling by endorsement trend, something ybf has been doing for the past decade, is the backbone of Social Media and now a key strategic sales driver among most brands. We need to leverage that success and keep launching innovative products that may include other beauty categories, such as fragrance. Additionally, we are looking to launch with a bricks and mortar partner to get the attention of a new consumer set,” de Bourbon continued.
Stacey shares the ten-year path of ybf along with inspiration, loads of advice, and what’s in store for the future in the interview below:
What was the impetus to launch a beauty brand?
I used to watch how Mary Kay empowered women, made them dream BIG, appreciated them and shared the wealth and incentives with her teams. I saw women help their families and communities and all I could dream about was being like Mary Kay Ash and the millions of women’s lives she was changing in the workforce. I will never forget my first Mary Kay house party—it was a pajama party where all of my girlfriends arrived at our home for my “pitch” and watched me as I put on my makeup. I will never forget that feeling of seeing other women becoming a sisterhood and helping each other feel good! Entrepreneurship was ignited in me and I never looked back. It wasn’t until years later when I first launched a TV brand that I realized how much that experience had taught me. Paying it forward for me was having the ability to spend time with women through LIVE TV in the comfort of their own homes teaching them how to put their face on to face the day—just as I had decades earlier. It felt like I was back in the living room with my girlfriends but this time I had a much larger platform and some new girlfriends to speak to—the viewers.
You were a cover girl and runway model with Wilhelmina & Ford Models earlier in your career. How has that experience informed your success as a beauty entrepreneur?
I had two decades of modeling to learn tips, tricks, and trade secrets so graciously bestowed upon me by professional makeup artists and hair stylists from around the world. Each one of them taught me so much and I honor them for giving me the knowledge of their craft and techniques. From country to country the same question from everyday women was being asked—how do models do their makeup? It has been my honor to share every ounce of knowledge from every experience of being on the catwalk, in catalogs, and on the covers as an International Ford Model.
Why did you create ybf? What did you see missing from the market? What was your vision for the brand when you launched?
I realized I had become so much more than a model. And although I was blessed with an amazing career I was now a wife, mother, and entrepreneur and I was getting older and my beauty needs were changing. The concept came about from a focus group of close girlfriends and we had our answer! Products you would tell you best friend about. They would be paraben free, red packaging to match our bold personalities, and lots of bling to be added to the components. ybf (your best friend) beauty was born and came to life on HSN. I am forever grateful and humbled every day to carry the torch for something my girlfriends and I developed all together.
ybf is celebrating a 10th anniversary—the beauty landscape was very different a decade ago. What has been the most dramatic change in the industry since the launch of ybf?
The world has changed a lot in the past 10 years. The rapid development of new technology and the changing landscape of the online world have changed the way we view beauty—how we approach beauty. I remember in a TED Talk I gave in NYC, I shared I was doing live tutorial makeovers on TV—before it was cool—using TV as my reach. Today all the social media platforms are amazing! So many women no matter their ethnicity, age, and position in life can all share what beauty means to them.
ybf is the number-one color cosmetic line in direct sales on HSN (USA), QVC (UK – England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales), TSC (Canada), TVSN (Australia & New Zealand), HSE24 (Italy, German, & Austria) and Citruss (United Arab Emirates – 18 Countries) and Shopping LIVE in Russia. What is your recipe for success in this channel?
We are honored to be at the top of our color category on our networks, but what makes our ybf team more proud is that we carry products that meet the needs of all women no matter what her age, hair color, or skin tone. I attribute our success to being a brand about inclusivity not exclusivity. To date we have sold over 13 million brow pencils due to me not having any brows and showing women how they can go from bare brows to brows that wow in seconds! It amazes me that women all over the world like a different shape brow—that is why our ybf eyebrow pencil has won awards on all our networks and is the #1 customer-reviewed beauty item as well as #1 auto-shipped item at our networks across our vast category of products. It’s all because you can have the brows you always desired—depending on the pressure you apply the pencil changes up to 22 shades— great for all blondes, brunettes, redheads, salt & pepper, silver foxes, and black-haired gals, and men love it for the grey in their sideburns—go figure!
How have you kept ybf relevant in a very crowded fast-moving category?
Keeping engaged, connected, and having a dialogue with our viewers is what brought me to TV. In any country and in any language she wants to share—we share. We build products around her wants and desires. I will always let women continue to build upon the brand and never think we as brand founders and ambassadors have all the answers. There are so many amazing and talented people in the beauty industry and they all bring so much to this vast category. Every day is a learning experience and I am honored to be a part of our fast-paced product category.
What advice would you give to all the beauty entrepreneurs in the industry?
New and amazing beauty products flood the market daily. But did you know sadly that only 1 in 10 will prove successful? And even fewer will enjoy a long shelf or TV life. We’ve launched 1000s of products and we have all suffered a few not-so-perfect product launches along the way. Successes are great—but it’s the failures we get our best training from. These are the ten questions we always ask before a launch. Does it have unique features? Does it have mass appeal? Does it solve a problem? Is there a powerful offer with a supportive cost of goods? Can you easily explain how it works? Is there a magical transformation or demo? Is it multifunctional? Is it credible; are there testimonials? Are there proven results? Can you answer the questions the viewer is thinking? If you answered YES to all 10 of these questions, you’ve got yourself a product that’s so solid you won’t even need a celebrity endorser to make it fly into the hands of shoppers. No one is a more powerful spokesperson than the person who developed the product from concept to completion—it is your baby and that passion on TV is contagious! Our viewers are smart and they buy from people who are authentic and have a love for their product.
What’s your vision for the next decade?
The next decade is all about living the DREAM! Every day, we decide either to live our dreams or to choose an alternate path. Choosing to live a dream is to choose to have a thrilling experience, one that excites you, one that pulls you from your bed each morning and ignites your passions. Your dreams are attainable, and you can begin living them any day you want to—every day can be a NEW beginning. Being able to live your dream does not depend on whether the economy is up or down, whether you are married or single, or whether you are rich or poor. Living your dreams depends only on the choices you make—so go out and be the beauty entrepreneur you were meant to be because beauty matters.
Tell us more about Women’s Leadership LIVE, the organization you co-founded with your girlfriends Linda McMahon and Debbie Saviano.
We are truly sisters that have always lifted each other up. And we enjoy the challenges of doing it for others. Women’s Leadership LIVE began in 2015 with a dream to offer expert business training to committed entrepreneurs. It has been an amazing ride! Women’s Leadership LIVE’s mission is to reflect and amplify the voices of career and entrepreneurial women—to share their stories of risk and success, to chronicle and help expand their growing economic, political, and social influence and power, to celebrate their triumphs, to provide solutions to their problems, to identify and empower a new wave of women entrepreneurs and leaders. All in all, Women’s Leadership LIVE enjoys delivering innovation, resources, manufacturing, and funding from our large network of female leaders and advisors. We discover—and often enrich—the best of the best and bring them into the product world in a TV-friendly format. Less risk. More alternatives. Rapid speed to market. Greater success rate.
You know all about me; please let me share and introduce my amazing WLL partners!
Linda McMahon is the kindest mogul you’ll ever meet. One of our original WLL Founders and former CEO of Women’s Leadership LIVE, Linda now serves as the 25th Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and we talk weekly, but she has had to put her WLL CEO hat to the side helping American’s small businesses. As a member of President Trump’s cabinet, she advocates on behalf of the 30 million small businesses in America.
Debbie Saviano is the teacher and principal you always wanted. Debbie is one of the three founders of Women’s Leadership LIVE and with a background in pre-K to high school education; she continues to use her knowledge as a cornerstone for developing, nurturing, and maintaining relationships. Her ability to demonstrate ROI—Return on Influence via social media enables entrepreneurs to not only be connected on a global scale but, when used appropriately, can be one of the most powerful resources available. A writer and creator of content from articles to blogs to books, she has authored or co-authored: LinkedIn Strategies, Brilliant Speakers, Business Success with Ease and Navigating Entrepreneurship, all of which focus on avenues of the entrepreneurial journey.
How does it feel to be a role model and inspiration to so many women in the world? And how do you encourage confidence and self-esteem in today’s women of all ages?
I would be honored to be considered a role model, but I am just a woman who has been blessed to reach so many wonderful and amazing women through LIVE TV. It’s a gift; and I am forever grateful. I think we, as women, are all role models for each other, and that it is our duty to be the best we can be for each female we meet!
