In this episode of The Idealists. (formerly Grit & Grace), host and entrepreneur Melissa Kiguwa interviews Jenn Harper, founder and CEO of Cheekbone Beauty, a Canadian, Indigenous-owned beauty brand that gained popularity after being on the hit show, Dragons Den. And excitingly, on November 6th, Cheekbone Beauty products will be available in Sephora (so make sure to support and pick up a Warrior Woman Lipstick because as anyone listening to this podcast knows— our money and patronage matter).
In this episode, Jenn shares her deeply personal reasons for building a business that helps indigenous youth see themselves and their beauty.
“We won this million dollars for ad campaign space through Bell Media, however, we didn’t have enough money in our budget for production. And we’re like, how are we ever going to accomplish this? The agency we’re working with decides to donate their time for production— that’s $260,000! Then I said to my team, ‘I’m going to ask Sephora for the money.‘
They’re like, ‘What?’
I’m like, ‘Yup. The rest of production, the hard costs are about $150k and I’m going to ask them, it’s worth a shot.’
So a couple of weeks ago I reached out to one of their executive team members, and Sephora came back a week and a half later and said, ‘We’re in, we’re going to do it.’”
in the episode:
Jenn begins by describing the different worlds she inhabits and how they collide in her mission to make indigenous youth feel seen.
She then goes on to describe what fuels her and the emotional work she has had to do. She explores her childhood and how her consistent desire to be seen as worthy continues to propel her today. She also vulnerably shares how her sobriety allows her to thrive.
Jenn shares her familial history starting with her grandmother's experience in Residential Boarding Schools where many indigenous children in North America were sent between the early 19th century through the mid-20th centuries.
Jenn ends the episode sharing her goals to expand her brand and her hopes for indigenous youth.