BEAUTY BEYOND THE BRIEF: JEFF LEE, CEO & CO-FOUNDER, DIBS BEAUTY
In this episode of There Is No Alternative, Tina Bou-Saba, founder of CXT Investments, sits down with Jeff Lee, co-founder and CEO of DIBS Beauty, for a conversation that goes all the way back to his childhood.
Jeff started college at 16, went to Yale Law School, made it to one of the most selective corporate law firms in the country, and then walked away from it. Business school connected him to Alex Rodriguez, which led to JLo Beauty, which led to co-founding DIBS with creator Courtney Shields during the pandemic. He is also a certified personal trainer who has worked out at every Equinox in the world, a beauty pageant coach for Peru, and a CEO who has personally worked eight-hour retail shifts at Ulta stores in all fifty states. This conversation is candid, funny, and full of hard-won thinking on leadership, hiring, confidence, and what it actually takes to build a brand people keep choosing.
In This Episode:
Why Jeff's mom took US News & World Report from the doctor's office, and the promise she pointed to on the page
What a tiger parent upbringing gave him, and why he believes that kind of parenting is harder than the alternative
The superiority and inferiority complexes that combine into what he calls an energy source
Going deaf in his one hearing ear for two weeks, and what he learned about himself in that stretch
Why he says the number one secret to his success is having generous parents
Coaching Miss Venezuela, and why pageants and presidential debates are decided by the same thing
Why the loudest person in the room is often the least effective, and how that changed his hiring
Why he works full retail shifts at Ulta and sweeps the floors while his team sells
How he and Courtney Shields decided DIBS would not be named after her
The two-in-one product philosophy and why value has to be earned differently now than five years ago
Chapters:
[00:00] From Stanford at 16 to Building DIBS Beauty
[04:24] The Kid Who Obsessed Over Cacti, Egypt, and Gemstones
[05:26] College at 16 and a Tiger Parent Upbringing
[09:08] Yale Law School and Never Feeling Stupider
[10:37] The Magazine His Mom Took From the Doctor's Office
[12:11] The Chip on Your Shoulder Is an Energy Source
[13:45] Two Weeks Without Hearing and What It Taught Him
[18:22] The Number One Secret to His Success: Generous Parents
[19:30] Every Equinox in the World and 30 Non-Negotiable Minutes a Day
[23:35] Coaching Miss Venezuela Is Like Coaching Brazil in the World Cup
[24:54] Why Pageants and Presidential Debates Are Both Confidence Games
[26:09] Leading a Company of Women and the Bias Toward Loud
[28:13] Promoting the Quietest People on the Team
[30:32] From Big Law to A-Rod to JLo Beauty
[32:37] Meeting Courtney Shields and Why It Is Not Courtney Shields Beauty
[33:56] Working With Talent: What A-Rod Taught Him About Being the Smartest Person
[35:26] Don't Make Small Talk. She Knows What You Want.
[36:34] Building the Team and Understanding Everyone's Motivations
[39:12] Why the CEO Sweeps the Floor at Ulta
[41:01] Fifty States and Getting Close to a Customer Who Is Not You
[42:18] The Concealer Launch and Going Into Complexion After Five Years
[43:35] Two-in-One and Why the Customer Is Smarter Than Ever
[45:08] How He Turns It Off: Gardening and Chasing Pigeons
[47:17] Desert Island Product: Sunscreen
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