Every issue, GRAZIA USA highlights Game Changers, who inspire, educate, and celebrate individuality, beauty, and style. Meet Bee Shapiro, the beauty columnist, author, and founder of sustainable body care and fragrance line Ellis Brooklyn.
My path as an entrepreneur has definitely been a journey! My first real job was as a hedge fund attorney in New York City. I only lasted a little less than a year. I knew right away it wasn’t for me, but I was too scared to take the leap. But then I thought, life is too short, and work is too integrated in our lives to do something that is truly not you. I took a leap of faith and pursued writing.
I’ve been writing for The New York Times for the last 13 years or so as a beauty columnist for the “Skin Deep” franchise, covering new products, emerging trends, and investigating interesting beauty routines. It’s as you would imagine: an absolute dream job made all the sweeter because I fell in love with the beauty industry along the way.
When I became pregnant with my daughter Ellis and was living in Brooklyn (hence Ellis Brooklyn!), I just thought a gorgeous fragrance with smartly and safely sourced ingredients didn’t exist. When I started to clean up my beauty routine, I found there were no sophisticated, clean options for fragrance. That’s when I took that leap again!
At that time, I also thought that there needed to be a different viewpoint in scent. We’ve had decades of one kind of creative in scent – a French Caucasian male. I believed then and I also do now that there can be a different approach, a more diverse starting point for creating truly modern fragrances.
It’s been tremendously exciting and rewarding, but it’s been a roller coaster as well. I’m a planner and I do tend to map out where I am going. The truth is though, and what I’m leaning into more, is that you can only do the best with what you have in the present, with today. You can and should plan, but the future is the future. You have to let go of the outcome. We all only have control over the present.
As for a five-year map for Ellis Brooklyn, I, of course, want to grow the business. I love the idea of exploring all of these formats of scent, from oils to hair perfumes, to even our daily at-home kinds of scents. We are expanding through a few key partners internationally. I’m keen on building these areas up and seeing Ellis Brooklyn expressed in different countries. Further down the line, I would love to see if I can make an impact in a meaningful way in skincare or color.
The thing about entrepreneurship is, you have to take that leap, otherwise it won’t work if you don’t fully commit. That said, the planning up to that leap is important. It’s almost like planning for any kind of launch. You start with the idea and then you poke at the idea, and you ask yourself, is it compelling or interesting enough? Will your audience get it? Then, you start following through on the bits that are going to make it real, while continually asking yourself those same questions along the way. In jumping from idea to execution, there’s always a lot of planning involved, but to take the leap- you just have to do it.
— As told to Hannah Militano
