Growing up, Natalie Gee and her sisters didn’t spend a lot of time playing with toys. “I grew up with parents who were entrepreneurs,” Gee tells GRAZIA USA. “Instead of playing with dolls, I set up a cash register and created imaginary businesses.”
The early exposure to life as a founder made such an impact on Gee that she – along with her mother and two sisters – set off to create her own brand. A female-founded, family-owned multigenerational lifestyle and beauty brand, Gee Beauty was founded in Toronto in 2005; a second Miami location followed in 2011, with both locations offering high tech results-driven skin treatments, bespoke brows and lashes along with customized makeup application. The retail shop features in-demand brands like Augustinus Bader, Biologique Recherche, Dr. Barbara Sturm, Dr. Lara Devgan and, of course, the brand’s own eponymous line.
“I was always destined to have my own business,” says Gee, who admits that the idea of owning and operating a business has changed so much. “What defined success 18 years ago was having people come into stores, see a product and give them an experience. But now so much is about connection—mostly thanks to social media and people’s desire to connect.”
Gee says the brand’s success is about customers being able to relate to the founders—without any regard for age. “Customers can always find themself in one of us,” Gee says, referring to her mother, Miriam, and two younger sisters, Celene and Stephanie. “We all represent a different lifestyle and look,” says Gee. “Some women who are 30 look at Miriam and think ‘wow, that’s how I want to age’” while some older clients might turn to Gee and her sisters for a youthful reboot.
After years of discussing and dreaming about starting the business, the mother and daughters decide to make it a reality. “One day, I said enough of the talking and we sat at the kitchen table for two years mapping out the plan for Gee Beauty,” Gee reveals.
Now, Gee and her team get to work with clients on all aspects of skincare and beauty, while showcasing their daily lives and adventures on social media. “We are really generous with what we put on social media, and how much of ourselves we share with followers,” admits Gee, who can regularly be found at the Miami location chatting with clients and offering her advice and insight. “I have falling back in love with so many aspects of what I do.”
Part of the journey for Gee Beauty has included the makeup line which is available at Gee Beauty locations as well as Joanna Czech and Knockout Beauty. “In creating the Gee Beauty makeup line, we were answering a call for ourselves,” says Gee. “We wanted to make it easy for people to put on makeup that would take them all day from a meeting to the playground or dinner. We want people to embrace makeup like coffee and make it easy, accessible and all the time.”
Gee acknowledges that makeup looks have evolved so much over the years. “I approach beauty as a lifestyle concept, there to emphasize our god-given features. For me personally, makeup has become a part of my routine and the more comfortable you get with it the better it gets. I truly feel that women can be empowered by doing their makeup. I want women to feel incredible when they wear a product on their skin, something that makes them feel amazing when they step out the door.”
