Confessions of a Female Founder with Meghan
Attaining the Unattainable with IT Cosmetics’ Jamie Kern Lima
Tue, 29 Apr 2025
Meghan sits down with close friend Jamie Kern Lima to share the incredible story of how she went from waiting tables at Denny’s to becoming the groundbreaking co-founder of IT Cosmetics. In 2016, Jamie sold the brand to L’Oréal for $1.2 Billion in cash, a deal that made her the first female CEO of a brand in the company’s history. The two discuss the power of authenticity, overcoming setbacks, and the critical importance of trusting your instincts. Follow Meghan @Meghan and Jamie @jamiekernlima on Instagram. Stay up to date with us @LemonadaMedia on X, Facebook, and Instagram. For a list of current sponsors and discount codes for this and every other Lemonada show, go to lemonadamedia.com/sponsors. Joining Lemonada Premium is a great way to support our shows and get bonus content. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Main Theme: “Crabbuckit” words and music by Kevin Deron Brereton (c) Universal Songs of Polygram Int., Inc. on behalf of Universal Music Publishing Canada (BMI) / 100% interest for the Territory.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Who is Jamie Kern Lima and what is her story?
So it was just word of mouth that people were even hearing about it. Everything was about how do we stay alive. And I remember at the time we got an inbound from a potential investor. And I was like, oh my gosh. I started doing all my homework. I'm like, they've invested in all these companies that like used to be very tiny. Now they're big names in grocery stores and big box retailers.
I was like, oh my gosh. Okay. I was freaking out. I told Paula, my husband, I'm like, look, look at this email. And And it was a big potential investor, so a big private equity company, very well known. And they got a hold of our product and they wanted to have a meeting. Oh, my gosh.
And so the thought of like, oh, my gosh, this investor is going to be my saving grace because if he invests in A, we're not going to go bankrupt. B, like maybe he can use all his connections to get us in these stores. And we took our first meeting and it was amazing.
We did meeting after meeting after meeting and we flew up for the final meeting where I presented like the whole future product pipeline. And I thought this was going to be my saving grace. And I was so excited. And I'll never forget, Paolo, my husband, was standing next to me about three feet from me. And the head of the private equity firm was there. He was lovely.
And his whole team, who was great, they were all there. At the very end of the meeting, he says to me, you know, congratulations. You should be so proud. This is a really, really great product. But it's a no. We're going to pass on investing in IT Cosmetics. And I was like – I was so used to hearing no. But it felt like –
You know, like a punch in the gut because I was like, I don't know how we're going to make it. And so I said, can you tell me why? What did he say? Well, I mean, feedback can be a gift. So I said, can you tell me why? And he got really quiet. And I'm standing here in person. I'm like two or three feet from him. And he got really, really, really quiet.
And he says to me, do you want me to be really honest with you? And I was like, yes, please. And he just paused. And I remember feeling like my heartbeat in my ears for some reason. I was like, what could this be? And I remember his mouth started moving. And I remember looking at his mouth and his teeth for some reason.
And he says to me, I just don't think women will buy makeup from someone who looks like you with your body and your weight. And when he said those, first of all, I never even got angry or felt anger toward him. But when he said those words to me, it felt almost like a lifetime of body doubt and self-doubt like flooded my body all at once.
So I almost felt like I was staring my own fear straight in the eye. But here's why I want to share this. When he said those words to me, I just don't think women will buy makeup from someone who looks like you with your body and your weight. I got this feeling and it was so strong. Megan, I can feel it right now. Like literally it was so strong in my gut. Visceral. Visceral.
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