Rea Ann Silva of Beautyblender – Sponge Scientist

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 50:33 — 46.4MB)

There aren’t many people who can describe themselves as a sponge scientist. But Rea Ann Silva, an in-demand celebrity makeup artist and the founder and inventor of Beautyblender (an iconic, expanding, egg-shaped makeup sponge for effortless blending, which has grown into a line of extraordinary makeup, foundations, and other tools), deserves the “sponge scientist” title.  She has lived the “there must be a better way” path to creating a product to solve her own challenges, and now leads a fast growing company with a team of more than 100 people that is taking the world of makeup artistry by storm! Rea Ann joins Socialfly co-founder Courtney Spritzer for a conversation about growing her business and her career, and describing her journey to success, including: the airbrushing challenge while working on the set of the TV show Girlfriends that sparked the idea of Beautyblender; why the predominance of men as makeup artists in the past create a real challenge for women using the same tools; which male insecurity inspired the first “black Beautyblender”; Rea Ann’s revolutionary foundation “Bounce”; what staying focused and avoiding distractions has meant for Rea Ann; and, Rea Ann’s successful tactic for organic marketing. Plus, a surprise!