UGLY TALK: BEAUTY BUSINESS AND LESSONS FOR CPG FOUNDERS
💡 What’s the Big Deal
The beauty industry looks polished from the outside but founders know better. Behind the branding, influencer posts, and glossy packaging are long nights, lab errors, shipping delays, cash flow nightmares, and moments where quitting feels easier than pushing forward.
This Ugly Talk peels back the perfectly blended surface to expose what it really takes to survive and thrive in beauty. Join a powerhouse panel of founders for a raw, unfiltered conversation about what’s beautiful and what’s brutal about building a beauty brand.
🎯 Why You Should Attend
Most beauty brands don’t make it past year two — Learn what to do differently
No sugarcoating — This isn’t a pitch deck or a press release, it’s the real stuff
Walk away with clarity — Insights you can use to build smarter, plan better, and move faster
Make real connections — The kind that actually help you grow
🙋 Who You'll Meet
Aspiring Beauty Founders — Those dreaming of launching their first product
Beauty Entrepreneurs — Those already in it, navigating the day-to-day chaos of growth
Industry Insiders — Chemists, labs, suppliers, service providers who want the founder POV
Investors & Retail Buyers — Those curious about what separates passing trends from real, founder-led brands
🎤 Who’s on the Panel
Icey Juthapohn Roongpiti - Founder & CEO of Starla Skin
As part of a third-generation family business in healthcare and aesthetics, I bring MedSpa expertise and advanced 7-in-1 LED Light Therapy Technology into the comfort of your home. Growing up with hypersensitive skin and seeing my mother’s struggle with hyperpigmentation, I turned to dermatology. When COVID-19 shut everything down, I made it my mission to create accessible, at-home treatments. Today, I’m building Starla Skin to make medical beauty more accessible, sustainable, and self-empowering for different skin concerns, while championing women and minority leadership as an Asian founder committed to empowering confidence and celebrating individuality on a global scale.
Jason Wong - Founder of Doe Lashes
Jason Wong is the founder and CEO of Doe Lashes and Paking Duck. A Hong Kong immigrant raised by a single mother, Jason taught himself digital marketing at 16 and went on to build multiple 8-figure DTC businesses. His work blends storytelling, systems thinking, and a relentless focus on execution. Today, through Doe Lashes and Paking Duck, he empowers emerging founders with fast, cost-effective, and brand-elevating packaging solutions. As a speaker, Jason shares insights on entrepreneurship, brand-building, and how to turn scrappiness into scale.
Mair Emenogu - Founder of MAIR
Mair Emenogu is the founder of MAIR, a luxury fragrance brand known for creating soft, elevated scents that empower how women feel about themselves. Her approach blends artistry with intention, placing emotional resonance at the heart of each fragrance. Through thoughtful storytelling and meticulous formulation, Mair has grown her brand into a nationally recognized brand stocked by leading retailers and cultural tastemakers. With a background in global marketing, she’s redefining modern luxury through subtlety, softness, and soul. Mair continues to champion independent beauty with vision, clarity, and a deep respect for scent as a powerful, everyday ritual.
Jadis Montijo - Founder & CEO of Motivo Scar Care
Jadis Montijo is the founder of Motivo Scar Care, an award-winning brand redefining how we care for scars. Built from personal experience, he launched Motivo after his top surgery revealed the lack of inclusive, effective scar care solutions. With a background in scaling consumer brands, Jadis is on a mission to make healing more accessible, empowering, and reflective of real people.
Moderator:
Dr. Bicheng Wu - Founder & CEO of DPhiant Corporation
Dr. Bicheng Wu is the Founder & CEO of DPhiant, a science-backed skincare and wellness brand rooted in authenticity, innovation, and the courage to defy limits. With over a decade of experience spanning ingredient innovation at global leader, Ingredion, and research and development at The Estée Lauder Companies, she brings a unique perspective across the entire value chain—from food and nutrition to beauty. As a PhD-trained scientist with an MBA from Columbia Business School, she is leveraging cross-industry knowledge to create products that deliver real results to protect and empower, so people can focus on being the best of themselves. Her first launch will be an innovative acne care product coming out in the next few months.
💬 What We’ll Talk About
Brutal Honesty: The unspoken struggles of formulation flops, manufacturer drama, and retail heartbreak.
Real Strategies: How one founder bounced back from failure and what you can learn from her mistakes.
Industry Red Flags: Common pitfalls that quietly kill beauty startups before they ever scale.
Community + Connection: Meet fellow founders, chemists, suppliers, and buyers who actually get what you’re going through.
🤝 Partner Brand
doola is the Business-in-a-Box™ for e-commerce founders helping you launch, manage, and grow a US business from anywhere.
🤝 Co-Hosted With
Chloe Dunsten – Founder | Pioneering Innovative Ventures in Beauty & Wellness.
GREY Journal – Media partner spotlighting modern entrepreneurs (Apple News + Google News)
🤝 Venue Partner
The Yard - Private offices & coworking spaces for individuals and teams
🎥 Get a taste of past Ugly Talk energy:
• Official Website
• 2024 Video Recap
⭐ About Ugly Talk:
Started in 2019, Ugly Talk has been transforming business setbacks into breakthrough “aha!” moments by hosting unfiltered, no-nonsense events where battle-tested entrepreneurs share their raw lessons and insights.
With a growing presence in cities like New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and Miami, we’ve built a vibrant community of thousands of founders and industry leaders making a profound impact on the entrepreneurial landscape.