We recently connected with Rachel Anise and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Rachel thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?
When I started Beauty Professor back in 2012, I had already been a college professor for a few years and, after finishing co-authoring a textbook with another professor, I had all this excess writing energy and decided to create a beauty blog focused on luxury make-up and skincare. I wanted a name that combined the duality of my worlds (beauty writing and academia) and, after a thorough search online to make sure that the name was not already in use, chose “Beauty Professor.”
The feedback that I received early on reflected that this moniker was unique and memorable and when people started recognizing me as “Beauty Professor” while out shopping or at an event, I learned that the name (and my site in general) had much farther-reaching reverberations than I realized.
I officially trademarked the name (I did the entire process myself thanks to a heavy reliance on Google) back in 2014 and it continues to be the identifying factor in my multichannel business, which also includes Instagram and YouTube. This year, I also created Beauty Professor, LLC, which will serve as the parent company to some exciting product development on which I’m working.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I started Beauty Professor (www.beautyprofessor.com) back in 2012 as a way to share in-depth reviews and true-to-life images of luxury beauty I love. Growing up, I was enthralled by fashion magazines but when it came to the product breakdowns in the editorial spreads, I always found the details lacking. For example, it might have mentioned that a certain brand of lipstick was used for the look but I wanted to know the exact shade so I could track it down for myself! Fast forward to my college years and I spent countless hours on set as a model and actress (mainly commercials) to pay my way through both college and grad school. I was endlessly fascinated by the esoteric products that makeup artists used and asked more questions than my time in “the chair” would allow. At that time, all my income went to tuition and books but when I started teaching college full time as a professor of Communication Studies, I found myself with a modicum of disposable income to buy the some of the rarified beauty that had always been on my radar. I started Beauty Professor one winter break after co-authoring a Public Speaking textbook; after spending a year meeting a rigorous schedule of publishing deadlines, I found myself with excess writing energy and embarked on a creative journey that would define my adult years. I began Beauty Professor during one winter break and by necessity, started learning the necessary elements of photography, web design, SEO and coding, working closely with my mom and best friend, Laura, who photographs nearly every image of me for my content.
Every story written on Beauty Professor enables me to create content that divulges the details I wished were present in magazines and, with sunlit swatches and images of everything on my face (with zero usage of photoshop), I’ve been able to give my community of beauty devotees a more candid and authentic experience with the products than traditional editorial formats would allow. Each content type (e.g., stories on the blog, YouTube videos and Instagram posts) are a reflection of careful curation with an educational dimension. I also take the process of swatching, which is far from glamorous but extremely essential in my opinion, very seriously. It’s important for me to be as inclusive as possible (for example, showcasing ALL the shades in a foundation range), which provides my BP community with robust resources to make informed, autonomous and confident decisions about their purchases.
Within a year of the launch of my site, I also began a YouTube channel and Instagram and grew all three with a loyal audience and accidentally excellent SEO (I fortuitously started at a good time in the history of the Internet) and brands began reaching out to partner which, for an ardent beauty lover who started Beauty Professor from pure passion, was an unexpected dream realized. From a national television commercial with LTK (playing myself), international press trips with Burberry and BY TERRY and luxury beauty campaigns galore (Sisley-Paris, Clé de Peau Beauté, Oribe, Gucci Beauty, Neiman Marcus. Sephora, ULTA, Nordstrom and Target to name just a few) to editorial/speaking opportunities (Newbeauty Brain Trust member and a Neiman Marcus Conclave presenter and contributing editor) and product collaborations with Au Naturale, Le Metier de Beaute, Nude Envie and Girlactik, my love for lipstick turned into a serious, multi-faceted full-time business and I couldn’t be more grateful.
The industry credibility that I have cultivated with Beauty Professor is something I deeply value and would never compromise; I personally interact with and respond to my readers and followers all week long as they are who have helped make Beauty Professor what it is today. Consequently, their trust is my most treasured and respected asset. I also treasure the close relationships I’ve built with beauty professionals including makeup artists, hair stylists, editors, creative directors, industry icons public relations executives and publicists, all from whom I’ve learned a great deal along the way. Additionally, these meaningful connections have helped me to provide my college students with incredible internship and employment opportunities, harmonizing my two professional worlds in the most impactful of ways…truly a blessing.
This year, I am excited to expand Beauty Professor as I embark on the development of product line that is very near and dear to my heart (and hair). This endeavor is completely self-funded and, after trying nearly every new launch in the past decade, I am confident that these bespoke formulations are fulfilling an important need in the beauty space. Follow @academiehair for updates and official announcements slated for Q2 of 2024!
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
From the every beginning, I’ve been committed to unmitigated honesty on Beauty Professor. I only review the products I truly love and that ends up being roughly 7-10% of every press sample sent my way. Each image or video that I share is as color-true, unfiltered and accurate as possible, giving my readers an authentic experience with the product(s) so they can make the most informed and confident decisions when shopping. I also make sure to disclose press samples (vs. products I’ve purchased myself) and always identify when sponsored content is present in my work. Most significantly, I only accept partnerships if I’ve already given a brand/product “earned media” first (e.g., I’ve shared about it organically), at which point getting the chance to work in a paid capacity becomes a natural and mutually beneficial enterprise for all parties involved. From my perspective, every business deal needs to be a win-win-win…a win for the consumer, the brand and the creator. In other words, my audience needs to be able to gain value from the content I create, the brand needs to be able gain new customers, exposure or sales and I need to be fairly compensated for my work as I leverage my greatest assets–my credibility and creativity–and connect my audience to new brands/products that I think they’ll love and benefit from. I would never compromise the trust my audience has in my recommendations for a partnership that is not right for me or my content and everyone that knows me in this industry knows this to be true; therefore, my reputation is strong and principled.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
When I first started my Instagram back in 2012, I envisioned it as a complementary channel to my site beautyprofessor.com but I learned early on that the space, itself, was a conduit for content. I’ve always taken a very authentic approach to what I post both to my main feed and Stories and I think that sharing from the heart is essential. While my content has always been predominantly beauty-centric (I’m definitely an advocate for the power of specialization and expertise), I also share elements of style, travel, my life as a professor and my family when it feels right.
Giving your followers value is the first rule of thumb in building and fostering an engaged audience and for me, that means making sure that you are sharing information (e.g., swatches and reviews), extending strategies (in my case, tutorials for makeup looks or communication), providing details (e.g., I always try to tag the specifics for a product or outfit or share links to where they can be found) or creating relatability (e.g., inspirational, encouraging and “slice of life” content is refreshing). When their day is in someway positively enhanced by something you post, it’s an absolute win for all parties involved, so I make that my personal goal when publishing content.
While an increasingly ambitious goal as your audience increases, staying in close contact with your audience is crucial. It’s that personal touch-often in the form of responding to comments and DM’s–that builds relationships and catalyzes genuine support. I am grateful to say that I have made some incredible, lifelong friends by being consistently interactive online. Also, I am proud to say that I have never bought a follower, like, comment or view on Instagram and never will, even in a landscape where this is appallingly common for people at every level of influence and reach. The unpredictability of the algorithm and desire for quick growth compel many to choose a “shortcut” but my audience is 100% real and I am thankful for each and every one of them. I urge those just starting off to avoid taking the “easy” route by financing followers; it’s dishonest, hollow and expensive (e.g., you’ll have to keep paying forever to maintain your “numbers”) and most top tier brands prioritize working with those who have real followers and strong conversion rates, which is only possible when you have an authentic audience that trusts you and, thereby, responds to your content.
To close it’s incredibly easy to burn out on social media, especially in an age where “more is more” and everyone is feeling the pressure to jump on every trend imaginable to stay relevant. I aim to keep my content classic, timeless, inspiring yet relatable and, when preparing posts, trust the intuition that if I would enjoying seeing it, then so will most of my audience that has willingly chosen to follow me.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.beautyprofessor.com
- Instagram: @beautyprofessor
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/beautyprofessordotcom
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachel-a-wegter-03ab591a/
- Twitter: @beauteprofessor
- Youtube: www.youtube.com/beautyprofessor
- Other: LTK Shop: https://www.shopltk.com/explore/beautyprofessor
Image Credits
Robin Black Laura Lynn