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And then she came back because her work wasnt done.

Michelle Phan applies a cherryred stain to her cheek.

Screenshot via Youtube. Photoillustration by Clara Hendler.

So: What does tomorrow look like?

We need only ask Phan and listen.

Allure:How would you describe what you do for work?

Michelle Phan:I just tell people I’m a creator.

I don’t even say entrepreneur or influencer just a creator.

And in a way, the online world is my gallery.

And there are different mediums I can work with, whether it’s video or even beauty products.

That was really where I started to learn how to create basic HTML.

I was doing gifs.

I was making gifs before they became a thing because I love visual movement.

I mademy first videoin 2007 and I posted it on my YouTube page, just for fun.

I would say that was the most engaged content I ever had.

Allure:What kinds of skills did you have to develop for YouTube?

Phan:I watched a lot of commercials back in the day.

I was trying to learn how you tell an engaging story in 15 to 30 seconds?

Commercial producers probably spend millions of dollars storyboarding everything out.

Every single second counts.

I was also inspired by Bob Ross.

And there was something also very therapeutic and ASMR-y about his content.

I know that art critics say, Oh, he’s not a great painter.

And it’s true.

I’m not a professional makeup artist.

Im just showing people how I do my makeup.

At that time Lancome was filming tutorials for YouTube.

And it was all my content, using Lancome’s stuff, with 800,000 views on one video!

I met with a team and signed a contract to do a monthly video for them.

So I was a sellout who supported animal cruelty.

They see me as a best friend or someone they really trust.

It’s a completely different relationship.

It sucked that I had so much hate, but I didnt care.

I just made really good content.

And if the content is good and engaging, then I fulfilled my duties.

Allure:When did it feel like it was time to move on from that?

This was after two years of really going hard at YouTube.

I dropped out of college ‘cause the economy crashed.

I was living in Florida at the time and I felt like this big fish in a small pond.

I wanted to go to the ocean.

So I went to L.A. and met with some people.

I wanted to do asubscription beauty business, but I started on YouTube.

I didn’t have hedge fund people or a VC.

It was just an idea in my head.

Now I needed to build out the business model and find someone to help me run it.

I met with my co-founders [Marcelo Camberos and Jennifer Jaconetti Goldfarb] and we developed Ipsy together.

Even though [my YouTube channel] was still growing, I knew it wasnt going to last forever.

I had to plan for the future.

I knew that eventually, Id reach a ceiling.

Phan:Well, Birchbox existed beforeIpsy, but I didn’t even know about it.

My idea for Ipsy was inspired by shopping in Asia.

In 2008, I was in Thailand, and I saw people were interested in buying expensive skin-care samples.

I didn’t know about Birchbox then, but sometimes you don’t have to be the first.

You just have to be the first to do it right.

Or there’s this French saying: “It’s better to be first to be second.”

Because being an influencer is not sustainable at all.

People care about what you say, what you create.

Unfortunately reinventing yourself means you have to be louder or you have to be more shocking.

it’s possible for you to see this with YouTube.

Allure:There are more beauty products in the world than ever before.

Are we at critical mass?

Phan:I thought we reached critical mass two years ago.

It’s just growing and growing.

I wonder if it’s more cyclical.

Maybe we will see a crash, but the pendulum will swing the other way.

So I could see that happening too because it makes sense financially for the business.

I could see a pullback and then the cycle will begin again.

Allure:How do you grow a beauty brand without launching a new product every quarter?

Phan:You have to think about replenishables.

Eye shadow, palettes, blushes it takes a long time to hit the pan.

But mascara is super replenishable.

Lashes are super replenishable.

There’s a lot of pressure for them to see the returns.

I’ve been an advocate for trying your best to bootstrap your brand.

Launch two things.Egyptian Magicis great, and they have only one product.

It is possible to have a sustainable business where it’s hyper-replenishable and it’s good.

Why was I interested in making content on YouTube?

Why was I interested in creating a business?

It’s because I’ve always wanted to find sovereignty.

YouTube really decentralized media.

Anyone can have a channel.

Well, not everyone because we’re seeing what’s happening with the ban, which is really interesting.

But beauty YouTubers and gurus and creators were decentralizing beauty.

Beauty wasn’t just one face anymore… YouTube, TikTok, Instagram.

It’s almost like a free market, and it changes the world.

Now, with Bitcoin, we have financial sovereignty.

It goes back to trust.

You dont have to trust it anymore.

you might verify it.

Especially in light of last year withquantitative easing.

I mean, it’s just math at that point.

It’s not a conspiracy or anything.

But with Bitcoin, there’s a fixed number.

There are only 21 million units.

It’s a very rare asset.

And each year, it gets harder and harder to mine.

I’ve always been an advocate of inspiring people to build generational wealth, not just get rich.

So you might give it to the next generation, your children, the grandkids.

What I saw in Bitcoin was you could build actual, generational, digital wealth.

It’s not gold or the stock market where there’s a lot of maintenance.

This is something that you could just hold onto and you could just pass on and appreciate in value.

Something could happen where, eventually, countries start backing up their currency with Bitcoin.

I recommend reading theBitcoin white papersorThe Bitcoin Standard.Maybe, well see.

But I’m predicting itll happen.

This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.