“I was forced to become an entrepreneur because I was unable to work for other people. I was fired from almost every job I’ve had.” – Cassandra Grey
BY LEE HAYMAN
I love being the dumbest person in the room.
Automatically, I am going to walk out with more knowledge than I entered with, and what bigger gift could you receive? That certainly was the case in the cozy Bard Room of the Chelsea Hotel, where I was graced with the knowledge and wit of four of the beauty and fashion industry’s most discerning leaders. In front of a full crowd, we heard from Dr. Poonam Desai, Solange Franklin and Casandra Grey. Moderated by the incomparable and cheeky Laura Brown, we heard their takes on longevity through the lens of visionaries in the health, beauty and fashion sectors.
Dr. Antony Nakhla, a board-certified dermatologist and researcher, harnessed his expertise working with over 10,000 patients to found science-first skincare line Eighth Day.
Dr. Nakhla opened with the remark that while he was not the ultimate source on longevity, he had wisely brought in the woman renowned for making that her full time job, Dr. Poonam Desai. Dr. Desai began her career as an emergency room doctor in Queens, NY. The amount of trauma, preventable deaths and illnesses she witnessed daily galvanized her to question the root cause of the ailments she was seeing show up in her office. Why was she seeing so many 30-year-olds with colon cancer, when it was completely preventable? Dr. Desai has made it her mission to create a space and continuing educational resources to teach women about how to increase their longevity and manage their true age, on the inside. We focus so much on outer beauty and mitigating the inescapable effects of gravity – “What about internally? Because that’s where you’re truly aging” implored Dr. Desai. She challenges patients to take stock of their genetics, get up to date bloodwork and labs done and approach longevity from the inside out.
Dr. Desai served as the thought leader behind internal longevity and celebrity stylist Solange Franklin, who counts Serena Williams and Solange Knowles as clients, spoke to the alchemy of showing up for life fully dressed, literally. Franklin’s words and energy spoke to me deeply, as a stylist myself who is in this industry with the goal of helping my clients feel ready for whatever they are facing that day, whether on a red carpet, leading a board room meeting or just running to the grocery store. As stylists, we are image makers using clothes in an inherently capitalist society, but these clothes can truly be a tool. Franklin says the question she asks herself is, “How do I make visual identity tangible.” Your clothes are the first introduction to the outside world of who you are, and the fact that you have the power to control that narrative can wield such power when you have someone guiding you.
It’s hard to let go of the past, and even harder to accept that we are all inevitably aging. Dr. Nakhla says patients often come to him with photos of themselves two decades earlier wanting results of their youth. “How do you let go of things in your closet that you’ve known you’ve outgrown, or as my wife kindly reminds me, I am not allowed to wear anymore,” Dr. Nakhla posed to Franklin with a laugh.
“A strong purge, a tight edit of your closet moving forward, and the right person to source the tangible pieces of who you want to be,” Franklin responded with genuine calm and knowledge radiating through her answers and insights. It is no wonder some of the most powerful change makers call on Franklin to assist them when they are going through pivotal career evolutions.
“Your clothes are the first introduction to the outside world of who you are, and the fact that you have the power to control that narrative can wield such power when you have someone guiding you.”
The event was hosted by Eighth Day, which is sold at Violet Grey, and the treat of the morning was the unfiltered advice and tangents proffered from founder Cassandra Grey. I chatted with Eighth Day’s head of distribution and sales over coffee before the panel, and he told me Violet Grey is one of the hardest online retailers to sell through, as they have a vigorous vetting process in place for any of the products, they entertain working with. They’ve built a brand on trust, and don’t recommend just any product to their loyal consumers.
Grey didn’t shy away from talking straight up about the many failures she endured in the years building her beauty empire. When asked how she became an entrepreneur she answered simply: “No one wanted to hire me.”
“I was forced to become an entrepreneur because I was unable to work for other people. I was fired from almost every job I’ve had,” Grey confessed. What one may look back on as blemishes or failures, Grey sees as a unique road map, adding, “I’m positioned to help others through the mistakes I once made.”
Who better to talk about longevity than a woman who is known for reinventing herself? If we’re lucky, we all live nine lives in our own way, but few can own it and capitalize on it with the guts and honesty Grey does. She’s lost companies, jobs and a life partner. She’s become a mother, a business owner, an entrepreneur, a curator, an A-list party staple and a beauty guru. She loves every treatment under the sun and gave a shoutout to her plastic surgeon for her impeccable upper bleph.
“The quality of my life is better if I’m hot,” Grey said. And if we’re all being honest, isn’t that the truth?
The experts have spoken: a good outfit, some quality cosmetic treatments and sleep (it’s free; so, it counteracts your Botox payment, girl math) might just make you live longer.
