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Masters of ScaleMasters of Scale

Tracee Ellis Ross talks Pattern Beauty, advocacy & joy, w/ Samira Nasr | Masters of Scale Summit '24

Award-winning actress and founder of Pattern Beauty Tracee Ellis Ross didn’t see Black beauty being represented well in the market – so she built a company from scratch to fix that.

Tracee Ellis RossguestSamira Nasrhost
Nov 21, 202423mWatch on YouTube

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At a glance

WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT

Tracee Ellis Ross on Pattern Beauty, Joy and Lifelong Friendship

  1. Ross says she founded Pattern Beauty as a frustrated consumer who wanted haircare products that worked for textured hair and marketing that didn't rely on making people feel bad.
  2. Pattern's mission pairs products that exceed the needs of the curly, coily and tight-textured community with content, hiring and a team centered on celebrating Black beauty.
  3. Ross describes joy as her natural state, rooted in her middle name, and as the core of Pattern's 'juicy and joyful' promise to empower rather than shame customers.
  4. Ross and Nasr, friends for 30 years, describe their friendship as a safe space for leaders in lonely, first-of-their-kind roles, with Ross recalling her unsolicited letter to Anna Wintour recommending Nasr for a Glamour editor-in-chief job.
  5. Asked what she's glad she didn't know at the start, Ross points to the growing stakes of running a company, while Nasr highlights the value of people and Ross adds that the world is run by people.

IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING

5 ideas

Great products can start with a frustrated consumer

Ross says she became an entrepreneur not to make money but because as a consumer she wasn't seeing products or representation she wanted, and she dreamed up details like refillable packaging and a brush that doesn't break.

Marketing doesn't have to rely on making people feel bad

Ross argues that she buys things when she feels good, so she rejects the premise of shaming customers into purchases and instead bases Pattern's promise on celebrating and empowering people.

Pattern pairs functional design with cultural celebration

Ross says the products are built for curly, coily and tight-textured hair though anyone can use them, while content, hiring and team are centered on celebrating Black beauty, to dispel the myth that Black haircare is niche.

Joy is both personal identity and brand strategy

Ross says joy is her natural state and one of her superpowers, and it shapes Pattern's 'juicy and joyful' tagline and her broader mission of helping people feel comfortable in their skin.

Leadership is lonely and trusted confidants matter

Both women say top roles are isolating with no blueprint, and Ross says it's important to have people whose integrity and decision-making you trust, outside your immediate colleagues, to turn to.

WORDS WORTH SAVING

5 quotes

I didn't join, uh, or decide to become an entrepreneur because I wanted to make money. I came because I was a consumer who wasn't seeing what I wanted.

— Tracee Ellis Ross

I believe that hair can be juicy and joyful. I believe you can live a juicy and joyful life. I believe you can have juicy and joyful friendships.

— Tracee Ellis Ross

the promise is around celebrating and empowering who people are as opposed to shaming them into buying the thing that you want them to buy.

— Tracee Ellis Ross

Dream of how you wanna make... What do you wanna contribute? What do you want people to feel when you leave the room?

— Tracee Ellis Ross

I think you've, um, held space for me to see things that I could not see for myself, and I think ultimately, and I, I imagine that a lot of you feel this way also, these roles are very isolating, and they're lonely.

— Samira Nasr

Read the available transcript
Pattern Beauty's origin storyRethinking marketing beyond problem-solvingCelebrating Black beautyJoy as a core brand valueFriendship and leadership lonelinessGrowing stakes of entrepreneurshipDreaming bigger for young girls

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SPEAKERS

  • Tracee Ellis Ross

    guest

    Actor and founder of Pattern Beauty haircare brand.

  • Samira Nasr

    host

    Editor-in-chief of Harper's Bazaar and interview moderator.

High quality AI-generated summary created from speaker-labeled transcript.

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