Earlier this month, we at Glow Recipe made a pledge to be more intentionally diverse in the way we run our business. We recognize that the beauty industry hasn’t always held the door wide open for the Black community, whether it be through a lack of visual representation in advertisements and the influencer space, or a dearth of the Black, Indigenous, People of Color communities (BIPOC) working behind the scenes. We are a young, small company (we currently have less than 20 full-time people on our corporate team), which means that we have ample opportunity to be more inclusive as we continue to grow.

Here’s just a few of the steps we’ve put in place, and some progress updates we’d like to share with you all.

Diversification of Recruitment Process

As a small company based in New York City, we often recruit interns from local colleges and universities. We recognize that in order to build a diverse team, we need to cast a geographically wider net. In order to create more opportunities for the Black student community, we’ll be offering internship applications early to BIPOC students at historically Black colleges and universities. Prior to our main listings going live, any internship positions will be posted on these school’s internal networks, giving students priority and direct access.

Please see our current internship listings below at Howard University, Spelman College and Xavier University of Louisiana (students must be logged into Handshake to view and apply):

Graphic Design Intern

Ecommerce Intern

Glow Mentoring Initiatives

Last week we launched two different mentoring programs, our Community Mentoring Initiative and our Student Mentoring Initiative. Applications opened on June 9, and we’ve already received over 100 submissions across both categories. We can’t wait to get to know all of the applicants better and learn more about what they’re building.

Through our Community Mentoring Initiative, we will be supporting three Black-owned small businesses by providing them with direct access to the insight of our co-founders, Sarah and Christine, and by offering additional support from the rest of the Glow Recipe team across all functions. As part of our second program, students will be paired up with a Glow team member in their chosen area of interest, including marketing, creative, ecommerce, and more, to offer advice and an inside look into what a career in the beauty space looks like.

At this time, we are focusing on supporting emerging Black-owned businesses and Black students. This will be an ongoing initiative that we will open up to other POC communities as we continue these programs in the future. For more information, see our blog post here.

Expand Our Network Of Black Creator Partners

As we plan for future product launches and campaigns, we will be more intentional about working with Black creators and editors in both paid and organic capacities. We’ve already started by closely vetting our outreach lists to make sure that we’re actively keeping inclusivity of both Black and POC creators top of mind. 

As a small business, we’re only in the beginning stages of exploring paid partnerships with influencers and smaller creators alike. As we grow, we want to make sure our community grows with us and that also means further amplifying and highlighting Black creators and also finding new ways to partner with new voices in the digital beauty space. 

We always aim to work with a diverse group of writers for our blog, The Glow Edit. We will also be diversifying our content to ensure that it’s applicable to the Black community. More of our stories will educate on the specific skin care concerns, needs, and how to best take care of melanated skin.

Annual Diversity & Inclusion Day

We launched our first annual Diversity & Inclusion Day on Friday, June 12. This will be an annual program inclusive of our corporate and field employees focused on open discussions and learnings about how racism and current events have an impact on and can be addressed in the workplace.

Our diversity education day was led by Kellie Wagner, a tech veteran, speaker, and the founder of Collective, a diversity, equity, and inclusion consulting company. Collective’s mission is to help organizations build cultures that empower diverse voices and allows them to engage effectively and foster trust across differences. Learn more about Kellie here and about Collective here. 

Our first Diversity Day touched on how personal identity factors into one’s worldview, and the importance of active empathy and compassion as you consider others’ experiences. Some various dimensions of identity are: Race and ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, wealth, education, and learning style. 

We also learned about how systemic racism in the United States continues to limit the opportunities of Black Americans across all facets of their life, from housing and educational inequalities to a lack of financial and healthcare resources. 

Team members were encouraged to share their personal experiences, learnings, and ask questions about how to progress in a way that is anti-racist and focused on acceptance and equality. 

Diversity Advisory Board

While we are in the midst of working to make our corporate team more diverse and inclusive, we also will be forming an external Diversity Advisory Board. This group of consultants will include experts from all areas of the beauty, health, and wellness space, including editors, medical professionals, full-time content creators, and more. We hope to include our board of expert advisors on everything from product development, to how we speak about new launches, and how to be better representative of minority groups.

Thank you to all of our Glow Gang members that have been with us from the start, and who continue to support and challenge us as we grow to be more inclusive. We’re always open to discussion, so please know this is a safe space to share any ideas, concerns, or constructive feedback. Thanks for holding us accountable, and stay tuned for more updates.