Building A Beauty Empire With Jacqueline Schaffer, M.D.

Imagine you’re having a rough day or maybe you have a special event or better yet, you have that hot date that you’re looking forward to and you want to look and feel your best. Imagine you could go to your phone with an Uber type app and within minutes, your Natural Glam squad is there to make you look amazing with products that are toxin-free, good for the environment and won’t hurt your face. I am thrilled to bring you this rockstar of a woman, Dr. Jacqueline Schaffer, who is the mastermind and the creator of Natural Glam. Jacqueline, welcome.

Thank you, Keri.

I am happy to sit down with you. I say this with all the respect in the world. You’re like Doogie Howser meets Jessica Simpson meets Legally Blonde. I think that people underestimate you, but we’re going to talk about that. You started medical school at nineteen. I can’t wait for you to talk about Natural Glam and what that is, but let’s hear a little bit about you. Tell us a little bit about your extraordinary story because it is phenomenal.

I went to medical school at nineteen. During this journey, I got unfortunate news about my mother who was diagnosed with skin cancer, not once but twice. Through that unfortunate situation, I learned a lot about toxic ingredients. Because I had the medical background, I was able to go deeper and deeper and learn much of what goes on with our skin, which is the largest organ. That started my pivotal movement into learning about business and skincare, and the full wellness that goes on the person every single day, which is your products.

People think about their skin all the time, but you don’t think about your makeup as often. Let’s go back, medical school at nineteen. Why?

I come from a family of doctors and so it was setting the path for me like the best thing you can do is help others through medicine.

Did you feel pressure? I feel like a lot of young people watch their families go down a certain road and you start saying, “That has to be the road I have to go down too.”

I think that’s all I knew too. When you’re around that type of environment for so long, you think, “That’s what my family does. That’s what I have to do.” I did go down that path. Also, along with my mom having an unfortunate incident, I learned that I love medicine but what comes to me naturally is business. I love it. I love helping women in that avenue. It’s cool.

Was it hard for you to walk away once you put all that time and energy? I’m saying this for you, but also for all of the incredible people who are saying, “I went to college for this or I started this, I can’t leave.”

It doesn't matter how much you put in. You can change your career at any time, any age. Click To Tweet

I want to say that’s not true at all. You can change your career at any time and any age. It doesn’t matter how much you put in. It’s possible for anyone. Sometimes it is scary, but if this is a market that you love and you feel compelled to do and you feel like you’re going to thrive, everything else is going to fall into place.

It sounds like you were good early on at listening to your intuition.

I want to say yes and no. It’s funny because when I was fourteen, I wanted to go more into business. It was like, “You have to become a doctor first and then you can do whatever you want,” which I did live up to that. I was like, “Fine.” Your family only wants the best for you and they only know what they know. It’s out of protection that they think it’s best, but it’s not normally best for the individual.

Especially as entrepreneurs or those of us that have that business sense and that drive, it’s not the norm. It’s not for everyone. For most people, it’s scary. Friends and family just want to protect you. They’re saying things like, “Are you crazy? Stay in your day job. You’ve got your degree. You’re a doctor now. Why would you ever leave that?” That’s where you get to trust yourself too.

I was not happy with how the whole medical world is. That’s my personal opinion and I don’t like what’s happening. For me, it’s doing a disservice to what I believe in. I’m happy that I pivot.

Your mom was diagnosed with skin cancer and then you became passionate about skincare. That was your first endeavor into entrepreneurship and it was incredibly successful. Tell us a little bit about that.

I’ll never forget. I started that in my twenties with no background. This is a testament that you can read Business Insider or Inc. Magazine and they’ll tell you that doctors are the worst businesspeople instead of owners and stuff. I have to tell you, making that transition to having to think differently with no real support system because my family was in the whole medical world. They’re like, “What is this? What are you thinking?” I remember sitting at my mom’s dining room table and starting to figure it out. I learned and I start researching, then one led to another. The great news is that it did grow successfully. I did the QVCs of the world, CBSN, and I got into 300 stores like Macy’s. It was great.

I love this because there are millions of people throughout the world that have an idea. It could be the next greatest thing, but because of fear or lack of know-how, they never even try. The fact that in your twenties, it is so great to be naive. If we knew what we knew, we probably would not do. That’s what makes it so fun and challenging is that we don’t know, but you figured it out. How did you pivot out of that to start Natural Glam? What was that natural pivot for you?

I believe in God. I didn’t realize that God was building me up to something that I truly believe I was destined to do, which is Natural Glam. Natural Glam is such a bigger picture. How I got into pivoting to that was I was doing shows like this wonderful show. I was getting my hair and makeup done, and then I started to break out. My hair was getting more brittle. It was not good, especially when you have fine hair. It’s not fun. I was like, “I got the skincare down. What about the hair and makeup?” It’s unbelievable. The average woman exposes herself to over 200 chemicals before she leaves her home. I’m talking about the ecosystem, emissions, smoke and everything else that’s out there. It’s scary because you wear makeup all day and you have hair care products in your hair all day as well. It’s all keratin. It’s crazy. You want to be as mindful as you can because this is the only body you have to live in.

We hand select people to bring on this show. I love not only your story and the powerhouse that you are, but also your commitment to helping women, society, the planet live better and feel better. That’s what Inspired Living is. I love Natural Glam. Let’s talk a little bit about what is Natural Glam and how do we access it?

Natural Glam is a clean on-demand beauty service. We do hair and makeup and it’s with a touch of a button. It’s like Uber. If you need a car, it’s there. If you need food, you click Postmates. If you need hair and makeup, it’s right there. It’s as simple as that. It’s just pushing a button and we’re there to service you and make you feel your most beautiful self the healthy way. Also, what’s nice about our platform is it’s not just beauty services. We’re also giving a voice to beauty owners of skincare, makeup and hair care that wouldn’t have a voice. They couldn’t just walk into a Sephora and get recognized. We are giving them a platform to sell their products as well. What’s better way and literally supporting the clean movement and the women’s movement by giving them a voice? They can have a distribution channel. It’s also a safety net for the consumers, a place they can go to purchase clean products that they trust.

It’s brought it all together and you’re a curator of products. It’s not just one product line.

We invite the clean natural brands on our platform so that the consumer has many options. There’s excitement because there’s always a new brand that’s going to be on the platform that we get to highlight. There’s another cool part to Natural Glam. We’re also supporting the stylist as well to clean their kits because they don’t always have a place to go where they can have several options of different brands for them to purchase. They have that option also on Natural Glam.

We can go to our App Store on our phones and download Natural Glam now. You’re going to be rolling it out in multiple cities. Is your goal to stay in the US? Tell me what your vision is for this.

We’re excited. It’s not going to be the US. It’s going to be Canada. Dubai has been asking for us to expand there and we couldn’t be happier, and then England. We’re excited.

I am going to be using Natural Glam for all of my things because we don’t think about what we put on our faces. We want to look good. We want to feel beautiful, but what is it costing you in the long-term and how is it aging us too? I wonder if it also has an effect on our aging. If we’re putting chemicals on our skin, that must have some effect.

It is terrifying what the studies have. On our website, we describe what toxic ingredients do to your body. You have neurotoxicity, so that’s your brain. It’s hurting the brain development. It’s very dangerous also for your reproductive health. It causes infertility issues. It’s scary for us women, especially if you’re trying to conceive. Sometimes that’s part of you getting hypothyroidism because we’re putting makeup on and we’re wearing it all day. The list seriously goes on so long. We are able to educate the consumer of what you’re putting on your body. These are studies done by Harvard, Oxford and reputable sources that show this is the long-term effect of using toxic ingredients.

Thank you for creating something like Natural Glam that allows us the accessibility to products that will not only make us look good, but also help us feel good in the long run because we don’t know the long-term effects. We know some of them, but we don’t know what hasn’t been discovered yet. A little segue here. We were talking hair and makeup. We’re speaking about women being underestimated in business. When I first met you, you walked in and I’m like, “Who is that? Dr. Jacqueline with her own skincare line. She has her makeup line.” I can only imagine. First of all, women can judge women horrendously. We can be horrible but in this world, you are young, you’re beautiful, you’re successful and you are driven. Tell me about how have you overcome the stereotype and people who underestimate you? Had that happened?

Your company will only last as long as you believe in yourself. Click To Tweet

Yes, several times. There are many things I can say about that but at the end of the day, I love to be loved or hated because if I’m in the middle, I am forgotten. You will not be relevant. You will disappear. You won’t stand the test of time.

You don’t have a problem with people judging you or loving you.

The more hate I get, the bigger my sales go.

Let’s talk about that. We still have a heart. We have an ego. It’s got to hurt.

It does hurt. Thank goodness I have an amazing family and significant other as well to help support me and stay close to God. I know that good always prevails.

You have to be loved or hated. We can’t be in the middle. You can’t please everyone. You have to know that you are going to be judged. People will underestimate you. You’re going to come up against all sorts of extremes in life and business. What has been that thing? I know you have strong faith and family. Is it the vision? Is it the mission? What keeps you moving forward at the speed of light that you work for?

This is the coolest part I do have to say about Natural Glam. It’s not about me. That is what gives me so much energy. This is about women’s health. It’s a mission. Not only are we creating jobs, which is good for your mental health, we’re also helping your overall health so that you don’t get these toxicities in your bodies. It’s such an amazing movement to be a part of. I truly believe when you do something like that, it flows.

I think that is the key. When you are building a business, you are going to have your setbacks. You’re going to have your rough days. Even when I teach people how to be on camera, I’m telling them all the time, “It’s not about you. It’s about the person on the other side. It’s about serving you. It’s about connecting.” When you do that, the energy comes. You have this tenacity and drive that you don’t get when you’re thinking about yourself.

The more you’re thinking about the purpose and the mission, the right people are going to show up in your life unexpectedly. When you are about the ego, the wrong people are going to show up.

What else would you share with someone who has an idea? Maybe they didn’t go to medical school, but maybe they feel like they’re on a path. It’s scary for them to deviate and move off of that. What would you tell that person?

I would tell that person to first have faith in yourself because you are the founder of your company. You are the vision of your company. The company will only last as long as you believe in yourself. The second would be to do a business plan. Trust me, I don’t like doing business plans but you do need a plan. You do need structure. In that business plan, it’s going to have your operations plan, your marketing plan, your sales, the finances. Those do need to be taken to account. It’s like checking seatbelts on before they take off on a plane. You know exactly the destination with where you’re going. I also say this too about doing business. The hardest part is the launch. That’s it.

It’s getting it off the ground. One more airplane analogy. Most of the fuel rockets are in the takeoff.

Once you’re in the air. You get some turbulence but you got this.

You also have Natural Glam. Jacqueline, remind us. First of all, it’s an app on their phone. If they want to go to a website, is there a website they could check out as well?

If you want to book on the website as well, we also take calls. Either one, mobile application, the website, and also calling us as well. We’re more than happy to serve you.

Jacqueline, first of all thank you for having such a mission to serve and for bringing this amazing one-click beauty app into our lives, and for being the tenacious and driven soul that you are. It’s a pleasure to know you, support you and to get this Natural Glam out into the world. Thank you.

Thank you, Keri.

Thank you for reading this spotlight interview. I know you’re going to go to download Natural Glam, but I also want to know how has this inspired you. Please share your comments and better yet, take a moment and click share on this interview. Share it with someone else. I guarantee you either you or someone has an idea that they’re scared to pursue. Maybe hearing from Jacqueline will help them make a better and more inspired decision in their life. As always, remember to keep dreaming it, living it and being it. Until next time.

Important Links:

• Natural Glam – App Store
• @DrJacquelineSchaffer on Instagram
• www.NaturalGlam.com

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• https://inspiredliving.tv/podcast

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