Tia Tappan is the Founder and CEO of DIVERSITY IN BEAUTY, a safe space for under-represented creatives and allies in the beauty community. Since 2017, the DIVERSITY IN BEAUTY Summit brings together consumers, industry professionals, celebrities and influencers for candid panel discussions on the beauty industry's state of diversity, equity and inclusion. The Summit gained notoriety when Sir John, global makeup artist and activist, headlined the Summit two years in a row. 

Ms. Tappan is also the creator of the eyelash brand BATLASH (est.2014). With fun collections named "Pin-Up Girl" - named after famous American pin-up girls - and the "Queen Collection" - inspired by drag queen culture - the brand quickly grew on social media. In 2016, BATLASH rose to fame when influencer Angel "Mac Daddy" Merino posted a makeup look wearing the lashes on his Snapchat and Instagram accounts to his 1.4 million followers. The lashes have also been used by celebrity makeup artists Francesca Tolot, Joyce Bonelli, and Sara Tanno. 

Prior to becoming a beauty entrepreneur, Tappan had a career in public relations and marketing, which led her to become the first-ever Marketing Director at the Urban League of Greater Atlanta, a subsidiary of the National Urban League. Tia is a Memphis, TN native and a graduate of the University of Tennessee, where she earned her Bachelor's degree in English Language & American Literature with a minor in Communication. She lives in Los Angeles and New York City. To get invloved with DIVERSITY IN BEAUTY , visit www.diversityinbeauty.com

Josanta Gray Emegano is the Founder of Grayscaled Media, a boutique firm that helps indie brands navigate the gray areas of retail distribution and brand partnerships. The company was created with the intention of helping indie brands avoid costly mistakes when growing their businesses. She recently created From Gray to Green, a series of ecourses designed to help provide clarity on a variety of subjects for budding entrepreneurs. 

Named the Olivia Pope of Beauty by clients, Josanta has developed retail strategies that have allowed her clients to secure distribution with Ulta, Sephora, Urban Outfitters, Target, and HSN to name a few. Previously, Josanta was the Chief Operating Officer of Beauty Bakerie Cosmetics Brand. 

Prior to Beauty Bakerie, Josanta worked as a Licensing Agent at Creative Artists Agency - Global Brands Group (CAA-GBG). She was responsible for managing brands such as Gabby Douglas, Daya by Zendaya, and California Baby. Josanta is also an internationally published writer with pieces that can be found on CBS, NBC, Grind Pretty, and many more! Josanta holds a Masters in Communication Management from the University of Southern California.

Lauren Rome is a lover of community, the environment, and clean skincare. Born on the East Coast, Lauren spent the last decade in New York City grinding in the tenacious environment of Wall Street. A woman on the go, she tried countless skincare products but nothing seemed to work to combat the stress which led to breakouts, dark circles, and dehydrated skin. Empowered by the idea that she could help people feel their best, she embarked on a mission to create the solution she and others needed. Enter Romer Skincare. Lauren is now living full time in Chicago with her husband, a proud Mom to a golden retriever and her skin has never looked better. She spends less time trying new products and more time on the things that matter. Lauren is continuing to build a community around her brand and helping others discover the joy of healthy, beautiful skin.

Shay’s years working in media taught her a number of things. The most obvious was that melanin-rich skin was being underserved. Even though the beauty industry is a nearly 500 billion dollar market, many of its most commanding brands ignore the needs of deep and dark complexions from formulations to marketing.

After a lifetime of acne scars and hyperpigmentation, this added insult to injury for Shay. It confirmed that her years of struggle were actually caused by an industry-wide oversight. In fact, the real problem was that no one was making products for her. SHAYDE BEAUTY was born to serve this market and create skincare with melanin in mind.

Regina is the Founder of Collective Work, a research consultancy specializing in the Modern Luxury Consumer, translating insight into strategy, innovation, and storytelling for the lifestyle and hospitality sectors. She has over 20 years of experience in creating brands, products, communications, and experiences from the customer’s perspective, working with impressive companies like Apple, Starwood, and Nike.

Tiffany's love of "story" and beautiful, well-made objects has resulted in a career spanning the worlds of Film, Fashion and Interiors for all spaces. Her professional roles have often focused on creating exceptional experiences through building and developing balanced teams, generating dynamic sales programming for omnichannel businesses, and shining a light on the power of "story" as a way to connect customers with products and brands.

Tiffany is currently the Sales Director of Architecture & Design Trade at Heath Ceramics, where she has spent the last six years of her career. Listen along as friend and fellow hospitality professional, Regina Connell, talks with Tiffany about her career.

Ashley Wilson is a Florida-bred, Brooklyn-based digital and creative project manager with 9+ years of experience in the fashion, photography, and luxury beauty industries. After graduating from Florida State University with a degree in Fashion Merchandising, Ashley moved to New York to pursue a styling internship at Esquire Magazine, where she learned on set that her true knack was for managing teams and problem-solving. 

Since then, Ashley has produced both in-house and within agencies for a variety of fashion, beauty, jewelry, luxury goods, and lifestyle brands as well as editorial publications and photographers. Most recently, Ashley has been delving further into the digital space as the Senior Digital Project Manager at a major luxury beauty brand. She thrives on managing projects that challenge and inspire teams. In her spare time, Ashley is a mentor to female and non-binary students looking to break into the tech world and enjoys making a tasty mess in the kitchen.

Listen along as Juliana Wise chats with Ashley about her career.

Juliana is an executive level project manager with 11+ years of experience in retail operations, marketing, product development, product launches and experiential event execution. She is currently the Senior Program Manager of Marketing and Operations at SEPHORA, and has managed projects for a variety of fashion, jewelry, tech, creative and coaching businesses and thrives at working cross-functionally to deliver successful projects. 

She enjoys finding quick strategies to resolve problems, developing and automating operational systems and is at her best when finding ways to bring ideas to life. Having supported a variety of projects, Juliana mixes technical project management philosophies with a creative, brand driven, customer and team centric approach. She finds joy in caring for the people that count on her and leading the execution of exciting projects. 

Juliana is an active member of the Project Management Institute’s San Francisco Bay Area Chapter and runs a philanthropic event for the Los Angeles Southwest Community College Foundation.  She loves all things fitness and outdoors - cycling, running, hiking, yoga, playing in the gym, panting, sewing and cooking. She is super excited to be working in the Bay Area where she grew up after spending the last 16 years in Long Beach, CA earning her Masters in Business and PMP Certification while starting her career. Fun Fact: she upcycles antique books into art pieces.

Listen along as Ashley Wilson, Senior Digital Project Manager at Pat McGrath Cosmetics, chats with Juliana about her career.

Naomi Usher is Founder and Creative Director of Studio Usher, a full-service design firm in New York City. Her commitment to the process is fervent, her energy is laser-focused, and her non-linear approach is as smart as it is provocative. It’s why she’s been sought after for two decades to create award-winning campaigns across a range of industries, from publishing and fashion to fine arts and non-profit. 

Prior to opening her own firm, Naomi spent 8 years as an Art Director at Allure magazine and at the Walt Disney Company. She holds a B.A. (cum laude) from the University of Pennsylvania, a B.F.A. from Parsons School of Design, and a certificate from the Yale School of Management Executive Education program. In 2014, she completed an intensive class in User Experience at General Assembly. She has founded a community advocacy group, and serves on two non-profit boards: FerroDonna Features and Village Preservation.

Listen along as Sneaker Designer and Founder of Lilith NYC, Sarah Sukumaran, chats with Naomi.

Sarah Sukumaran was born and raised in Queens, NY. She is the founder and CEO of Lilith NYC, a sneaker startup launching Summer 2021. Sarah started Lilith NYC, largely motivated by the fact that women are overlooked by the sneaker industry and that the industry forces a very one-dimensional view of how women are to show up in sneaker culture. 

Most recently, she was Director of Product (Data Science and Models) at Nike where she was responsible for building and deepening a holistic view of Nike's consumers through data and analytics and applying those insights to inform the development and growth of digital services, content, and experiences for Nike’s consumers. She has spent most of her career in the Enterprise SaaS space, leading teams of product managers and engineers. Sarah has a BS in Business Management from Babson College.

Listen along as Naomi Usher chats with Sarah about her career.