Join Shira Lazar in a powerful conversation with Golloria George, a leading beauty content creator, as they discuss the importance of tone inclusivity in the beauty industry. Golloria shares her experiences of growing her brand, advocating for Black creators, and balancing support and accountability for beauty brands on representation. She also offers advice for up-and-coming creators on staying authentic while navigating partnerships, including her tips for creating standout GRWM (Get Ready With Me) videos.
Learn how her authentic passion and drive have paved the way for greater diversity in the beauty space, making it more inclusive for all creators. Don’t miss this inspiring discussion on the intersection of business, authenticity, and inclusive beauty practices!
Creator Spotlight is Powered by PRophet and What’s Trending. PRophet is an essential AI-driven CommsTech suite that empowers modern communicators and marketers to work smarter, uncover new audiences, and drive more impactful campaigns. To learn more, visit prprophet.ai.
Learn how her authentic passion and drive have paved the way for greater diversity in the beauty space, making it more inclusive for all creators. Don’t miss this inspiring discussion on the intersection of business, authenticity, and inclusive beauty practices!
Creator Spotlight is Powered by PRophet and What’s Trending. PRophet is an essential AI-driven CommsTech suite that empowers modern communicators and marketers to work smarter, uncover new audiences, and drive more impactful campaigns. To learn more, visit prprophet.ai.
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00:00If you don't care enough to make shades for me, if you don't care enough to invite people that
00:04look like me on trips or have people that look like me on campaigns,
00:07then I don't care about your reputation. Thank you.
00:13Gloria George is changing the beauty game on social media. A refugee from South Sudan,
00:18Gloria has captivated audiences with her viral makeup tutorials,
00:22product reviews, and advocacy for black women. Her powerful voice is reshaping industry standards,
00:28calling for tone inclusivity, and gaining millions of views.
00:32That's why today, she's in the Creator Spotlight.
00:35Gloria George, welcome to Creator Spotlight.
00:38Hi, guys.
00:39This is so exciting.
00:41No, it is. Like, I literally was on my toes to be here.
00:43Like, hey, girl.
00:45I'm a fan. I discovered you, surprisingly, on threads.
00:50Okay, that's so weird.
00:53You were going viral, of course. This was the recent viral video, Youth 41.
00:59I feel like it's infamous right now.
01:01And I was like, who is this person?
01:04This is the darkest shade of the Euphoria Foundation. This is black face paint.
01:07Sometimes it's okay to say, hey, maybe my brand is not made for complexion.
01:11Oh, my God. I was obviously in horror watching that video.
01:17And then I was like, the end of this brand, but more of a launching pad for your brand.
01:24Yes, yes.
01:26So with that said, let's back up.
01:30How did we get here?
01:31You know, it came literally out of nowhere, I feel like.
01:36I was in school, I was in college, and I was also working two full-time jobs.
01:41After I was done with everything, then I would film my content on the side.
01:46And it didn't really do very well at first,
01:49but I feel like that's just with every creator's journey.
01:51It's just a slow growth.
01:53And then I posted this one Fenty Beauty video.
01:55I actually got the Fenty Matchstick.
01:57I think I literally worked so many hours.
02:00So many hours.
02:01I was like, okay, I have a little bit left over in my check.
02:03Let's go to Ulta.
02:04And I went to Ulta, and I got my little Fenty Beauty Matchstick.
02:06And I was like, okay, this is the first contour that I've literally ever seen this dark.
02:11And I need to try it for a video.
02:13And I tried it for a video, and it literally went crazy.
02:16And from there, it was just like magic.
02:19Girl, you're here. You've done it.
02:20You've done the things.
02:22And it was really fast-paced growth.
02:24I've only been doing this for about two years,
02:26which is honestly really insane to see the full 360,
02:30but my life has completely changed.
02:33And it was really hard at first, just simply because when you go from not really...
02:38I feel like I felt so small,
02:40just because that's how the world makes dark-skinned women feel sometimes.
02:46So to go from that to being completely just so extremely hyper-visible was like, wow.
02:51What was the first deal where you got paid to do what you do?
02:54Oh my gosh.
02:56Do you remember?
02:57One that I remember is NARS.
02:58NARS was like my first brand deal and my first brand trip.
03:01Oh.
03:02Yeah.
03:02And I literally...
03:05Like when I first got that check, direct deposit,
03:10I was like, oh, there's no way the girls are living like this.
03:13It cannot be in my world that they're living it.
03:15It was crazy.
03:16I didn't even...
03:17I literally couldn't even conceptualize that people could make that much money.
03:20And it wasn't even like a crazy amount of money at that time.
03:24But it's just like, girl, to go from having nothing all of your life
03:28to working literally two jobs just to barely scrape by
03:31to literally in one check being able to pay your rent three times over is insane.
03:36But then on the other side of things, I feel like people see this and they're like,
03:40everyone wants to do it too, but it's not easy.
03:42No, it's not easy.
03:43It's like, yeah, I'm getting paid, but my managers fight for me to get paid.
03:47My team fights for me to get paid.
03:50And they advocate for me so much.
03:51And I know that I'm not getting paid as much as these other beauty creators,
03:55even though I feel like in terms of engagement or followers, I feel like I'm up there.
03:59I feel like the beauty girls know who I am, right?
04:01But I know I'm not getting paid as much simply just because I'm Black.
04:06There's that wage gap.
04:07And I feel like the conversation needs to be had.
04:09But I also feel like people need to be open to hearing the conversation.
04:12And I feel like a lot of people aren't open to hearing the conversation.
04:15If you're going to have the conversation here, what would you say?
04:18Like, pay Black creators, have Black people in the rooms,
04:21invite us on the brand trips, have Black people on your teams.
04:23If you actually want to stand by inclusivity and have that be a
04:26pillar of the groundwork that you do for your company, stand by it.
04:31And so what are you doing to call forth those brands?
04:35Yeah, I have a lot of conversations behind the scenes.
04:38My managers have a lot of conversations behind the scenes with a lot of brands.
04:42And there's a lot of work being done.
04:44I've been a shade consultant for so many brands.
04:48I am doing so much work behind the scenes to make sure that Black women are being seen,
04:52and especially dark-skinned women are being seen in this space.
04:55And just being included as well.
04:56And I feel like a lot of Black women in this space have also have come to that realization,
05:01especially in this last year.
05:03We know our worth.
05:04We spend the most on beauty.
05:05Yeah.
05:05And like what you said, you're more powerful in numbers.
05:07Yeah.
05:08The numbers don't lie.
05:09Yeah.
05:09When you started your brand, your personal brand, was it with this in mind?
05:15What it's become in terms of like brands probably looking at you saying,
05:20oh my God, I hope she covers us.
05:21But I also, I'm scared.
05:23Doing my darkest shade videos, I knew that I had to be unapologetically myself.
05:28And I knew that I might have been blacklisted.
05:31I knew that I probably wouldn't get the PR.
05:33I might not get the brand deals because I'm calling out these brands.
05:36But I don't care.
05:38I don't care.
05:38If you don't care enough to make shades for me,
05:41if you don't care enough to invite people that look like me on trips
05:44or have people that look like me on campaigns,
05:46then I don't care about your reputation.
05:48Okay.
05:49And that's just it.
05:50Because inclusivity and tone inclusion is the absolute bare minimum.
05:53And if you're not going to do it, don't be a beauty brand.
05:56Yep.
05:57And then it's like 2024.
05:58Do better.
05:59That's just do better.
06:01Yeah.
06:01Like the Euphoria video.
06:03Did you realize it was going to get that big?
06:05I knew.
06:06I feel like I texted my managers.
06:08I did text my managers, actually.
06:09I was like, I'm about to post a video.
06:11I'm sorry if...
06:13I literally was like, I'm sorry if there's any backlash or anything,
06:16but something is not right.
06:18And I am not a cosmetic chemist.
06:19So at that time, I didn't know that it was jet black.
06:22I think the only thing that I knew is that the closest comparison
06:25that I can make a comparison to was jet black foundation.
06:30And once I made that comparison and the cosmetic chemist started coming in,
06:33they were like, this is literally actually jet black.
06:35Like you guys are trying to gaslight her.
06:37I may not be like the darkest of complexions,
06:38but I know I am one of the darkest, right?
06:40And so I knew that there was no way in hell this was going to work for anyone.
06:44I am from South Sudan.
06:45Some of the darkest people in the world.
06:46I have seen dark and we are not jet black, right?
06:49And so for me, it was just like, this is bigger than just inclusion.
06:53Like this is full out, full blown racism.
06:57Full blown racism.
06:58And I say that because it's not like you,
07:00like this was the first time that you hit the mark.
07:02If that is your definition of better, you need to do better.
07:05It was traumatizing.
07:07It was literally traumatizing.
07:08And imagine experiencing that, like swatching it on your face and being like,
07:12wow, this is literally how the world perceives us.
07:14How do you even conceptualize that?
07:16I feel like internally it was like I was fighting a battle.
07:19I knew that like this video was going to go viral to some extent.
07:23I feel like all my darkest shade videos go viral,
07:25but I knew that this one probably would have changed the trajectory of my career.
07:29It clearly did.
07:31And you know, I feel so sorry for the brand.
07:34It's no more brand, but also I don't feel that sorry.
07:36Did they respond?
07:37The apology was very AI.
07:39It was very much so, yeah, we're trying our best to be inclusion.
07:42Go to our site to look at the inclusion stuff.
07:44That's literally basically what it said.
07:45They were like, oh, we hired a DEI person.
07:48You hired a DEI person, but you gave them four jobs.
07:50Are they getting paid for those four jobs?
07:52Because not only are they DEI, but they're doing everything else as well.
07:56Next.
07:57And that's all I could say about youthphoria.
08:00End of chapter.
08:01Literally deserve better.
08:02We deserve better and that's it.
08:04Genuinely.
08:05Well, let's move on.
08:06Yes.
08:08So with that said, what brands are doing it right?
08:11What brands do you like working with?
08:13Okay, of course, Fenty Beauty.
08:16Ri, love you, girl.
08:17We're really twinning them.
08:18We're kind of dabbling into a lot of like celebrity like makeup brands.
08:21House Labs.
08:22Gaga.
08:23If I could kiss you, I think about face.
08:26Halsey, girl, you're getting up there.
08:29And then, of course, we have my Black-owned brands.
08:32You know, we have By Ami Cole.
08:33We have Topicals.
08:35We have Pat's.
08:36Mother-freaking-McGrath and Icon.
08:38What are the integrations?
08:40Like how do you integrate a brand?
08:41I mean, it's clear.
08:41You just like do the get ready with me video.
08:44I mean, it's easy, right?
08:45It's so easy.
08:46I feel like if I get like PR and I'm always trying new products.
08:49Yeah.
08:50There's a new product that I like and I like really like it.
08:52I'll try it for like a few days, a week or two.
08:54And then I'll make a video about it.
08:56And I'll be like, okay, this is fire.
08:57Like this is really fine.
08:58There are a few products that have done that to me.
09:02Right now, it's definitely the Fenty lip liner that just came out.
09:04Like darkest lip liner to exist.
09:05I was so excited when I got that in PR.
09:07And it's unreleased because Rihanna loves me.
09:10Love you too, boo.
09:11You know, like so crazy.
09:13I got that like weeks ago, guys.
09:15And I tried it and I was like, this is iconic.
09:18This is literally about to change the game for so many dark-skinned girls.
09:21If you work with me, you work with me, girl.
09:23Make sure the product is good.
09:24Make sure you know what you're doing.
09:26Cosmetic chemist, be chemisting.
09:28There's so many brands that I've worked with.
09:29So many amazing brands.
09:30I feel like even though there are some of the brands
09:32that I'm just like dot, dot, dot, ellipses.
09:34They're also the good ones.
09:35And I love working with the good ones.
09:37So, yeah.
09:38And you're also transitioning into modeling.
09:40Yes.
09:41Not surprising.
09:42I mean, you are beautiful.
09:43Look at my face, guys.
09:45Crazy.
09:46Is that always a dream of yours?
09:47It was.
09:48Okay.
09:48It was.
09:49I feel like South Sudanese girls, like we just model.
09:53We see so many South Sudanese girls on the runway.
09:55And I have been inspired by so many of them.
09:58And it's always been.
09:59I feel like probably since I was like 13 or 14.
10:01I was like, I want to model.
10:03And I just cannot wait to see what the future unfolds.
10:05Me too.
10:05Because I don't think I've ever been like friendly.
10:09New friends.
10:10With a runway model.
10:11Like, it's about to be me.
10:12I'm going to be like someone I know is on the runway.
10:15Not you're going to be front row on my show.
10:17I'm going to be DMing you.
10:18I'm going to be, hey boo.
10:20Like, yes.
10:21I know I'm part of your creator days.
10:23But we're still here for you.
10:24You're still here for me.
10:25I remember you for life, girl.
10:26For life.
10:27So yeah.
10:28Do you feel like you'll always be though a creator at heart?
10:31Because that's what brings the deals, right?
10:33And even the modeling stuff.
10:35I think I'll always be a creator at heart.
10:37I feel like they'll probably get like the BTS of me.
10:39Like at Fashion Week or in Milan.
10:41I feel like my content might take a little shift.
10:44And I might not do as much as like the darkest shade videos.
10:47But I know that that's like what made me a lot of me.
10:50So I'm always going to like go back to every once in a while.
10:53But I think that it's important to note that people can grow.
10:56I feel like a lot of the internet and a lot of people on the internet
11:00try to put a lot of creators in a box.
11:02And especially Black women.
11:03I feel like they try to put a lot of Black women in a box.
11:05And I refuse to be in it.
11:07So I am spreading my wings and I am flying.
11:09And you can support me.
11:11I hope you do.
11:12And if you don't, that's okay.
11:14Were you always interested in the beauty space?
11:16So I honestly, like growing up, I was not very interested in the beauty space.
11:21I feel like I grew up a very like quiet, like quiet but confident child.
11:26I feel like I was confident at home.
11:28But like in public spaces or at school, I was just really quiet.
11:31Just because like I walk into the room and I'm like the only Black person.
11:34Or I'm like the only dark-skinned person.
11:36And like I'm very dark.
11:38So it's like I know I'm like the darkest person a person has like seen in that day, you know?
11:42So it was always very, very weird for me to just like navigate life
11:47being as dark as I was and also being South Sudanese.
11:50I'm a refugee.
11:51So we did not have a lot.
11:52Like we've never really had a lot.
11:54We were always living in like section A.
11:56Like we were impoverished.
11:59Like it was so bad.
12:01And I feel like a lot of South Sudanese people do have that same experience.
12:04Is that it was just really bad coming from Sudan to here.
12:09And I just saw my mom work really hard.
12:11Really, really hard.
12:12Way harder than she like should have.
12:14And I feel like that's a very common experience with immigrants and refugees as well.
12:19And so it just kind of like lit a spark under my butt.
12:21I was like, girl, no.
12:24Something has to change.
12:25Something has to shift.
12:25I always knew I was destined for something.
12:27I didn't know what it was at that time.
12:28But I knew that like there was no way that we were going to come here
12:32and I wasn't going to make something out of myself.
12:33Did you have anyone growing up that you looked up to for that?
12:38You know, I feel like I didn't have a lot of access to like a ton of technology
12:41just because like it was expensive.
12:43We didn't have access to it.
12:44But once I did get like a first piece of technology,
12:47I discovered Nima around like 13, 14 years old.
12:50And she is a YouTuber and she's also from South Sudan.
12:54Colorism was way worse back then.
12:55I would say it was way worse back then.
12:57I feel like now people are kind of like...
12:59I don't want to say hopping onto like the African wave
13:02and like the Afrobeats wave and like being, you know, Sudanese.
13:05But I feel like now it's just like you see me, you see me, you know who I am.
13:09Like I know when y'all see me, y'all know I'm from South Sudan.
13:12So play.
13:12Okay.
13:13But back then I know she went through a lot.
13:15I just like remember being so little and small and watching her videos
13:18and then meeting her for the first time and like being in a space with her.
13:21Like, girl, the tears.
13:24It was crazy.
13:24I literally met her and it was just like the smiles were just like, ah!
13:29It was just so full circle for me.
13:31And I'm just so glad to know her and just be in her presence, honestly.
13:34I love that.
13:35And it's too bad there, you know, she had those challenges.
13:38Yeah.
13:39There wasn't more people at that point.
13:42More black women.
13:43It was just her.
13:44Yeah.
13:45No, there wasn't.
13:46There wasn't.
13:47It was like, I think Nima carried a lot on her back.
13:50And I also feel like, you know, she had a lot of pressure on her and she did it by herself.
13:55Do you have Sudanese or South Sudanese women watching your videos that aren't from,
14:01that are from the US, but also aren't?
14:03Yeah, I do.
14:03Like all over the world.
14:04And it's insane.
14:05South Sudan girls on top.
14:06Like I like to say on top.
14:08I mean, we're in the modeling industry.
14:10We're in the beauty industry.
14:11We're everywhere.
14:12I just hope to see more of us everywhere.
14:14I feel like it's what we deserve.
14:15What is the key to a great Get Ready With Me video?
14:18True authenticity.
14:20Like, I feel like I am exactly how I am in my videos in person.
14:24You gotta literally, like, this is your world and everybody else is living in it.
14:29Okay?
14:29Like literally just be yourself.
14:33And I feel like that's what makes a good creator is being yourself and like
14:36holding true to you and never losing sight of that.
14:39So what advice do you have for beauty creators right now?
14:44Oh, girl.
14:47Be different.
14:48I feel like that is the best advice I can give you is to be different.
14:54I feel like we have a lot of the same things happening in beauty,
14:57a lot of the same launches, nothing really fun.
15:01And the best thing that you could do for yourself,
15:03your mental health and everybody else watching you is to be yourself,
15:07be different and exist unapologetically for yourself.
15:10You are amazing.
15:12I love what you're up to.
15:14And you're just rocking it and keep on going.
15:17I can't wait to see how far you go.
15:19Real far.