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Lisa Hanna, former Miss World, longtime Jamaican cabinet minister, and founder of Lisa Hanna Beauty, joins Skin Anarchy to talk about rejecting the language of correction, building a science led luxury line in Italy, and the activist mission behind her brand.
Who is Lisa Hanna?
An "accidental beauty queen" who won Miss World in 1993 at 18, then built a two decade political career as one of Jamaica's youngest female members of parliament and a cabinet minister before retiring last year to enter beauty. "I think leadership has an obligation to give other people an opportunity to present their ideas."
Why did she move from politics into beauty?
Because she rejected how the industry talks about age. As she aged in demanding field work, actives like retinol and vitamin C stopped suiting her skin. "If we're constantly told that the evidence of time is something to correct, eventually we see ourselves and believe that time has diminished us."
What does aging intelligently mean?
Working with skin rather than fighting it. Hanna reframes skin as an organ deserving support, not correction. "Remember your skin is at its best when it's supported... when you're working in harmony with it." She sees longevity as overused and prefers accumulating knowledge over reversing time.
How are women in politics judged on their appearance?
Constantly, and before they speak. Hanna recalls being heckled entering parliament, then facing formal motions over sleeveless outfits and a national debate over a swimsuit photo at 51. "There's an ageist component to the beauty," she says, noting the judgment arrived "way before you open your mouth.
Why did she make her line in Italy?
For innovation and EU standards. She wanted regulated formulas that push boundaries without breaking the skin barrier. "I wanted my products to be EU regulated and to pass EU standards," working with a lab using mastic resin to stimulate the skin's own collagen rather than forcing change from the top down.
What is the science behind Lisa Hanna Beauty?
A proprietary quantum RECP delivery system across every product. It pairs mastic resin, protected vitamin C that activates only on the skin, green grape extract for inflammation, and matrikine peptides. "Skin must recognize what it already knows," she says, which is why the formulas absorb rather than sit on top.
Is Lisa Hanna Beauty only for certain skin tones?
No, and she resisted pressure to position it that way. Advisors pushed her to build a brand for people of color; she refused. "I want to do skincare for all skin types." The formulas are clinically tested to work across skin tones, and she argues luxury was wrongly withheld from many women for too long.
What is the fade bomb?
The line's breakout hero product, a hydrating balm for hyperpigmentation that doubles as a healing product. Built after visiting bleaching factories worldwide, it avoids harsh correctives. "That fade bomb is amazing," used on scarring, bikini line, and underarms across every skin tone.
Can luxury skincare be affordable?
That was the point. Watching post COVID economic pressure on women, Hanna built a premium seven product line meant to feel special without breaking budgets. "Every woman deserves when they go home to feel luxury," with glass bottles worthy of a vanity and formulas that are clinically tested.
What is the brand's activist mission?
Five percent of everything funds support for women and children with neurodivergence, especially in Jamaica, where child mental health resources are scarce. Drawing on her own son's experience and her time as minister of youth, she calls it an activist beauty brand. "Skincare can transform skin, but it can also transform lives."
Listen to the full episode with Lisa Hanna on Skin Anarchy, available wherever you get your podcasts.
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Interior designer, HGTV host, and Volition Beauty collaborator Alison Victoria joins Skin Anarchy to talk about the free habits that actually keep her well, how your home shapes your health, how HGTV really gets made, building her Greek Goddess Glow Drops, and what it takes to break into television. Below are the biggest questions answered in this episode.
Who is Alison Victoria?
An interior designer turned television host and executive producer who knew her path at age 11. Design is the throughline of everything she builds. "Doing design makes me happy and being happy makes me healthy. And that's to me the most important thing."
What does Alison Victoria do for self care?
She anchors to the basics: a daily workout and long sleep. "I sleep nine, 10 hours a night... I do attribute so much of that to my sleep." She keeps a trainer purely for accountability, and champions the free habits over expensive trends. "Why not talk about the things that are free?"
How does your home environment affect your wellness?
Profoundly, in her view. She calls a happy home the foundation of a healthy life. "I feel safe here and I feel like hugged every time I come in the door." Waking up in a space you designed for yourself, she argues, sets the tone for the entire day.
How should you decorate to feel good at home?
With memories, not catalogs. She favors open shelving to display travels and family, and a mix of old and new over sterile perfection. "I don't like walking into a sterile home... it makes me kind of shut down and close up." Copying a showroom, she says, removes the story that makes a space feel alive.
How is HGTV actually made?
Slowly, and then compressed. Her show takes nearly 11 months to film and airs in about two and a half weeks. "The meat of it is sometimes lost," so she works as a producer to recreate authentic moments the cameras missed. Her early shows taught DIY steps; her rehab shows now inspire rather than instruct.
What is Greek Goddess Glow Drops?
Her hero product with Volition Beauty, a serum that treats and beautifies at once. She formulated it herself through 40 samples. "I truly had my hands in it from day one." Inspired by Greek summers, it uses peptides, squalane, and resveratrol, with a fresh fig scent and a nonsticky, glazed finish that suits sensitive skin.
Is the beauty industry oversaturated?
Yes, and she says so plainly even as a new founder. "I think the beauty world is oversaturated, which makes me feel like a hypocrite because here I am coming out with something." Her answer was restraint: one hero product instead of a sprawling line, a shift she expects the whole industry to make.
What does it take to succeed in a demanding career?
Relentless execution. "If I have an idea, I do everything in my power to execute. I don't let it just sit on paper." She describes failures that cost money and never once giving up, tracing the drive back to working at Subway at 14 to buy her own car.
How do you avoid burnout while scaling?
By building a team so the business does not depend on her alone. "You're only as good as the people that you work with." She admits to running near burnout and putting money into team building so that, as she puts it, if she checks out the wheels do not fall off.
How do you break into television today?
By going to them, not waiting. Her first show came from answering a cold email, then saying yes to unglamorous work and pitching herself as the first woman to host a Crashers show. "If you want something bad enough, you find a way." Casting agents scour social media now, so put yourself where they are looking.
Listen to the full episode with Alison Victoria on Skin Anarchy, available wherever you get your podcasts.
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Chaz Giles, founder of Alida Labs and former head of external innovation at Estee Lauder, returns to Skin Anarchy to cut through the AI hype: where it creates real value in beauty and wellness, why midsize brands are outpacing the giants, how to get your data ready, and what AI means for executives and their careers.
Who is Chaz Giles? 
Two decades across Procter & Gamble, venture capital, and Estee Lauder, then founder of Revea and now Alida Labs. "How do you turn technology into things that consumers love and are good for business?"
Where does AI actually fit in beauty right now? 
Unevenly. "We had a custom GPT... that's why it didn't really help, because it wasn't the use case that was right." Real value lives in data, formulation, product development, and DTC analytics.
Where should a brand start with AI? 
With its existing strengths. "Think of AI as a superpower... where do you want to create a superpower?" Point it at your competitive advantage, not everything at once.
How can AI help a brand stand out in a saturated market? 
By formulating with claims in mind, mapping white space, and turning one concern like hyperpigmentation into multiple defensible mechanism claims. "It's getting more mileage out of the formulas and ingredients I have."
What is the difference between LLMs and agentic AI? 
Levels of value. "My agentic flows, I now can set up effectively AI employees and AI teams," letting a four person startup operate like a team of 40.
Why are midsize companies beating the giants at AI? 
"They are not [winning], because they cannot get out of their own way in terms of how to do that redesign." Nimble midcaps are leapfrogging larger rivals and halving time to market.
How should companies get their data ready for AI? 
Out of silos first. "There never was an award for the world's sexiest data." Consolidating scattered data unlocks synthetic testing and digital twins.
How much AI is too much? 
Never too much data, easily too much AI. "AI should be used in places that it's giving me more value than I can create with my org chart today."
How is AI changing beauty investment? 
"AI is eating software," erasing old moats. Brand and distribution matter more again, and a new crop of AI native brands is coming.
What does AI mean for executives? 
A hard mirror as the value of information trends toward zero. "It's about how to apply, how to integrate, how to lead the teams and the transformation."
How do leaders stay indispensable in an AI future? 
By leaning into what machines cannot do. "You as a leader are still uniquely positioned to take that information and translate it into valuable action."
Listen to Skin Anarchy wherever you get your podcasts.
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Contact Chaz: chaz@alidalabs.ai, LinkedIn, Instagram
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Content creator Marjan Tabibzada joins Skin Anarchy to talk about building a career with no blueprint: her start at the MAC counter, representing brown and Middle Eastern women in beauty and fashion, surviving online hate, vetting brand deals honestly, and the Times Square campaign that made a childhood dream real.
Who is Marjan Tabibzada? 
A creator who built a following representing women who rarely saw themselves online. "There's so many of us out there."
How did she get started in content creation? 
Posting on the side while at Cal State Northridge and the MAC counter. "I really felt like I was doing a bajillion different things." TikTok took off, and she chose creation over law school.
What did she learn at MAC Cosmetics? 
That inclusivity could be a foundation. "Every shade of the foundation that you can" imagine was there.
How do you build a following with no blueprint? 
Relentless trial and error. "There will be hundreds of my videos that have flopped... and you have to pick your butt back up and keep creating."
How does she keep content relatable across cultures? 
By reworking revealing trends into modest looks. "We are the brown girls where we can't really show... so let's make this a little bit more modest."
How does she handle online hate and cancel culture? 
By refusing to let it take root. "If you just allow those comments to take over, you're going to go into such a dark place that getting out is going to be very difficult."
Where is influencer marketing headed? 
Creators replacing traditional ads. "People trust the influencers, and when you relate to a content creator, it brings such a powerful take on why brands should work with you."
How does she vet brand deals? 
Authenticity first. "Would I genuinely recommend this if there wasn't a campaign attached to it?" She has refused deals that asked her to lie about results.
Does becoming an influencer make you rich? 
Not how people assume. "Just because you make content does not mean you're gonna be rich." Her first brand deal paid about a thousand dollars.
Why do content creators need a plan B? 
Platforms are not permanent. "You need a plan B." She kept her degree and built across Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, and more.
What advice does she have for aspiring creators? 
Start before you feel ready. "I learned by doing, by making mistakes, and by staying curious." Age is just a number.
Listen to the full episode with Marjan Tabibzada on Skin Anarchy, available wherever you get your podcasts.
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Monique Rodriguez, founder and CEO of Mielle Organics, joins Skin Anarchy to trace her path from labor and delivery nurse to textured hair care leader: bootstrapping through millions in debt, protecting the brand's DNA through the P&G acquisition, surviving a viral moment, and where textured hair innovation goes next.
Who is Monique Rodriguez? 
A former labor and delivery nurse who bet on herself. "I literally built mine from the ground up by bootstrapping."
How did she build Mielle as an inclusive brand? 
By solving for a category, not a demographic. "Textured hair has no specific culture, race, ethnicity... I really wanted to be inclusive of all."
What does bootstrapping actually mean? 
"It means that you're making payroll and you're paying other people before you pay yourself." Mielle ran two to three million dollars in debt.
How do you know whether to pivot or push forward? 
Read the business honestly, not emotionally. "I knew that we were holding on to something special... it was time for me to keep pushing forward."
How did she get investors and her team to believe? 
Data and character. A Berkshire investor backed the founders for their humility and willingness to ask questions. "You can't teach that."
How do you choose the right investors? 
Separate your identity from the company. "You can't have an emotional attachment to the brand if you are wanting to take on investors... it's really the customer's brand."
How did Mielle protect its DNA through the P&G acquisition? 
By putting it in writing. "Yes, we're selling you the company, but the sole DNA of the brand shall not be touched."
How should a brand handle going viral? 
Treat it as exposure, not a foundation. "Having a viral moment can be very powerful, but it's also very temporary."
Where is textured hair care headed? 
Toward wellness and scalp care. "Textured hair will continue to be the majority," with innovation moving to a holistic, education first approach.
What advice does she have for founders building beyond a label? 
Start before you feel ready. "The biggest difference between people who dream and the people who build is that the builders take action."
Would she do anything differently? 
Nothing. "All of the mistakes and bad decisions that we made were all a part of the learning lessons."
Listen to the full episode with Monique Rodriguez of Mielle Organics on Skin Anarchy, available wherever you get your podcasts.
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