Divya Gugnani, Founder of Wander Beauty: "As the founder and CEO, you need to be the cheerleader 24/7. It’s lonely because you have to internalize a lot of things you wish you could share.”
Description
The beauty industry is an increasingly saturated space. I literally get the most overwhelming wave of anxiety when I walk into a Sephora or even the beauty floor at a Bloomingdale's or Nordstroms. Even though I have some mainstay staples, I'm always intrigued by the products on the next shelf or the lipsticks and glosses that influencers on the store signs are telling me to buy. So I always appreciate a brand that tries to break through the clutter and provide just the key essentials to a good beauty routine.
Wander Beauty has been doing that since its inception in 2015, when co-founders Divya Gugnani and Lindsay Ellingson met at a party and bonded over their love of travel and conversely, their frustration over the lack of efficiency in their beauty bags. In this episode, Divya talks about how her early beginnings at Cornell, foundational background at Harvard Business School and experiences working on Wall Street helped her to take on the new challenges that come with being an entrepreneur and CEO sitting at the helm of an ever-evolving beauty disruptor.




