If you want to be successful you have to stay calm and keep going, even when times are difficult.
Marlene Wallach is the founder of Gleem Beauty. She is also the founder of Wilhelmina Kids & Teens and Wilhelmina Creative Management where she was president for nearly two decades. She is a nationally recognized arbiter of all things’ beauty, an author, and an empowering educator. Marlene brings together a career of knowledge from within the beauty industry and working tirelessly with models and their skin concerns.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Our readers would love to “get to know you” better. Can you share your “backstory” with us?
When we say “one thing leads to another”, I don’t think any of us realize that we’re talking about evolution, a natural progression of events. However, while my ventures may have naturally evolved from one thing to the other, it wasn’t as haphazard as it may seem. I am the architect of my dreams and fabricator of my opportunity.
Can you share a story about the biggest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
I refer to what some call mistakes as “learning experiences” and I have had too many to recount.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career? What were the main lessons or takeaways from that story?
I consider myself to be a “serial entrepreneur.” I started Wilhelmina Kids and Teens and Wilhelmina Creative Management from nothing into a booming business. Before that, while I was living in southern California, I started a very successful film marketing business. Now I have started Gleem Beauty, and it is off to a roaring start after only five months in the market. Interestingly, what ties all of these ventures together, other than my involvement, is that in each case I was advised by people that the businesses would never be successful!!!
In the case of Gleem Beauty, people said, “how can you start a consumer products company in the middle of a pandemic?” Of course, as we now know, people were home looking in the mirror every day and realizing they wanted to upgrade their skin beauty. Plus, consumers were looking for new skincare manufacturers with new product lines due to their disappointment with their existing products. It was the perfect time to enter the beauty skincare market. In addition, most of the models I knew were out of work during the pandemic and were thus available and happy to do shoots and advertising for Gleem.
The main takeaways are,
Never let someone dissuade you from doing something you truly believe in.
If you want to be successful you have to stay calm and keep going, even when times are difficult.
That has really been the story of my life. When it comes to business, a successful entrepreneur has to be an excellent crisis manager, and that is exactly what I am.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
With no pun intended, I will give a beautiful snapshot of what evolved from a recent photoshoot for a profile article. I was introduced to a new circle of friends and colleagues who are having a real impact on myself and my business.
The shoot was with Eugene Manning Photography and through his amazing photography, Eugene has become a friend and my “go-to” photographer. The stylist on the shoot was Sam Lavey, the co-founder of Doien Designs. Sam has become my personal stylist and wardrobe designer for upcoming business travel to the Middle East and to meet the Royal Family of Katar. He is also responsible for my participation in the Summer 2021 New York Art Movement Show and a number of cross promotions involving Gleem Beauty. He has become my forever friend.
The shoot was arranged by the publisher of kingdomzX.com, Patrick Chappelle, who in addition to his expansive and creative side has an uncanny head for technology and has overseen the rebranding of my ecommerce site.
Through these connections, I have become part of a new business and social network that simply came out of the photo shoot that Patrick arranged. All you have to do is let the people who want to help, help you.
Ok perfect. Now let’s jump to our main focus. When it comes to health and wellness, how is the work you are doing helping to make a bigger impact in the world?
The impact I hope to have on the world is happening one person at a time.
When someone comes to me with a skin problem, it might seem minor to you and me, but for that individual, it is a huge concern and I take all those concerns seriously. I deal with their issues in a practical way and help to eliminate them when possible. For some, it’s about helping them start a routine which includes washing their face and taking care of their skin each day. For others it’s about introducing them to a new product for a specific concern. It is most important that I help someone “Feel the Gleem” and that can only happen when one feels good about themselves. For many, if you feel positive about your appearance you can more easily take on the issues that you face.
If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of wellness to the most amount of people, what would that be?
I DID!!
When Black Lives Matter became a big media focus, I was active on JustAskMarlene.com and I kept hearing from young people, I’m not Black — what about me, doesn’t my life matter and in response to that question I created BE ME BE GREAT — an exercise of self-examination to help build self-confidence. These young individuals had to think about who they were and what they did that made them great. I even ran a video contest where they had to talk about their greatness. I even created a mirror.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?
The most important thing I wish I knew before I started is that there is a reason the term “a New York minute” has come to be. A “New York Minute” is a different time interval than a minute in the rest of the country. It can be frustrating when no one else understands the urgency you have to get something or anything done.
When I asked the Gleem Beauty manufacturer how long it would take to get a certain jar that I wanted, I was told nine weeks. After I recovered from the answer he gave me, I made a few calls and within 20 minutes, I found someone that would have them delivered in 5 days at a cheaper price.
The moral of the story is not really about time, it is really that while you cannot make the time to do everything yourself, you really do need to know about the important details of your business and not just take the word of someone else, even if they work for you.
Sustainability, veganism, mental health and environmental changes are big topics at the moment. Which one of these causes is dearest to you, and why?
When I started working for the American Express Foundation in the 1990s, I first became aware of all the issues surrounding global warming from all the proposals we received related to funding. The potential effects and extinction of rare animals seemed so immediate to me, it motivated me to go on a safari in Africa to see the wildebeest migration across the Serengeti Plains, Kenya/Tanzania. Luckily global warming and environmental changes are now in the hearts and minds of many as people begin to see the effects.
What is the best way our readers can follow you on social media?
