Aspire with Emma Grede - How Dr. Barbara Sturm Built a Billion Dollar Beauty Brand with Zero Training

Episode Date: December 30, 2025

How does a doctor with zero beauty training build one of the most influential skincare brands in the world? In this episode of Aspire, Emma Grede sits down with Dr. Barbara Sturm — the founder behind a global, anti-inflammatory skincare empire — to reveal the true story you’ve never heard.   Dr. Sturm opens up about the bullets she dodged, the bets she made, and the risks that almost broke her. From being dismissed by the beauty industry to scaling a brand from €350 to a brand valued at over a billion dollars. Dr. Sturm shares the mindset, the science, and the steps it took to build something no one believed was possible.   You’ll learn: -How she built a global brand without investors -The mindset every ambitious woman needs to scale -What she wishes every founder knew before starting -Why she never used retinol,  and what she does instead -The anti-inflammatory approach that changed the industry -The moment she realized the world was finally listening   If you’re an entrepreneur, a skincare obsessive, or a woman building something big — this conversation will change the way you think about success, aging, and what’s actually possible. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Visit emma greed.com to purchase the book, also available on Amazon, your favorite audio platforms, and all good bookshops. She was an outsider. She didn't have training, yet she built one of the most influential skincare brands on earth. Dr. Barbara Sturm's path into beauty is unlike anything I've ever heard before. She built an empire by trusting her instincts over industry rules, and if she can do it, so can you. When demand exploded, Barbara was forced to build faster than her life could keep up, and it came at a cost. From betting everything she had to fighting her way through an industry that didn't believe she belonged, Dr. Barbara uncovered the one truth every founder needs to hear. And over the next hour, she's letting us in on that secret. Barbara, welcome to aspire. Emma. I'm so happy to see you.

I'm so happy to be here. I feel like we're just going to have a really good chat today and forget that anybody's watching. So I want to really get into this today because you are indeed such a badass of a businesswoman. We all know and love the brand that you've built. But the way you got into skincare was kind of quite fascinating because you're not a dermatologist and you essentially just were like, I see a gap, I want to do something and I'm going to do it. So I want you to just talk to me about how you even decided to start your own brand. Because I know so many people watching this podcast are dying to start their own brands. And so what made you just take that leap? So definitely I didn't think I would end up in the beauty industry because I'm a tomboy.

I'm like not into any like makeup and growing up in the orthopedic science. You are a doctor. I'm a doctor. I came together with orthopedic scientists from Harvard, Pittsburgh and a group of orthopedic doctors from Dissoldov. And I helped pioneering a treatment where you take the blood of a patient, create anti-inflammatory proteins and growth factors and re-inject those into the joints to bring down inflammation and stop the ongoing aging. process of the joints called osteotritis. So inflammation and aging goes very, very close together. So this anti-inflammatory science was always at the forefront of everything I was doing.

So sometimes I say I'm an anti-inflammatory doctor. And when I was in the orthopedics, I was also intrigued with aesthetics. So I started injecting Botox fillers. I went to the best doctors in the world, learned how to do it. And then I thought, I actually want to do something on a cellular level, effectively on the cells. Because I feel like that's how we all came to know you. You were like the vampire facial lady. So I translated the knowledge from the orthopedics into the skin in 2002.

And I created the blood facial, vampire facial, because I wanted to do something that has long-lasting results, better immediate results. And it worked. It was fantastic. I mean, that was like a viral sensation. Yeah, but Kim's face, you know, that was only 2011. So I did this nine years before. it really became crazy big. Oh, wow.

Really? It was that long before. Yes. And so lots of doctors were asking me, can you share? Can you share? Can you share? And I was like, no, I really want to be careful because there's a lot of responsibility working with patients' blood.

I say, I want to do it and I want to be the only one so I can be in charge of every patient myself. So that was not very entrepreneurialism. I was just going to say, not at all you. You were like, I'm not sharing and I need to be in charge and the world just ran away with it, right? because it really did become like the thing in skincare. And everyone was doing it and perhaps not doctors as well.

I was 29 or 28. It was so young. That's crazy. So I know that for you, pursuing this business was kind of very personal. And you decided that there really was a gap and you wanted to do things completely differently. So how did you land on actually creating your own set of products? So around the time when I created the vampire facial, I was very, very dry. my skin was dry, blackheads. I had to go and see my facialist every three weeks. It was super annoying

because also she sent me home with a bunch of products. I spent all my money and nothing would work. And then I said to my friend who was the first one who got ever the blood facial, I said, we do it ourselves. We do the gene cream. So I went to my grandma who was a pharmacist and I saw always mixing creams. And I said, so you had that in the family. Yeah, it is in the family. And I said, what are the biggest and best hydrators in the world? because I couldn't believe that every cream I tried, couldn't hydrate my skin. It was so weird. And I went to my grandmother for advice and I went to my pharmacist. And he, in the lab, we were mixing the creams with all the ingredients my grandmother said.

And we were tweaking, et cetera. And then I added the blood, the proteins of my blood. So the anti-inflammatory proteins, I added on top into this cream. No, you did it. And it fixed my skin. Yes. It fixed my skin overnight. I swear.

My skin was amazing. I never went back to my facialist, so I didn't have to be cleaned out because when you have dry skin, you also have a lot of blackheads. So dry skin is never an option, by the way. If you have dry skin, you need to fix it because dryness is causing a lot of problems and it's making you age. Yeah, of course it's making you age so much. Hydration is key.

It's the key. All right. So you're there and you have this one cream, the gene cream, but that's with your blood. So then how do you pivot into getting a product that ends up in the marketplace or a suite of products because I think when I first came across your brand, it was like a clear system. Like to me, there were like six amazing products. So how did you go from grandma and the pharmacist to the brand that we all know and love? So because I was also still working in

orthopedic and had my own little thing going on with aesthetics and the blood facial, we had a lot of patients coming from Hollywood a lot. And they were not only interested in orthopedic things. All of a sudden they were interested in my creams and what I was doing. blood facial. Were you marketing at this point? It was just like word of mouth. Word of mouth. So you were doing something great,

you were having results and people started finding out about it. Yeah, and they loved it. So they came for orthopedics and they came for the skin. And this is how it got transported into Hollywood, which is very powerful.

Had you spent much time in America at that point? Yeah, I started coming to Hollywood on a regular basis, 2003 the first time and then probably four, five times a year. So I saw a lot of patients. they all also came to Dissoldov to see me there. And you would be treating people's skin conditions at this point.

Yeah, but also I did Botox. I did fillers. I did orthopedic treatments. I did all kinds of treatments for them. And you would leave people with some products that you'd mixed up. Yeah, until then, was only my face cream. And then people were asking, Dr. Stern, what's your regimen? And I really, I just was happy I had my cream.

It's like, that's your cream. Yeah, but what cleanser? What, you know, do you have anything else? what's the full routine? I say, wait a minute. I cannot just send them to the store to buy all these creams I didn't like. I have to create a few products for them. So I started creating products because they also wanted to take products home for their friends. And, you know, a blood cream is your personal blood cream. You cannot take them home to your friends. So I started developing products for my patients. And at this point, did you go, there's a brand in this? Or was it

just to satisfy the needs of your patients? It's just, it was just, it was just, it was just, to satisfy the needs of my patients. You know, as a doctor, you just want to solve problems for them. I have this skin condition. I have redness. Okay, I make you a calming serum. I have breakouts. Okay, creative clarifying line for you.

It wasn't like, oh, my God, this is a business. Also, I wasn't like, oh, soon I would be selling inherits or sex. No, I never thought that would even be possible. So you were making the products and how did you pay for the products? Are you paying from your own money? I went to the bank. I told them exactly what I wanted to do. And I swear, I didn't have a business plan.

I didn't have anything. I just explained them what I was doing. And they gave me, they gave me the money. And what I was thinking to myself... Do you remember how much it was at that point? I was like maybe $350,000. Okay, but for you at that point, was that a lot of money? I mean, you obviously didn't have it or you wanted to go to the bank.

It's a lot of money. And, you know, I was a single mother. Charlie was in school. I was bringing Charlie to a private school. I was a young doctor. They didn't pay me all that much. And it wasn't like, but I knew that I could pay the credit line back with the work I did on my patients. So I was like, you know, if that doesn't work, if I cannot tell it.

$350,000. Yeah, it was safe for me. It feels safe enough. Yeah, and I didn't want to take any money from anybody. I just like, I do this myself. So you actually took that $350,000 and you created the first suite of products. Yes. At that point in time, what did your team look like?

Oh. Olli Oli is one of my best friends and we met when I was 19 years old Oli meanwhile is 70 she looks like 50 unbelievable she was the first one who ever got the vampire fair She was my guinea pig and my advisor

and my We all have a friend like that I had a friend like that who tried every pair of good American jeans before they had labels before they actually functioned as a pair of jeans You have to have a good friend like that And then I hired an assistant who also is amazing.

She's still with me. She's head of product development now. And it's also quite interesting because the people I hired were necessarily coming from beauty. They were coming from everywhere and you become like the expert on the go. And if you have like a mindset, Claudia, for example, she's very like into everything healthy, everything good for the planet. She's so she's so persistent and ingredients. and we're in science. And it's the most amazing person for that job.

So you essentially assembled a team of people that cared about the same things you cared about, not necessarily experts from the skincare space. Yeah, also, we, Olli, Claudia, and myself, we went in the car and we went to a factory somewhere north in Germany and we sat with the person who was supposed to develop the product for us and we told them what we want. And he's like, no, why don't you just take this place? badge I have here and put your name on it. No, no, no. I mean, we were so offended and he would just tell us things that wouldn't be able, wouldn't be possible to do. And we said, you know what,

forget it. We go somewhere else. It's not my guy. So yeah, it's even hard to find the people who have the same mindset. And how did you land on those people? When did you know that you'd found the right partner? Because I feel like for every one of us that starts a business, those initial relationships you make with vendors, with factories, with even, you know, your PRs, your marketing partners, they either work or they don't work and they can be the make or break of any business. So how did you know when you found the right vendor that that was the person you were going to work with? For so, I think we need to listen a lot to our gut feeling. And I get told this so many times that I have very strong gut feeling. And every time I don't listen to it, it's always catastrophic.

But I learned really to make choices also on the feeling I have the kind of. chemistry and, you know, if somebody doesn't agree with your mindset, and wants to tell you something different, you need to stick to your belief, you need to stick to what you think is right, and then go and find someone else. Also, networking, being a people person, I like to be with people, with interesting people, and you ask around and you get recommendations, and you listen to the people you think are competent, and this is how you find your way to... Did you always land on the right people?

I think that's the answer. Oh my goodness. It's a learning curve, right? Yeah, it's always a learning curve. And that you cannot really, you cannot teach someone, you cannot learn, you have to make your experiences. It's just what it is in life, no? Well, the mistakes are all part of it. And I feel like, were there mistakes that you made early on that you think about now and you're like, oh my God, that, you know, it could have gone completely wrong. Were there any moments like that for you? Yeah, sure. But I think the mistakes you do also shape you. You know, I got thrown out of my orthopedic clinic because I made too much money for them and there was a lot of ego involved and I got so many patients into the clinic

and they just didn't like me being successful for them. I didn't make any money. But anyway, they bullied me out of the clinic and I was so disappointed and so shocked and that made me open my own clinic. Listen, if I wouldn't have been thrown out, I wouldn't have done it and it would all be different today. So you didn't leave because the business was taking off. You left because you got kicked out. Yeah, that's amazing. And Ollie came with me.

It's the best thing that ever happened to you. And my friend Ollie came with me and they tried to convince her to stay with them. Yeah. And oh, this won't work what she's doing. I want to work. And only's like, of course this would work. I know her. Everything will work.

She does. But Barbara, that's so interesting to me because I often feel, and again, for so many founders and entrepreneurs, knowing when to leave your safety net is a really tricky thing, right? Yeah. Everyone's got bills to pay. You were a single mother at the. the time, we were a daughter in private school. So it's very difficult to know, all right, this is working enough that I can take that risk. And in your instance, you were actually

pushed. Do you remember how that felt? But you have to have, I always say I have like somewhat of a naive optimism. I don't think much about what can go wrong. I think how it would be amazing. So I kind of calculated, you know, I only need to have X, Y, Z patients a day. But, you know, sometimes we're standing there all day and not one patient. I mean, it's like you have to grow and you have to go through lows and highs, but we made it. And we figured it out. And it was great. You know, once I left my clinic, you know, there were no appointments for three months, you know.

So you had some time on your hands. Yeah. And how did you start to distribute the products then? So explain to me what happened. I think that was quite the move. And this is the one where I think a key moment. moment in the business. So when I had the products, you know, you cannot just produce like 500 each. You have to produce like two and a half or five thousand each. And I didn't have so many patients.

I could sell them to two. So I was like, oh, I have the storage full of these products. What do I do? So there was a shop in Berlin who took us right away. And I thought, really let's go to Frankfurt. Did you go and find that store, that first store that took you? Yeah. And I went to Frankfurt. You're like, Hi, I'm Dr. Barbara. And they really didn't care. But I went to Frankfurt to the store and that was mind open, eyes opening for me

because I went there and I said, you know, these products are really great. I could fit in your store, blah, blah. They were not interested. And I was like, you know what? This is not who I am. I'm used to having people come to me wanting something from me.

And I can give solutions, but I'm not doing this. Meaning that you're not the salesperson? No, I'm not going up. out and push my product. I still don't push my products on anybody. I explain things, but I'm not saying, oh, you have to buy this. Oh, you're like the total opposite to me.

Yeah. I mean, I'm still trying to sell jeans to my grandma. Do you know what I mean? Like, whoever I meet, I'm like, well, what do you want? Like, what do you need? Even if you don't want something. But I love that that's not who you are. And you knew that.

You were like, that's just not where my strengths are. And I, at the time, Natalie Masane had started Netaporte. And I said to my friends, you know, I think I need to be on Netta Porte. Taporte because also in my clinic, I was sending out products with FedEx everywhere. And it's like my team was now working on shipments and stuff and education. Become like a logistics center. Yes. And I was like maybe it's better and easier if we're just on a taporteur.

And everybody was saying, you cannot sell beauty online. I was just going to ask you, did they even sell beauty on that at that point? They just started. They just started. And I was like, you know, I need to be on there. I was so hard to get an appointment. So hard. But then I took everybody's blood and made everybody like feel really.

excited about the blood cream. Wait a minute. That was how you got the appointment with Netta Porte. You did like a bespoke situation. Because when you say I took everybody's blood, it can sound really strange. But this for you was like I'm creating bespoke product for each and every one of the buyers. Exactly. Wow, what a move.

That made people intrigued. So we had an appointment at the headquarters in New York with David Olson. Mm-hmm. And David was. And David was cool, you know. He was listening to me. David was bought in, though, right, to be. build the beauty side of the business and to say, okay, the world needs to take NetaPorte

seriously in beauty. And he was very respected. And I remember the curation of brands in the early days was like, I mean, you had to be like treble treble A to get on Netport, just like a fashion brand, in fact. It was the same for beauty. They were keeping the standards like up here. Very selective. So they came to the meeting. I think they forgot that we were meeting and they weren't very interested. But once I started talking and telling everything, they were like, oh, wow. So it took David's blood. And then they took us. And I was so overwhelmed.

I went home, took a shower and started sobbing. I was like, oh my God, this is huge. Do you remember how huge it was? Was it like, yes. Oh, Netapote was God for me. This was like, wow, Netaporte. Did they do a big order? Me.

Yeah, it was not even so much about the big order. I was never about money. I was always about, you know, I got my babies. Yeah, it's the prestige of the whole thing. Yeah. It was like a total personal success for me. But it's also a signal. to the rest of the market, right?

Because once you are on Netaporte, I imagined the phone started ringing. You know, I missed so many emails because they were emailing me twice, three, four times until we even replied. So, you heard it's called like Space and K and everybody wanted our products. And I mentioned now I had to get into production. So this is how it grew. This is what happened. Netaporteur was the multiplier. That was, yeah, that was the multiplier.

was your moment of Lyre? I never expected my products to be seen in an entire world. But then I thought, you know, if these products work for me, they work for my patients. Everybody's excited about them. Why wouldn't they work for the people in Australia? Why wouldn't they work for everybody if they work for me? And that's the first time you started thinking about yourself as a truly, like, it's a global brand now. Yeah, I just thought the products are really amazing. Yeah. I was like, I was thinking actively. Yeah, of course. I care. These products are just, they're dead. They're, they're. They're, they're They do everything. They're anti-inflammatory. They're hydrating. They're anti-aging. They do everything. They're amazing. So I want to go back to the investment piece because I think for so many people, it's an area that's shrouded in so much mystery.

So you're at $15 million in sales and you decide to go and raise outside finances. Did you know anyone? Like, who did you call? Yeah. I think that also went through relationships. Like it also was a little bit last. minute and we met with the few, we met with a few of the big ones, but then we met Damien and he was like, okay, we're super interested. And I like this size. Our delicious friend, Damian. You know, and I don't like corporate. You know, and when these big headphones come and like, no, thanks. You know, they don't understand me. It was just, oh my God, we had the funniest conversations on the phone, you know, because they're talking, talking, talking. And, you know, if people talk, talk, talk, I'm not listening. I'm just like, I'm doing something out.

Yeah. Yeah. I need someone who fits, you know. I often say, you know, when you sit down and you start meeting investors, there has to be more than just the money, right? You have to look at them and say, this is someone I like, respect, admire the work. This is somebody that I could sit down and either have a drink or a dinner with because what you don't understand is you take the money, then you're in business together. You have to work with these people. And I imagine that with Damien, I mean, I've been friends with Damien for a very, very long time

since, you know, I was a little run running around London, like trying to do deals here there and everywhere when he had Slice PR. And so it was before he was an investor. He's awesome. And he is awesome. And he was always awesome. But I imagine that first meeting was something you were like, I can work with these guys. But what you said, I said, oh, he knows how to order really good wine.

You're like, that's something I care about. That's going to matter down the line. We're going to be popping some bottles for sure. I mean, like, he has amazing relationships. They're a relationship guys. But I feel like you were one of the first in their portfolio, right? Because I feel like they went round and did a lot of great things like Pat McGrath. But you were like early in that portfolio.

It was always like we're the guys that have invested in strump. So it was a calling card all round. But of course, I mean in your space, in the beauty space, the multiples are known to be so great and so amazing. Did you have all of the big beauty companies also trying to get in? Yeah, not at the time. We weren't really looking for that. Okay. I was more like, you know, Stella McCartney was investing, which I thought, you know,

I mean, you have a pretty amazing group of investors. Yeah, it felt very starry in the beginning. And also Stella. Did Oprah invests? Yeah, Oprah invested. And they were all hands on. They were so supportive. You know, Stella would just send the products to everybody.

It was so sweet. It was just like a group of family members. And we were just, you know, brainstorming together and everybody was excited. And Oprah was so sweet and excited. And it comes through the quality of the products, not, you know, Oprah is not looking for, you know, more investments unless she loves something. Absolutely. She truly loves the products. And when you, so when you took that investment, what changed?

It just changed in the way that all of a sudden, you know, my relationships got multiplied with their relationships. And I always say, this is a relationship business. It's like great if you have great products, but you also have to be a people person. You need to be able to create value also through your relationships and through networks. Sounds a little cheesy, but I think this is how you bring, especially, you know, when I started, there wasn't Instagram, there wasn't like I didn't have the money to buy book pages. Now it's become a little easier, much easier actually. But at the time, it was just word of mouth.

And I needed to bring the news to everybody. And it's kind of fun as well. I think what we're doing, we meet the best people of our generation. It's a big plus for your own growth as well. So you're saying with Hilton Honors, I can use points for a free night's day anywhere? Anywhere. What about fancy places like the canopy in Paris? Yeah, Hilton Honors, baby.

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Advertise on LinkedIn. Spend $250 on your first campaign and get a $250 credit. Go to LinkedIn.com slash campaign turnsic editions apply. Did you ever feel any pressure? Once you'd taken that money, did you start to feel the pressure

of everybody else thinking about what this brand should be, what it should become? Was there any of that? No, I just had so much fun creating and doing more things that are cool for the brand and, you know, running with my instincts and doing things differently than the industry

and kind of shaping a little bit what was out there. I mean, I brought the science to skincare and went away from all this marketing, empty marketing promises. And there was so much noise in skincare, but nobody really looked into efficacy. Do the products really work? What are the ingredients? What do the ingredients do?

It's a lot of marketing in that space. A lot of marketing. I want to talk to you about that because I think that you're ethosy, is what makes you so much of an outlier and so successful. But I wonder, I want to understand a bit about what really changed in the company. Do you feel like, did you have to professionalize? Did you have did anything shift? Because I do feel like there is this idea that you can sort of take money off the table and go about business as usual. My experience has always been that even with the best and

the nicest and the kindest of investors, something does change in the company once you take money from somewhere else. It's not the same thing. And there is an expectation. and there are board meetings and things get more formal. Did that happen to you? They were quite cool about it. They really trusted me. But they brought a great CMO and they brought then a CFO and they brought like a couple of people I never knew there was a CMO.

You were like, okay, we're doing this, but it's great if someone else can do it. Someone who's actually done it before. That's going to be amazing. So hiring people was part of what they were doing. And yeah, they were overlooking. But they were mostly also helping. And it was great to have some great partners. And have they still been great partners for you?

Next question. I love that you say that. We'll have a big conversation now. Well, it's true, though, isn't it? My advice really is, you know, do your business yourself as long as you can without investors. Because as you say, as soon as you have investors and there are some good things, there are some bad things. Also, it's always a lot of greed behind, you know. Yes. They're called investors for a reason, right? But I think that is really sound really great advice.

And I feel like there's such a, you know, there's so much amazing stuff happening, especially in this country around founders and starting businesses. And there becomes all of these myths that you should go out and immediately raise money. And I love the advice that you give to keep it your own for as long as you can. But what I think about that, I want to say, if you have a belief that something works, why I always tell everybody, do it yourself, get money from the bank. And if you don't 100% believe,

then you don't do it because you don't really believe in it. You just want to be a CEO and you just want to have like, you know, a business and be a business owner, entrepreneur, whatever everybody calls themselves. But I think it's very important that you believe and that you have the guts to really go into the minus to build. Yeah. And have you been in the minus?

Oh, yeah. Yeah, with my 350, I was right in the minus. How hard is it? Like when you, because I feel like looking at you, looking at your life, looking at your beautiful family and looking at you at the helm of this incredible empire that you've built, it all seemingly looks so easy, but I've never had that experience myself. What have been like your hard or your hardest moments that you've had in the brand? I mean,

Even before the brand, you know, I was working with just men and, you know, get bullied out. Unbelievable things happened, but it never really took me down. I always was like moving forward. And, you know, when you have children, and especially when you're a single mother, you just like you don't have a choice and you need to stay positive and optimistic. And there are so many challenges. There's so much jealousy around. In Germany, it was unbearable.

People are like, you, she's not a dermatologist. She's not that. and she's like, I'm the big dermatologist. I mean, and then they copy everything you do. Yeah, you're like, but I did it. I'm the one with the queen. Oh, it's crazy. They even went to the authority and complained to authority about me.

I mean, like, I don't know what I had to face. And then, yeah, later on, you know, from dealing with investors, dealing with your people who are working for you, you know. It's like it's hard to overlook everything. Yes, it's really hard. It's one thing if you juggle with a few million. It's a different thing if you juggle with more millions. Your head is on the line.

Yeah. You know, it's my name. The stakes become really high and it is your name. It's your name and you have everything to lose essentially. How much of your, I mean, like you kind of strike me as such a disciplined person and I wonder how much of that comes from your German heritage. Oh yeah, I have a big self-discipline. I am a workaholic too.

I love working. I'm obsessed with creating. And I have discipline. If I need to do something, I'd do it. How much do you work, Barbara? Be honest. Every day, every night I think about things. Every day, Monday to Friday?

Every day, seven days a week. No, seven days a week. No, no, no. There is no weekend. But, you know, I take time off for skiing. I take time of, but even while I'm skiing, I'm thinking. And, you know, I'm creating new things right now. I'm so, I so love it.

And I, I, I, I, I love the challenges. I love to do new things and 10 things at the time. And yeah, you have to be on everything. You have to be on everything. I mean, I just feel like wherever I go in the world, whatever, you know, if it's an incredible hotel or it's an incredible store, like your brand is there, sitting with the best of the best brand. But you've kind of done that and created something that's so true to yourself and you've kind of weaved it in with your family because your daughter works for you. I love the idea that like some of these first people that are in the business still work with you. that work? It's like it's a big family and that's the core team and where it's really like we talk

night and day and there's no there's no boundaries we're all like in this together and so dedicated and yeah I'm I'm also very competitive in a way I want to be in the best hotels I want to be in the front I want to be the inventor of everything and I am you know I bring things to the skincare industry like five years ago, I brought the exosomes out. Now it's like the thing on the market. But it comes from the orthopedics. You know, now like, again, dermatology or the othopedics, the exosomes. 15 years ago, I treated rheumatoid arthritis with exosomes.

And it was amazing the results. And I wanted to bring it into the skincare world, you know. Do you think that your daughter will take over the business one day? Whatever they want to do, whatever makes them happy, you know, we only want these kids to be happy. And being also confident. I was just, we were just doing like a big press trip. And Charlie was doing the speech.

I mean, the way she speaks, she expresses herself. And this is not like, like, oh, you know. No, I mean, she is like your greatest brand ambassador, isn't she? After you, she's your greatest brand ambassador. But also she is friends with everybody, but next generation. Yeah. You know, how many hotels, she sources, how many. opportunity, business opportunity she brings, it's unbelievable.

I feel like so many people like warn about the dangers of mixing business and family. But I mean, I've seen it work. I work with my husband. My sister worked with us for a really long time. And I feel like I just wonder how you've managed to avoid some of the pitfalls of that. I trust Charlie to everything. I trust her opinion, her taste, your style, everything. And whatever she decides, I go with it.

Yeah. eldest daughter. She's 29 now. And if she makes a decision, I trust, and we go with it. It's like, for me, no question. And she also started bringing in new products. I wouldn't have brought in eyepatches. And they're amazing. I'm obsessed. No, we're all upset. I mean, I will say, I start three days a week with your eyepatches. I'm obsessed with them. Put them on the flight yesterday. And we put them in the fridge and it's like the best. I went on a day flight, 12 hours. I purchased, I changed them two, three times. And you would never have done that. That was Charlie's.

idea. I also love that you give her credit. Yeah, you have to listen to her because like you said, she's a different generation, the different needs. And, you know, they just, I mean, who knew that we would buy so many eyepatches? I certainly didn't. I never had iPaches until like three years ago. Now, I can't live without them. Those really work. I'm obsessed with them. No, they do. They really, really work. Yeah. What are you teaching? So Charlie's 29, Peppers 10 years old, your second daughter, what are you teaching them about leadership and about business more generally? I think I bring down to them the values I learned from. my mom for my parents, keeping both feet on the ground, being kind and respectful to everybody,

you know, only spend what you got in like those values. And being kind and respectful to me is super important. So for me, everybody around us, if I would see my kids being not kind, that would really hurt me. So that to me is super important. And yeah, they should fulfill their dreams. And I will support them with whatever they want to do. Pepper wants to be a ski racer. Okay, we go for it. It's like whatever it is. Knowing that kid, since she was about three,

that just doesn't surprise me whatsoever. She's a ski racer and an actor. She was always like an absolute spitfire, that little girl, just like running through walls. She's unbelievable. She will do whatever she wants to do. No question. Do you, I mean, I know that your mother was a biochemist lab doctor,

and I wonder what she taught you about, leadership and forging a path because she had three children, right? And I just wonder, what did you learn from her? I mean, she was such a manager. She had three children, no nanny. She was starting to work in the lab like 630. She had to bring us to the kindergarten before, like to the, it was even for smaller children. It was unbelievable how she ran this whole thing. My dad was fully working architect, being away, teaching on universities as well. So she was running everything and still also fed us and amazing. Just amazing.

Lead by example, no? We have to become our own managers because sometimes people say, how do you do this and how can you get everything, everything done? You just do it, just do one, the next, the next, the next and you just get it done. Did anyone ever deter you? Did anyone ever say you're a doctor? Why would you try to do this brand? No.

Amazing. Lucky you. Yeah, I don't. I mean, people tell you you can't do things, but that doesn't mean you were listening. But no. Because I was always a doctor anyways. Yes. And I stayed at the service to the patients, even in the brand.

So we do a lot of education. And for example, when COVID hit, I started really talking to everybody out there, giving advice, listening, learning, and doing all these like master classes and, you know, online class. And it was great because it. brought me back to being a doctor. Yeah, no, I really feel that. And it's an interesting segue because I feel like the beauty landscape

has been completely transformed by TikTok. And now we see, like, kids younger and younger. I mean, my kids, who's eight years old, loves nothing more than an hour in Sephora. That is her favorite thing to do. And I'm like, where do you even get that? You know, she sees it on YouTube. She sees it on TikTok.

What do you think about the ever-growing complexity around people's beauty routines and not just women, but also like so many men, you know, they're sleeping with mouth tape and they're talking about longevity and then they have these like 17-step routines. And I feel like that's really like the opposite of what you're all about.

But what do you think about it? Because I guess there must have been parts of that that have been really additive to your business. So first of all, I think it's great that people get the mindset of staying healthy, doing prevention. And looking after themselves. Looking after themselves.

I think that's a good. trend. The trend which is worrisome is that these kids, you know, have access to so many information that not necessarily keeps them safe. Well, Barbara, tell us. What is that? What is the information that we're getting at? This is like a big topic for me because Pepper's 10, her and her friends. Yeah, I'm going to Sephora and, you know, she's collecting these creams. She's not allowed to use. And I'm like, yes. Do you tell her that? You're like, you can't use that. Of course. Of course. And I tell her ingredients. That's what it does. This is what happens to your skin. And so she uses sturm on her skin. Sometimes she's allowed to put a cream on her leg

and then she likes fragments. Really? Are you that strict? You're like, no, you can't just put any random thing on your face. Yes. No, it's so dangerous. They have access to everything. And not every mother knows about ingredients and sees the danger because so many ingredients, disturb your microbiome, your skin barrier function. They get so many issues. Exema. I have phone calls every day from mothers. Oh, my kid used X, Y, Y, Z what can they do? And yeah, obviously they cannot run to Sephora and buy old storms. It's, you know. It's expensive. It's expensive. It's expensive as fuck. I mean, I love it, but it's not for everybody. Yeah, they want like 10-step routines and Pepper's doing the roller and like the ice thingies.

And like she puts her headband on and then she does like the face mist and the calming serum, the better be. And like it's like a whole thing. But I feel like we're all like that. And you're quite contrarian because you're saying, okay, ladies, like you shouldn't be using all these harsh ingredients, you shouldn't be using red or not. I mean, I read somewhere you don't even like sunscreen. Oh, no, no, it's not that I don't like sunscreen. Okay, tell me. What is the truth? You know, but I... But you have been quite vocal about... Yeah, but I want to say we need the sun. We need the sun. Okay. The sun is our source for vitamin D production. It's important for our immune system, for our mental health, for our respiratory tract, for our profusion of our arteries

and our veins. There's so much coming from the sun. It's important for our... bones. So you don't want me in sunscreen every day? No, no, no, no. I'm not saying that. I mean, I use sun drops, by the way. Yeah, I use the sun drops. You see, I have a sunscreen. If I was against sunscreen, I wouldn't be doing sunscreen. But what I want to say is that we also need the sun. And that rather than putting on sunscreen 24-7, which you have to do if you use ingredients that damage your skin barrier, like retinal glycolic, laser treatments, acid peers. So you don't advocate for those things? Even frequencies and skincare, you know, destroys your microbiome and makes your skin barrier dysfunctional.

And, you know, there's another trend, barrier cream, barrier support, strengthen barrier. But then, you know, it's like nobody brings it together because if you want to, if you want to save your skin barrier and your microbiome, you don't use harsh ingredients. You don't do that because you scrub of your skin. You get red. You get inflamed inflammation. You cause a lot of inflammation. You're bringing down your skin barrier destroyed healthy skin cells. So give it to me, what should I be avoiding at all costs?

What are the things that, like, we just should not? You know, in Europe, they're taking retinal down of the market. No. Yes. But I just started with the retinol. I thought I'm 42. Am I not supposed to be using that three days a week? I would never use it.

You see, there are two ways of looking at anti-aging. And I'm an anti-inflammatory doctor, so I wouldn't cause inflammation on my skin. So I would not do retinol, or glycolic or acid pealed or resid pealed or resolutely. or resurfacing products because causes inflammation, destroys your microbiome, your skin barrier. Look, would you put an acid peel or retinal on your heart or your liver? No, because I feel like it would be gross. So we need to respect the organ skin the same like we respect the heart or the liver

because the skin is one of our most important. But what are we doing for anti-aging, Barbara? Hydration, anti-inflammation, exosomes, telomerase activating, nutrition, all heal and repair. You take what you got and make it the best possible instead of destroying what you got and bringing the future closer to you. I mean, what it sounds like, it makes sense.

Oh, it absolutely makes sense. It absolutely makes sense. And there are so many people who also have sensitive skin if they use retinol, they get redness right away. And by the way, if you destroy your skin barrier function, with melanin-rich skin, you get hyperpigmentation so easily. So people who use lasers as it peels all the time, they get these spotty skin.

And then you need to. use hardcore sunscreen. And now sunscreen is also seen as cancer-causing. You know, it's not the best ingredients. And we all know that. Well, also, I think that sunscreen is very different in Europe than it is here in America. I always buy everything because, you know, I'm English. But it's like there are so many things that are banned in Europe that we use so readily in America that I'm like, forget about.

The loss for sunscreen filter haven't changed since over 20 years in America. But it's so crazy. But even in Europe, I mean, like chemical filter. And I use the sunrobs. And obviously, when you go out and play tennis and TLA is also a whole different story than maybe in Europe, but also in the mountains, you need sunscreen. But I don't think you should use sunscreen 24-7. And you don't think you should use sunscreen every day? You have to, yeah, if you're sitting here in the office, no.

If you have strong barrier function. If you use retinol, yes, 24-7. But you also should have a pollution filter. because pollution and HGV light coming from the computer sitting in front of screens 24-7. You needed like a HGV filter too. So everyone that sits in front of a screen

24-7 should actually be using a filter. Anti-pollution drops. I mean, I love those anti-pollution drops. Yeah, amazing. And you need to reapply. That was one of the reasons that I gravitated towards your brand and I always wanted to ask you

why you did this. I can't believe we haven't spoken about it before. But the darker skin products. I mean, you were one of the first and I just wondered like, Why did you do that? That's actually Angela Bassett who said, you know, there is like nothing. Yeah, nothing for us.

She said there's nothing for us. You need to do something. And I was looking into the science and I found that melanin rich skin actually is prone to way more inflammation. And not just, you know, inflammation goes all the way, all around. If you have like a breakout and you squeeze it, inflammation is not just there. No, and it's scars and it's like, yes, and it becomes hyperpictimitation. Exactly. Because you break through the skin barrier, sun, pollution, HIV light.

Well, I feel all of us know that, but we don't know the science behind it and then what we should do to prevent it. And all I know is when I mean, I've never wanted to use exfoliators on my skin because I always thought they were too harsh. And when I started to use your enzyme cleanser, but specifically the one for darker skin, I mean, I use it three days a week. That is my facial exfoliator. And look, this is your exfoliant. You shouldn't be using retinol on top. Because, so there are three forms of exfoliation. facial scrub, mechanical

exploration. The second one is enzyme cleanser enzymatic, but very, very gentle. Only takes of dead skin cells. And the third form is like an acid pyrotinol, like resurfacing, or these tells at resurfacing, not only takes of dead skin cells, but also healthy skin

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Restrictions apply. Exema is unpredictable. But you can flare less with ebbglis. A once-monthly treatment for moderate to severe eczema. After an initial four-month- or longer dosing phase, about four and 10 people taking ebbglis achieved itch relief and clear or almost clear skin at 16 weeks. And most of those people maintain skin that's still more clear at one year with monthly dosing. Emglis, Libri Kizumab, LBKZ, a 250 milligram per two-millimeter injection.

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1-800-545-9-9. So if there's three things that you think pretty much everyone, it doesn't matter if you're 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, like what are the three things that we should all be doing? And then I'm going to ask you what I should avoid. Make it easy for me because I'm a simpleton and I don't have time for like a 20-step. Yeah, but that, you know, I'm traveling with my heart oronic serum, my face cream and maybe like two more serums. But I'm also very like, because we need to be fast, you know, we have shit to do.

We have shit to do. We don't have time for 20 steps. So, yeah, cleanse you. We'd all love to be like that man with, you know, like they open the blue bottle of water. I had like two hours in the morning, but it's like, are you kidding me? You imagine I'd have a line of kids like there going like, what are you doing, mom? Exactly. So, yeah, so we don't do that.

The three things that we have to do. Non-negotiables. Cleanzer. Our foam cleanser, non-negotiable is amazing. You use that after your day, whatever. Then you use a haloronic serum and a face cream. If you do these three steps and maybe add the enzyme cleanser for twice a week, you're so good.

You will have a strong glow. Okay, so I'm doing a cleanser, hyluronic serum, a simple moisturizer, and then maybe using the enzyme cleanser a couple of days a week for exfoliation. I promise you healthy, dewy, glowy skin. You get hydration, you get the balance. You have the pursuant for the telomeres activation, most proven anti-aging theory ever, Harvard studies.

Really? Telemeries activation, yeah. Telemeres, you know. Telemeres, I know. You know. The caps of the chromosomes, each cell division gets shorter, shorter, shorter. Exactly, until the cell mutates or dies. And the telomerase keeps those telomeres from shortening

because we're very dependent on our 40 to 60 cell divisions, which gives us our age. But turtles, for example, have 110 cell divisions. They get to live over 200 years. So you see how important it is to keep our cells dividing healthy and throughout their 40 to 60 cell divisions. And you know what is one more of the killer of this cell division? Dehydration or dryness. So staying hydrated is that important?

The key. You have to compare grapes with raisins. The grapes are the hydrated skin cells, the raisins, the dehydrated ones. And the grapes have these osmosis channels to bring on active ingredients and obviously look better on the skin. so you want the grapes. That's why you need hydrism. That's why you need the haloronic serum or the super anti-aging serum

to bring really deep, deep hydration but also superficial instant hydration. Okay, so I'm staying away from retinal. Because retinal breaks your skin barrier, your microbiome. What's happening now is transepidermal water loss. Water leaves the skin. So all of that hydration that I'm putting in is just leaving.

Gosh, it's so complicated, isn't it? I know, it's complicated. But I know that your whole, your whole thing, thesis is it's about so much more than just skincare, right? Because you are a lifestyle person. I feel like you are the walking, talking embodiment of what it is that you talk about in this lifestyle, because you speak to me so much about sleep and exercise and nutrition. Like, do I really need to be doing all of those things? Because I feel like we've been told that some of that stuff can go by the wayside if you've got the right products and you have the right skincare machine. I 100% believe in a 360

approach and also makes sense. You know, what we eat translates into our system, what we put on our skin, translate and translate in. So you need anti-inflammatory foods as well as. But also endocrine disruptors, whatever you put on your skin with endocrine disruptors or, you know, getting something in the supermarket wrapped in plastic, endocrine disruptors has an impact on our entire hormone situation. So you have to think about how do you stay healthy? healthy, how you prevent from getting diseases. And I, when I was 16, way before I did anything, I became a total healthy eater. I love healthy food.

And the more you're used to healthy food, you're obsessed with healthy food and you don't like anything. I, you know, I never want to eat fries or burgers. You don't never eat a fry bar. No, I don't like it. What? I really do not like it. What about wine?

Yeah. Okay, fine. Not that much, but it, yes. Thanks. Not very much. No, you know what? But I also don't tolerate it anymore, you know? No, but I understand.

I mean, honestly, I tried this with Guineph Paltrow. Yeah. And I was like, just give me the secret. And she's like, it's the diet and the exercise and nutrition. There are no shortcuts. And there comes back to self-discipline. Yes. You have to have the discipline.

And look, I moved into the mountains when I was 50. And it was because of mental health. But I wanted. You left L.A., right? Yes. And I wanted to have. a lifestyle where I don't just sit in the office 24-7 because we love working. We love working.

But you can be on the phone on a hike. You can do different things. Or I'm calling my team from the red light bed. Or I call my team with the oxygen mask on. What do you think the importance of walking and talking the lifestyle of your brand are? Like how important is that to your brand and doing as well as you've done? Whatever I do, I need to be, I'm so convinced about what my life is, how I create the products, how I believe in my brand. And this all needs to be together.

If you don't believe in what you're doing, how do you talk to your patients, to your clients? How do you sell your jeans if you're not, if you don't think they're the coolest genes on that planet? No? No, you have to. You have to live what you, I'm not preaching, but what you bring into the world. You have to live that. Otherwise, nobody believes you. And I like to be authentic.

I don't want to be anybody. I'm not. I'm a scientist. I'm a scientist. I'm a doctor scientist. And I always been and I always loved it and I always, I love to do something that works. And not, I don't want to throw a marketing slogan that you know, it's not me. Although we have a really good marketing slogan.

No. The doctor, that slows skin aging. Yes, let's go. And it's working. Yeah, but it's proven. It's proven. It's proven. You know, I sold part of the business.

to pooch and they're doing all these like, good for you, Barbara. All these like, you know, testing and testing. And now we can claim to say what I knew before that this slows down Asian. But obviously I couldn't say it. Now we can say it's kind of cool. Now you can actually say it trying to test it.

Barbara, how was it working with your husband all of those years? You know, it's like in every marriage, you help each other, you support each other, and you're building life together, you know? So it's nice to have someone who supports you and believes in you. you and helps you with with everything, you know. Yeah, it is. It's just a total, a total game change. Didn't work out that well for us.

Well, sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't, right? It can for a minute and then not another time. I mean, not everything is great for, you know, forever. For a certain time in your life, things are a great thing and then you change. And then it's so exciting what comes next. And I'm so happy. I'm so full of life. I'm so full of creativity.

a tea. There are so many projects I'm working on, which is fun. Love it. Which is so fun. I'm really interested now that you've sold the business or a piece of the business to pooch, right? Yeah. And so did anything change after you did that sale? Did you make loads of money, Barbara? Oh my God. Yeah, for me, it's nice to not having to worry anything. Yeah. You know, that's also a nice feeling. But you're at that point now where you don't have to worry. No, you just really do the things and and create things and you have like the freedom for everything. It's, it's mind blowing how great that feels.

No, and you have an amazing partner in Pooch because they're like one of one. They're great. And yeah, all the things I didn't like doing in the business is on them. And I have much more power and time to do what I like. And then the only thing I want to say, there are, you know,

more eyeballs watching over what you do. And then sometimes I feel like I pushed the wagon up the hill because, you know, I just want to go ahead and do it. And they're like, oh, let's see, you know. Yeah, there's checks and balances and things that change. But again, I think that that's very honest from you because things do change when you sell and you have to be aware of that. I mean, I feel like I've been around so many founders who are like, oh, this person bought my business and now everything's changed. I'm like, what do you expect?

You took a check. Like, that's what happens, right? It's like... No, but it's also an opportunity. And to scale a business, you need a totally different set of people. You need like, you need like the best people. And they, they have the best people in their company. You know, I have the best for travel retail.

I have the best of, you know, retail. I have the best lap there. By the way, products are all under my supervision. There's nothing that will change or these products are my babies. And that's what I said up front. I don't care about your margin. I'm the boss of every single product leaving the fact. No, and I imagine that they want that because that's what's,

made this brand so successful all these years that we had amazing product actually works. And now we know it because it's tested. Yes, exactly. Exactly. No, they're totally excited about the products and they understand it. And they understand me completely. So they're actually super good in following my lead. What's the future of the brand for you now?

Hopefully world domination, what I always wanted. What does that look like to you? Like what is world domination? When you're in all of the best stores all over the world, you have this incredible brand that really, to me, seemingly feels so pure. There is like the brand is so pure. You've never sold out.

I don't feel like you've ever done anything that's taken away from what it is that you mean to your customers. Like, what does world domination look like? Yeah, you're right. The message has never changed. The philosophy was always the philosophy. That's another thing which I think is very important

for creating a business. Don't change with trends. Stay to your belief and stay really, really consistent. How have you managed to do that given how much is happening in your space? thing and I say it. I say it. I say it. And I said so many times, don't use retinol. And I got attacked by so many people. Oh yeah. I remember. She's not a real doctor and she's not this. It's just my opinion. I'm not telling people what to do. Everybody can use whatever they

want on their skin. I just have this anti-inflammatory approach and I stick to it, you know. And I think with the mindset of people today wanting to live healthy, wanting to be educated about health and prevention, not getting sick, they understand, oh, frequencies and products do this to me. Or retinol on my skin does that. Maybe I shouldn't do it. Maybe I should eat more healthy and inflammatory diet. Maybe I should drink more water. So while people learning this, they will understand more and more and more that this anti-inflammatory theory, because if you look at longevity treatments, they all come down to one thing, reducing inflammation. And this mindset and this philosophy, will break through.

And then I think our brand should be the leading brand. All. Pay off your home, travel for life, drive a Ferrari. In celebration of the world premiere of the Monopoly Big Board Buckslot Machine by Aristocrat Gaming, Yamava Resort and Casino at San Manuel is giving one person a $1.6 million dream package. The biggest prize in Yamava's history.

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Because I know you're in Stard and I know that being in Stard last year, I thought that being in L.A. I had a longevity routine and I was like, oh, no, you don't go. This is like on a whole different level. What are you doing? But you can spend hours and hours and hours.

I know. If you do this every day consistently, you're like... Are you spending hours and hours and hours? I spend, but I do things in between. And I don't do it every day. But I try to work while I'm doing certain things in my routine. But what I do, I drink first, I drink already a little water when I get up with lemon, I warm water with lemon.

But that you need to get in and the morning right away. Otherwise, you know, I don't drink enough water throughout the day. And then I do my breathing techniques to make sure you get the oxygen in your system. With a machine or just unaided? No, just you do your, you can do a breathing technique. It costs like six minutes or something. And, yeah, I bring pepper to school. I, you know, do all my errands.

I also have five dogs. It's quite a lot of things to do. But then I'm doing a few peptides because I also had a knee injury and a knee surgery. So you're injecting or you just taking? I inject some peptides ever since my niece had dreamed. That's also quite interesting because I wanted to, I thought, how could I have fed this accident? It's so stupid. What did I do?

How stupid. Do you get it by tennis? No, I was. I wasn't even skiing, you know? I wasn't even skiing. I was standing with my skis with pepper and pepper and my skis kind of like, you know, and we slowly went down and I have to get down and I just, you know, I was just wasn't cool. I was so upset about it.

And then I said, you know what? Do the surgery. I would be skiing next season. I do the surgery and I would just get the fittest myself. You know, and from the day of surgery next day, I started working out, everything. And I had the speediest recovery ever because I was so dedicated. Are you lifting weights? Yeah, I do it all.

And I wasn't so good about this before. I really started with this injury. So the biggest challenges are the greatest opportunities. And I became so good about everything. And yeah, I'm doing for longevity, I have like the most amazing physio who was also like a guru kind of person. But he made me fit like everything. I do pool workouts. It sounds super lame, but it's so effective.

Really? Yeah, I do everything. In the water. In the water, yeah. It's super effective. And it's so great for your body and for your lymph system and everything. And then I have a red light bed. I use every day for 20 minutes.

Every day? If I can, yeah, but I do phone calls on it. So I just go on and like... I'm always like weird about phone calls on the red light bed, but that's fine. Just like on the phone. It's all right, fine. I'm just on the phone. And then people say, are you on a red light body?

Yeah. Quite little harm there. But I also do PMF mat, alkalining your body. Yes, yes. I did that at the hotel in Stard last year. Yeah. So you do first PMF, MF, then you do 10 minutes on oxygen. You put the oxygen mask on and you write the bike so you get a lot of oxygen in your system. And then you go onto the red light and then the oxygen through the red light gets pressed into your mitochondria, the power machines of ourselves. So this is the idea. And I love it. And you're doing all of that every day?

No, not every day. A few times a week. Also I travel. Yeah. Yeah. I try to do it as much as I can. then I have the most amazing yoga person in in Stad and I don't like yoga. I really, it's not my thing. I've never been a yoga person. No, it's not my thing. I do reform a Pilates, but it's like I wish I was a yoga person. I know it's the best thing for the posture, for old age, for our job. I mean, it's just the best.

I mostly do it. I mean, you really are doing the most. Yeah. It's a fair amount. Yeah, you know, I do it in this yoga person. We could be on like, you know, I don't know, Huberman or like one of these right now. When you come in August, we do it together. No, I'm going to do the whole thing.

That is why it's the end of my vacation because I go and it's like after all the to tox, I detox. I don't know. It's like I seeping red wine out of my, rosé from my veins. Busy socially. It's like, it's like funny. Do you feel like it's made a big difference? Like all of this longevity, because we hear so much about all this longevity stuff. You who is a doctor who has a clear view of your medical.

levels before and after, you feel like it makes a huge difference. 100%. And I see my inflammation levels going down because my inflammation was quite high from all the stress and traveling. And I had so much stress. I was like, it's, you know, the stress rises to your cortisol and you get so much inflammation. And it all went down. I have like the lowest inflammation levels. And again, longevity treatments all bring down inflammation. Breathing techniques brings down inflammation, workout, breathing. Rehing oxygen. Reithing oxygen, brings down inflammation. It's so good for you.

And if you feel it necessarily, it's with every anti-aging treatment. You don't know how it would be if you didn't do it. So it's like, you know, what do you want to compare it to? But, you know, to just sitting in the office and before and, you know, I have a strong bag. There are so many things coming together. It's a game changer. Game changer. And I really want, and LA is so good about it, by the way.

You know, everybody's so healthy. Yes. And, and. No, I'm doing so. healthier here than I would ever be living in England. That's for sure. Yeah, for sure. That's for sure. What do you think for people that are starting their careers now? Because there's just like so much out there, so much opportunity for people, so much choice. When you look back on the career that you've had, what would you say to people starting out now? Do the things you love,

for example, skincare is such a big, big thing and everybody loves skincare. And I'm taking on interns, you know, the daughters of my friends, and they're all coming and come and learn. We're doing college ambassador programs, school activation stuff. And it's so cute. I love mentoring. I love supporting people who are trying to figure out. I'm still with Pepper and her friends.

We have little brainstormings. We do like little education. I'm going to their school. It's just nice to see the next generation come and coming with their ideas. And such an amazing generation, by the way. I love Peppers at your kids. They have such an amazing way of thinking.

They're so fair. They're so, they want to do everything right. And they're genuine. I love them. And I like to spend time with the kids and help them. And yeah, do what you love. Follow your dreams. You can fulfill your dreams.

There's no one who can stop you if you just believe in it and believe in passion and work for it and work your ass off and take risks and go for it. You can do anything. It's really true. I love that advice. Yeah. All right, we're going to move into some rapid fire. What is the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning?

I cuddle my kid. Oh, you know, she's sleeping with me. Not always, but sometimes I love it. And I kiss her and cuddle her, and it's the best. So lovely. And the last thing you do before you go to bed at night. Same. Literally the same.

Sometimes a good. Kiss and a cuddle. Yeah. It's so good. I think these kids, they need to grow up with so much love. They need to listen to how much we love them every day, how special they are, how proud we are of them. And they need that, especially when you work so much. You're gone all day or overnight or whatever.

It's the one thing that the relationship of the trust of the kid in you, I think is unbreakable and it's so important. Absolutely true. What are you currently aspiring for in your business life? having the best people around me. It's still something I am looking to optimize because I want to scale and scale and scale. I really am driven and I want to find the very best people

for the level of growth in my business. Yeah. It's not easy. No, it's not easy. If you have any recommendations... I'm like a part-time recruitment consultant. What do you need? I can't imagine it. It's true.

Well, I do sing and I say this all the time. I reckon it is 25% of my time. I actually spend bringing the right people into the business because when you have the right people, it makes your life easier. Well, it just makes your life easier. It stops you from stressing. You learn so much.

It's like at this point, how can I know so much about everything? I don't. Actually, very good. You need to find the people who are better than you. If you think someone is better, you listen to them, you learn from them. It's quite interesting as well. I also always need a sparing partner.

I need to talk to someone who I get excited with. And I like that within the interview process. Because when I interview, I also am like, this takes so much time. But it's like I'm learning in every single interview because you understand how other companies do it, what you might want to avoid, what you might want to start doing. And so I take that whole process as a very big learning. Never stop learning. Never.

Don't think you know everything. Then you're in trouble, Barbara. Yeah. What are you currently aspiring for in your personal life? I just love. love my life. I move to a place where I have the work with life. I've been so joking. Or I do my sport where I have the most amazing community and friends where my kid is safe and can go to school in a normal way where I breathe oxygen, actually real oxygen every day and where I can do my longevity program because, you know, I'm a little older than you. So at one point,

you really have to take care of yourself. And I started really religiously doing that. And I love it. And I learn so much. I have great people around me, people who are smart and interesting. Love it. I love that. What is the book that changed your life?

Krishna Morty, actually. I love this philosophy. And you can learn so much by just reading a page here and there. So you don't have to read like, you know. Yeah, you can just take this. Yes. I love that. That's my favorite.

When you can have a book on the bedside and just pick it up to any page. And then you fall asleep. Yes. You had like this one page. The best. The best. You're like that. I felt that.

All right. What is something that you valued when you were starting out that you no longer value? That's kind of a bad thing that I don't value what I used to value. Maybe it's a bad thing. I want to not have changed in my personality. I don't want to think of myself. I'm this amazing. I want to be exactly who I was.

And I think for me, this hasn't changed. I still have the same values. And I value, I value great food. I value great people. I value friendship. I value help. Barbara, that might be the best answer we've had to this question. Really?

Yeah. You're just you. I'm just me. But, you know, some people when they're successful, become an asshole. Yes, a lot of them. Yeah. And they're not like, you know, but this is keep your feet on the ground.

And my best friends are still. my best friends. And it's just the cool things you have around you, they should stay. Barbara, thank you so much. I love speaking to you. Thank you. I'm so happy to see you. Congratulations for all your success. You are. Thank you. And by the way, to you, you're incredible. I'm so, I'm so in awe of everything you do. You're a good, good testimony and idle for all our kids to watch. No, I love you for saying that. And the same to you, my love. Thanks again. If you're loving this podcast, be sure to click follow. on your favourite listening platform.

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