Welcome to Second Life, a podcast spotlighting successful people who’ve made major career changes—and fearlessly mastered the pivot. Hosted by Hillary Kerr, co-founder and chief content officer at Who What Wear, each episode gives you a direct line to people who are game changers in their fields. Subscribe to Second Life on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere you get your podcasts to stay tuned.
Diarrha N’Diaye created beauty brand Ami Colé in 2019 to celebrate melanin-rich skin. Her journey to become founder and CEO might not have been linear (she originally studied English at Syracuse University), and though she made the difficult decision to close the brand earlier this year, her story is far from over.
Before becoming her own boss, N’Diaye had stints at Rebecca Minkoff, Teen Vogue, and VIBE Magazine sharpening her PR and social media marketing skills, which soon caught the the attention of L’Oreal. During her time in digital marketing at the world’s largest cosmetics company, she realized that she was looking for more of a start up environment that was scrappy and less bureaucratic. Enter Glossier.
She joined the brand in 2018 on the product development side, helping ideate and launch new products with a “social media-first approach,” which was unheard of at the time. The rapid expansion of Glossier was also the same reason that N’Diaye was left without a job: The company restructured and brought in new teams to oversee products. This sudden change was the catalyst for a pivotal solo trip to Thailand where she brainstormed her next steps in the industry. Her idea? Starting her very own beauty brand.
Since Ami Colé launched, it has won over 80 awards for its impeccable products and is praised for creating a much-needed space in the beauty industry that centered darker skin tones. This made it all the more devastating when news broke that the brand was shuttering, but there’s no denying that N’Diaye has left a lasting and important impact on the industry.
Listen to the latest episode of Second Life to hear more from Diarrha N’Diaye, how she built Ami Colé, and what lies ahead in her next chapter.
Next: Meet Jennifer Anderson, founder of Kids Eat in Color
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