‘I love this generation. They’re going to change the world. It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen’
It’s easy to see people who are very successful and think that they have everything figured out. You imagine how confident they must be, envy their fearlessness and fortune. But behind the curtain, it’s not always what it seems. More often than not, the people we look up to are struggling with many of the same insecurities, worries and doubts as the rest of us.
Few have been so open about this as Huda Kattan. From the outside, her life might look close to perfect. With her passion for make-up, she built up a billion-dollar business, Huda Beauty, as well as a social following of over 60 million people. In 2020, she was named one of America’s richest self-made women. But Kattan has never shied away from being honest about the fears and insecurities she still struggles with, from feeling pressure to photoshop her body on social media to not feeling worthy of her success.
She has also never shied away from standing up for what she believes in. Most recently, using her massive platform to support the Palestinian people and spotlight the ongoing atrocities they face, despite much backlash: people threatening to burn their Huda Beauty palettes, calls for boycotts against the brand and having her account shadow-banned by Instagram. In response? Kattan said she was prepared to risk her entire business for what she believes in.
Amidst all of this, she has returned to her role as CEO of the brand after stepping away in 2020, and has just announced a new vision and redesign. Following the launch of her new collection of liquid blushes, Dazed spoke to Kattan about self-love, being inspired by Bella Hadid, and how proud she is of the younger generations.
When the Rose Quartz Collection came out, we spoke about your journey of realising that you didn’t love yourself and the work you put in to change that. How are you feeling about it now?
Huda Kattan: I feel like I’ve moved so far now beyond that, which makes me feel good that you’re asking that question. At the time, I was discovering myself and I was building awareness of how I treat myself. I was realising that I had a lot of negative self-talk and I was the person holding myself back, ultimately. It has been a long time since then, and I think I’ve moved from self-love to empowerment.
There is an empowerment where, when you start to love yourself and embrace who you are, you realise you are the only person you need. Of course, you should be with others. There’s nothing more amazing than having people around you that you love and trust but they’re the cherry on the cake, not the cake. And it’s hard, I really struggled. I talk about it now as if it’s simple but it was many years figuring those things out.
You came back to the role of CEO for the brand, what can you tell me about that?
Huda Kattan: That took a lot of work too. I had to go through a lot of imposter syndrome. The emotions you go through when you realise you made such a big mistake in passing on the baton a little too early. I was upset with myself, but I had to forgive myself. I didn’t know any better in that situation. I’m happy now, in retrospect, that it happened.
[When I became a CEO] I had to learn leadership – what I thought it was versus what it was. I thought it was about being a strong person and being inspiring and then I realised it’s nothing to do with me at all. It’s about getting the best out of people. I had to really understand how to become more selfless. Being a CEO was definitely not what I expected. You think it’s going to be an amazing moment where you’re living your life’s dream and have everything figured out. Then you realise, no, I don’t have the answers and we’re all going to figure it out together. Sometimes people will challenge you and I realised I need to embrace this. It’s one of the most humbling things I’ve ever experienced. It’s not always easy to feel that way, because sometimes your ego gets in the way.
I really admire how outspoken you’ve been in support of Palestine and how you’ve used your platform to advocate and stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people.
Huda Kattan: Thank you for that, I really appreciate that.
I remember during Black Lives Matter, the brand donated a lot of money to the movement. I wanted to talk to you about how you came to the decision to speak out [about Palestine] and also about the beauty industry’s role when it comes to these kinds of humanitarian and political moments.
Huda Kattan: I think companies need to change their approach to situations like Palestine, like Black Lives Matter. Often they’re thinking about what is the best decision for the business. When we’re speaking about anything political, anything that matters, I’m always thinking about it as a human first. Maybe I have that luxury because of the way the company’s set up [Kattan and her family own 84 per cent of the company], but I don’t know if I would care even if I didn’t have it set up that way.
I never want to lose myself. If anything, I’ve tried to embrace myself more. I thought, ‘Could I lose my company? Could I lose everything for speaking out about certain things?’ Sure, but then am I going to be a person who loses themselves? Is that what I have to do in order to be here? I don’t want it then. I didn’t come into this for the business. I came into it because of my purpose. The people of Palestine need a voice and I’m so happy that the industry has been so outspoken. I’m really proud of the industry. I’m proud of the influencers too. They’re the best influencers in the world, in my opinion.
It’s been amazing to see how many beauty influencers are being so outspoken.
Huda Kattan: It makes me emotional. It’s a beautiful thing, because I know it’s scary as an influencer, you don’t necessarily have income, you could just lose your career. I’m just so proud of them. It’s a beautiful thing when you see people put their values in the right place.
@hudaheidi #freepalestine #fyp #foryou @Huda Beauty @Huda ♬ كلام عينيه - شيرين
I think you’ve inspired a lot of people in the way you’ve used your platform.
Huda Kattan: Bella Hadid inspired me actually, she gave me this courage to be outspoken. I’ve been posting since forever and then I got some horrible comments like, ‘Oh, it’s such a shame, you’ve worked so hard and now you’re gonna throw everything away’. A lot of comments like that, sometimes even more direct.
It scares you, you start getting worried for your own safety. But you have to be strong and realise, this is beyond me. Which I know sounds weird, but I see it in the students where they don’t care about what happens to them. At some point you have to say, ‘Do as you wish to me. Whatever it is, I’m here for something bigger’. I think we’ll see a lot of change happen. For Palestine, and hopefully later on in Sudan, in Congo. I can’t tell you how much I love this generation. They’re going to change the world. It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.