Formula Botanica’s flagship podcast Green Beauty Conversations has reached an impressive milestone and it’s time to celebrate. We just hit one million downloads. To me, that equates to a million stories of green beauty, as each take represents a listener who will have formed their own unique opinions fueled by our conversations.
The green beauty space has grown enormously since we started recording just five years ago, but there are few podcasts that sort the greenwashing from the facts and tackle controversial topics in green beauty – or even the beauty industry in general – like we do at Green Beauty Conversations.
It’s been a memorable five years and I’ve been honored to host such inspiring guests and have the support of an incredible backroom team here at Formula Botanica. You can read all about what’s going on behind the scenes in our 100 episode celebration. We’ve gone from two episodes a month to weekly production, all while running the day-to-day business of the leading online cosmetology school with over 19,000 students in over 190 countries.
To celebrate, my team turned the tables – or the mic – to interview me for Green Beauty Talks and find out my takeaway essentials as we hit our one millionth download. Read about my inside story on the podcast of now being a very public face of Formula Botanica.
What inspired you to start the podcast?
Formula Botanica started the Green Beauty Conversations podcast in 2018 as a way to reach our wonderful audience in a different way with a different message. The Green Beauty Conversations podcast allows us to show our audience and the entire beauty industry that we are considered leaders in our field.
While our blog posts are full of information about organic formulation, ingredient research, and tips for starting an indie beauty brand, they don’t allow me to share my opinions. The podcast allows me to explore concepts that are not yet discussed in the industry or that need to be challenged.
What are you most proud of?
I’m proud of our longevity more than anything else. Most podcasts stop publishing within a few months, but we’ve been going for 5.5 years! I also find that the longer I host the podcast, the more I have to say. This longevity plays a big part in why Green Beauty Conversations is now recognized as the go-to podcast for all things sustainability and green beauty.
What do you like most about the podcast?
I love being able to explore concepts that no one else is talking about in a way that I’m not beholden to any shareholders or big beauty companies. I find that the discussion of sustainability throughout the cosmetics industry is generally shallow and doesn’t get to the heart of what needs to change. I have the ability to speak my mind, which I find liberating.
I also love being able to meet so many fascinating visitors from all over the world. It allowed me to meet other thought leaders in this field and exchange ideas with them, which was a huge privilege.
What have been your favorite topics to cover?
This is a tough question as I have had the pleasure of covering many topics and hosting many interviews that I found fascinating. I think some of my favorites were podcasts I hosted with Formula Botanica’s head of education, Ana Green, where we explored what biodegradability actually means and what skinimalism stands for. Just over a year ago, I curated some of my all-time favorite podcast topics into guest episodes that dive deep into the kind of controversial and urgent conversations the broader beauty industry needs to have.
How was the feedback from our community?
The feedback from our community has been amazing! Many people message me to tell me how the episodes have shaped their thinking around certain topics. I also regularly get messages from Formula Botanica students who can’t believe the value we provide for free on the podcast over their award-winning online courses.
This love I’ve received from our listeners is evident in the podcast’s 600+ 5-star reviews, as well as the fact that we regularly top the beauty podcast charts in over 50 countries.
However, our listener base extends far beyond the Formula Botanica community, as I also hear from journalists and even executives in the corporate world of cosmetics, who also listen to the podcast.
Any controversy along the way?
I think the most controversial moment was when one of my guests, Dr. Barb Paldus, told me that anyone in our audience who didn’t buy into the beauty of biotech was flat earthed. He kind of took me by surprise with that statement, so I laughed at the time. Then we got some angry emails.
And your favorite bloopers?
The beauty of pre-recording a podcast is that you can cut out all the bloopers, and believe me, it’s been years. My favorite blooper happened quite recently in an interview I did with Shane Price of Green Circle Salons when we had to stop recording for about 5 minutes as two drivers got into a road rage fight outside his window. I couldn’t see any of it, but it sounded like he had an angry moose running out of his office!
What has been the most inspiring / innovative thing you have covered?
The most groundbreaking topics I’ve covered have been those episodes where I’ve been able to redefine what certain concepts actually mean in the beauty industry. Examples include the episode in which I proposed a new definition for “pure beauty” and another in which Ana Green and I chose the definition of so-called “waterless” beauty, or where I challenged us all to think about how the word “beauty” from is defined by itself.
Where do you see the Green Beauty Conversations podcast in 5 years?
I see us still leading the conversation around sustainability in beauty, speaking freely about issues that matter and supporting fearless criticism of a mainstream beauty industry that is out of touch with reality and in need of a complete overhaul. I see Green Beauty Conversations continuing to push for a more informed, sustainable future for the beauty industry.
What have you personally learned from your experience hosting the podcast?
I have learned how to confidently share my views with the world in a way that I know helps our listeners. I have learned how to research and formulate my ideas to create thought provoking episodes. I’ve also learned a lot about guest interviewing, hosting episodes, and podcast technology in general! Now I really enjoy podcasting and hope it will be a part of my career for many years to come.
Thank you for joining us on this episode of the Formula Botanica Green Beauty Conversations podcast. If you enjoyed listening, please share, subscribe and review this episode on iTunes, Spotify the Youtube so that more people can enjoy the show. Don’t forget to follow and connect with us at Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
