Every year, Entrepreneur Magazine celebrates women leaders influencing their industries, reimagining the future and defining culture. After vetting hundreds of inspiring accomplished women, the magazine whittled the list down to 100. Included in this year’s coveted list alongside Jennifer Lopez, CEO of J. Lo Beauty, and Kim Kardashian, CEO of Skims, a next-generation underwear, loungewear and shapewear line and SKKN By Kim and various industry titans from Instagram, Netflix and Roc Nation are the following:

 

Sarah Chung, founder and CEO of Landing International; Shai Eisenman, founder of Bubble; Yarden Horwitz, cofounder of Spate; Nicola Kilner; cofounder and CEO of Deciem; Jenn Harper, founder and CEO of Cheekbone Beauty; and Carolyn Aronson; founder and CEO of It's a 10 Haircare.

Established in 2016, Landing International is a B2B tech platform that helps indie beauty and wellness brands thrive. This past summer, the company’s CEO Sarah Chung introduced the BeautyFluent Mobile App to place the influential power back in the hands of beauty advisers, connecting them with buyers and helping them identify and locate the right retail partners. To help close the gap in retail training among beauty advisors, a number of whom are not on-site when brand representatives visit stores, BeautyFluent helps these advisors send and receive product information with the scan of a barcode. After which, they can obtain detailed product information and demonstration tips so they can learn about new products at their convenience. 

 

“I am truly honored to receive Entrepreneur's 100 Women of Influence,” Chung told Happi. “I've been an entrepreneur for over 15 years and receiving this distinction supports and encourages not just myself, but my team and our brands. Landing's work in championing diverse and inclusive beauty brands and beauty professionals on our marketplace platform and mobile training app has resonated with industry and we look forward to creating more chances for success for brands and beauty pros.”

New York City-based market research firm Spate prides itself on serving as the machine intelligence solution to find the next big consumer trend. 

 

The firm — founded by Yarden Horwitz and Olivier Zimmer who started Google's Trendspotting division that headed the Google Skin Care Trends Report — leveraged machine learning during the pandemic to analyze more than 20 billion search signals to identify changes in consumer behavior in the beauty and wellness industry. The first to identify the rise of self-care, uncovering trends from face masks to turmeric, Spate has expanded into global markets in the last year including Japan and Korea. Spate has served as a trusted source for L’Oréal, Estée Lauder, Unilever and P&G, to name a few. 

 

“I'm incredibly honored to be included on a list of such influential women who are changing their industries,” said Horwitz. “At Spate, our goal has always been to make data more accessible and actionable for brands across the beauty industry. In just four years, we've built a platform that is relied on by over 150 top beauty brands and suppliers to help answer consumer needs. Our impact so far is a constant reminder that deep customer understanding is essential for success in beauty. We're excited to bring an intuitive artificial intelligence resource to the table that helps brands of all sizes incorporate consumer insights into their portfolios.”

Instead of creating stereotypical skincare products for consumers, Bubble, a Gen Z-centered skincare line, garnered feedback from a community of more than 10,000 consumers, inclusive of some celebrities, to create a brand that helped forge an emotional attachment among its users. So much, in fact, that everything from the packaging down to the brand name was selected with their input. Products are contained in pump bottles that dispense face oils, anti-acne treatment and moisturizing cream. Just in time for back to school, Bubble products are available in 8,000 Walmart and CVS stores nationwide. What’s more, the brand has partnered with online therapy platform BetterHelp to donate a portion of its proceeds to help young people who are struggling with self-image issues seek the help they need.

 

“I am honored to be part of Entrepreneur's 100 Women of Influence,” said Eisenman. “Being part of this collective of women empowers other young female founders to keep striving for their goals and help change the consumer world for the better, especially for Gen Z, one of the most influential generations in the world. By working closely with our Gen Z consumers, we're creating products they actually need – ones that are effective and accessible— we're making an important impact in our community and beyond.”

Deciem, the parent company of skincare brand The Ordinary, nets approximately $460 million a year, according to industry estimates. Estée Lauder owns a substantial portion (76%) of the company and intends to acquire the remainder in the next three years . Its cofounder Nicola Kilner told Entrepreneur that The Ordinary sought to bring transparency to an industry cloaked in marketing and so-called miracle claims. While retailers were skeptical that customers would resonate with the brand’s straightforward product naming, the brand knew education was also key in making well-informed purchasing decisions. 

 

“You will not find 'glow serum' or 'wrinkle-busting'-type language anywhere within The Ordinary, as all products are named after their key ingredients and the concentration they are formulated at,” Kilner told the outlet. “But we persisted with the faith that skincare consumers wanted to be educated about ingredients, and were craving something more real from the beauty industry.”

Jenn Harper, founder and CEO of Cheekbone Beauty, is a mission-led cosmetics company that represents and supports indigenous youth. Prompted by her brother’s suicide, Harper aims to foster the belief of representation in saving lives and empowering the next generation. To date, the company has donated north of $200,000 to organizations that support indigenous youth on top of heading up a scholarship fund and supporting environmental causes.

 

“I like to say that the world didn't need another lipstick brand, but it did need a brand that really cares about the planet, and indigenous people protect 80% of the world's biodiversity,” Harper told Entrepreneur. “We're the OGs of sustainability.”

It's a 10 Haircare, which sells luxury hair products for every type, is among the first Latina-owned beauty companies at Ulta Beauty and Walgreens. It also advocates for the LGBTQ community with a partnership with the Trevor Project, which offers youth crisis intervention programs. Aronson told Entrepreneur she knows the plight of beginning again, and the sacrifices she had to make financially in order to eventually get a return on investment. 

 

“The best advice I ever got was from my father, who taught me to live within or below your means so you have the ability to invest in your future,” said Aronson to the outlet. “It's so important to save for a rainy day and manage your finances wisely so you can build on a solid foundation.”