Whether or not you’ve watched Bravo’s Shahs of Sunset, I can tell you one thing: You haven’t seen all the sides to Lilly Ghallichi’s personality. Sure, you may know her as a reality star and social media fixture but you really have to get to know this girl to see how hard-working, driven and savvy she actually is. I caught up with her to talk about entrepreneurship, being taken seriously in the workplace, her next project (because this is the Glam CEO we’re talking about), and all things beauty.
You’re a successful businesswoman but you’re also very vocal about retaining your own sense of glam style. What’s your advice to girls who want to dress for success without losing what they love about their personal style?
It really depends on your profession. Unfortunately, there are some professions where you can’t express your personal style. For example, if you’re a physician or an attorney or something that requires you to wear a uniform it’s a little harder – but I think fashion can also be expressed in your hair and makeup. That’s why I’m such a huge fan of hair and makeup.
No matter what uniform your job requires you to wear, even if you can’t tailor it all, you can always add flair with hair and makeup. Express yourself. I don’t think you’re defined by how you look – prove yourself through your intelligence and your degrees and your work ethic and people will learn to respect you for the work you accomplish.
Do you think it’s harder to be taken seriously if you’re more girly and into beauty and fashion?
Lilly: One hundred percent. Unfortunately we live in a society where although women have all these opportunities, we’re not treated equally in the workplace if we choose to be girly and wear makeup and wear high heels. There’s still this stigma that you’re less intelligent or less capable. It’s really sad that we still have to break through those exteriors.
When you think of a powerful beauty look what comes to mind?
Lilly: For me it’s larger than life hair, really bold makeup, heavy highlight, heavy contour, heavy lashes. I feel most powerful when I’m glammed up. Maybe for other women it’s different but when I feel beautiful, I feel confident. It’s really how you feel on the inside that will reflect your actions and when you feel confident on the exterior, you feel on the interior.
What advice would you give to a girl who specifically wants to start a business in the fashion and beauty realm?
Lilly: I have a few tips I live by every single day. It’s hard to stay on track and know what you need to work on next so my biggest secret, as juvenile as it may sound, is a to-do list. I think a to-do list is a great way to stay on track. My tip would be to write three things down every night before you go to bed with real actions of work that you’ll accomplish the next day. No matter how big or small, what goes on that list is irrelevant but you must hold yourself accountable and do those three things. This will keep you working everyday. A year goes by and you’ve done thousands of things. That’s incredible and that’s how you find success.
You have several companies under the fashion and beauty umbrella. Are you the sort of person who just has an idea and goes for it or do you vet your ideas a bit first?
Lilly: I always do a little bit of research [looking at] how much capital it’ll take, how much time it’ll take, how it will align with my other brands. I self-promote a lot of my products so I don’t want to have lashes, clothing…oh look, and I now released a remote control car. I give it some it some serious thought but once I decide to do something I dive in. That’s the advice I would give someone: The moment you decide you can do something, jump in headfirst.
What’s the scariest thing you’ve done in your career?
Lilly: I think having the courage to say out loud to people that I didn’t want to be an attorney. After seven years of school, the endless hours of work, the tears, the sweat, the money….to tell people that I didn’t work to be this was really scary. I didn’t know how my family would react, my boyfriend, my friends. Some reacted well, some didn’t react well.
You recently pulled out of the Shahs of Sunset cast. What was that like?
Lilly: Doing Shahs was an incredible experience. I learned a lot about myself, the world and Hollywood from doing it. With that being said, the reason I did Shahs was to grow my business and I felt like being on the show conflicted with that. I didn’t have the time or energy or even the drive to work on my company anymore. Being on a reality show is emotionally exhausting, it’s physically draining. It’s not easy or as glamorous as people think it is looking from the outside. I felt that at this point in my life it was best to not be on Shahs. With that said, I do love the show and I will be watching the new season if it ever comes out.
Along the lines of social media and reality TV, let’s talk haters. They seem to be getting worse by the day and I know you’ve dealt with them. How do you handle all that negativity?
Lilly: I get asked this question a lot and I cover it in my entrepreneurship seminars. My answer is haters equal customers. I try to not read the comments and ignore the hate because I am a human being and as much as I know that people don’t even know me, it still hurts to read it. At the end of the day I just remind myself that haters equals customers.
You’re doing a more affordable clothing line now. Do you have plans for a high-end line?
Lilly: Absolutely. We’re looking to launch a line of high-end gowns and they’re going to be really beautiful, really couture gowns. It’ll still be affordable for couture; we’re trying to keep it high-end but not outrageous.
Last question – what can we expect from you in the next few months?
Lilly: I’m coming out with a line of champagne and it’s called ‘glam’pagne instead of champagne. I’m really excited about it, especially because we offer an entire range of nonalcoholic champagne. I didn’t drink growing up and I got heavily made fun of so I wanted to provide a line of champagne that has beautiful bottles and looks identical to regular champagne so when you’re out you can drink that and it’ll look exactly the same – it even almost tastes the same.
