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Trinny Woodall: How She Went From Drug Addict To $300m Business Empire!

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Trinny Woodall: How She Went From Drug Addict To $300m Business Empire!

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2004 segments

0:00

I look at your skin and I'm going to

0:01

come over now oh no then I go around

0:04

here turning Woodall beauty queen of the

0:07

screen founder and CEO of Trini London

0:09

one of the fastest growing companies in

0:11

Europe have a great day I went two

0:14

phases in my early 20s of not knowing

0:16

who I was and turning to drugs I went to

0:18

rehab I hope that you'd been kicked out

0:20

the first time for playing a porn video

0:21

Yeah it backfired we had was a huge

0:24

beginning of the change in my life and I

0:27

went into a whole new world following a

0:29

20-year career in media Tony took a left

0:31

turn in the makeup industry here we are

0:33

250 million dollars later welcome to

0:36

Trinity London a lot of people have this

0:38

stigma that you can't start a business

0:40

at 53 crap are you just just

0:43

number but you need energy passion

0:46

perseverance I sold my house hardly

0:48

earning any money but I thought I'm

0:49

never going to give up ask yourself how

0:51

much do you want to be successful what

0:53

are you prepared to give up you strike

0:54

me some that's incredibly driven what's

0:56

the cost very big question probably

0:58

oddly

1:01

you had a partner who was unwell yeah

1:03

and the thing you think will never

1:05

happen happens he died by Suicide yeah

1:09

yeah where do you get to in your brain

1:11

when you are so worried about your

1:13

children that you can convince yourself

1:14

that the best thing is that you're not

1:16

in their life anymore

1:21

was there anything I could have done

1:23

stop it

1:33

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1:36

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2:06

[Music]

2:11

pretty

2:12

[Music]

2:15

you've got a very um

2:17

distinct Personality yeah

2:19

you and you know that you're well aware

2:21

of that right

2:23

I know who I am

2:26

but your personality is very

2:29

you're very straightforward yeah

2:32

um and all of these sort of defining

2:33

traits of your personality and I'm

2:35

wondering if that was when that

2:37

personality was formed or when it

2:39

started to emerge

2:41

things happen in your life that that

2:44

begin to you know fine-tune and Define

2:47

who you're going to be and I went

2:49

definitely through phases you know I

2:50

went through phases in my late teens

2:53

early 20s of of turning to drugs just to

2:56

not being happy with who I was not not

2:59

feeling not knowing who I was sometimes

3:01

people turned to drugs because they just

3:03

don't know who they are and they want to

3:06

you know they have an inner lack of

3:07

confidence and I definitely had an inner

3:09

lack of confidence and outwardly

3:11

when I talk to people and I look back at

3:14

the time they might say

3:15

you just were this very mesmerizing

3:18

person and I just remember that internal

3:20

sense of feeling

3:22

so lost so profoundly lost and

3:28

so when I got clean at 26 27

3:33

that was a huge beginning of the change

3:35

in my life I was so relieved that my 20s

3:38

were over so relieved because it you

3:40

know it was like that was the beginning

3:41

of that that's wash that away

3:45

and that was a big moment for me to

3:48

begin to

3:50

work out who I was that was the first

3:52

moment probably you're

3:53

um using drugs at 16 I presume was quite

3:55

a recreational thing yeah I think we all

3:58

dabbled yeah at that age

4:00

um when did it when did you realize that

4:02

it wasn't a recreational thing anymore

4:03

and that it was an addiction

4:06

I think

4:09

I was about 22 and

4:14

I felt my life didn't have Direction and

4:16

my my family were very frustrated with

4:19

me they felt I changed and like any

4:21

family where they have a child who has

4:23

addiction they they can if they don't

4:27

know they just see change and they think

4:28

why is my child changing

4:30

you know so

4:32

I think they saw that and it was a

4:35

relief

4:36

to say you know I I use drugs and I

4:39

remember my dad said well now you've

4:41

told me you can stop and I remember my

4:43

brother saying I think it might be

4:44

harder than that

4:46

so

4:47

I went to rehab and

4:50

I then left the rehab after a period of

4:53

time and

4:55

you left the rehab yeah no I was kicked

4:58

out the First Rehab but I then

5:00

went to meetings

5:02

and there's one thing about recovery is

5:05

that

5:06

when you first get in recovery you

5:09

you need to let go of your old friends

5:11

who you've been with who are using and

5:14

you're about to make new friends so that

5:16

moment is

5:19

loneliness can take you back to Old

5:21

habit after about I don't know maybe six

5:24

months

5:25

I missed my old friends and I hadn't

5:28

made enough new ones and I saw them and

5:29

then you know I

5:32

relapsed

5:34

and then I went back to meetings and

5:37

then you're in this horrible little

5:38

in-between place

5:40

when you know about recovery

5:43

and you continue to use

5:46

it's not so there's something about an

5:49

ignorance of recovery you know there's a

5:51

kind of sense that

5:53

you don't know there's another way so

5:55

you don't feel guilty every time you do

5:58

and so what it brings is it brings guilt

6:00

every single time

6:01

I had three really really good friends

6:04

and we were all using one night and we I

6:07

said

6:08

let's all

6:10

make a pack we'll go to rehab tomorrow

6:11

and two of them had been and one of them

6:14

had never been but we made this Pact

6:16

late night you know that thing we're

6:19

going to do this we're going to conquer

6:20

the world and we're going to go to rehab

6:21

so then the next morning

6:24

I woke up and I still had that feeling

6:27

which is rare

6:29

so I called a therapist that I knew and

6:32

I said I need to go but I have a window

6:34

of opportunity which is so small

6:36

I need to go literally in the next two

6:38

hours because I am scared of myself that

6:39

I'll change my mind

6:41

so he got me in somewhere and stayed

6:45

there for five months and I sold

6:48

what I had to pay for it some very

6:51

tragic thing happens in that time and

6:53

one of the people died and then

6:56

one of the people that said they're

6:58

going to go to rehab with you yeah and

7:00

then

7:01

I went to a halfway house in Western

7:02

supermarket

7:04

seven months where you kind of live off

7:07

eight to ten pounds a week which pays

7:09

for your [ __ ] and I worked in old

7:11

people's home

7:13

and I came back to London

7:15

a very different person and then in that

7:18

following year

7:20

another one and died and then by the end

7:22

of two years they'd all died

7:25

so

7:27

I think I always had

7:29

this feeling

7:32

whatever I might do

7:34

you know I might do many things again

7:36

but I will not take drugs again and you

7:38

do that in recovery you do it a day at a

7:39

time and since that day I have never

7:41

taken a drug again and

7:44

that was that that's probably that

7:46

biggest shift I had at that age to

7:49

really think now I have the second

7:50

chance

7:52

what do I actually want to do with my

7:53

life

7:54

you know what not what I feel other

7:56

people expect me to do

7:58

if I was a flower on the wall in your

7:59

life at at your when the addiction had

8:02

you the most what would I have seen

8:05

you wouldn't have seen anything that I

8:07

was feeling inside

8:09

because that's what I was very good at

8:12

so outwardly

8:13

you would kind of think you know I

8:15

worked in the city I was trading

8:17

Commodities I was I held down a job you

8:20

know you would see this person who

8:22

seemed to be running around doing a lot

8:24

of stuff you would see that

8:28

yeah so mine wasn't

8:31

jacking up in the streets not being able

8:33

to function on a daily basis

8:38

um

8:38

but it was one where

8:42

appearances were so important compared

8:44

to you know so that matching your

8:46

Insight to your outside is probably my

8:49

biggest Journey you know of how can I

8:52

what I feel inside is how I share with

8:55

you now and you know I am 59 and that's

8:58

where I've got to I have a lot more to

9:00

do but I it took me a journey to get to

9:03

a place where I feel

9:06

very comfortable in that feeling and in

9:08

that belief

9:10

matching the inside with the outside so

9:12

the outside I would have seen someone

9:13

who was very busy and apparently you

9:16

know professionally successful in the

9:17

city not feeling it but sort of acting

9:20

it you know that I mean oh my God we

9:21

know that one and then make the CV acted

9:24

you know be kind of big up the job that

9:27

was actually smaller than it was all of

9:29

that [ __ ] and then on the inside

9:31

feeling

9:33

feeling

9:36

you know I hate to say the word because

9:39

I hate I hate labels imposter syndrome

9:41

is the worst can I just say it's the

9:43

worst label it's the worst label ever

9:44

because it what it denotes is that you

9:46

are an imposter

9:48

um for how it's used for now so to me

9:51

imposter syndrome is more that you

9:53

haven't yet learned enough and if you

9:54

learn something you won't feel so much

9:56

of an imposter this

9:59

is what imposter syndrome is

10:02

what I'm referring to it's that feeling

10:04

where

10:05

you are so different on the inside from

10:08

what you project on the outside that you

10:11

are an imposter inside your own body

10:13

and that to me is what I think imposter

10:15

syndrome is what's the what's the cost

10:17

of that

10:19

that at some stage

10:21

you can't keep doing it and you have

10:24

something has to give

10:26

and something always has to give and and

10:28

it's whether it's which path you're

10:30

going to take you know

10:32

because there'll be a lot of people

10:33

listening now that are in a job or a

10:35

situation where they they have that

10:37

feeling that niggling feeling that we're

10:39

in the wrong place yeah

10:41

they might be held there by social

10:44

groups or expectation from their parents

10:47

or whatever it might be but something's

10:48

holding them there yeah maybe fear of

10:50

uncertainty I would say if somebody is

10:52

listening to this and they're thinking

10:54

do I have little bits just ask yourself

10:57

you know do you love what you do it's a

10:59

job you're in if we're talking about

11:00

work do you love what you do do you like

11:02

this environment of where you work

11:04

do you feel people make a better

11:07

contribution than you you know

11:09

because that's what's making you feel

11:11

insecure if so

11:13

what do you feel when people have

11:15

meetings that you don't know

11:17

go and [ __ ] learn it Go and learn it

11:19

Go and listen to podcasts go read some

11:22

books just learn it because knowledge

11:25

is is powerful and when you have

11:27

knowledge and you walk in a room you

11:30

automatically think I have so much more

11:31

to contribute

11:33

if I answer one of those that I

11:35

challenge myself and I go I don't like

11:36

where I'm working and I don't like it

11:38

yeah and I'm you know a Commodities

11:40

Trader in the city for example and I

11:41

just I hate it yeah

11:43

leave it but have a plan but leave it

11:47

like if you hate what you do we spent 16

11:50

hours a day between commuting or if

11:53

you're in a higher position thinking

11:54

about the company working we spend much

11:57

more of a day working than sleeping

11:59

so you gotta love it you've got to love

12:02

it you know I was like in my early 20s I

12:04

was one woman 64 men on a trading four

12:08

and I hated it and I dressed in men's

12:10

clothing and I went to Rosetti and got

12:12

the men's shoes and I got the tailor to

12:14

make me a suit or the man would drop

12:16

their trousers in the on the training

12:17

floor but I'd go in the ladies room and

12:19

get you know I'd pretend to have a deep

12:21

voice I was on the phone selling

12:22

anglo-american fun so my client thought

12:24

I was a man I mean you know I did all

12:27

this stuff I haste it so much Stephen

12:29

and I would go I would take the tube to

12:32

Tower Hill we would the World Trade

12:34

Center in London

12:35

it has Financial Times on the outside

12:37

and the Daily Mail on the inside that

12:40

was my full extent of who I was

12:42

and you know I left it were you an

12:46

attention seeker more generally in life

12:49

because when I heard that you'd been

12:51

kicked out of rehab the first time for

12:52

playing a porn video yeah I thought

12:56

that that was that was a a funny one

13:01

but not funny in the end

13:03

um

13:04

it was a terrible rehab I was with

13:06

somebody

13:08

um uh

13:10

to

13:12

last night in New York

13:14

and we were going to this funeral as

13:16

this friend of mine who was like 43

13:18

years sober and um

13:21

I discovered I've been to the same place

13:22

with her and um same rehab yeah but at

13:27

different times and she just said you

13:29

know

13:31

it was the most fundamentally shaming

13:33

place ever

13:34

in rehab now are very different but it

13:36

was a very very shaming place

13:39

and

13:42

it will be closed down now it wasn't it

13:45

didn't have a good way of dealing with

13:46

things so in that whole scenario

13:51

there was definitely that feeling that

13:53

you're you're you're thrown in with

13:55

people you don't know and you reveal

13:57

your life and it was a time when

14:01

you would write down your life story and

14:04

then

14:04

in rehabs nowadays because I visit

14:07

friends in them or whatever you would

14:09

kind of people

14:11

help you navigate why you did things in

14:13

your life but in this one they did the

14:15

stuff where they would get 20 people to

14:18

critique how bad your life had been in a

14:21

room

14:22

and and judge you for it and it was I

14:25

mean just like looking back on it now at

14:27

the time that was the only way recovery

14:28

worked in rehabs in the UK but it was

14:31

just it was kind of [ __ ] appalling

14:33

and she reminded me last night so when

14:36

you bring up this thing of that of that

14:38

um

14:38

porno film and I think it was that sense

14:41

of let me just do something that people

14:43

will find funny because we're having

14:44

such a shitty time here and it backfired

14:46

and it was just you know I was tucked

14:48

out what I have been able to pinpoint is

14:50

the because at least from the outside

14:53

looking in your life was you know you

14:54

had a great job you had this um

14:56

addiction which didn't seem to interfere

14:58

with your work so you know when I sit

15:00

here with someone like Macklemore or

15:01

Russell Brand or even I remember

15:03

speaking to Stevo they talk about their

15:05

addictions and you know he was he was on

15:08

a I don't know four or five day heroin

15:10

binge and he drove a car he said he's

15:12

gonna I think he drove a car through a

15:13

house and then yeah he was threatening

15:15

to jump out the window yeah when you

15:16

know he ultimately ended up in rehab but

15:19

it didn't seem I can't identify the

15:21

symptoms that drove you to go I can't do

15:23

this anymore

15:25

I think we have

15:28

everyone has a different story

15:31

externally of I did this and I did this

15:35

and there's a bit of

15:36

I did even more than you you know

15:38

there's this whole thing in that you

15:42

know addicts maximize their using and

15:44

alcoholics minimize their drinking

15:46

all right and that's why

15:49

our colleagues can take longer to get

15:51

into sobriety and and addicts can take

15:53

shorter because also drugs can kill you

15:55

quicker

15:57

um so there are there's that kind of you

15:59

know and I think also

16:02

I don't know it's it's different but um

16:06

maybe I don't talk so much about the

16:08

crazy things I did

16:10

oh okay yeah

16:13

because I think we all do crazy things

16:15

yeah yeah and

16:18

um but I

16:20

I feel that I have a daughter who's 19.

16:24

sure and I wouldn't talk about crazy

16:26

things I did yeah okay so we move on

16:29

from there and then the next sort of 10

16:30

15 years of your life you have this

16:31

media career how aligned were you of

16:33

this chapter of your life um so when I

16:35

did TV and writing

16:38

I really love that I think what was very

16:40

nice is we developed this these women

16:43

who found us a breath pressure I love

16:46

the fact that

16:48

people would say oh you know I read your

16:52

book and it's changed how I think about

16:53

myself or you know and at the time when

16:55

we look back at What Not to Wear it's a

16:56

very divisive show at the time

17:00

it made a lot of women and women that I

17:03

meet now who watch the show at the time

17:06

tell me the impact it had on them to

17:09

think about themselves differently but I

17:11

enjoyed it I enjoyed traveling around

17:13

England and making over women and having

17:16

that journey and over you know over a

17:18

week you saw the metamorphosis of a

17:20

person you work with and you saw them at

17:22

the beginning and at the end and then we

17:23

kept in touch with many of the women and

17:25

then you would hear about their

17:27

marriages and their babies and they're

17:28

life-changing and and that you knew

17:30

there was a tiny contribution you'd made

17:32

to that switch in them turning the

17:35

switch on to feel different why did it

17:38

end at the show we'd gone from doing

17:41

series of thought I see with icba yeah

17:43

and writing a book a year to doing three

17:46

or four shows I took on average about 55

17:49

flights a year I left London on a Sunday

17:51

night I came back on a Friday I had a

17:53

seven-year-old daughter

17:55

and I had a partner who wasn't always

17:59

well

18:00

so it was just at a stage where I

18:03

thought I need to readjust how my

18:06

personal life is and I need to think

18:08

what can I do now because this doesn't

18:11

work I had a partner that wasn't always

18:13

well I remember reading a line in your

18:15

book where you said 99 of the things we

18:17

worry about don't happen but that one

18:19

percent happened to us and he said it to

18:22

me is that what he said to you yeah

18:24

he would always say it I mean I always

18:26

remind Lila what did Dada say when she's

18:28

worried about stuff

18:31

and he said he's the one that said the

18:32

99 of things we were about don't

18:34

actually happen yeah

18:36

I had a partner who was unwell unwell in

18:38

what way addiction

18:39

he was addicted to yeah

18:43

yeah and you you met him when you were

18:46

35 no no I met him when I got clean I

18:51

met him when I was 27. oh you got

18:53

married when you were 35 yeah

18:55

and he was in recovery

18:56

oh okay

18:59

so okay when you're younger you

19:02

um went through recovery he went through

19:04

recovery as well but then relapsed he

19:07

had a motorbike accident

19:09

and he was very badly hurt and he took

19:11

painkillers

19:14

and got addicted to the painkillers

19:18

what is what is what is that like

19:19

because people think of painkillers that

19:22

don't know addiction to painkillers and

19:23

they think of paracetamol or something

19:25

my only experience with painkillers is

19:27

taking a paracetamol maybe four years

19:28

ago

19:29

I think when you're in a relationship

19:31

with somebody

19:33

who has a form of addiction

19:36

there's an unpredictability and an

19:38

inconsistency

19:39

in how they turn off every day

19:47

and I think in any

19:50

times when it's not great

19:54

you end up

19:57

to an extent having the crumbs off the

19:59

table it's like you're so holding on to

20:01

those moments when everything's good

20:04

that you try and ignore

20:06

what isn't working

20:10

and at the same time I was thinking

20:11

about well you got married in the year

20:13

that you were starting your business

20:14

your tech company it's a lot to deal

20:16

with if you've got a partner at home

20:18

that you're married to that is

20:19

struggling with addiction you're

20:20

starting a business yeah but they were

20:22

well at that time okay yeah they were

20:24

well at that time they had periods

20:26

definitely through our through our

20:28

marriage where they were well

20:29

really well

20:31

the relationship breaks down

20:33

yeah you get divorced yeah

20:36

you go your Separate Ways you remain

20:39

close yeah

20:41

and then

20:42

Johnny ultimately passes away around the

20:45

time when you finish before you start

20:47

Trini London but around the time when

20:49

you finish What Not to Wear and you

20:51

separate from Susan yeah I separate from

20:53

Susanna and I started working on I'd

20:57

started working on Trinity London yeah

21:00

but I was still filming abroad I was

21:02

still doing Telly shows abroad but I was

21:04

also working on the business

21:06

and you were close to him yeah still

21:08

even though you had separated yeah

21:10

yeah we spoke every day on the phone

21:12

every day yeah

21:16

he passes away when you're 50.

21:19

yeah

21:21

how does that change things in your life

21:28

um

21:30

strangers you become a single parent

21:34

um

21:37

the thing you think will never happen

21:39

happens

21:41

so it's a wake-up call just for

21:45

life

21:46

and how you see life

21:56

it took me a long time to grieve because

21:59

he left a mess

22:01

when he died which I had to kind of deal

22:04

with it yeah Financial mess just yeah

22:08

just a mess and so

22:11

it preoccupies you to not then actually

22:14

just think about what you miss in

22:16

somebody

22:18

you know it just you focus on what

22:20

you've got to do you go on to autopilot

22:22

you think of the kind of things you've

22:25

got to deal with

22:27

and

22:32

probably oddly

22:36

I moved in March and that was the first

22:39

time I remember

22:42

Lila went away

22:44

and it was first time in

22:46

35 years I'd been on my own in-house

22:52

and I grieved for Johnny

22:56

all those years later

23:03

did something trigger that no I think

23:05

it's just you need

23:06

as long as you need space you need to

23:10

you know he died there was a mass I then

23:13

starting the business

23:15

I was living in a house I couldn't

23:16

afford to live in I had to sell it for

23:18

lots of reasons one of them

23:21

you know for that reason and

23:24

there was so much I was so many sort of

23:26

fires I was dealing with

23:28

and

23:31

and then I was you know trying to start

23:33

the business

23:35

trying to guide Lila to you know be okay

23:40

so there was a lot of years of that and

23:43

then another life change of just

23:45

deciding I want to live on my own

23:47

then brought up in a way

23:51

to be able to just

23:53

feel some things that I hadn't really

23:55

let myself feel and I think sometimes in

23:57

life

23:58

we know we're not

24:00

in that part of that strong enough to

24:03

feel that feeling and move forward and

24:06

we have to be in the right situation and

24:07

give ourselves that right breathing

24:09

space to be able to feel the fullness of

24:11

that feeling without judgment or guilt

24:15

or remorse you know because all the

24:18

other ones are so connected to

24:22

situations externally and it's very

24:25

difficult to get to a situation where

24:26

you're not bringing all the external

24:29

factors in and you're just feeling how

24:32

you feel about somebody

24:34

what was the fullness of that feeling in

24:36

that moment

24:42

I think

24:43

um

24:51

there was nothing there's nothing better

24:55

in anyone else than the bestness of

24:57

Johnny

25:00

if that makes sense

25:02

and I missed it

25:10

the circumstances of his death are

25:13

particularly complicated because he he

25:17

didn't die by natural causes he died by

25:19

Suicide

25:21

and having sat here and spoken to people

25:24

who've lost a partner or an ex in such a

25:27

way

25:29

um the feelings uh from what I've seen

25:32

are much more complicated

25:36

I think anyone dying

25:38

who dies unexpectedly

25:40

whether from illness or anything it's

25:47

somebody is gone you know that's that's

25:49

the biggest fundamental of anything the

25:52

circumstances

25:56

Drive how differently people deal with

25:58

death so you know some

26:02

members of his family wanted to believe

26:04

there was a conspiracy theory some you

26:06

know you you suddenly have

26:09

101 kind of

26:12

views on things and stuff that really

26:16

confuses and complicates the fact that

26:19

somebody has gone you know they've gone

26:21

nothing is going to bring them back they

26:22

have gone

26:25

but it leaves more questions

26:27

and then you look at

26:31

your part in something

26:33

you know and that's

26:36

every person who has had somebody commit

26:40

suicide at some stage will say

26:43

was anything I could have done stop it

26:45

you know that's the first thing

26:47

for sure

26:48

if you love somebody

26:50

um

26:52

and the more I have learned about

26:55

suicide the more that

26:58

you know that when people

27:01

when people will talk about wanting to

27:04

kill themselves

27:08

I'm not saying it happens less

27:09

frequently than people who don't but

27:11

once somebody makes a decision

27:14

that that's what they're going to do

27:15

they don't talk about it

27:18

you know

27:21

and you'd like to feel you'd pick up on

27:23

it

27:25

but

27:26

I think it's the hardest lesson to learn

27:29

but when you

27:30

then come across people where you feel

27:34

that you now pick up on

27:36

those

27:38

not saying things that

27:41

there's a lot of internalizing going on

27:43

and should you be reaching out and just

27:47

talking getting them to talk because

27:51

people get themselves to a stage where

27:53

they feel it's the only solution

27:56

and

27:57

what's staggering is

27:59

Johnny had hyper vigilance around his

28:02

children because he'd been in the

28:04

Israeli Army and he was paramedic and he

28:06

had a really it was really tough

28:09

the situation

28:11

and he he had from it post traumatic

28:14

stress disorder

28:15

which wasn't

28:17

um acknowledged you know it wasn't

28:18

diagnosed until about 20 years later but

28:21

one of the things was hyper vigilance

28:23

around his children so he had he was

28:24

always so you know worried for their

28:27

welfare

28:29

so you kind of have this thing of

28:32

where do you get to in your brain

28:35

when you are so worried about your

28:37

children

28:39

that you can convince yourself the best

28:41

thing for your children who you love

28:43

profoundly

28:45

is that you're not in their life anymore

28:50

and that

29:03

is something that

29:07

is so important that we can help people

29:10

who get to that situation that they

29:12

don't get to that final part of that

29:13

situation

29:18

and it's understanding what to recognize

29:20

is understanding you know

29:22

and it's very hard to recognize you know

29:25

I didn't recognize

29:27

and there were lots of

29:35

details of it which

29:40

could have really upset me you know of

29:42

things that

29:44

were done wrong just were just like

29:47

police stuff that was done you know lots

29:49

of things which you could hold on you

29:50

can hold on to lots of things

29:56

but you kind of have to let go when I

29:58

see people who have family who have died

30:00

and they want to hold on to things

30:03

or get this thing you know and it's like

30:08

all those things you might hold on to

30:10

will prevent you to go through the

30:12

process of grieving

30:14

because it will hold you in this place

30:16

and time and you won't just be sitting

30:19

with that you know and you won't be able

30:21

to work through and you know when

30:22

somebody dies you need to work through

30:25

these stages

30:27

and acknowledge these stages but not get

30:29

stuck in something which eats you up

30:32

so even though there were all these

30:34

things

30:35

that kind of could have eaten me up

30:39

sort of new and I had a very good

30:41

there's a wonderful one called Julia

30:43

Samuel and she wrote this too shall pass

30:47

and another book called grief works I

30:49

don't know if you've ever had her on

30:49

your podcast she's an incredible

30:51

um

30:52

grief counselor

30:54

and

30:55

I saw her straight away she came to my

30:58

house when

31:02

when I knew and I hadn't yet told Lila

31:11

the first thing is you need to find the

31:13

words of what to say

31:18

gee

31:19

um was a friend of my sister and she

31:21

gave me words it's like you just feel so

31:25

like this

31:29

I'm at a good place with it now and I

31:31

think that final thing was

31:34

this the moment I by myself when Lila

31:36

went off and

31:38

for a week and I just I thought it came

31:41

very

31:42

I'm totally you know this is eight years

31:45

later

31:46

but things take time

31:50

so interesting how the the process of

31:52

grief that those first sort of eight

31:54

years where you kind of compartmentalize

31:56

or it's not the right time to address it

31:58

yet because there's other things going

31:59

on and then eight years later how it can

32:01

show up in a moment of like Solitude and

32:04

yeah in a moment of space and come out

32:07

it's interesting because I think there's

32:08

so many of us whether it's the grief of

32:10

losing someone or the grief of some

32:12

other form of trauma that we have it

32:14

compartmentalized and it might be

32:17

um impacting our lives in ways we don't

32:18

we don't understand I hear this a lot

32:21

when I speak to people about you know

32:22

their mood or you know they're a

32:25

slightly different person through that

32:26

period but until they were able to kind

32:28

of sit down and confront it and and go

32:30

through the process of grief they they

32:31

didn't realize that they'd it changed

32:33

them in some way

32:35

eight years later you have your moment

32:40

53 years old you start

32:43

Trini yeah

32:46

big smile on your face

32:50

you know starting a business like that

32:52

at 53 a lot of people have a like a

32:55

stigma or a stereotype that you can't

32:57

start a business in midlife you know you

33:00

shouldn't be doing that at that point or

33:01

that you know you won't be able to raise

33:03

you know all of those kind of stigmas

33:04

around starting a business in midlife

33:05

crap crap yeah Turtle crap

33:09

I started a business at 16 called what's

33:12

my first business Bose unlimited when I

33:14

was at school I sold hair bows I know

33:16

um and then I started business at 53 so

33:18

it's like there's no other way to put it

33:20

that that age is is a number

33:23

it is just a [ __ ] number and you can

33:26

either mention that number endlessly or

33:29

you can look at

33:31

what energy do you have at that moment

33:33

in time to execute on your dream

33:37

that's all that's that's all you need

33:39

energy

33:41

all you need well you need a lot but you

33:43

know you need to feel that you need

33:45

energy passion Drive relentlessness

33:48

perseverance resilience

33:51

put yourself off and just get [ __ ] on

33:52

with it you need all of those things but

33:54

you need

33:56

the energy so that you jump out of bed

33:58

in the morning and you are on it

34:01

did it take time for you to cultivate

34:03

that in the process after after Johnny

34:05

passed was there like a do you know what

34:07

I mean because I did I did uh ready to

34:10

before and for that I was you know it

34:12

did 18-hour days for two and a half

34:15

years it's like it you know it's it's in

34:17

me that I've I've been a grafter for

34:19

quite a long time so you've been mulling

34:21

this idea for many many many years yeah

34:22

then

34:24

um

34:24

and then you finally put it into action

34:26

I I heard you say I started pitching in

34:28

2014 and it took me three years to

34:30

launch yeah

34:31

I started pitching in 2013 I think

34:34

and what were you pitching I was

34:36

pitching what was the elevator pitch the

34:38

elevator pitch was

34:40

um to create portable

34:45

cream based

34:46

personalized makeup

34:48

for women

34:50

35 Plus

34:52

and how was that pitch received

34:54

I did 48 pitches before one person fit I

34:58

must have sent 300 emails

35:00

what kind of uh negative feedback did

35:02

you get oh I had lots I had

35:04

um

35:05

I had you don't have enough followers

35:09

fine I had like I think 50 000 followers

35:11

then

35:12

um I had your two old starter business

35:15

I had who's going to really run the

35:17

business

35:18

come on oh that's a nice list I love

35:21

that one you live in this Neverland it's

35:23

not like it's never going to happen but

35:24

it's never going to happen but you don't

35:26

put words to either you sit like this

35:27

place and I had that feeling I thought

35:31

are people ever going to get it but I

35:33

thought I'm never going to give up so

35:34

they were both sat side by side really

35:36

starting why didn't you give up

35:37

because I knew it was a [ __ ] good

35:39

idea and I knew it would work I just had

35:41

to find the right people who would get

35:42

it but even selling you know everyone's

35:44

telling you to I don't care everyone's

35:45

telling me no I know and I know enough

35:47

and I believe in myself enough to know I

35:49

know it's a good idea I just know it I

35:53

just gotta find somebody who has the

35:54

vision to understand it how did you know

35:56

it though

35:57

because I know women

36:00

because I've made over 5 000 women in my

36:03

life because I know what women Miss I

36:05

know the frustration they feel at the

36:07

beauty counter I know that some of them

36:09

don't want to admit they don't know how

36:10

to do a smokey eye I know that some

36:12

women feel stuck but they don't know how

36:13

to articulate how do I do it again

36:15

because I don't want to seem silly in

36:17

front of my friends I know that some

36:19

women feel just

36:22

they could never do that was it

36:25

expensive to start the business yes what

36:26

were the personal sacrifices

36:28

there are phys there are Financial ones

36:31

and there are friendship ones did you

36:34

have to sell any tables let's start with

36:35

the finances no but I sold my house you

36:37

sold your house yeah I sold my house and

36:39

I'd kind of why because I couldn't

36:41

afford to stay in it

36:43

I had debt I had a big mortgage I had

36:46

kind of when I separated with Johnny I'd

36:48

wanted to get this house that I bought

36:50

that would enable me to walk my daughter

36:52

to school I just wanted this thing okay

36:54

like desperately so I bought this house

36:57

with a really big mortgage and I did

37:00

alone and I did it from scratch and it

37:04

was my dream every single little element

37:06

of this house I built did that make you

37:09

sad that realization because it seems

37:10

like the idea that I would have to leave

37:12

the house was something I thought about

37:15

every single day for six months and

37:16

thought what can I do to prevent it

37:18

because I've worked this hard for so

37:20

long to have this house I've always

37:23

wanted to own a house you know

37:27

but once you let go of it it's just a

37:31

[ __ ] house

37:35

and you think there's a bigger picture

37:37

and the bigger picture

37:39

maybe you could buy me five houses but

37:41

the bigger picture is

37:42

that there is a bigger picture not even

37:44

to look to the stage where you might be

37:46

able to buy a nicer house but it's like

37:48

I was on a mission Stephen I was on a

37:50

mission I thought I've got to make it

37:53

happen I can't not do this there was no

37:55

turning back I couldn't not start the

37:58

business so then it was what did I have

37:59

to do start the business because first

38:01

of all I sold all my clothes I did the

38:04

sale and I went on to Emily's List and I

38:06

EMILY's List is this and I was renting

38:08

out the house so I didn't care who came

38:10

my house I had like a thousand people

38:12

coming in my house buying clothes so I

38:15

raised in two sales 60 Grand because I

38:17

used to borrow I used to follow Gary

38:19

vaynerchuk and Gary was always like what

38:21

the [ __ ] can you sell in your house you

38:22

know you can sell your trainers you

38:23

won't spend a fortune on those people

38:25

who are saying oh whinging to Gary and

38:27

Gary saying sell something everyone has

38:29

something they can sell well how much do

38:32

you want the business how much do you

38:34

want to be successful and start the

38:35

business what are you prepare to give up

38:37

look at the long-term game was there any

38:40

doubt even a whisper of doubt I say this

38:42

in part because I look back on when I

38:44

started my business I was keeping diary

38:45

entries yeah um and I was I feel the

38:48

same as you there was no going back

38:50

there was definitely not plan B my

38:51

parents went there's no plan B yeah I'm

38:52

shoplifting pizzas at this point to pick

38:54

myself I'm like I can only go forward

38:56

right yeah I haven't paid my rent in

38:58

three months my rent is only 150 pounds

39:00

in rush home yeah um but then I and so I

39:02

will recount that moment of my life is I

39:05

I zoom in on the tenacity and the

39:07

certainty and this conviction yeah but

39:09

then I look at these diary entries and

39:10

on this day

39:12

I'm like doubting myself a little bit it

39:14

didn't last yeah but there was a there

39:15

was a day where it was like a rocky for

39:17

sure you know it's not all like the

39:20

thing is the overarching theme is I

39:23

can't go back yeah it shouldn't negate

39:25

the fact you're going to have doubt

39:27

you're going to question you know it's

39:29

like

39:30

doesn't think somebody will believe in

39:32

it but there was like another 10

39:34

meetings and nobody has you know you

39:35

think yeah yeah and also at the end of

39:38

an investor present you when you present

39:39

to investors

39:41

the real questioning of your integrity

39:44

over your idea

39:46

is how much you decide what was

39:50

the last meeting they had in the room

39:52

which they brought that advice to your

39:54

meeting on a totally different business

39:56

to kind of talk about the market or I

39:58

mean the amount of times I've talked

40:00

about like you know it's about growth

40:02

it's not about retention it's about 70

40:05

new customers 30 retention and I was

40:07

always saying no it's 60 retention 40

40:10

growth but saying this when Casper

40:12

mattresses was going high-fly was like

40:14

nobody wants listen I know how then why

40:17

they didn't invest because their whole

40:18

thing was growth retention [ __ ] you

40:20

know and it's like retention is

40:22

everything you've got to download grow

40:23

you've got to have new customers but if

40:24

you don't have the Bedrock of retention

40:26

the kind of classic you know like

40:29

companies that don't do any publicity

40:31

like

40:33

um Five Guys or some companies that

40:35

haven't done much publicity they're

40:38

relying on the customer loving it

40:39

they're relying on getting new customers

40:41

from their customers you know they're

40:43

relying on the most classic Word of

40:45

Mouth moment but you've got to

40:48

build a company on cement and I felt at

40:51

the time these guys looking around

40:53

they're building it on quicksand you've

40:55

got to then leave that investor meeting

40:57

and think what do I take away

41:00

that's good advice so the advice I took

41:03

away to myself was if I'm in a room of

41:05

predominantly man

41:07

I want to go in and a female trait to me

41:10

as you want to paint the entire picture

41:11

you want to bring somebody into your

41:13

universe and you want to show them

41:15

everything

41:16

so they don't have one thing they can

41:18

hone in on to make sense of your

41:21

business and join the dots you don't

41:23

give them the dot Joiner so therefore

41:26

the thing I learned was to go in and say

41:28

look

41:29

we're starting with this

41:31

and from this I'm going to give you this

41:34

and then we'll get to that

41:36

and they're like okay and it's not many

41:39

slow and women are faster it's like

41:40

there is a fundamental difference in how

41:43

people need information delivered to

41:45

them so they can absorb it go yeah that

41:47

ticks my box and then be ready to listen

41:49

to the next bit of information and that

41:50

I didn't know I didn't know into the

41:52

10th pitch and then in the 10th pitch or

41:54

whatever halfway through my pitching I

41:57

kind of thought actually what am I not

41:59

doing right here to convey because if I

42:01

believe this is a good idea if I believe

42:02

it has legs

42:04

what am I not getting through to them

42:06

that I need to and that's the vision of

42:09

the future kind of it's a bit the vision

42:10

of the future it's like there's a real

42:12

classic that if you are a woman

42:15

generally men if it's predominantly

42:18

males they will ask how do you protect

42:19

your downside and if I'm a man sitting

42:21

here they will say how do you maximize

42:22

your upside

42:24

it's a classic all right so when then so

42:27

just to explain for people that don't

42:28

understand

42:29

um downside is basically like how do you

42:31

how do you negate your risk yeah so so

42:33

you know how do you protect your risk

42:36

you know what happens if you have a

42:37

problem with the product what happens if

42:38

you can't find a customer what happens

42:39

if blah blah blah and maximizing the

42:42

upside is how you're going to scale how

42:44

you're going to make that business

42:45

bigger so

42:47

I thought I was like okay

42:49

so then when they would start to get to

42:52

that little thing I would say you know

42:54

what

42:54

these three ways like any business is

42:57

what I'll be doing now let us focus on

42:59

how I'm going to maximize the upside

43:02

and just kind of gently not insultingly

43:04

sometimes I was a little bit you know so

43:07

you became aware of their Prejudice and

43:10

would counteract it before they kind of

43:12

had a chance to use that as a way to

43:14

yeah you kind of want to bring in

43:16

conversation well but it took me a while

43:17

Stephen it took me because I had never

43:19

gone to you know when I did investor

43:21

presentations in 99

43:23

I did five and I got it you know in

43:25

those two of them invested it was a very

43:27

different time and pitching a concept

43:30

how did you counteract the prejudice

43:33

that you knew was existing in those

43:35

pitch boardrooms

43:38

or did you how did you deal with it

43:40

because there's a part of me that

43:41

thought

43:43

like I went to one and he said I love

43:46

the idea but it will only be successful

43:48

if you do it for Millennials or gen Z

43:51

because they're the only people who are

43:53

going to buy like that because women of

43:55

of your age don't know how to buy makeup

43:57

online okay and at the time 26 of people

44:01

bought Beauty Online all right and of

44:03

that 26 maybe 15 were in the demographic

44:07

that I said

44:08

but I said I'm providing personalization

44:12

that will make a woman and I will talk

44:14

to women in a way of a language they

44:16

understand to think actually maybe if I

44:19

went online I'd be better diagnosed than

44:21

if I went in store because she has this

44:23

personalization and and then when it

44:26

launched and those very first few people

44:27

who had never shopped for makeup online

44:30

did it and thought this is better than

44:33

me going to Peach Jones

44:34

it was like

44:36

spread the word spread the word and it

44:38

built on itself but at that time when

44:39

the man from this uh VC was saying that

44:43

and I was like I left the room and I

44:46

thought I actually would not want this

44:47

person to invest in my business anyway

44:49

so there is that maturity you can get of

44:51

thinking because you've got to also you

44:54

know when you're going for money you

44:55

very much feel the powers in their hands

44:57

and there's got to be something you're

44:58

bringing through and where you think do

44:59

I want these people to invest in my

45:02

business and to get to a stage where

45:04

you're the one in a way on the back foot

45:05

because you're wanting the cash how can

45:07

you then say to yourself turn it around

45:10

you know do I want

45:13

these people in the business have they

45:15

got something to contribute and asking

45:18

them questions like what will you

45:20

contribute what do you do for your other

45:22

VCS I've spoken to a few you know you

45:24

have this big thing saying that you get

45:26

the CMOS together and whatever but do

45:28

you actually do that and how does that

45:30

happen to you and

45:31

how much is this business worth in your

45:34

perspective

45:35

don't give out valuations oh I read 180

45:38

million online

45:40

it's

45:41

doing well though yeah what can you tell

45:44

me about the scale of the business to

45:45

give just to give us an inclination

45:47

we've you know grown

45:51

over 100 a year probably over five years

45:54

yeah we did

45:57

50 something Million last year

46:00

um we uh we sell 180 countries

46:04

we started skincare year and a half

46:06

goats now

46:08

38 of my Revenue

46:11

so it's growing quite quickly it has the

46:12

highest retention so when I look at the

46:15

business and I look at retention of

46:16

product

46:17

for me the value of the business

46:20

and look at what product bases there are

46:22

so that to me is an exciting place a

46:26

business is going to

46:28

um we're localizing in different

46:30

countries so there's one thing to be

46:32

sold internationally but then when you

46:35

localize it takes a lot of

46:38

um

46:40

personalization across yeah it does and

46:42

so we we did it when we're about 50 in

46:45

the UK and then we're about 23 in

46:48

Australia with 10 in America that is a

46:51

fantastic business yeah and I would like

46:53

to invest well when you think about your

46:55

character traits and what you bring to

46:57

the business what what is that and how

46:59

has that led the business to become

47:01

successful because I think in Founders

47:02

we talked earlier about focusing on the

47:03

thing you're good at yeah what is the

47:05

thing that Trinny is good at in this

47:07

business

47:08

I think I'm good at understanding how

47:11

women react to things and what they want

47:13

and how you speak to somebody so they

47:15

can hear it I think that's probably what

47:18

I know

47:20

better than anyone else in the company

47:21

how do you speak to someone so that they

47:23

hear it

47:25

well years ago I did Oprah an Oprah

47:27

taught me a lot and she was she is an

47:30

amazing woman but when I used to do her

47:32

shows

47:33

we would tell her stuff because we'd

47:34

just done a book and it'll become a

47:36

number one time bestseller in America

47:38

and it was like she helped us do that

47:39

but she would tell them stuff I'd said

47:42

and then she would repeat it three times

47:44

within that half an hour you just repeat

47:46

it repeat it and I said afterwards over

47:49

you you always repeat she said because

47:51

it registers

47:53

they get reminded

47:55

they remember

47:57

so that sense of

48:00

you say something

48:02

and you say it three times in maybe

48:04

three different ways so that by the end

48:07

of that conversation somebody walks away

48:09

with a new thought in their head so

48:11

there is that and I don't

48:13

consciously do that anymore I think at

48:15

the beginning I probably did because I

48:17

remember what she said and then it got

48:19

into a habit

48:20

but

48:21

and it's also remembering who you speak

48:23

to

48:24

because when you speak when I do

48:27

my contribution to to Trinity London of

48:30

on social

48:31

I could be speaking to many different

48:33

women I could be speaking to a nurse on

48:35

18 Grand a year who saves up every month

48:37

to buy one thing

48:39

and I could be speaking to somebody who

48:41

could buy 10 things and choose to spy us

48:43

okay so it's quite a broad remit but

48:46

they all realize

48:49

because of what I was talking about the

48:51

importance of actually buying things

48:53

that really work for your skin and not

48:54

wasting your money and and not putting

48:57

things on that are bad for your skin I

48:59

don't mean bad like green I mean like

49:01

don't do anything for your skin or just

49:03

understanding what you should use is not

49:05

what your best friend should use

49:07

and because I've I had very bad acne I

49:10

mean like when you talked about your

49:11

turning off the light okay I used to

49:14

decide what restaurant do I go into like

49:15

if I was going out and as an 18 year old

49:18

and I had this lighting I would

49:20

literally say can we go to another

49:21

restaurant because you would see my acne

49:23

postures

49:25

um coming down and I would go like I'd

49:26

literally I'd be like this for dinner so

49:29

that obsession with my skin and the

49:32

effect it gave all my confidence and put

49:35

was a lot of what I put into when we

49:37

look at what ingredients are we going to

49:39

use and how are we going to use them and

49:40

we have a lab in England you know I'm

49:41

proud the fact we have a lab we make

49:43

things from scratch we're not like hey

49:45

let's put a label on here and say Trini

49:47

London you know are you proud of the

49:48

business very

49:50

are you proud of yourself

49:54

um

49:56

yes I am when I remembered I mean I get

49:59

when I remember to be no like you've

50:01

crossed your arms look at the body

50:02

language no

50:04

I am I don't

50:07

it's very easy to well I never get to a

50:09

place conceit

50:11

um many people are proud for me

50:14

and I sometimes find that challenging

50:18

it's like I want to move the

50:19

conversation on why I don't know I don't

50:22

I can't answer it and it's just a thing

50:24

you know but I'll have good friends of

50:26

mine who've known me a long time who

50:28

will

50:30

just say you know

50:32

very lovely things about having grown

50:35

the business I I often I'm gonna happen

50:37

how do you feel and so on because we got

50:39

it together because we must go through

50:40

it I'm asking questions but I I but you

50:43

also okay so give me your feedback well

50:45

when someone gives me a big compliment

50:47

at the same time they're also reminding

50:49

me of everything I could lose and so I

50:51

think my natural way of dealing with

50:53

things is as you've kind of described is

50:55

that forward motion that void Motion

50:57

makes me feel stable yeah so whenever

50:59

someone comes to me gives me a

51:00

compliment about something I've achieved

51:01

it's it's um I always say like

51:04

Chaos's stability and stability is chaos

51:06

it's a moment of stability that I don't

51:08

like like just the idea of of

51:10

accomplishment yeah creates a stability

51:13

that I don't like I want chaos I need

51:14

that forward motion to feel stable it's

51:17

a weird one because it's like a lot of

51:19

people would disagree with what you're

51:21

saying in terms in terms of you know

51:23

sort of a self-worth guru who's saying

51:25

you've got to you've got to you know

51:27

take a step to

51:29

a lot of friends who Satan you need to

51:31

take a moment to acknowledge how far

51:33

you've come

51:34

and I think what you're saying

51:37

is I'm just trying to grasp exactly your

51:40

thing of the chaos and stability and I

51:41

think I can explain it better yeah okay

51:44

so when when Olympians go to the

51:46

Olympics they come back even if they've

51:47

won a gold medal and they fall into a

51:49

depression I think they call it gold

51:50

medal depression the stats around that

51:51

are alarming I've read one article

51:53

that's where it said up to 80 of

51:54

Olympians post

51:56

um the Olympics feel that way

51:58

um I think that humans most of us anyway

52:00

maybe that's why we're in these

52:02

buildings with these amazing technology

52:04

have it within us to need to to it goes

52:07

back to what I said before we start

52:07

recording about progress yeah we need a

52:09

sense of Forward Motion we don't the

52:11

opposite of um what we don't want is

52:13

completed goals abundant resources and

52:15

nothing to strive for so maybe because

52:18

I'm particularly I was particularly

52:19

insecure as a child I need I get my

52:22

worth from the sense of forward motion

52:23

and accomplishment the thought of

52:25

stopping yeah and being done is a form

52:29

of psychological chaos it's a form of

52:31

purposelessness and so I think stability

52:34

is actually the forward motion the chaos

52:37

uncompleted goals the striving that's

52:39

one I feel most stable okay and when you

52:42

remove that something to strive for I

52:44

feel I feel which people would call

52:45

stability I feel chaos yeah

52:47

um but also I think for me and you there

52:50

is something

52:51

um

52:52

where our work is I know it for me

52:54

anyway is inherently linked at deep deep

52:56

level to our sense of self-worth yeah

52:58

and so

53:00

um

53:01

yeah it's quite I feel deeply

53:03

uncomfortable when I get a compliment

53:04

about

53:06

um the work we do or

53:08

um when people say that to me I'll use

53:09

your pause for a second and just think

53:11

about how far you've come yeah it's

53:12

robbing me of something yeah it's like

53:16

it is um

53:19

when will enough be enough

53:24

I don't know if enough should never ever

53:25

be enough

53:27

you should always have a little bit

53:30

because you see you live in chaos so I

53:32

ask you that question when will enough

53:34

be enough when will enough I will never

53:37

be sad as far I always think about that

53:40

um well I go back to what I said as I I

53:42

hope I hope there's no such thing as

53:43

enough in my mind yeah because so when

53:46

well enough answer your question when

53:47

will enough be enough it will never be

53:49

because enough is always going to mean

53:51

forward motion

53:53

so and progress enough I know because

53:57

success to me is forward motion and

53:59

progress so success can't therefore

54:02

possibly be any destination it is

54:05

it is challenge it is autonomy it is a

54:09

meaningful goal to strive towards and

54:11

it's doing it with people I love yeah

54:12

that's success for me okay and and so I

54:15

need challenge I need forward motion

54:16

with people I love High degree of

54:18

self-control yeah it's your life breath

54:20

yeah

54:21

as I'm doing it yeah yeah it is life

54:24

breath yeah it really is

54:27

as you know Zoe are a sponsor of this

54:30

podcast and I'm a big investor in the

54:31

company you guys know I'm really sitting

54:33

still because that's just the nature of

54:34

my life so whether I'm in a business

54:36

meeting with my investments or I'm

54:37

recording this podcast I'm always

54:39

running from A to B but the one promise

54:41

that I made to myself is to fuel my body

54:43

sufficiently and Zoe has been really the

54:46

key part of me succeeding in that

54:48

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54:49

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54:51

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54:53

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54:54

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54:56

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54:58

choices for my long-term health and it's

55:00

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55:03

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55:04

going because some of my meetings are

55:05

often later in the day and so I need to

55:07

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55:09

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55:10

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55:12

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55:19

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send me a DM and let me know how you're

55:38

getting on what is success to you these

55:41

days like what is

55:42

what does success mean for you people

55:44

ask me that all the time as well but I

55:46

mean it's such a you know when you hear

55:47

that question I think oh [ __ ] so make it

55:50

specific like it's too generalistic so

55:52

what's if if I let's look look at the

55:56

next decade of your life okay if I say

55:58

if we meet again in 10 years time and I

55:59

say and you say to me that was a

56:01

successful decade all right well that's

56:02

a good way okay next 10 years success

56:04

Rebecca

56:06

um the one thing this is the only thing

56:09

where I will bring age into it right is

56:12

I am

56:14

59. so when I'm 69 do I want to be

56:19

working so hard that I sort of Miss

56:22

friends birthdays and don't get to

56:25

you know take part in life of things

56:28

outside my work because that's a big one

56:30

like when you're in your 20s and 30s you

56:32

can kind of like all your friends are

56:34

doing that too you know and in that same

56:37

space so it doesn't matter if you say

56:40

look in a month we'll get together we'll

56:42

all go for a weekend somewhere because

56:43

you're all doing it so it's like you're

56:44

on this thing together but when you're

56:46

me probably of my friends maybe 80 of

56:50

them their life is slightly different

56:52

from what I'm doing right now

56:54

so

56:56

and that element of that friendship and

56:59

this connection with people is

57:01

fundamentally crucial to our feeding

57:04

ourselves you know and there's always

57:07

that you know guy who not had American

57:10

Express but he's like you know will I be

57:12

remembered for how hard I worked you

57:13

know on the grapes and there's that

57:15

classic corny thing of like well they

57:16

remember how hard you know it's like

57:17

they won't but whenever I read that I

57:21

think but they just had a nine-to-five

57:22

job and this is a passion you know I

57:24

always say that I think this is so

57:25

different because this is

57:27

because if I

57:29

if it was just a job

57:31

I'd probably say you know I should slow

57:32

down a bit whatever but I travel the

57:34

world

57:35

I help a lot of people around the world

57:37

I meet a lot I was in Birmingham

57:40

um what about work-life balance yes but

57:42

this is the thing

57:43

it's like

57:45

I don't see my job as a job and then

57:47

there's work-life balance because

57:49

there's areas of my job which should be

57:51

sociable things so I I meet people I

57:53

have conversations women every day you

57:56

know on this you know social media thing

57:59

which is now a few few million people

58:01

I have

58:03

these women who know me really well it's

58:07

so interesting how you think oh but I

58:09

haven't seen you know I have my friends

58:10

who have known me since I've been my

58:12

teens but I have these women who are

58:14

part of the Trinity tribe they could be

58:16

anywhere in the world but

58:18

they know me so well that like I might

58:20

do a little live and they'll DM me say

58:22

Trinny sense this this morning are you

58:24

okay do you need to take a breath you

58:26

know and then when I sh I shared this

58:29

you know that John had died and

58:32

um and so you know they were you know

58:34

they sent

58:36

thousands of messages and I read I read

58:39

everything people sent because if people

58:41

make the effort to write a message and

58:43

on my Instagram I respond to everything

58:45

you know I we have a team of 11 people

58:47

who we had like 12 000 comments a week

58:49

between London stuff but I do all my

58:51

Instagram because that's the Beating

58:53

Heart of the women in my life

58:56

and

58:58

the feeling people are feeling you know

59:00

whenever you have a business you need to

59:02

understand what is the feeling people

59:04

are feeling so in England we have a big

59:07

cost of living crisis I still want to

59:09

give people quality products that are

59:11

premium so with all these things going

59:14

on how do I

59:16

sense check

59:18

this thing how do I adapt the

59:21

conversation so that

59:23

it still is relevant to their life and

59:28

they're just so going back to work like

59:30

balance like they

59:33

helped me to sit for a second and like

59:36

one of them sent this message three days

59:39

I said Trini

59:40

you have to remember

59:42

to feel what you're going through right

59:44

now because you don't usually you just

59:46

rusher it and you need to do it this

59:48

woman I've never met before ever okay

59:52

but they're just incredible women and so

59:55

my when you when you talk about a

59:57

business all right and you talk about

59:58

starting a business

60:01

my business

60:03

is this passion for these women

60:06

to feel great and and are sort of you

60:09

know you always have these what's your

60:11

vision board and what's your mission of

60:12

the company but it's literally to leave

60:13

a woman feeling better about herself

60:16

than before she came into contact with

60:18

me with Fearless with the podcast with

60:20

Trinity London with whatever so that's

60:22

my mission I am here for a mission I

60:24

know that sounds like whatever but I am

60:27

I know I am you know I know I am I know

60:30

that when like I know that during covert

60:33

when there were people feeling in a full

60:36

family of people fundamentally so alone

60:39

as women

60:41

I knew how important it was that we

60:43

should get up and we should chat to each

60:45

other I knew it was just to like really

60:48

chat really like share the [ __ ] share

60:51

the feelings so they could go

60:52

me too me too you know so it's 69 then

60:56

you're saying that you're going to slow

60:57

down and retire and have pina coladas on

60:59

the beach no I didn't say that at all

61:02

did I ever say that so 69. no so you

61:05

just said to me in the next 10 years so

61:06

the next thing what's success look like

61:07

it's that this community grows because

61:09

the more women who feel like this would

61:11

tell more women and I would like at the

61:13

moment maybe we have a million women and

61:15

I would like that to be in the next 10

61:17

years 15 million women actually so that

61:19

I'm going to put that number out there

61:20

I'm going to now remember it I'd like

61:22

that many women because if you can get

61:23

to that many women but then how are you

61:26

gonna I said that because you talked

61:28

about changing the balance a little bit

61:30

so you could be there for your social

61:31

connections a bit more yeah your friends

61:33

yeah if you've got a goal of 15 million

61:35

women so how am I growing this business

61:38

where I have people in place who can do

61:42

things that I can do better than me so

61:44

that you can go and do so I can do even

61:47

more of what only I can do yeah in the

61:49

business

61:50

because at the moment I did this thing

61:52

the other day and I

61:54

did this thing with my co and a board

61:56

member and I did like 365 days a year

61:58

all right and we divided up because we

62:01

need to like see because people it's

62:03

very difficult to get meetings in with

62:04

it so he's like okay

62:06

there are six full days a year I do

62:09

board meetings there are 12 days a year

62:11

I do investor stuff so we had a little

62:13

laugh or whatever and then add up to

62:15

more more than the days of the year okay

62:17

because I haven't taken that much

62:18

holiday so Jane says to me lovely Jane

62:22

she goes Trini this we have to change so

62:25

she said okay what do you not have to do

62:28

you know how could we move to a place

62:30

slowly where

62:32

you don't do this you do this and you do

62:35

this so much about it's like

62:36

you must talk to tons of people about

62:38

when you have your best ideas all right

62:40

we have our best ideas when we are

62:43

not further removed from the chaos

62:44

because you love this chaos but we're

62:46

we're removed enough that things have

62:48

the room to Bubble to the top so I do

62:51

Michael's car map every morning all

62:54

right and I just started doing this

62:55

other one on the the one with the half

62:57

Bowl in or something you know that

62:59

really good one and there's this guy

63:00

David G and it was discussed at

63:03

Massachusetts state hospital they did

63:05

some research that you listen to his

63:07

meditation for 59 days and it changes

63:10

your neural Pathways like ketamine might

63:12

okay it's really I'm anywhere I'm day 43

63:15

okay quite into it but

63:17

when I give myself that little space

63:22

the really good ideas for the business

63:23

come up and the more I'm just doing

63:26

running the business running the

63:27

business

63:28

the less we're going to have of those

63:31

and I need to give the business the best

63:33

of me so it's 69 do you think you're

63:35

gonna be working less

63:36

differently differently more space for

63:39

more creativity yeah and you know

63:41

traditional just saying yeah I'll take a

63:43

Friday off and go and go for a weekend

63:46

somewhere and things like that yeah

63:48

because you know do you be able to go

63:49

for a weekend without thinking about the

63:51

business yeah I did actually can I just

63:52

tell you for the first time in five

63:54

years I went away for five days

63:57

two weeks ago and I only did like eight

64:00

emails which was just

64:02

great

64:05

you wrote this wonderful book Fearless

64:07

it's really really surprising

64:09

it's surprising

64:11

did you read any of it yet yes I went

64:13

through it but you did and I read the

64:14

entire section on life the other

64:15

sections about beauty and star were a

64:16

little bit more tricky but I read

64:18

everything in the live section about

64:19

that's where I got some of those quotes

64:20

from and uh the stuff about imposter

64:22

syndrome and self-belief and all of

64:23

those things it is a a life advice book

64:26

it is a beauty advice book it is a style

64:28

advice book

64:30

um and it's just a gorgeous coffee table

64:32

style the thing is this is me okay yeah

64:35

because I

64:38

hate looking at pictures of myself so

64:40

the whole point of doing this book was

64:41

to say you hate looking at pictures of

64:43

yourself I hate [ __ ] hungry is I just

64:45

do so this is the book you'll have on

64:47

your coffee table

64:49

can you see so nice like just it will

64:52

make you pick it up more

64:54

because it's biased to have my face on

64:56

the front this is not bias

64:59

ah no that is beautiful and it's a nice

65:01

little message as well yeah to have a

65:03

statement about yourself like yeah

65:06

you know what's funny when I'm when

65:08

people come on the show and they have a

65:09

product I I often try and spend some

65:11

time

65:12

um talking about their products and

65:13

stuff but the thing the thing in this

65:15

case is

65:16

having got to understand you yeah and

65:19

what drives you and having felt how

65:21

authentic and deep your passion is

65:24

there is no need that all the products

65:26

are just a byproduct of exactly that

65:27

what we've just experienced so it's

65:29

funny because I hear you how deeply

65:31

passionate and obsessed you are about

65:33

your mission as you call it

65:35

and I just believe the product because I

65:39

know where it's coming from and that's

65:40

the most important thing it's coming

65:42

from a deep sense of mission that is so

65:43

unbelievably authentic that starts

65:46

sounds like in your childhood with a

65:47

battle with your own skin issues and

65:49

acne

65:50

um in the byproduct of that authentic

65:52

mission is these wonderful products

65:53

which are taking the World by storm what

65:55

what have I got in front of me here okay

65:57

so

65:58

every part to say I'm just giving you

66:00

I'm going to give you the quick

66:01

headlight so you can go back to your

66:02

girlfriend and and you can have

66:03

knowledge let's just close off on this

66:05

the book is available in September yes

66:07

Fab so everyone can go pre-order that

66:09

now yeah wonderful now right so highly

66:13

recommend everybody goes in pre-orders

66:14

it because it's a beautiful book thank

66:15

you very much

66:16

so fundamental skincare whatever age you

66:20

are or skin color you are or anything is

66:23

you should clean your skin properly okay

66:25

you should wear SPF okay every day

66:28

whatever your melanin levels yep cancer

66:31

being the primary cause but other

66:34

ascetics as well

66:36

um you should do something that

66:37

regenerates your skin and retinoids can

66:40

do that and exfoliants can exfoliate

66:43

your skin

66:44

and you should keep your skin even so

66:46

vitamin C okay so those kind of me are

66:49

the showstoppers in a routine well what

66:52

if I don't because I'm guilty as charged

66:54

to all of us if you don't genes might

66:56

make you think

66:57

I don't need to I'm fine but I look at

67:00

your skin and I'm going to come over now

67:01

oh no don't call me oh [ __ ]

67:04

do this look at me and I close my eyes

67:06

because I need to feel your skin without

67:10

judging you by looking at you okay so

67:13

what I do is I just have a feel and I

67:15

feel so first thing I feel immediately

67:17

is the congestion you have here right in

67:19

the center a lot of people like women

67:20

will have congestion here because they

67:22

don't like to get their hair wet when

67:25

they wash their face you have congestion

67:26

here sure it's not muscle or something

67:28

it's not muscle at all I know the

67:30

difference darling

67:31

um and this is not like that's beer you

67:34

see but this is congestion under the

67:36

skin because you have an oily skin so

67:37

you have a sebaceous gland that can

67:38

sometimes get blocked Under the Skin it

67:40

doesn't become a spot but it's congested

67:42

so that's there all right so exfoliant

67:45

you're going to use I do get a lot of

67:46

spots there okay well then you're going

67:48

to use find your balance in fact we've

67:49

got to get your final Advance then I go

67:51

around here

67:54

then I feel your lymph whenever you're

67:57

feeling

67:58

blocked doing this tiny movement here

68:01

releases your lymph nodes and you go

68:03

around the back she's massaging my face

68:05

for anyone that's listening on audio it

68:07

feels really good round your ears agree

68:09

to disagree okay and then you go down

68:12

and you want to kind of go down to your

68:14

clavicum release this is all like a

68:15

channel for all your lymph so if you

68:17

ever get a blocked face or you get dark

68:18

circles you do this kind of getting it

68:20

down like Ah that's why women always do

68:23

that thing on Instagram with the yeah

68:25

with the stone so your oilier here thank

68:28

you you've got a slight Dark Circle yeah

68:31

it's unslapped yeah and you've got

68:34

hydrated skin but block Skin So for me

68:36

the best thing you would do for your

68:38

skin is you exfoliate your skin because

68:40

you need to slosh off dead skin cells

68:42

and you need to clarify your skin you

68:45

need to get your pores get the

68:48

congestion out

68:49

so that means drinking water it means

68:52

having an exfoliant a liquid exfoliant

68:54

so that's exfoliant we sell tiptoe in

68:57

though you don't have sensitive skin so

68:59

you would use one called find your

69:00

balance which I'm going to give you okay

69:02

okay and then afterwards use a

69:04

moisturizer called niacinamide it's

69:06

called energize me it has something

69:08

called sacinic acid in it sacinic acid

69:10

is like

69:11

it's an ingredient that goes into your

69:13

cell and goes like this so when you put

69:16

that on your skin will wake up you'll

69:18

feel an alertness to your skin and then

69:21

you'll feel you get off a flight and

69:22

you'd feel I don't look tired because

69:24

you haven't looked you need to touch

69:25

your face a lot of people just don't

69:27

touch their face enough you need to get

69:29

the oxygen to your face you know you go

69:31

to the gym and the oxygen goes around

69:32

your body and your lymph system works

69:34

and you get this feeling of aliveness

69:36

but we just leave our face alone

69:39

so you do this you don't do it with me

69:42

just do it with me get yourself get your

69:43

fingers like this yeah like that so it's

69:45

like you've got a scissor and do

69:47

friction like this up down up down then

69:50

go left

69:51

and right

69:53

up down like that okay and then you want

69:56

to get your hands here yeah and you want

69:58

to lift your cheekbones like this fast

69:59

one two three

70:02

feel the energy

70:07

okay just let go now do you feel this

70:10

movement or rush in your face yeah

70:11

that's your lymph your lymph is like

70:14

your

70:15

hose pipe around your face and if you

70:18

put a sort of foot on the houseplate it

70:20

stops you need this to move around if

70:21

it's moving around it's releasing the

70:23

talks and taking them down here at the

70:24

moment it's leaving them on your skin

70:26

under your skin so it's Cleaning Out My

70:28

Face yes you want it to be moving so

70:30

there's just three things then so tell

70:32

me tell me this so if you had three

70:34

things you would use yeah three products

70:35

I would use and then sort of three

70:37

principles towards skin good skin care

70:39

okay you use

70:40

better off which is a cleansing one you

70:42

go in the shower yeah and you put this

70:43

on your face yeah it's on Aha and PHA

70:47

it's got gentle exfoliating acids okay

70:49

okay then

70:50

find your balance which is an exfoliant

70:53

which is not there what are you going to

70:54

get for you I don't know we'll get out

70:55

for you and energize me which you don't

70:58

have those three things is what you're

70:59

going to use okay your girlfriend

71:01

we're using longer routine I don't know

71:03

what she looks like on skin tone but

71:05

she'll probably have the retinols and

71:07

she'll have the vitamin C's and a few

71:09

other things but you just need three

71:10

things so that's the products and then

71:12

in terms of the personal routines you

71:13

said drink water sleep sleep and then

71:17

like massage my face yeah

71:19

got it okay

71:21

I'm looking forward to I'm looking

71:22

forward to it I I've always kind of

71:24

procrastinated on like skincare routine

71:26

I know but if it's easy if it's really

71:28

easy if it's by this thing called pick

71:30

it up yeah okay well you would just like

71:31

we'll cement it down with blue tag cool

71:33

okay okay so we have a tradition where

71:35

the last guest leaves a question for the

71:36

next guest and not knowing who they're

71:37

going to be leaving it for yeah the

71:39

question left for you is what's the one

71:42

thing that gives you the most healthy

71:44

pleasure in life and how can you commit

71:46

to

71:49

harness more of it going down a skinny

71:53

slope at 83 kilometers an hour but the

71:55

thing is I just feel a responsibility

71:57

now that I can't do that anymore why

71:59

because it's very dangerous you know

72:03

it's like a

72:05

but it is it's a guilty plan because I

72:07

love it I love the speed I love the like

72:09

I'm just in control

72:11

went through my hair

72:13

you know it's the only sport I know how

72:15

to do I'm [ __ ] every other sport

72:16

sounds like the way you live life yeah

72:19

probably in control high speed yeah win

72:22

through your arm probably because I

72:25

can't leave one somebody else now yeah

72:26

thank you thank you so much thank you

72:28

for the inspiration you truly are an

72:30

inspiration uh tremendously tremendously

72:32

so and I'm gonna make you feel

72:33

uncomfortable you should be so proud of

72:35

how far you've come

72:39

you must be so proud take some time to

72:41

just breathe it in and enjoy it training

72:43

you're gonna regret it shout out now I

72:45

appreciate you so much thank you for

72:47

being here thank you for coming and

72:48

doing this and thank you for creating a

72:49

real business that's um inspiring so

72:51

many people just through its existence

72:52

but also inspiring them to be better and

72:54

to feel better about themselves through

72:56

the wonderful products that you've made

72:57

and I highly recommend that everyone

72:58

goes and gets this book it's more of

73:00

Trinity the Trinity that I'm sure you've

73:02

loved in this conversation and these

73:03

products I mean they speak from

73:04

themselves because as I said you know

73:05

exactly where they've come from so thank

73:07

you

73:10

oh

73:11

as you may know this podcast is

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sponsored by huel if you're living under

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a rock you might have missed that and he

73:16

all has such a wide range of products

73:18

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if you've got the free heel t-shirt

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you'll understand how well that t-shirt

73:40

fits I'm not just saying that it really

73:41

really is phenomenal if you've heard me

73:43

talking about cure but haven't tried it

73:45

for some reason then this is a great

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option for you to get to know the range

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and find the product that works best for

73:51

you I've tried every single heel product

73:53

in the boardroom in the development

73:55

Laboratories and in my home and there's

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a couple of products which have just

73:59

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[Music]

74:11

oh

74:12

[Music]

74:28

[Music]

Interactive Summary

Trinny Woodall, founder and CEO of Trinny London, discusses her journey from battling addiction in her early 20s to building a successful multi-million dollar beauty company at the age of 53. The conversation covers her personal loss, the importance of maintaining authenticity, and her philosophy on professional growth, risk-taking, and the necessity of forward motion.

Suggested questions

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