Beauty Influencer LIZ KENNEDY Elevates Women’s Lives from Self-Care to Self-Respect
Beauty Influencer LIZ KENNEDY Elevates Women’s Lives from Self-Care to Self-Respect
June 2, 2023

BY CINDY SALTZMAN

 

Undoubtedly Liz Kennedy is a beautiful woman. She is tall, slender and fit, with perfect skin and hair. But the minute you speak with her, you realize that her outer beauty is the least interesting thing about her. Within two minutes of the start of our conversation, it became evident that Liz instinctively knows how to connect with people. Not only is she gracious, and intelligent, but she is also hysterically funny, and empathetic, topped off with an inner strength and resilience that Wonder Woman herself would admire.

Is it any wonder then, that Liz Kennedy is a widely popular beauty influencer and business entrepreneur with over 160,000 followers on TikTok alone, not to mention over 100,000 followers on Instagram?

However, Liz’s influence on women (and probably some men too) goes much deeper than that. She is acutely aware of the struggles that many women go through, as she has experienced some very difficult struggles herself, and come out the other side. As a result, she is genuinely working to help heal and elevate women’s lives from the inside out.

 

 

Her company Beauty Magnet is an extension of that mission. Liz explains, “My company @beautymagnet was developed and intended to not only create solutions and simplicity in the beauty space but with the power and mentality of BEING magnetic. It’s important that when we speak about skin, we speak about it as a healing practice rather than just vanity.”

Liz Kennedy is the real deal. Did I mention that she is a great cook too?

I understand that you were originally from the New York but now live in Los Angeles. What sparked that move?

Liz: We moved to L.A. when I started shooting the Steve Harvey Show. Everyone thought I was Latino, so then they wanted me to do beauty makeovers with big lashes and big hair, which I loved. It was so fun.

Steve is such a great guy. He’s so smart and such a pleasure to be around. And then I fell in love with California, and we (my husband and me) decided to take the leap and stay.

Cindy: Where is your husband from?

Liz: His parents are Russian, French, and Argentinian but he was born and raised in Muttontown Long Island with all Jews.. His best friend is Jewish. His love of Judaism is infectious.

Cindy: So you weren’t much of a stretch for him then.

Liz: No, not at all. I was born in Queens, and then I was in Israel until I was about 6 or 7. And then upstate New York until I was 18.

My father is Moroccan/Sephardic, Israeli, street kid. He grew up with 6 brothers. And my mom is Ashkenazi, NYU super- educated. They met in a Jewish nightclub in New York. They fell in love and had me. But unfortunately, they were two completely opposite human beings.

Liz: My parents had a very chaotic- abusive relationship-two people who were completely incompatible. When I was six or seven, my mom took my sister and I to the states, and changed our name to Kennedy, like the airport. A very American name. And to be honest, my very Israeli, hard-to-pronounce name would have been difficult as we tried to fit into American life.

In a sense, Liz Kennedy become my stage name.

Cindy: Do you remember moving from Israel to the states?

Liz: Not really. I remember being in kindergarten and everyone making in front of my Israeli name. And I didn’t speak English. I was really tormented in school and then tormented again when my name was changed in middle school.

Cindy: did you grow up in a Jewish household?

Liz: Hanukkah, always, Passover, always. My mom spoke Hebrew. But I didn’t really reconnect to Judaism until I returned to Israel to reconnect with my father when I was 21 or 22.

I was young and broke and was only supposed to stay for a week and a half, but I ended up staying for two and a half months. time. And then I would go back two to three times a year.

Cindy: What was the impetus for your career in beauty?

Liz: I’ve been obsessed with skin since I was a kid, I’ve always been fascinated by the skin’s ability to heal. I grew up so skinny, with big frizzy typical Jewish hair. I didn’t know how to do makeup, and grew up with a tomboy of a mom, so I taught myself everything. And then I came into myself and my body around the time I started college. There still are many days when I relate to that 13-year-old Liz though.When I was about 22-23, I said to my now husband that I wanted to get my license as an aesthetician, which I did. And then I went to nursing school because I thought I wanted to work with a plastic surgeon. But eventually I realized that I was more obsessed with the educational component of skincare.

At that point, I started to do a lot of TV. And while I was doing TV, I would listen to what people complained about. A lot of the complaints were about products and tools being scattered everywhere. So, I thought, what if I created something that was like a Swiss Army knife, something that could carry tools that is all in one. And then my husband’s best friend, connected me to an engineer to help me develop the product.

One of my investors told me that he invested in my company because I was so passionate about it.  And he was the first guy who believed in me besides my husband.

Cindy: How many years ago was that?

Liz: Five years ago. It takes a long time to create a product- between the patents, the molds, the raising of money, the mistakes you make along the way. It’s exhausting. If it hadn’t been something proprietary, I would have just quit.

Cindy: So even though you were already in a very glamorous field, you still had this passion to create this product?

Liz: Yes, because for me it was more than just magnetized skin care tools, and eventually skincare, I wanted to create a legacy brand about being magnetic, and how to manipulate your brain to be more magnetic. We are planning a podcast that will tie into this.

Everyone is busy, so a long beauty routine just isn’t practical, but 10 minutes is. Some of the tools are made to change and improve your skin, but the other tools, like the eye roller are to help you to slow down and enjoy your life for 5 or 10 minutes. It may not be life-altering, but what is life-altering is showing yourself a little respect by taking time for yourself.

Cindy: You have a very holistic approach to your beauty segments.

On social media, you delve into healthy meals, skincare, makeup….

Liz: I think I am really good at getting a message across in 30 seconds, digestible segments.

Cindy: Why do you think your message resonates with so many women?

I’m pretty transparent with my followers about trauma or things that I have been through. And I have learned that there are many women that follow me because they realize that I am more than just this chick who is into beauty and skincare.

Liz: I’m pretty transparent with my followers about trauma or things that I have been through. And I have learned that there are many women that follow me because they realize that I am more than just this chick who is into beauty and skincare. A lot of the women that follow me are really struggling whether with debt, or postpartum depression or sexual assault, all this crazy stuff that happens to women.

It occurred to me that there are two ways that you can go. You can either totally not take care of yourself and fall into this deep dark hole, or you can do what I did and use it as a weapon and create self-care and mentally alter the way you perceive yourself while respecting yourself. I feel it is important to be transparent and share our struggles. I don’t want someone to look at me and think this is not attainable, because it is.

Cindy: Did you ever want to give up during the process of developing the Beauty Magnet?

Liz: There were so many times when I felt like giving up. It was very difficult raising money during covid. My TV work dried up, and I had just had my son. But what kept me going was the knowledge that I was creating a legacy brand and that it was more than tools and skincare. And that the reason that women will use this and continue to do so is that we are changing their skin and manipulating their brains to be more magnetic.

Cindy: What has been the biggest challenge for you as an entrepreneur?

Liz: There is definitely sexism and inappropriate behavior, but once someone gets to know me, they realize that they don’t want to mess with me.

Cindy: Have you had to deal with antisemitism in business?

Liz: I deal with a lot of it online-horrible stuff. But when I was a naive kid, in upstate New York, I thought that everyone liked us and wanted to be like us. I never knew the rest of the world didn’t like us. Jokes on us.

Cindy: I read somewhere that you said, “Even the people who believe in you and even invest with you, can doubt you. You must keep the vision alive.”

Liz: Yes, it’s true. One of my investors told me that he invested in my company because I was so passionate about it. And he was the first guy who believed in me besides my husband.

Cindy: It is interesting that your investors are two Muslim men.

Liz: They are great business partners. To be honest, they cared enough to invest in me. I get a lot of added value through their consultations and knowledge as well.

Cindy: What has been the most rewarding thing about creating a successful product and brand?

Liz: The messages I receive from women. I want to help simplify women’s countertops and brains and to help maximize their time and self-esteem. Everyone is magnetic, but they have to feel it. We want to bring this message to the consumer in a simple, digestible, and relatable way.

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