The character arc of Emily Weiss
A life drawn by Character Arc from the public record
Born on 22 March 1985 and raised in Wilton, Connecticut. Between then and now sit a New York University degree in 2007, assistant jobs at W and Vogue, Into the Gloss launched in September 2010, 200,000 visitors a month by early 2012, two million dollars of seed funding and Glossier.com launched in October 2014, a Forbes list in 2015, fifty two million dollars in February 2018, a 1.2 billion dollar valuation in March 2019 and stepping down in May 2022. The line below draws the story so far, in order.
Tap the line to pluck it. Hover or tap any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of her life; the sources are at the foot of the page.
Who is Emily Weiss?
Four in the morning.
She was raised in Wilton, Connecticut, where her father worked for Pitney Bowes and her mother was at home. She interned at Ralph Lauren for two summers in high school and briefly modelled, interned at Teen Vogue while at university and appeared in three episodes of a reality series, and graduated from New York University in 2007 with a degree in studio art. She was a fashion assistant at W magazine and an on-set styling assistant at Vogue.
In September 2010 she launched Into the Gloss, a blog built mostly on interviews with women. She kept her day job at Vogue and worked on it in the mornings, between four and eight. Its best known series interviewed people in their own bathrooms and photographed what was on their shelves. By early 2012 the site had more than 200,000 unique visitors a month, and by May 2016 1.3 million. She left Vogue only after reaching ten million page views a month, with corporate partnerships and a small staff.
In 2014 she began approaching venture capitalists. She pitched twelve firms and eleven were not interested. The twelfth, with the help of Kirsten Green of Forerunner Ventures, led two million dollars of seed funding, and in October 2014 she introduced the first four products on her own blog and launched Glossier.com. The company raised fifty two million dollars in February 2018 and a hundred million in March 2019 at a valuation of 1.2 billion dollars. In August 2020 she and the company were accused of failing to support Black workers. She was in the Forbes 30 Under 30 in 2015 and Time's Next 100 in 2019, and in May 2022 she stepped down as chief executive and became executive chairwoman, with Kyle Leahy taking the role.
The moments
Emily Weiss's timeline.
The 2000s
Studio art at NYU
Milestone, and it changed her direction. A studio art degree, and two fashion internships behind it.
Assistant at W and Vogue
Milestone, and it changed her direction. Assistant jobs, which is where everybody in that industry starts.
The 2010s
Into the Gloss
Milestone, and it changed everything. Four hours before work, every morning, unpaid.
Two hundred thousand a month
Milestone, and it changed her direction. Two hundred thousand people a month, from a blog written before breakfast.
Leave Vogue for the blog
Crossroads, decided.
The paths laid out: leave and go all in, taken, or keep both. Glossier launched in October 2014 and was valued at 1.2 billion dollars in March 2019.
She left Vogue
Milestone, and it changed everything. Ten million page views a month before she would let go of the salary.
Eleven said no
Setback, and it changed everything. Twelve pitches, eleven refusals, and one yes.
Glossier.com
Milestone, and it changed everything. Four products, announced on the blog that had made the audience.
Forbes 30 Under 30
Milestone. A list, a year after launching the company.
Fifty two million
Milestone, and it changed her direction. Fifty two million dollars, four years after eleven refusals.
A billion dollar valuation
Milestone, and it changed everything. One point two billion dollars, from a blog written at four in the morning.
The 2020s
She stepped down
Milestone, and it changed everything. Out of the chair, and still on the board.
The line reaches today still adding to itself, which is why it is drawn now rather than at the end. What it has set moving fits in four hours a day that nobody was paying her for: she wrote the blog before work for four years, and the company is what the blog turned into.
Your turn
Every line draws a unique story.
Hers was written between four and eight in the morning before somebody else's job. Yours is already further along than you think, and drawing it takes about five minutes.
Emily Weiss: frequently asked questions
What people ask about her line.
What is Emily Weiss's character arc?
What is Emily Weiss's Into the Gloss?
How did Emily Weiss start Glossier?
When did Emily Weiss leave Vogue?
When did Emily Weiss step down from Glossier?
How much has Emily Weiss raised for Glossier?
Where does this timeline of Emily Weiss's life come from?
More character arcs
Lives that rhyme with her.
Sources
- Emily Weiss, English Wikipedia biography, filed under living people, including the accusation made in August 2020 that she and the company failed to support Black workers, which the record states and does not resolve.
- Glossier funding announcements of February 2018 and March 2019.
- New York University degree record, 2007.