“Every company is in the wellness business, whether they know it or not.” — Jennifer Norman

I got the opportunity to chat with Jennifer Norman, Founder of the Human Beauty Movement and long-time member of the beauty scene—from L'Oreal to Stila Cosmetics. Jennifer is passionate about revolutionizing beauty for the betterment of the planet and humanity.

In this post, we’ll discuss:

• The true meaning of beauty
• The impact of B-Corps
• Cultivating beauty

The True Meaning of Beauty

Beauty is more than an external product; it’s an internal state. With inner beauty comes outer beauty. You can see it in someone's eyes when they are at peace with themselves, and that is one of the purest forms of beauty you can find.

“I started the human beauty movement as an organization, rather than as a typical beauty corporation that just sells products.” Jennifer explains, “To me, beauty is so much more than just about the products that we buy, and what we put on our face and the things that we wear, it's more about establishing and creating that feeling of love and kindness and joy, and happiness and compassion,” she continues.

Genuine positivity radiates beauty. “When somebody can feel true alignment with themselves and feel comfortable with themselves, they can go out and manifest into the world as they wish to.” Jennifer shares.

Driving real change starts at the roots, and it won’t happen overnight. That type of change means taking conscious and intentional steps away from making beauty a mere commodity.

“The Human Beauty Movement, to me, was a way to develop positive beauty culture, to have these safe conversations with all people around what it means to feel beautiful, what it means to truly love yourself, what it means to have so much confidence and joy and esteem in yourself that you can conquer the world.” Jennifer shares, “We want to flip the script, we want to turn beauty inside out.”

No entity is making more strides to accomplish that than B-Corps certified companies.

The Impact of B-Corps

B Corporations are businesses that do more than make a profit—they prioritize people and the planet in everything they do.

“Even before I started The Human Beauty Movement, I was familiar with the B Corp movement and Lab B certifications from being in the natural product space.” Jennifer reflects. “I had been enamored with the care and attention, transparency and consideration that these businesses had for not only people, but the planet,” she continues, “The B Corp certification is considered the gold standard, the highest standard of social and environmental impact, because of what it takes to achieve that certification, and what it takes to maintain that certification.”

The B Corp certification is not something taken lightly, and it’s not an easy feat. Even so, the atmosphere is all support and care. “This is a space where we are in business as a force for good. We are not in this to compete with each other.” Jennifer explains.

In the spirit of gathering under the force for good, Jennifer invited me to speak at the WeTheChange West Coast 2022 Meeting, and I cannot tell you how refreshing it was to come into a group of women that were cheering me on, and each other on, in such an honest and authentic way. That is what beauty looks like.

Cultivating Beauty

The beauty industry is largely built on fabrication and ideals—fix that, hide this, get whichever product is hottest at that moment. The curtain may be lifting, but the foundation of spinning messages around what consumers lack is tough to bypass.

“A lot of what they [consumers] were being fed was completely fabricated. And still, to this day, it happens quite a bit. Although the veil has been pulled away.” Jennifer shares. She has no shortage of insight into exactly what those big brands peddle.

“People are recognizing what the impact has been on emotional wellness, on mental health, in terms of self-comparison, self-loathing, body dysmorphia…” she continues—unfortunately, the negative impacts of beauty campaigns are an exhaustive list.

Something Jennifer strives for is a connection with her inner self—taking time to recognize all the beauty within, taking care of herself by living slowly, and “turning off the TV” as often as she can, as we all should.

“It’s when we spend time with ourselves, time alone, time in nature, and dive deep within ourselves that we can find ourselves.” Jennifer explains, “In those precious moments of stillness, so much creation happens, so much of you is discovered.”

Self-care is practiced best as a ritual we incorporate into our daily lives and is the ultimate form of cultivating beauty.

Interested in learning more? Catch up with Jennifer by listening to our whole conversation and visiting TheHumanBeautyMovement.com!

When she’s not reimagining the beauty industry, Jennifer also develops wonderful children's books based on building awareness for kids interacting and befriending children with disabilities—you can find more information about these impactful stories (and Jennifer’s connection to their subject matter) at SuperCaptainBraveMan.com.