As a female leader, a business owner, you still constantly need to fight to get your voice heard.” But I assumed that the day that I became the boss it would go away. “When I was an employee, I was aware of unconscious bias. Women Entrepreneurs and Glass CeilingsĪnd while Tse’s Think Dirty has been an unqualified success, the entrepreneur has been surprised by some of the unspoken barriers experienced by women in leadership. Since the 2017 pitch, Tse’s team has doubled, while her subscriber base has grown to over five million. While in the end the Dragons’ enthusiasm didn’t translate to real-world support, Think Dirty continued to enjoy success. WATCH: Lily Tse faces (and slays) the Dragons Over two million people were using the app.Ī scant seven years later, in 2017, Tse pitched Think Dirty on Canada’s ever-popular entrepreneurial pitch television program, Dragon’s Den. By 2017, Think Dirty had grown to a team of five. “I was so nervous.” Nevertheless, it was Tse who walked out with the $5,000 grand prize, along with a bucketful of newfound confidence.įresh off her win, Tse officially launched Think Dirty, and the budding company began to grow. “It was the very first time I’d pitched,” recalls Tse. In 2012, Tse entered a startup pitch competition at George Brown College, where she and nine others – all men – pitched their business ideas to a room of approximately 30 people. Think Dirty, Shop Clean got started at a pitch competition It was a setback from which she was able to develop a strong company platform. She suddenly had space to think and dream. Then, Tse was unexpectedly laid off from her job at an ad agency. The laws regarding personal care ingredients have not been updated since the 1930s in the US.” The cosmetics industry has not been regulated that much. No one really talks about the prevention of the disease. “The Pink Ribbon campaign, for instance – and cancer research generally – is really focused on the cure. When her mother had breast cancer, Tse became conscious of the often-hidden connections between environmental toxins and the alarming rise in hormone-based cancers that especially afflict women, and how difficult it was to find out what chemicals were in products. Instead, Tse credits the birth of the Think Dirty app to a series of coincidental events. Nobody said, ‘I want to work at a startup.’ The narrative at that time was, if you are not working as a full-time employee, you are not serious about your career.” “I came from a generation where entrepreneurship was not a mainstream thing. A 2001 graduate from the Arts Management program at UTSC, post-graduation, Tse spent ten years working full-time in the advertising industry. Still, Tse didn’t start out thinking of herself as an entrepreneur. I want to encourage responsible consumers who create more mindful relationships with their consumption choices. I want women to reevaluate our relationship with beauty. Her target audience is not the already-environmentally conscious consumer, but those Average Janes and Joes who might shop differently if they could just figure out what was in their shampoo and lip gloss… and how toxic some of those products really are. Tse’s business model is savvy, having grown to include four revenue streams. With its unusual slogan, Think Dirty, Shop Clean, the mobile app stands out as unique in the crowded “clean beauty” market. That responsible consumption model launched Tse’s Think Dirty app into the right market at the right time. I want to encourage responsible consumers who create more mindful relationships with their consumption choices.” “I want women to reevaluate our relationship with beauty. She’s done so by sticking to a fundamental personal philosophy on the intersection of beauty and health. Laurent yet, but for the past ten years, Tse has grown her environmental beauty and technology business exponentially. Tse is an entrepreneur and the CEO of Think Dirty, a mobile app that helps consumers understand the ingredients in their personal care products. But cosmetics are easier to buy,” says Lily Tse (BA 2001 UTSC), quoting fashion designer Yves St. “The most beautiful makeup for a woman is passion. Tech entrepreneur Lily Tse is the founder and CEO of Think Dirty, a mobile beauty app that helps consumers understand what is in their personal care products (Photo: Lily Tse, by Paul Stewart)
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