INTERVIEW: We Chatted with Moj Mahdara the CEO of Beautycon Media on Women’s Empowerment
Moj Mahdara, is the CEO and the brains behind Beautycon Media. Originally Beautycon was an invite-only, YouTuber-to-YouTuber event, but Mahdara’s vision was bigger than that and she made BeautyCon into the massive, business-to-consumer cosmetics summit that it is today. Mahdara has some amazing advice for women going into traditionally male-dominated fields, and something specific that young activists should be focusing on now. We chatted with her at a recent Girls Build LA event.
GLITTER: This is a big moment for women. Since the election, we’ve seen momentum, unlike anything we’ve seen for a very long time. Today, we’re surrounded by all these women who are looking to go into traditionally male-dominated fields. What kind of advice would you give these girls?
MOJ MAHDARA: “I don’t know that I have the perfect answer because I haven’t it figured out myself yet. It’s really depressing how few women sit on the other side of decision-making in our industry. I can’t even think of one, to be honest in the top echelon of those who decide investments, acquisitions, and it’s really sparse. I think that women have to really digest that we really are sort of second-class in that way. Better to digest the demographics and reality of our situations. Look—you’re going to have to work five times harder, ten times harder, and I accept that every day, it doesn’t bother me. I get frustrated, I get tired, but if you want it you’re going to have to put in the time and the effort and the energy. I think everyone needs to be prepared to work extremely hard. Young millennials, Gen Z, you guys are really smart and tenacious so I think that we are in good hands and that you guys are going to help break us through. You have to make a strong community of people around you.”
GLITTER: Everything going politically right now, such as the FCC repealing Net Neutrality, the Republican tax plan, threats to Dreamers, it can seem overwhelming. Do you think there is something specific that young activists should be focusing on?
MOJ MAHDARA: “We need to focus on getting every person who can vote registered to vote. If people of color, women, and young people had come out to vote in this past election and every election afterward, we would not be governed by the current state. Not having an audience that understands the power of their own vote is a problem. We need to do a better job of advocating and making sure the polls are open late, that polls are open on the weekend, that people can vote three weeks in advance, that they can mail in their votes. We don’t give people the day off to go vote so we need to make it really, really easy to let them vote.”
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