Believe IT by Jamie Kern Lima Review
How to go from underestimated to unstoppable - an honest review of Jamie Kern Lima’s debut book
I first encountered IT Cosmetics at my favorite toy store for grown women - Ulta.
A friend of mine told me about the Bye Bye Undereye Concealer and as a fellow dark circle sufferer, I had to try it. Let me tell y’all, usually the hype around cosmetic products is blown out of proportion and ends in a major let down, but this stuff did NOT disappoint. So naturally I did what every girl does when a new brand is discovered and bought up everything else that was available - CC cream, No-Tug Eyeliner (a fav), brushes, brushes, and more brushes. It’s fair to say that I’m a pretty big fan of this brand.
It’s important for me to tell you this next part - I’ve been a fan of brands only to be disappointed by their business practices or beliefs (ahem Goya ahem). When I was younger, that kind of stuff didn’t matter to me. If I liked a product, I bought it and paid no mind to the actual business. Now that I’ve lived longer and know better, I buy from brands that not only have good products, but who are good citizens of the world.
This book showed me that not only is the It Cosmetics brand one that is mission-driven, but it made me fall in love with the founder and her story.
The Contents
The book is broken down into 3 parts which include 18 total chapters and about 260 pages. It’s not written in the typical Personal Development book fashion, with steps and actionable items that you can apply to your life, but more in a memoir style. There are tons of stories and anecdotes from Jamie’s personal and professional life, and a lot of insight about how she built, marketed, and eventually sold her business.
Personally, I had no idea that the business was sold (guess I’m not very good at keeping up with this type of news). As an entrepreneur myself, it was pretty fascinating learning about how all of that works. Jamie doesn’t go into too much detail, but she gives enough for readers to have a good understanding of the process.
Overworking
In the book, Jamie also writes a lot about the challenges she overcame in her personal life. From finding out she’s adopted and meeting her birth mom to her own struggles with motherhood and family dynamics. One of the things that I identified with most was the struggle she faced with overworking.
She writes about 100-hour work weeks, skipping holidays, and having her assistant drive her to her engagements so that she could sleep during the commute. THAT is a whole different level of dedication, and one that I find admirable, but not enviable. I respect that it took all of that sacrifice to have her level of success, but what I thought about the most while I was reading was how much I don’t want that lifestyle.
(In fact, one of the things I’m most focused on right now is managing my time so that I have blocks dedicated to work, family, and of course myself, but I digress.)
The point is that there’s a level of dedication that’s required for the level of success Jaimie was able to reach. She built a BILLION dollar company and her products are sold all over the world. You can’t get to that level without sacrifices. But she talks about her journey humbly, almost as if she’s still in disbelief that she was the one who lived it. She also doesn’t put pressure on the reader to feel like the only way to be successful is to have her same level of dedication. She’s very clear about each of us walking our own path, and emphasizes the idea that we should all be true to ourselves and that is what will lead to our success.
Extras
A lot of personal development books have action steps to follow within the text, or even leave pages for journaling/note-taking. Believe IT doesn’t have those things, but it does provide access to a workbook that you can download after purchasing.
Should You Buy Believe It?
The short answer is yes - it’s a very inspiring story. If you’re already a fan of IT Cosmetics, you’ll love the brand even more once you know its story and understand the path that Jaimie took to not only bring it to life, but make it available to as many women as possible around the world. After reading it, I believe that her courage paved the way for a shift in the conversation around beauty and has made it possible for other brands to keep that conversation going.
