Smart Beauty

Author: Viola Levy

Smart Beauty is a podcast for beauty business owners (particularly female founders) who are looking for tips on how to hone their brand voice and the story behind it or anyone who's just curious about business and branding. It's hosted by Viola Levy, journalist and founder of copy-led branding agency Smart Beauty Creative. We also sit down with guests from some of the industrys leading and disruptive beauty brands, as well as industry-insiders.To learn more about what we do, visit smartbeautycreative.com or follow us on Instagram @smartbeautycreative
Be a guest on this podcast

Language: en

Genres: Arts, Business, Fashion & Beauty

Contact email: Get it

Feed URL: Get it

iTunes ID: Get it

Get all podcast data

Listen Now...

From poker to prescription skincare – building a £160m business with James Mishreki
Episode 5
Thursday, 22 January, 2026

James Mishreki went from professional poker player to building Skin+Me, a personalised prescription skincare company now valued at £160 million. But what really drives someone to keep playing when the stakes get this high?In this episode, James talks about how poker taught him to detach from outcomes and make decisions with incomplete information. We get into the weekend Silicon Valley Bank collapsed and he thought he'd lost everything — £13 million gone overnight — and the 20-30 minutes where he felt "completely lost" before the founder community rallied.He explains why he believes resilience can't be taught, and why if you have to convince yourself to start a company, you probably shouldn't. He describes going on BBC News "looking like a ghost" after two days without sleep, and why he now calls himself "addicted to company building," comparing entrepreneurship to a dopamine hit he can't quit.skinandme.com