After two years of consistently being denied, Jamie Kern Lima had finally landed her 10-minute spot on QVC. The 37 year old, bootstrapped entrepreneur was on a journey that was running out of time. With less than $1,000 left in her and her husband’s bank account, they desperately needed this opportunity to hit.

IT Cosmetics, founded by Jamie and her husband from the less than luxurious office space that doubled as their home living room, was struggling to get the traction they needed to take off. With a product line of beauty products developed alongside plastic surgeons and enhanced with anti-aging ingredients, Jamie knew they had great products, but unfortunately convincing the major retailers of the same fact was not an easy task.

As Jamie Kern Lima ascended to the QVC headquarters in West Chester, Pennsylvania she was on the heels of about four years of trials and adversity. Trade shows across the country, 20 hour work days, chaos in their own living room / warehouse, the journey of a startup that sounds better with the fairytale ending, but was miserable in reality. After leaving a successful career as a news-anchor, Lima was at a critical crescendo. If the 10 minute spot was a hit, it could lead to more opportunities and the chance to fight another day. If the 10 minute spot was a flop, it could be game over for IT Cosmetics and Jamie and her husband would have to stare down the loans that had gotten them this far.

Through all the ups and downs of getting IT Cosmetics off the ground externally, there were ups and downs internally for Jamie Kern Lima. The journey of many aspiring achievers can often create ripples of self-doubt and “imposter syndrome.”

There’s really three things that Jamie had that allowed her to overcome self-doubt and fear. When courage drifts these three perspectives can allow it to get back on purpose.

Trust Your Gut 

When you know, you know. Though she wasn’t supremely confident everyday, the lasting fuel that allowed Jamie to persevere through years of rejection, struggle, and adversity was the feeling deep down that she had. Deep down, Jamie knew that IT Cosmetics had a product that could help women. But how did she know? How do we know that we can trust the core convictions and feelings we have inside as we move through life?

For Jamie, she took the time to slow things down on the inside. She developed a strong sense of awareness of her internal state which allowed her to over time develop a trust for the things she was feeling. This is what we call living spiritually healthy and rooted, and its impact is significant when it comes to the intuition that is needed to move past self-doubt and a lack of courage.

Deep down, despite the external turbulence Jamie was able to trust her gut, and continue on the path she knew she needed to be on. When your mind is running wild, and playing tricks on you, slow things down and lean into the core truths that have been revealed on the inside.

For Jamie this slowing down came in the form of a few daily routines. Walk for an hour technology free, meditate and pray everyday. When things would get hard or she was “extra” discouraged she would open a note on her phone that she stocked with encouraging stories, quotes, or mantras. 

If we don’t have the systems in place, then how can we really know we can trust our gut? How do you know the feelings you have or the thoughts you think are valid and trustworthy? It’s very difficult to develop that kind of trust unless you’ve spent a lot of time doing the deep work on the inside. 

For any leader struggling with self-doubt or a lack of courage, it is imperative to get back to the core. We’ve got to be able to have a keen sense of what we’re feeling deep down in our gut. That’s the only way we’re going to be able to latch on to the core convictions or purpose to move our way forward. 

Commit To The Mission

Our willingness to continue on the journey is directly linked to the strength of our mission. If the mission is small, then our resistance to the difficult things on the journey will be small as well. If our mission is large, then our resistance to the trials will be large as well. This perspective was never more relevant than when Jamie had to face a deeply painful rejection on her path.

Jamie had been rejected before, IT Cosmetics was turned down by many retailers, and often more than one time each. But, one rejection in particular cut deep and I’m not sure I know of many people who would have kept going after this.

After one pitch presentation to a large beauty cosmetics retailer who kindly rejected IT Cosmetics for their stores, Jamie had the courage to ask for further clarification. “Can you tell me why, exactly, you don’t think we are a good fit?” This question is risky, but any driven person in Jamie’s shoes would recognize the value in getting to the bottom of why retailers wouldn’t pick up IT Cosmetics.

The executive asked if she really wanted him to be honest. And after getting her approval he delivered a haymaker of a critique that would destroy the entrepreneurial zeal of 99% of the people on the planet. 

“I just don’t think people will want to buy beauty products from someone who looks like you.”

And in one swift critique therein lies the tension of the mission and the self-doubt. Which is often the case for a great mission. For IT Cosmetics, Jamie Kern Lima was on a mission to do more than sell cosmetics. She wanted to redefine the entire beauty industry. She was tired of seeing models of beauty products who didn’t look normal. She felt the way the beauty industry marketed products created an unrealistic image of beauty that led to women feeling WORSE about themselves more than feeling beautiful - which is what the products were supposed to be helping with anyway. 

Jamie Kern Lima was a common woman who was seeking to serve the common woman, not prop up a beauty model to send a false message to little girls and aging women. The executive’s swift rejection wasn’t just taking a shot at Jamie’s personal appearance, he was taking a shot at Jamie’s entire approach of reorienting the beauty industry in general.

But either way, the pain of this rejection was real. A shot to the jugular, and an experience that any aspiring leader getting their feet under them, carrying a lot of self-doubt and uncertainty, would likely be crushed under.

But for Jamie she kept going. She redefined what the rejection meant and found a way to keep moving forward. If the mission was truly about herself she probably would have been done right around this point in her story. But, the mission wasn’t just about her. It was about little girls and changing the narrative around beauty standards. 

The strength of her resolve was in direct relationship with the strength of her mission. When we commit to a larger mission beyond ourselves it is shocking what sorts of things we can endure. Rejection and unfair critique hit differently when the mission is large.

The Mask Must Go

When the lights went on for IT Cosmetics first QVC appearance the intensity in the room was palpable. For Jamie, this was it. The crescendo of her startup journey, not just because of the potential revenue opportunities (though it was significant) but because it also created the scene for a moment of truth.

They say integrity is doing the right thing when nobody's watching. But it’s also being WHO you really are when everybody is watching.

For Jamie this was taken literally as she doubled down on a significant strategy to showcase her products in real time. Though expert QVC consultants recommended that IT Cosmetics take the traditional approach of having a model showcase the products on live TV, Jamie trusted her gut and went an entirely different approach.

Instead, she herself would demonstrate the products, live on TV with no makeup on at all. Now this would make most women cringe. The idea of HD quality cameras showcasing a makeupless face in front of hundreds of millions of viewers at home would be crippling enough. But for Jamie it went another level because of a skin condition called rosacea that she had spent much of her life covering up. 

Pause for a moment and see the significance of this situation and how it can impact your own struggle with self-doubt and a lack of courage.

On the day of her biggest breakthrough, her biggest possible financial opportunity for her struggling company, the conflict had to go right through the thing she had been most concerned with concealing. 

It’s almost as if the biggest breakthroughs only come after we’re forced to deal with the things we conceal and don’t want out in the open. 

The level of courage it takes to follow that path is one that few leaders want to go down. But the most transformational leaders recognize that they are in bondage to whatever they can’t talk about. Whatever is concealed owns you. 

As Jamie stood in front of viewers at home, makeupless, Rosacea on full display, the power of her products and the mission of IT Cosmetics was fully available for the world to see. And the response was transformational. The digital sales were racking up in real time. And products sold out before the full 10 minutes was up. The breakthrough had truly come upon IT Cosmetics.

Jamie was invited back to do four additional appearances on QVC that year. A year later she did 101 airings. The once struggling brand quickly grew to over $100 million in earnings shortly after the infamous QVC airing with no makeup. But as all transformational leaders know, it’s not just about sales.

“It’s not just a sales thing. By me taking off my makeup and showing my rosacea or showing that I have no eyebrows, I hope women feel better about their own issues, because everyone has them - even if they don’t buy anything.”

That’s the strength of the mission on full display. 

Eventually the same executives that turned down Jamie and IT Cosmetics multiple times came calling. Instead of begging for meetings, Jamie was in a position to turn meetings down. After a few years and multiple meetings IT Cosmetics was purchased by beauty industry titan L’Oreal for $1.2 Billion dollars. 

The financial success for Jamie Kern Lima is great, but the framework she displayed for overcoming self-doubt is more relevant for most of us. 

When courage drifts. Re-center with this framework from Jamie Kern Lima:

Trust Your Gut: How sure am I? Have I truly quieted all the noise down and drilled down to the core of my being on this pursuit?

Commit To The Mission: Am I really just wanting to get out from underneath the discomfort that is required of me in pursuit of this mission? Is it really about more than just myself?

The Mask Must Go: What am I so afraid will happen if what I am concealing is out in the open? Will this disqualify me or qualify me more for the work I want to do?