Beauty is a $650 billion global industry — and it's still largely misunderstood. Off the Shelf with Susannah Dellinger goes beyond the product and into the power: the economics, the culture, the relationships, and the decisions that shape who wins and who doesn't. For beauty founders, executives, and anyone who knows this industry is worth taking seriously.
018. The Worst Business Advice I Ever Got (And Why I'm So Glad I Ignored It)
Send me a text 💌 Everyone's handing out business advice. Most of it is wrong. In this episode, Susannah Dellinger breaks down the four pieces of business advice she was given, ignored, and is so glad she did — from five-year business plans to the myth of removing yourself from your own company — and shares what actually built a multi-million dollar agency from zero. In this episode: Why she scaled from zero to $5 million in 48 months without ever writing a business planWhy "stay true to your ...
18 May 2026
017. Give Women Their Names Back: The Beauty Industry's Name Trap Nobody Is Talking About
Send me a text 💌 When you sell your beauty brand, you might also be selling your name — forever. In this episode, Susannah Dellinger breaks down the Jo Malone lawsuit, the contracts that stripped female founders of the right to use their own names, and why the beauty industry's name trap is yet another system quietly designed to keep women from building twice. In this episode: What happened when Estée Lauder sued Jo Malone in 2026 — and why printing your own name as a founder on a bottle was ...
11 May 2026
016. Christine Morrison: The Calvin Klein VP Who Dismantled Everything to Figure Out Who She Really Was
Send me a text 💌 She was a VP at Calvin Klein during one of fashion's most mythologized eras, left it all behind for marriage, twin babies, and a new city — and had to completely dismantle her identity to rebuild it. In this episode, Susannah Dellinger sits down with Christine Morrison, author of Clothes Minded, to talk about ageism in fashion and beauty, why the word "anti" needs to be retired permanently, and what it actually means to dress from the inside out. In this episode: What it was ...
4 May 2026
015. Beauty Retail Strategy: What Actually Moves Product Off the Shelf at Sephora and Ulta
Send me a text 💌 Getting into Sephora or Ulta isn't the finish line — it's the starting gun. In this episode, Susannah Dellinger breaks down what actually moves product off the shelf, why most beauty brands get retail wrong from day one, and what it really takes to build the kind of in-store presence and community strategy that makes a brand impossible to ignore. In this episode: Why most beauty brands aren't profitable for up to three years in retail — and what that means for your launch str...
27 Apr 2026
014. The Wharton Grad Who Rage Quit Wall Street to Build the Beauty Brand the Festival Generation Actually Needs
Send me a text 💌 Jenny Qian spent three years on Wall Street, rage quit, landed at two of indie beauty's most talked-about startups, and then built a viral TikTok brand out of a personal problem — she just never learned how to do makeup. In this episode, Susannah Dellinger sits down with Jenny, founder of Astrobabe, to talk about skill-level inclusivity, joy as resistance, and why the beauty industry's next frontier isn't skin tone — it's accessibility. In this episode: Why Jenny rage quit Wa...
20 Apr 2026
013. The 2026 Beauty Community Playbook: What Actually Builds Loyalty Beyond the Shelf
Send me a text 💌 Everyone's talking about building community in beauty. Almost nobody is doing it right. In this episode, Susannah Dellinger breaks down exactly what she'd do right now to build real, lasting brand loyalty — from the simplest fix nobody's trying to roller rink parties, farmers markets, and the brand trip model that CocoKind is getting exactly right. In this episode: Why the disappearance of chairs from Sephora and Ulta is costing brands more than they realize — and the stat th...
15 Apr 2026
BONUS. Glinda Isn't Coming. The Power Was Always Ours.
Send me a text 💌 Can beauty be a tool for feminism? It's the question Susannah Dellinger has been asking every guest, every LinkedIn essay, and even Gloria Steinem. In this bonus episode, recorded while traveling, she makes the case that it's completely the wrong question — and proposes the one we should actually be asking instead. Want to go deeper? Read Susannah's full essay on what happened in that room — and what it means for the industry HERE. In this episode: Why "can beauty be a tool f...
13 Apr 2026
012. Pamela Anderson's Skincare CEO Built Her Career Fixing What Beauty Gets Wrong
Send me a text 💌 She started a recycling club at 16, launched a clean beauty brand into Sephora, sold out her launch — and nearly went out of business because of it. In this episode, Susannah Dellinger sits down with Kailey Bradt, CEO of Sonsie Skin, to talk about what it actually takes to build differently in beauty — and why the industry's biggest gap isn't innovation, it's access. In this episode: What happened in Gloria Steinem's living room — and what shifted for Kailey walking out of th...
6 Apr 2026
011. Who Really Owns the Beauty Industry? The Six Power Houses Behind Every Brand You Buy
Send me a text 💌 You think you're choosing a product. You're actually choosing a power structure. In this episode, Susannah breaks down the six corporate houses that own the beauty industry — who's on their boards, how many women are actually in the room where decisions get made, and what it means for every brand on every shelf. In this episode: The six beauty conglomerates that control the majority of the brands you buy — and how much each is worthL'Oreal's $60 billion portfolio: from CeraVe...
30 Mar 2026
010. Beauty's Youth Obsession Has a Paper Trail
Send me a text 💌 The beauty industry's obsession with youth didn't come from nowhere. In this episode, Susannah connects the dots between the Epstein files, the men who shaped beauty and fashion for decades, and the standards that got built on the backs of those values — and asks what the industry does now that it knows. In this episode: Why Ronald Lauder's name appearing nearly 500 times in the Epstein files is a beauty industry conversation, not just a political oneHow the men who owned Vic...
23 Mar 2026
009. Off the Shelf Vol. 1: Stila
Send me a text 💌 This show is called Off the Shelf for a reason! In this episode, Susannah Dellinger officially launches the mini-series at the heart of it all — taking iconic beauty brands off the shelf and examining the stories behind the story. First up: Stila. In this episode: The story of Stila: how makeup artist Janine LaBelle built one of the coolest beauty brands of the late 90s — accidentally pioneering sustainable packaging before anyone called it thatWhy Kitten became one of the mo...
19 Mar 2026
008. Making It Up: $10M Beauty Agency, No Plan, No Degree
Send me a text 💌 She talked her way into her first beauty counter job with zero experience, memorized a poem in Japanese, and built a $10 million agency without a business plan. In this episode, Susannah Dellinger shares her story — and what "making it up" really means. In this episode: How a broke theater dropout talked her way into Nordstrom on Michigan Avenue with no beauty experience whatsoeverThe Shiseido poem that changed everything — and what it taught her about passion over credential...
16 Mar 2026
007. Jennifer Walsh: Beauty Bar Founder on Amazon, Neuroscience and What She'd Build Differently
Send me a text 💌 Before omnichannel was a buzzword, Jennifer Walsh was already doing it. The founder of Beauty Bar built one of the first beauty e-commerce platforms, pioneered indie brand distribution, and accidentally laid the groundwork for Amazon Beauty — all before anyone knew what any of that meant. In this episode, she and Susannah Dellinger get into what beauty really does to the brain, and why that changes everything. In this episode: How Jennifer launched Beauty Bar in the late 90s ...
12 Mar 2026
006. Why 3 Million People Showed Up for Ulta Beauty World... And What It Means for Beauty
Send me a text 💌 3 million people logged on at the same time to buy a ticket to a beauty event. Only 3,000 were available. In this episode, Susannah Dellinger breaks down what Ulta Beauty World actually tells us about the beauty industry right now — and why it should have every brand paying attention. In this episode: Why 150,000 teenagers stood in line for up to seven hours at a mall in Boca Raton — and what it signals for the future of beauty retailThe history of in-person community i...
9 Mar 2026
005. Is Beauty Holding Women Back... Or Setting Them Free?
Send me a text 💌 Is beauty a tool for feminism, or has it been weaponized against women? Susannah Dellinger has spent two decades in the beauty industry and she's finally asking the question out loud. This is the episode she's been building toward. In this episode: Why beauty went from self-expression and play to "there's something wrong with you — and here's 25 products to fix it"The workplace double standard: why women who wear makeup earn up to 25% more — and what that actually says about ...
5 Mar 2026
004. The Time I Threw a Snickers Bar at Tyra Banks
Send me a text 💌 Before she was a beauty executive, Susannah Dellinger was a semifinalist on Cycle 2 of America's Next Top Model... and she accidentally threw a Snickers bar at Tyra Banks. In this episode, she's finally telling the story. In this episode: The full story: how a 23-year-old wannabe actress ended up in a bikini, miked up, and hurling a Snickers bar at Tyra BanksWhat a week of psychological isolation, IQ tests, and a staff therapist reveals about how reality TV actually worksWhy ...
5 Mar 2026
003. Beauty, Power, and the Greenland Headline Nobody Talked About Enough
Send me a text 💌 One week into recording a podcast about beauty as a political force, Susannah Dellinger woke up to a headline that proved her point. In this episode, she breaks down the Ronald Lauder–Greenland story… and what it says about beauty, power, and where your dollars actually go. In this episode: How Ronald Lauder, heir to the Estée Lauder fortune, reportedly pitched the idea of acquiring Greenland to Donald Trump — and why that matters to every beauty consumerWhy beauty has always...
5 Mar 2026
002. Beauty History 101: Madam C.J. Walker
Send me a text 💌 Before she was a millionaire, she was orphaned, widowed, and a single mother. In this episode, Susannah Dellinger tells the story of Madam C.J. Walker — the first self-made millionaire in beauty history — and what her legacy reveals about the real power of the industry. In this episode: How Madam C.J. Walker built a haircare empire from scratch in 1906 — during the Jim Crow eraThe Walker System: scalp care, hot massage treatments, and a product line that created an entirely n...
5 Mar 2026
001. Why Beauty: Behind the World's Most Underestimated Industry
Send me a text 💌 Beauty gets dismissed as soft power. Susannah Dellinger disagrees, and she has the numbers to prove it. In this debut episode, she makes the case for why beauty deserves a seat at the serious table: economically, culturally, and globally. In this episode: Why beauty is so often misunderstood — and what it actually represents as a force for identity, community, and cultureThe real economic scale: a $650B market growing nearly 5% annually, 30M+ jobs worldwide, and $2.50–$3 gene...
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