Cassandra Grey (Violet Grey) on Buying Her Company Back, Finding Your Look, and the Vogue Effect
Social Currency with Sammi Cohen
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Show Notes
What does it take to build a luxury beauty brand that’s as cool as it is strategic? Cassandra Grey has the answer. She’s the force behind Violet Grey—the ultra-curated beauty platform that has become a tastemaker in Hollywood and beyond.
Cassandra’s playbook is not the usual one: she launched her brand, grew a cult following for nearly a decade, sold the company in 2022, and then bought it back in 2024. Today, she shares what she learned from every milestone. Cassandra explains what selling her brand taught her about business, insights from her early meetings with Anna Wintour and Gwyneth Paltrow, and how to find your aesthetic as a brand.
Here’s what Sammi covers with Cassandra:
00:00 Meet Cassandra Grey
01:30 Cassandra’s Introduction to Glamour and an Unusual Childhood
04:06 The Violet Grey Origin Story
05:20 Crafting a Business Plan Without an MBA
12:29 The Violet Code
17:31 THE Gwyneth Paltrow Phone Call
19:40 Acquisition by Farfetch
24:04 Why Delusion is Good in Business
25:56 Buying Back Violet Gray
28:02 Incubating Brands with Violet Labs
30:29 The Push into Retail
37:26 Hiring for Your Weaknesses
40:31 Actionable Tips for Finding Your Brand’s Look
44:34 How to Show Social Currency Some Love
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