Exclusive: Interview with Lilly Ghalichi; ‘People Don’t Remember the Times You’ve Failed, It Only Takes One to Succeed’
In Part 2 of our exclusive interview with glam queen, lawyer, and entrepreneur Lilly Ghalichi, we talk about her daughter’s
Ivy Griffith
In Part 2 of our exclusive interview with glam queen, lawyer, and entrepreneur Lilly Ghalichi, we talk about her daughter’s birthday party, what Lilly Lashes fans can look forward to, and whether or not she would return to Shahs of Sunset.
In Part 1 we talked Shahs of Sunset drama, and parenting through a pandemic.
Rumors of a $250K Toddler Birthday Party
Rumors have been circulating that Ghalichi threw a $250K second birthday for daughter Alara, and I had to ask about it.
Ghalichi laughed, “It was far from $250,000. It was much less. The Minnie Mouse party was very small and understated. By Lilly Ghalichi standards, anyway.”
With a chuckle, Ghalichi added, “Her first birthday party, I did go all out. I’m not gonna lie. I am not gonna say a figure, but I threw her a glam carnival for her first birthday. And I mean, every detail from stilt walkers, to jugglers, to animals, to every cart that you would have at a carnival. It was wild, and it was fun, and it was fabulous. And it was very expensive. But for her second birthday, I did it in my house. That’s a huge savings right there. I booked like a wedding venue for her first birthday. It was far from $250,000. It sure was still fabulous.”
Lilly Lashes is Branching Out
Turning to her immensely successful businesses and glam brands, I asked Ghalichi if fans could expect anything new and exciting from Lilly Lashes and her other beloved brands.
Somberly, Ghalichi responded, “Yeah, it’s been really hard year for all of my brands because so many things are closed. We’ve kind of had to push back on new product development. But what I can say is, we do have an exciting new category, meaning it’s not lashes. And we were planning on expanding into two new categories this fall, which would have launched in October, and we’ve had to move those to early 2021, just because of our lab shut down and things like that. But we do have some really exciting things!”
Excitement and passion for her brands evident in her voice, Ghalichi continued, “And for years, people have been asking me and asking the brand, to expand beyond lashes. And we did that for the first time last year with our mascara. And people loved it. It was a great way for people to enter the brand that didn’t want to wear lashes yet, or wanted something that they could use from the brand every day because maybe you don’t wear lashes every day. So we just want to keep going with that. I don’t want to spoil too much. But I will say that the two new categories we’re entering are things that you can use every single day.”
How Does Lilly Make it Look so Easy?
As a mother of a young child, the creator and owner of several successful glam brands, how does Ghalichi make it look so easy? I had to ask how she portrays such a sense of glamor, elegance, and poise, while raising the happiest little girl.
Ghalichi laughed, the laugh of every mom who does more than anyone knows behind the scenes, “She takes great naps. She sleeps from 12 to four. And we have to wake her up at four because we don’t want her to sleep anymore so she’ll go to sleep at night, so I get a really huge chunk in the middle of the day where she’s asleep and I get a break.”
Thinking of the team who helps her make the magic happen, Ghalichi continued, “I have a great team of people to help me. Between my amazing nanny, my assistant and – to be quite honest, the fact that my daughter loves glam. She’s obsessed with it when I’m getting my hair and makeup done. She wants to sit in the chair. She wants them to do her hair and makeup. My hair stylists and makeup artist bought her vanity for her birthday a few days ago and she’s in front of that thing all day brushing her hair and putting her crown on. So, I think I get to do that part of my life because she enjoys being a part of it as well. If I’m doing a photo shoot, she wants to come in the photoshoot she’s like, ‘Ala, photo!’ She’s a star. There’s no other word to describe her. While I appreciate you saying that, I’m far from put together. I think it looks a lot more put together. But there’s avocado stains, throw up and all sorts of things all over me in the background.”
Favorite Food and TV Guilty Pleasure
Looking for a moment of levity, I asked Ghalichi what her favorite food is, and what TV shows she’s looking forward to this fall.
With a chuckle, Ghalichi responded, “If I had to eat one thing for the rest of my life, it would probably be Chick-Fil-A, those fries are just beyond.”
The entrepreneur and mom continued, “Okay, here’s like a huge secret. But I don’t watch television. And I actually don’t own a television. The only show I was super into was Game of Thrones, so it ended and there’s no more. I think they’re making the prequel and I will be all about that.”
So How Did Lilly Get so Successful and Make Her Brand Magic?
In a YouTube video, Ghalichi talks about how you make a brand grow. In the video, she discussed Googling and calling vendors until you find someone who will work with your product.
Asked about that, Ghalichi said thoughtfully, “First of all, let me say I’ve had a lot of businesses that have failed. And people don’t remember those things. People don’t focus those things on those things, which is great. All you need is one to succeed. What I learned with Lilly Lashes; this is the first time I created a product that was kind of weird, kind of out there. There were no super dramatic lashes, or three dimensional lashes. But it was something I needed for myself. And what I realized with that business is there’s so many people just like you in the world, no matter how weird you think you are. Because I thought I was pretty weird. No matter how weird you think you are, there’s billions of other people out there. They’re just as weird as you. So what I find in creating my products or my brands, if I want it, if I need it, then it’s going to succeed.”
Speaking about her experience with creating her individual brands, Ghalichi continued, “and so I use that same mentality with Hairtamin, which is my hair vitamin. I was taking five different pills to get all the things my doctor said I needed to help regrow my hair after I ruined it with hair extensions. And I was like, ‘this is stupid. All these things should just be in one pill.’ So that’s how Hairtamin was born. And then with my latest brand, Bumpology, same thing. I was pregnant. I wanted to be 100% all natural during pregnancy. And what most pregnant women do is they use a lotion, and they use an oil. I’m like, this is stupid. I have to buy two products and I shouldn’t have to hunt the end of the world to find something that’s all natural. So I decided to create a product that was a mixture of butters and oils, which just doesn’t exist.”
Ghalichi is a Problem Solver
Speaking of her success in brainstorming new products, Ghalichi said, “So that’s always been the key for me. Create something that you want and you need, and you’re gonna use and chances are, there’s going to be millions of other people that are going to want it or need it and use it also.”
When asked if she’s a problem solver with that sort of approach, Ghalichi responded, “Exactly. Solve your own problems.”
Will Ghalichi Return to Shahs of Sunset?
While I had her on the phone, I had to ask one question on everyone’s mind; would she ever consider returning to Shahs?
A smile in her voice, Ghalichi quipped, “I would never say never.”
The glam queen added, “And I think that this show has evolved a lot since I was on it. Everyone grew up, everyone matured, everyone evolved. And it’s probably more of an environment today that I could sustain and survive in than it was at the time I was on it. So I would never say never. I guess we’ll just have to wait to see!”