Leslie Chanti

Leslie Chanti

Executive Beauty Director at InStyle and Co-Founder of Lifestyle Platform The Executive Moms 

in honor of international women's week, executive beauty director leslie chanti shares her tips to succeeding in business, and talks about what mentoring and supporting other women in the workforce and privately, means to her. with the mantra "one team, one dream- if we push it all forward together, we all win", leslie also creates empowering content on her lifestyle platform the executive moms (formerly known as glamfashionsx).

Leslie, Can you tell us about what you do as Executive Beauty Director at InStyle?

​what i love most about my job is that it merges business and beauty, my two passions. in a nutshell, my job is to make sure that my beauty client's marketing goals are met. when they're launching a new product, we first determine who the precise audience is, and how they want to present the product.

for example it could be red carpet focused, fashion focused, or influencer focused.. with my marketing team we then come up with strategies that will have the most impact. one of the most important aspects of my job, is to always have my clients' interests and business goals as a top priority.

today i consider myself a minimalist in every aspect of my life: starting from my home all the way down to fashion and accessories, even skincare and scents.

You launched GlamFashionSX two years ago with your partner Emma. Can you tell us more about the platform and what you're trying to achieve?

we launched glamfashionsx two years ago with the goal of bringing a smile onto people's faces with light content that we love. we share topics that we are passionate about, such as beauty and fashion, but also lifestyle and family life, as well as boss moves. after building a community of over 1.2 million followers, we are now showing more of our personal lives; not just the things we love, but the things we do. a lot of women feel alone in what they're going trough balancing motherhood/jobs/marriage/life in general, and we just want to create a place that will show how we're all going trough the same things; this is also why we made the decision to rename it the executive moms. i'm a firm believer that women supporting other women rather than shaming or ignoring them is the way to go, and we really want to use our platform to do just that.

What advise would you give a woman trying to succeed in business?

i think it's a great time for women to roar, so "go get it" attitude is key. personally, i'd advise someone first starting out to always be the hardest worker in the room, because it's what is going to make you the best at your job. roll up your sleeves, put in the time, and be prepared. another very important aspect in my industry in particular, is choosing your partners and mentors wisely. personally, i've been lucky to have had women who have helped me earlier on in my career, and paying it forward to women who have come after me is something that i practice all the time. if we all push it forward as a team, we all win.

What are your holy grail beauty products?

i try so many different products, and get sent so many different ones too, so this changes all the time. right now, i love drunk elephant luxury facial oil, because my skin needs it in the freezing tri state winter. i also love la mer and dior lip balms with barely any color and nice texture. quite honestly though, i could do an entire interview just on my beauty favorites, haha.

Can you share with us a "muse" of your own; a woman who has inspired you, and in which ways?

my muse is someone i don't know personally, but who really inspires me to be like her one day. in the vast world of aspirational influencers online, she really stands out. based in miami, lauren rudinger is a badass bossbabe who has her own cosmetic line and helps other entrepreneur women achieve their goals and dreams. even without having met in person, her great energy radiates trough. i think she perfectly embodies "paying it forward" to other women, and i'm hoping to be able to have the same impact she has, one day.