"People's views about how they work and what they desire have changed drastically since the pandemic."
Lillee Jean Trueman (born: April 18, 2001 (also known as Lillee Jean and “LJ”), is an American YouTuber and verified Instagram digital internet celebrity who uses her social media platforms and websites for content creation. She is a model, actress, writer, producer, director, self-taught makeup artist, beauty blogger, lifestyle blogger, environmentalist, anti-bullying, and online cyberbullying advocate. She currently has a live web series that is shooting Season 2, called “Lillee Jean TALKS! Live” (IMDB credited), and features well-known entertainers, as well as innovators in the arts. Her first-hand experience in being cyberbullied, as well as dealing with anti-semitic racism, has brought her advocacy to the forefront when it comes to educating the public.
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We’re happy that you could join us today! Please introduce yourself to our readers. What’s your story?
Lillee Jean: New York girl through and through, I am a social media digital artist and content creator, who is active on all major social media platforms. I love to share my reviews and tutorials on beauty, skincare, and lifestyle with my fans.
CEOs and leaders usually have different motives and aspirations when getting started. Let’s go straight to the beginning. What was your primary goal for starting your business? Was it wealth, respect, or to offer a service that would help improve lives?
Lillee Jean: When I was much younger, I just fell into this industry naturally. The arts and entertainment have always been of interest to me, but I didn’t know what exactly I wanted to do. I realized I enjoyed working for myself after making the move to start my own business, and coming from a family of entrepreneurs, it was a natural fit for me. Being able to get involved with things that are happening in the world is a privilege and a responsibility for someone with a platform as large as mine. Having long been an advocate for the environment, as well as online bullying, I try to use my platforms to inform and educate as I grow.
Tell us about 2 things that you like and two things that you dislike about your industry. Share what you’d like to see change and why.
Lillee Jean: I love being able to interact with people from all over the world on a daily basis. It is so interesting to meet new people, to learn about things that concern them, and to take part in the journey they are taking in their places in the world. Each path you may choose in life has its own ups and downs. There is never a “perfect” path to take. Almost everything you choose to dive into will have some good and bad aspects. I enjoy having support and love from my fans, but on the flip side, you do attract negative people, who want to know you intimately, in a way that you might not even share with your own family. Being in the entertainment industry definitely has its downsides. You are raw, and your life is captured on camera and video for the world to see. It is true that you may lose some privacy, but the pluses outweigh the minuses by a long shot.
Companies around the world are rapidly changing their work environment and organizational culture to facilitate diversity. How do you see your organizational culture changing in the next 3 years and how do you see yourself creating that change?
Lillee Jean: People’s views about how they work and what they desire have changed drastically since the pandemic. A work environment that allows people to work at their own pace not only facilitates the work they are hired to do but also allows them to spend more time with their families. In the past, we have generally worked independently, unless we have a press event, interview, video, or photoshoot to attend. I think we have done a great job in starting the conversation and working towards creating more positive work environments for our employees, but I know we can go further than we have so far, to create an even more harmonious place for our employees to work for us. My goal is to build on what we have created so far.
The people that make up my team are not just employees, they have become friends and family. They deserve to have quality time with their families as a balance between their work and family life, without having to worry about whether they can make a family member’s soccer game or make it to a doctor’s appointment. These are the work environment goals I want to achieve for the people I surround myself with. They simply deserve to feel appreciated.
According to the Michigan State University “An organization’s culture is responsible for creating the kind of environment in which the business is managed, and has a major impact on its ultimate success or failure.” What kind of culture has your organization adopted and how has it impacted your business?
Lillee Jean: When I launched this business, I literally based it on the corporate frame of thinking about workplace environments. As a business owner, not only am I privileged to have a more flexible work style, but I realized, why shouldn’t the people who work for me, also enjoy that too? Not only did it become my responsibility, but also my duty to the people who work for me, to change the way we worked, so that our team could also enjoy more flexibility in the workplace. At the end of the day, it all comes down to trust. My team is trusted. Everyone who enters our inner circle is vetted, and building that level of trust takes time, but once it is established, the impact of our team’s success is immediate.
Richard Branson once famously stated “There’s no magic formula for great company culture. The key is just to treat your staff how you would like to be treated.” and Stephen R. Covey admonishes to “Always treat your employees exactly as you want them to treat your best customers. What’s your take on creating a great organizational culture?
Lillee Jean: The key is to value everyone’s opinion, and to not downplay people’s thoughts. By doing that you are isolating them, and not having a harmonious workplace
The overwhelming majority of more than 9,000 workers included in a recent Accenture survey on the future of work said they felt a hybrid work model would be optimal going forward, a major reason for that being the improved work-life balance that it offers. How do you promote work-life balance at your company?
Lillee Jean: As long as someone is putting in the work, the results, are felt immediately in my opinion. I have yet to see anyone fail me on my team. We work as a unit, and quite frankly, it does not matter to me, if they work 10 hours a day, or 5 hours a day. What matters to me is that the job was completed, and is what I wanted.
How would you describe your company’s overall culture? Give us examples.
Lillee Jean: I think our methodology really comes down to the “feedback circles” we all participate in. One great thing about working remotely is that at all times, we can all talk to each other. We always have open work discussions, which we find beneficial to furthering our positive and influential agendas. One example of our culture is weekly having a remote Zoom meeting, to address innovative ideas, concerns, and steps forward.
It is believed that a company’s culture is rooted in a company’s values. What are your values and how do they affect daily life at the workplace?
Lillee Jean: At Lillee Jean Beauty, Inc. our values are deeply rooted in our integrity, advocacy, and strive to give back through not only content produced, but, through actions within our community. They affect daily life positively because all of our values are organic, thus they flow. Because we think tank weekly, we are able to authentically bring to the audience, our values.
An organization’s management has a deep impact on its culture. What is your management style and how well has it worked so far?
Lillee Jean: Our management style is free-flowing. It is based on trust, and love for the content we are creating, as well as the causes we advocate for. I can’t see changing from this style for us. We work as one, and that is synonymous with what I want people to perceive Lillee Jean and Lillee Jean Beauty, Inc. to be.
Every organization suffers from internal conflicts, whether functional or dysfunctional. Our readers would love to know, how do you solve an internal conflict?
Lillee Jean: We handle internal conflicts at Lillee Jean Beauty, Inc. head-on addressing any conflicts that may come our way. We find this to be most beneficial, as oftentimes, handling things immediately, avoids them from becoming bigger. This also fosters a healthier work relationship, both mentally, and physically as we further ethos.
According to Culture AMP, Only 40% of women feel satisfied with the decision-making process at their organization (versus 70% of men), which leads to job dissatisfaction and poor employee retention. What is your organization doing to facilitate an inclusive and supportive environment for women?
Lillee Jean: At Lillee Jean Beauty, Inc. we are women-owned, and based. This is actually not by choice, just by the evolution of who we have attracted to work with us, in the entertainment industry. While I cannot speak for others that have job dissatisfaction among their female ranks, I can say to anyone who is experiencing this, put yourself into the shoes of the people who work for you. Don’t ask why they are lacking, ask yourself honestly, what are you lacking, that they are seeking. It takes an honest conversation with yourself, and that sometimes is a bitter pill to swallow.
What role do your company’s culture and values play in the recruitment process and how do you ensure that it is free from bias?
Lillee Jean: At Lillee Jean Beauty, Inc. we seek people who match our companies message, as well as strive for the same goals. We don’t discriminate against somebody, as anybody coming to the table is important to us that has the same ideology that we have. It is better to have a diverse group than a “yes” group of people.
We’re grateful for all that you have shared so far! We would also love to know if there was one thing that you could improve about your company’s culture, what would it be?
Lillee Jean: We would like to be able to continue our strong message about sharing, trustworthiness, and caring about the job as we grow. We will continue to support, learn, and grow the concept of mental hygiene in the workplace, which is a right, not a given, for anyone who works for someone.
This has been truly insightful and we thank you for your time. Our final question, however, might be a bit of a curveball. If you had a choice to either fly or be invisible, which would you choose and why?
Lillee Jean: I would choose to fly because if you fly high enough you are invisible, and as Captain Marvel once said, “higher, further, faster, baby”. If you were invisible, you are just hiding from opportunities you can take, and possibly you might, abuse the power as a scapegoat. If you have the power of flight, and for example are in a board meeting, you are probably going to hit your head on the ceiling because quite literally you are “levitating baby”.
Jed Morley, VIP Contributor to ValiantCEO and the host of this interview would like to thank Lillee Jean for taking the time to do this interview and share her knowledge and experience with our readers.
If you would like to get in touch with Lillee Jean or her company, you can do it through her – Instagram
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