About Time You Met: Viola Levy, Founder of Smart Beauty CreativeBy Angelica Malin
Viola Levy is a beauty journalist, creative and founder of copy-led branding agency Smart Beauty Creative. Viola is also a mum to 1-year-old Lenny and lives in North London – we sat down with Viola to talk work, beauty and her goals for the future:
What motivates you in your work?
My drive is to make the beauty industry a more diverse and inclusive place and help champion female founders. I would love to shape the next generation of beauty brands and discover the industry’s next Estée Lauder, Madam C. J. Walker or Helena Rubinstein! I’m also passionate about fragrance and think British perfumery is criminally underrated. So I would love to promote and build British fragrance brands and perfumers too.
What did you journey look like to get where you are today?
I didn’t have the funds to do unpaid internships, so I didn’t enter the industry in a traditional way. I worked as a receptionist at Estée Lauder and in my spare time wrote about beauty for anyone who would publish me! I gradually started to get more and more commissions as a journalist and later moved over into copywriting and working with beauty brands. This led me to launching my agency as I noticed a lack of UK branding agencies that were specifically beauty-related.
What’s your goal professionally?
To leave my mark on the world in some way and help others flourish and support small businesses and creatives like myself. I would love to be in a position to help those in creative fields who otherwise would not have the funds to pursue their passion, such as actors, theatre practitioners, artists and writers.
Who inspires you and why?
My PR friend Karen Tippett, I’ve known her for a long while and not only is she top of her game, she is one of the kindest souls I have ever met. I think kindness and compassion are such valuable qualities, and aren’t necessarily at odds with being ambitious and career-orientated. Also a stylist and fashion editor I worked with at the beginning of my career, Sabrina Henry – incredibly talented, creative and intelligent, she was also extremely kind, supportive and patient.
What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced in your life and how did you overcome it?
I was temporarily without a permanent home (not living on the streets, but staying in AirBnbs, Travel Lodges and friends’ spare rooms). It was a tough time but instead of panicking, I embraced the chaos and went abroad for a while instead (at the time it was cheaper than renting). It taught me that nothing is ever “stable” and sometimes it’s worth riding out the stormy times and having faith that it will pass.
What do you want your legacy to be?
I would like to help others feel seen and heard, especially those who are often written off at a young age.
What’s next for you?
Having just launched Smart Beauty Creative, I’m hoping to work with a number of international clients and take my ‘Smart Beauty Method’ around the world! I would also love to launch a biannual fragrance magazine as I believe print journalism is still alive and kicking!
