Georgie Greville: Co-founder of Milk Makeup

Growing up, Georgie always wanted to be a writer, and eventually her passion for writing morphed into a passion for making movies. She wanted to combine art and pop culture, so she began to create short films at a young age. One thing she learned as a director and an entrepreneur is that when you are pitching something, you need to articulate it in your own words. Georgie not only serves as the creative director for Milk Makeup but also directs films within a variety of genres. She has directed music videos for leading artists such as Selena Gomez and Flo Rida.

When was a time you wanted to give up, and what made you persevere through it?

When I was pitching Milk Makeup, I had a lot of people doubt me. I was pitching it with my partner, Rassi, and we had a lot of people say, “Why would you ever do this? It doesn't make sense”  or “That idea isn’t scalable.” I just got doubts from every side, and especially from women. However, I knew I was onto something. I just knew in my heart that it had to happen. But when that desire hits you and that vision crystallizes in your head, even if you cannot see it clearly but if  you can feel it clearly, you just know you will make it real. I put my head down and know that I would show them. I wanted to let our work show them. I got a lot of rejections. Then I would find my own way. It's all about taking the hits and standing back up. That really is what sets people apart from intelligence is grit. There are so many more brilliant people than me that do not have the grit to just keep pushing and iterating until it’s real. 

What inspired you to create Milk Makeup?

I think everyone comes at entrepreneurship from a place in their heart where they want to see something exist in the world that does not currently exist and needs to. For me, I wanted to tap into why I gravitated into NYC and Milk Studios in the beginning. At the time, Milk was a creative hub and it reminded me of the Warhol era, where everyone was open-minded and there was tons of potential in the air. I realized that like everyone wanted to be creative in some way and wanted to be connected to that kind of potentiality and creative freedom. 

I wanted to demystify beauty and make it as approachable as art supplies while also delivering clean, high quality, unisex products. Products that are as highly functioning, spontaneous, and fun as New Yorkers are. The thing that really sets our products apart other than the equal opportunity packaging is the quality- they are conscious (non-toxic, vegan, cruelty-free ingredients), user-friendly, and deliver instant results.

What advice do you have for others who aspire to be entrepreneurs?

I think all the answers live within you, in terms of your experiences and tapping into your heart. I just think dream big, always think as big as possible because you should never limit yourself when you dream. You should challenge everything rather than accepting everything. It is just changing a mindset,  I think as women we are more conditioned to be accepting of what is given to us, rather than leading and directing. My main point is to disrupt and make ‘disrupting’ your mindset. Know that this world is not made for us, but we have to make it for us and we have to make it for everyone else it is not made for. There is so much potential for progressive change out there...

What advice would you give your former self?

No one has the same vision as you and your vision is unique. All you need to figure out is how to make it resonate in the world. What are the core values that you and a bigger audience share? Therein lies the potential to innovate and create something powerful. 

How do you define the word “success”?

I think success is overcoming fear. Success is doing the spiritual work to challenge yourself in thinking bigger than you ever thought possible. Success is reaching people and people outside of your community. Success is evolving as long as you are pushing and trying to evolve your world and yourself, that is what success is.

What is one dream you have yet to accomplish?

I want to create a film or tv show that is socially progressive. I am obsessed with the concept of identity and my background is in filmmaking. We have been really limited with the type of characters we have been seeing on TV. I want to create a show that disrupts and explores identity in a different way.