Ari Getty: I travel and try to encourage philanthropists to use their voices and their money wisely and to protect LGBTQ or create LGBTQ rights.
Samantha Sapers...: Welcome to the women on the move podcast from JP Morgan Chase. I'm Sam Saperstein. Women on the Move is a global initiative designed to empower female employees, clients and consumers to build their careers, grow their businesses and improve their financial health.
Samantha Sapers...: Each episode will feature successful and inspiring women who are breaking the mold. They're sharing their career journeys and leadership lessons, talking about their professional and personal goals and making a difference in the lives of others.
Samantha Sapers...: This season I'm taking you to the world economic forum in Davos, Switzerland where I caught up with many of the women who inspire me every day.
Samantha Sapers...: My guests today are giving a whole new meaning to family activism. Ari Getty and her daughter in law, Gigi Gorgeous are leading voices for LGBTQ plus rights driven by their personal connections to the cause, they have harness their respective roles as a philanthropist and YouTube influencer to spread awareness of the many challenges facing the LGBTQ plus community.
Samantha Sapers...: Ari champions the work of organizations like GLAAD the LGBT center in Los Angeles and Youth Academy to bring resources and mental health treatment to vulnerable populations.
Samantha Sapers...: Catapulting from makeup expert to social media influencer, Gigi uses her platform as a YouTube celebrity to increase transgender visibility and promote a message of positivity and acceptance to her audience of millions.
Samantha Sapers...: Over the course of our conversation, Ari and Gigi gave me a glimpse of their passion and motivations for their work and I'm excited to share our talk with you.
Samantha Sapers...: So Ari and Gigi, thank you so much for being here on our Women on the Move podcast. Really appreciate seeing you.
Gigi Gorgeous: Thanks for having us.
Ari Getty: Thank you.
Samantha Sapers...: So, Ari, let me start with you. You and the Getty family have just been big philanthropists for a long time and I want to ask you, why focus so much in the LGBTQ community? Why is that so important to you?
Ari Getty: First and foremost, both of my children are gay and if I'm not going to champion for them, who will? There aren't enough people trying to make a difference, trying to create acceptance, not even acceptance tolerance at the very least. But acceptance is the goal.
Ari Getty: So I've immersed myself in the world of LGBTQ to be that champion, to look out for my daughters and now what my second daughter, my daughter-in-law Gigi.
Samantha Sapers...: That's right. Congratulations on joining the family.
Ari Getty: Yeah.
Samantha Sapers...: So it's a very personal mission for you. Had it always been there as part of your life? Is more recent? Tell us about your evolution.
Ari Getty: It's been part of my life probably for about the last 18 years, maybe even longer. As I work more closely with the LGBT Center in Los Angeles and I see the need for the work that needs to get done, that keeps me very connected.
Ari Getty: And I travel and have panels, and places like Indianapolis or-
Samantha Sapers...: Here in Davos.
Ari Getty: Davos, London, just to try to encourage philanthropists to use their voices and their money wisely and to protect LGBTQ or create LGBTQ rights.
Samantha Sapers...: So in August of 2019, Variety named you 2019 Philanthropist of the Year and that's a really wonderful distinction. So congratulations.
Ari Getty: Thank you.
Samantha Sapers...: What do you think sets apart your philanthropy from others? Do you do something that's different?
Ari Getty: I've been told that I do things differently. I haven't sort of been keeping tabs on it, but what I have been told is that I'm very hands-on. So when I go on my United Nations Foundation trips, I go to the refugee camps. I don't write a check and expect results. I work very closely with GLAAD with the center in LA weekly schlepped bags of clothing to the center.
Samantha Sapers...: That is hands-on.
Ari Getty: It's hands-on and we maintain that structure.
Samantha Sapers...: And so does that enable you to get a lot closer to the people that you're helping?
Ari Getty: A lot closer to the people that we're helping in a lot closer to the situations that need more help to understand what needs greater help, what areas.
Samantha Sapers...: Well, tell us more about the foundation Youth Academy and the upcoming center that you're building for seniors. Because those are both very vulnerable populations for different reasons.
Ari Getty: They are. So the Youth Academy is already open at the Anita May Rosenstein building at the center in Los Angeles and I underwrote the Youth Academy, and it's a place where the youth go to sleep, to study, they get their GEDs and they get to have an address, which coming from being kicked out of their homes to sleeping on the streets, having an address and having a place to go to is a very big-
Samantha Sapers...: That's invaluable support.
Ari Getty: It is. It really is. And to get the help, the mental health help because you've sort of been abandoned and you can't help but have stress related to that. And the senior center, we're building 25 apartments, which should be open I think in the next year.
Ari Getty: And I'm very excited about the duality of having the seniors with the youth, and be able to share their stories and experiences and for the youth to understand what it was to go through the AIDS crisis, to understand what the seniors have gone through and for the seniors to learn how to work a cell phone, and be able to interact in that way.
Samantha Sapers...: And so will they be co-located?
Ari Getty: Yes.
Samantha Sapers...: Oh, that's fantastic.
Ari Getty: Yes. It's all on the same campus.
Samantha Sapers...: Oh, that's really nice. So two communities can really come together [crosstalk 00:06:28].
Ari Getty: Yes and they have their meals together.
Samantha Sapers...: So along these lines, how did you get so involved with GLAAD as a very important advocacy organization?
Ari Getty: When I met Sarah Kate, she said that their doors were about to close from lack of funding, and I realized that it was such an important organization to run. So I committed right there and then to funding the continuation of their work and then donated the $15 million for their GLAAD Media Institute, which trains young activists ambassadors, and we're at 10,000 now.
Samantha Sapers...: Incredible.
Ari Getty: Yeah.
Samantha Sapers...: So that's what the Institute does, they'll go out there and recruit and train and talk to folks to go carry the message further. That's unbelievable. I mean, I'm sure that's a very passionate community who want to do this work and now they can. Thanks for your generosity. That's a wonderful.
Samantha Sapers...: Ari, can you talk about your family? I mean, you must be so proud of the things that they've achieved and being such a supportive mother I'm sure it goes a long way, but they did a lot on their own. So just tell me what you feel like when you look at your family now.
Ari Getty: I'm hugely proud. I look at them now and it's hard to put it in a framework of what were they like 10 years ago? Did I see this path coming? I think that I would have to say that I admire the most about them isn't what they do, but it's who they are. It's what they stand for and it's what they show up for. And there hasn't really ever been a time when I have asked them to show up that they haven't.
Samantha Sapers...: That's great.
Ari Getty: Yes. As a mother, that makes me feel like we still have the same closest that we've always had and now I get two for the price of one with Gigi.
Samantha Sapers...: That's great. [crosstalk] No, you can tell. I mean to see you out here doing what you love to do together. It's very rare.
Ari Getty: Yeah. And we'd go to all of the functions and Galas together. We cause a Rutgers.
Gigi Gorgeous: Yeah, because we used to think that it's rare.
Samantha Sapers...: So Gigi, let's talk about influencers and the kind of influencer you are, especially on social media. But before we do, I'd love to know, how did you come to find your voice and the person that you are and were their role models for you when you were looking for folks to learn from?
Gigi Gorgeous: For me, growing up, I'm going to just say no. There really weren't any people in mainstream media or in my town. I grew up in Toronto, which is to some may seem like a small town, but it really was a big city. But I would go to the city all the time and I knew a few gay people, but in high school and for most of my adolescence, I really did not know anybody that I could look up to or identify with.
Gigi Gorgeous: So when I started YouTube, the word influencer, first of all was so not a word. That's so a new word.
Samantha Sapers...: Right, right. That's a wholly new creation.
Gigi Gorgeous: Which I don't even know how I feel about it because I mean on one hand it's like you've got to influence positivity. But then on the other hand, it's like is a genuine positivity you're pushing it depending on your platform?
Samantha Sapers...: I think so.
Gigi Gorgeous: So there's an internal battle with me with that word, but I feel like for me it's all about pushing positivity and influencing others to look on the bright side regardless of your situation. Because like I said, when I started, there was really nobody to look up to. So I just had my best friends. I had my family and it was like, "Let's try to make the most of it. Let's have fun and be creative."
Gigi Gorgeous: And it was lighthearted. It wasn't that serious. But when things kind of got rolling, it was like, okay, I'm getting strength from the people that are following me and coming back for each video and, replying where like having these conversations online and I never had that.
Samantha Sapers...: That's unbelievable.
Gigi Gorgeous: So that changed my mind early on and it made me see that the internet is a very powerful place.
Samantha Sapers...: Yeah. So talk to me about some of the feedback that you did get, like the community response and support. How did that make you feel when you started to see it build?
Gigi Gorgeous: It made me feel good. It made me feel not alone and not as shy. I was never really a shy person even before I transitioned. As a young boy, I really always was really outgoing and really confident. I, of course had my moments, but getting that feedback from people, seeing the real you and what you really want to put forward is so validating.
Gigi Gorgeous: And I still feel that. I feel like every single time I see a nice comment I'm like, "Oh." Like they can relate and we are kind of on the same wave length of life and it just feels so good. So it's not gotten old.
Samantha Sapers...: No and to know that you really do help people, especially younger people and maybe kids who now feel like they're finally have other people like them. That seems to be so important.
Gigi Gorgeous: Yes it is. And I feel just giving back in general, like the way that Ari has, like it's so inspiring and I feel she is like a mentor to so many, but to be so close to her and to see how hands on she really is and see. This is our third year together that she's brought me to Davos with her and GLAAD and it's` the power and the presence that she has is so inspiring and it's only gotten bigger.
Gigi Gorgeous: It's not slowing down. So it's super, super amazing to see somebody who has been in the game. She's been practicing advocacy for 18+ years. I'm not there yet, but it's nice to see that the work has paid off in her respect and with my work as well.
Gigi Gorgeous: So it's like generations and different lines of work as well. I don't know if I would've ever come to Davos, YouTube is here this year, so maybe I would have come this year, but I would have not seen-
Samantha Sapers...: In prior years.
Gigi Gorgeous: Exactly. And also I wouldn't have been exposed to such LGBTQ-centric things, which is the most important to me in my heart.
Samantha Sapers...: Yeah. So Gigi, you've used your internet celebrity status to bring attention to the transgender community to anti-bullying. Why is it important to you to use that pulpit, if you will, to talk about these issues?
Gigi Gorgeous: I see so many people with large and little followings online, sharing their stories, whether it be their coming out story or a bullying story, a story where they were mis-gendered, anything like that. Even just a little sentence here and there within a makeup tutorial or what's in my bag or just a whatever video. I'm all online and I get sent so many things.
Gigi Gorgeous: So it's not about my pull, it's just the fact that it's happening and people are seeing it. Because you never know who's going to see what you put out there. You never know who it's going to touch. You never know if you're living basically the same life as somebody else across the world in the same country next door, you never ever know until you put it out there.
Samantha Sapers...: Yeah. Which is great to see what actually takes off, right? Sometimes it's unexpected.
Gigi Gorgeous: Yes, exactly.
Samantha Sapers...: And you've done collaborations with a number of different stars and I'm wondering how do you pick the people to work with?
Gigi Gorgeous: I feel like Ari actually, we've never really talked about this, but it's always got to be genuine. I feel especially in this industry we're in, it's like pair up with this person, this could work. And it's like if I don't really have, not necessarily a best friend relationship, but it's like if we're just meeting and we're doing something, it's kind of weird-
Samantha Sapers...: If it doesn't continue, if you can't see the potential for a real friendship.
Gigi Gorgeous: Exactly. Yes. Collaboration, friendship, long-term process, definitely. So I want to make it genuine, authentic, and of course something that our brands both align, we stand for the same things.
Samantha Sapers...: Right. Have you learned anything from those partnerships? When you talk about alignment of brands, are there things that their brands teach you?
Gigi Gorgeous: Yeah, definitely. Every single day. Every single day. Even if I'm not collaborating with somebody to witness somebody brand grow and just blossom in an authentic and beautiful way, especially within my community, but even outside of my community, it's a really beautiful thing and I respect it.
Samantha Sapers...: That's great. That's great. So in November, you debuted your collaboration with the makeup brand IPSY and you're talking about a genderless line of makeup. Tell me what that even means. I'm very curious about this. I don't think I've ever heard that term before.
Gigi Gorgeous: It was silly to me to even have to say that because getting started in makeup when I was 15, I felt that makeup was genderless. And that's what actually cosmetics taught me. I think their slogan is something like no sex, no gender. Something like that. And I said it so bad, I just butchered that so hardcore.
Gigi Gorgeous: But it was always genderless to me. So when I was doing promo around it and when IPSY would ask me, "What are little girls going to think" or "what a little boys going to think." I'm like, "No, no, no, no, no, no. It's not for anyone." I'm making it for me personally, they're my favorite products and I know people are going to like. I hope people are going to like them.
Gigi Gorgeous: But also I want to make it for my past self too. It's not just about me and what I like now. There are little boys out there, there are little binary people out there, and there are girls out there that can use these products. And I wanted to make that known. So I was like, "You know what? Let's just go with the genderless theme." I think it's silly to say, but it's important to say nowadays.
Samantha Sapers...: Whether you describe it that way or not, you're at the forefront of this market and showing people that everyone can use these products, right? To do what they want with themselves, to feel beautiful, to feel like who they are. How do you want that message to be known out there?
Gigi Gorgeous: I want it to be known as literally do whatever you feel in your heart because a quote that I live by every single day is, "Live everyday like it's your last" because you never know. I mean, we've all gone through things and makeup may seem trivial and silly, but at the end of the day it gave me my confidence and it gave me my voice.
Gigi Gorgeous: So if that conversation can be had from bronzer, blush, lip gloss, I am happy to do so. Let's expand that conversation and let's make it a genderless line. Let's put that label on it even though that's what all make up is, genderless.
Samantha Sapers...: As it should be. But I love the fact that you stress the confidence about it, right? So we're using these things. I use these things to feel good about myself too, and hopefully that's the real reason behind it. Not to look a certain way or to prove a certain point, but to feel good about yourself.
Gigi Gorgeous: Yeah, look good. Feel better.
Samantha Sapers...: Yeah, I love that. Where does the line go from here? What's next for you?
Gigi Gorgeous: So we were in the month box of IPSY Cosmetics, and I am obsessed with IPSY. I think that they're great. They've always been family to me. But if I told you what was next, I'd have to kill you and I don't want to.
Samantha Sapers...: Okay, I have another question. How would you like the mission of the brand? What do you want that to stand for in the world?
Gigi Gorgeous: I mean, Gigi Gorgeous Cosmetics is all about inclusion. We are literally for everybody and everybody, everybody that literally exists in the world; animals, snowmen, everybody.
Gigi Gorgeous: So it was really important to me to put that out there. And also in our campaign, the photo shoots that we did, it was all genders, all skin types, all ethnicities, all sexual orientations. And I think that that is what makes the brand beautiful. So we're definitely, that's our mission statement.
Samantha Sapers...: So it's very authentic brands and I think that's a core part of the value there. When you think about using social media now and being a celebrity on social media and you're talking to someone who wants to do the same thing, what would you counsel them to do? Especially as it gets more crowded and more difficult to stand out on the platforms?
Gigi Gorgeous: Well, recently actually Instagram just removed their likes and they say this and hundreds of other people like this and thousands of other people liked. Instead of giving a specific number because of mental health and just people being so fixated on numbers and likes and attention and popularity.
Gigi Gorgeous: So I think with it becoming even more and more popular, I would say don't let it affect your day-to-day life in a negative way. It can consume you and I've seen that. I mean, it's fun to post things online. It's fun to take gorgeous photos and post them and get likes and have people see your message and what you're wearing. And if you look good that day, that's fine.
Gigi Gorgeous: But if it's affecting your real life and the relationships with your family members and your best friends and your mental health at that, I would say you're doing it wrong. You're not serving yourself by justice, you're definitely hurting yourself.
Gigi Gorgeous: So everything in moderation. But at the end of the day, I would just say be strong and just know who you are, and have fun with it. I'm still having fun with it, every day.
Samantha Sapers...: Well, that's great to hear because if you weren't, then why be doing this?
Gigi Gorgeous: Exactly. Well, some people feel like it's a burden. It's like, "Oh, this is my work. I have to keep up with this" comparing themselves it's a really tough mind space to be in, but you cannot let yourself get there.
Samantha Sapers...: Well, thank you both for joining me. It's really a pleasure to get to know you personally, but also the work that you do is really, really important. So we really appreciate that.
Gigi Gorgeous: Thank you.
Ari Getty: Thank you.
Samantha Sapers...: Thanks to Ari and Gigi for inviting us into their lives and providing us with the opportunity to learn about their unique roles within the LGBTQ plus community. They are great role models and I think we can all benefit from the look good, feel better motto as we work to drive inclusion, and mental health awareness.
Samantha Sapers...: Thank you for joining us today. The mission of Women on the Move is to help women in their professional and personal lives. Our goal is to introduce you to people with great ideas, inspiring stories, and a passion to make a difference.
Samantha Sapers...: If you enjoyed this episode, please rate, review and subscribe so you won't miss any others. Thank you to our partners at the Female Quotient at Magnet Media for helping us tell these stories. For JP Morgan Chase's Women on the Move, I'm Sam Saperstein.
