Ramy Gafni, Founder and CEO, Ramy Cosmetics, LLC This is Capitalism: Up Close, Inspired, Explained

Patricia O’Connell interviews Ramy Gafni about Ramy Cosmetics, LLC. They discuss how he began in law school but realized his heart was in beauty school, how he started his career in photoshoots and retail and moved to an upscale salon until cancer and chemotherapy changed his appearance and cost him his job. Ramy discusses the steps he followed to continue receiving an income, including opening a private studio, creating a product line for cancer patients, and writing two books on beauty, how he won over a manufacturer and landed his first cosmetic client.
How did Ramy become the “go-to guy” for brows?
Listen in to learn more about Ramy Cosmetics LLC and the surprising path to becoming a cosmetics entrepreneur.


Key Takeaways: [:29] Patricia O’Connell introduces Ramy Gafni, makeup artist, author, and CEO of Ramy Cosmetics, LLC, a company that uses cosmetics to bring out your best eyebrows.
[:52] Patricia welcomes Rami to This is Capitalism: CEO Stories.
[1:21] Ramy dropped out of law school and moved to Australia, where he went to beauty school. His parents were hoping he would go back to law school. He wrote a letter to his parents about going to a beauty school. He talked to his parents after sending the letter and they were very supportive. He took his studies seriously.
[2:11] Ramy returned to New York to pursue a career as a makeup artist in photoshoots and retail. He got hired as makeup director at a Fifth Avenue salon. That was the job that put him on the map. He started doing eyebrows and working on celebrities. He developed a makeup line for the salon.
[2:45] Vogue wrote Ramy up in a story about eyebrow obsession. The article dubbed him the “go-to eyebrow person” in New York. Other articles linked him to eyebrows, so he went with it.
[3:24] Then Ramy developed Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He worked every day during five months of chemo. He was about to start radiation when the salon fired him because of his changed appearance. Another top salon called him. He went to meet them, but having gone through chemo, he didn’t look like his picture. They didn’t hire him.
[4:33] Ramy realized no one was going to hire him while he looked like a cancer patient. He had taken his Rolodex of clients with him and started mailing to his clients to come to his private studio. Many of them came.
[5:45] Ramy kept getting written up in different magazines and newspapers as the eyebrow guy. That sent new people his way. His business was thriving; he was never busier. Ramy was also working as a freelance makeup artist and he got a gig for ABC Television doing makeup for a PSA for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
[6:17] Ramy decided to create a makeup line, using his experience of creating a makeup line for the salon that had hired him. He started with 12 products, selling them to his brow clients. He called the department stores, and Bergdorf Goodman returned his call. They called him in for a meeting every three months.
[7:03] Ramy was doing the eyebrows for the editor-in-chief and the staff at InStyle magazine and they gave a placement to his product line in the “What’s Hot Now” feature of the September issue. Ramy took it into Bergdorf Goodman and asked for a counter. They gave him one.
[7:45] Ramy talks about spending a year of his life going through cancer. You have to forge ahead, one day after another. He felt that if he could get through cancer, he could get through anything. He was happy to be alive; he was happy to be working and have an income.
[8:05] The buyer at Bergdorf Goodman asked about his numbers. Ramy didn’t know what she was talking about. Bergdorf was good to him and gave him an education about running a counter.
[10:02] Ramy talks about Ramy Beauty Therapy. It began with a concealer he used to hide the effects of his chemotherapy. This led him to write a book to address the appearance of the physical effects of chemotherapy.
[11:49] Cosmetics are often superficial, but for a mot