Beauty founders and industry leaders gathered in Washington, D.C. for an intimate afternoon with Anastasia Soare, founder and CEO of Anastasia Beverly Hills and one of the most influential builders in modern beauty. The event, hosted at Yeleen Beauty Makerspace, created rare proximity to a woman whose work reshaped an entire category and whose new memoir, Raising Brows: My Story of Building a Billion-Dollar Beauty Empire, documents that climb.
This afternoon was not a ceremony or spectacle. It was a working conversation with a visionary who carved her own lane before the industry understood what she was doing. Attendees came ready to learn from someone who has lived every phase of entrepreneurship, and Soare spoke with calm precision and humility.
Raising Brows follows Soare’s journey from Romania to Beverly Hills. It traces her early artistic training, her understanding of facial structure and the Golden Ratio, and her belief that eyebrows deserved intention long before brow artistry became a global market.
In the book, she reflects on arriving in the United States, learning English, launching services in a rented salon room, raising her daughter as a single mother, and eventually building one of the most recognizable beauty brands in the world. She details the years of mixing brow formulas by hand, educating clients on shape and proportion, and pushing forward when manufacturers and retailers did not yet understand her vision.
Soare built her business one client at a time, and later one formula at a time. The memoir honors that journey. The room did too.
Soare did not offer platitudes. Her tone was grounded, firm, and steady. She spoke like someone who has worked for every milestone and is still deeply connected to the discipline that success requires.
“Every morning you open your computer and there are problems. You have to be iron. But it is the best thing you can do.”
She did not dress entrepreneurship up or dramatize it. She made it practical and real. She made it achievable for anyone with commitment, resilience, and standards.
When speaking on identity and success, she explained,
“Your value, your character, is the same if you have money or if you do not. Money should not define you. Money should not change who you are.”
She repeated one clear theme throughout: Strength without ego. Excellence without entitlement.
“Plan A may fail. Move to Plan B immediately. No panic. No ego. Adapt.”
Her leadership philosophy extended into her personal life. When she shared the story about firing her daughter early in her career for showing up late, it was not to be harsh. It was to demonstrate how she treats responsibility.
“At work, I am the boss. At home, I am her mother.”
The room nodded. Not because the statement was rigid, but because it was consistent. Consistency is a form of care.
Yeleen founder Rahama Wright reminded the audience, “People think entrepreneurship is social media. It is work.” Soare agreed.
She has lived the work.
Holding this conversation inside Yeleen mattered. The space is not a showroom. It is a manufacturing facility designed for beauty founders who are serious about building real product businesses. There are formulation labs, mixing and filling equipment, packaging resources, and guidance on compliance and production.
Wright’s company was previously a recipient of grant support from Soare’s brand during a time when Anastasia Beverly Hills directed one million dollars toward social and racial equity initiatives and created a four-hundred-fifty-thousand-dollar fund for Black women-owned small businesses. That investment helped expand the infrastructure that now supports emerging beauty creators in Washington, D.C.
So when Soare turned to Wright and said, “When I met her, I knew she was a winner,” it felt earned. Wright replied with warmth, “I have met a few billionaires, but Anastasia, you are the best billionaire.”
Soare then looked to the audience and asked, “Where are they? Those are the future billionaires, right?”
Hands raised quietly. Belief raised with them.
Toward the end of the afternoon, Wright gifted Soare a box filled with handwritten notes from founders in attendance. Soare paused, holding the box with care, taking in the gesture. It was a simple moment, but it captured the tone of the day.
No spotlight needed. Just respect. Gratitude. Mutual recognition.
No one left with hype energy. They left with insight. They left with clarity. They left understanding that discipline, humility, and self-belief are still the foundation of success in this industry.
Soare did not talk about fame. She talked about focus. She did not talk about brand buzz. She talked about execution. She did not tell founders to dream. She told them to work. That is the truth of empire building.