Believe IT

In Believe IT, Jamie Kern Lima, founder of IT Cosmetics, tells the story of how she went from struggling waitress to building a company on an idea that ran against industry norms. The business grew into a major success and was sold for more than a billion dollars, and she became the first female CEO of a brand in L'Oréal's history of more than a hundred years.

She describes the doubts she faced along the way, about her self, her body and her faith. She was down to her last few dollars and was told that nobody would buy makeup from someone with her body. Lima recounts what really happened behind the scenes, how close she came to failing and how she learned to trust herself.

The book is also a personal memoir. She writes openly about heartbreak and resilience, including finding out by accident in her twenties that she was adopted and how that discovery has affected every part of her life. She also describes her campaign to change how the beauty industry uses unrealistic images, on behalf of girls just starting to doubt themselves and women who still do.

Alongside the story, the book offers practical lessons for readers who hold back because of rejection, past failures or feeling not good enough. It covers overcoming self-doubt, trusting your intuition, quieting your inner critic, letting go of mistakes and insecurities, standing up for your ideas, and handling rejection, critics and mean girls. It also covers starting a dream and following through, and finding real confidence when facing personal dilemmas.