‘My Dream Has Been Touched And Made A Reality’

Over the past 30 years, Gwen Stefani has remained the rather timeless music superstar of our generation. From her many years as the lead singer of the American rock band No Doubt to her ongoing solo career, Gwen, 52, has brought what feels like countless sing-along hits to the radio waves throughout her celebrated career. What some may not know, however, is that Gwen began her young adult life as a makeup artist and has recently returned to her creative roots as the founder of GXVE Beauty (pronounced “ give”), which launched back in March and is now expanding even further into The GXVE Community.

“Right now, just so you know, this is a huge day for me,” Gwen tells me, referencing the debut of The GXVE Community. “My dream has been touched and made a reality. I’m talking to you right now about it, so this is a big deal for me.”

The GXVE Community is a proprietary digital platform that gives consumers the tools they need to create, share and inspire with their unique makeup looks while benefitting financially through a commission rate.

Gwen says of her supporters who join and become Ambassadors in The GXVE Community, “To be able to say now we’re partners. We always have been partners but you’re actually going to get 30% commission, if you want. It’s just very cool and the beauty industry community is just such a cool community because we’re able to share and learn so much from each other.”

Stuart Leitch, Entrepreneur In Residence at New Theory Ventures, has been collaborating with Gwen on bringing The GXVE Community to the public and briefly spoke with me about its profitable incentives. “Offering 30% as a commission is higher than anything in the industry that we see today and we wanted to be really aggressive with that and make it meaningful for people, so they can put some money in their pocket.”

Allison Statter, CEO and co-founder of Blended Strategy Group, shared with me how GXVE initially came about and what it hopes to become for makeup enthusiasts. “I’ve been with Gwen in this from like the first meeting five years ago when she said I need to have my own brand. She cares so much about her community, she cares so much about her fans, she cares so much about the quality of what she’s giving to her community and to her fans. With GXVE, it wasn’t just about bringing amazing product to the market – it’s also about cultivating a community of people that don’t just get to use our makeup but also get to sell our makeup, be able to feel good about themselves and having something other than just putting on a pretty face.”

To fully appreciate where Gwen is going next with The GXVE Community, you need to understand where she came from.

“I worked at the makeup counter when I was in my twenties,” Gwen recalls. “There was a specific moment that I remember that really led to this moment that is so emotional for me, when this lady came in with her baby and her husband. Didn’t really speak English, she had a birthmark on her face and she wanted me to do her makeup so she could figure out what she needed. So, I did her makeup and it was like she was born again. The feeling she had and the feeling I had for giving her that feeling was something that has been with me my whole life. That’s kind of where I landed with wanting to do this brand at this point in my life. I did not need to be doing this . I just knew that I still needed to do something creative and that’s when I decided I was going to do GXVE.”

Between her ongoing music career as a 3-time Grammy winner, her successful years designing clothes with her LAMB fashion line and returning as a judge alongside her husband Blake Shelton on a new season of The VoiceI asked Gwen after three decades of business already under her belt, how would she say her mentality with business has changed over the years.

“Shoot, you know what? It’s just so weird when you say business because I don’t ever see myself as that but then when I look back, you’re right – I have been doing that. I don’t really like business , you know what I’m saying? I’m more the creative. I’m like a visual person. I’m so passionate about style and self-expression through whatever it is, whether it’s the way you dress or the makeup you wear. [It’s] just crazy to think now to kind of extend it to a place where I can actually give back to the community I’ve had a love affair with all these years that we’ve been exchanging love, back-and-forth.”

Gwen’s rise to stardom did not come without its obstacles. She goes on to tell me that she does not think many people realize that she struggled so much in school, revealing to me that she has dyslexia and ADHD (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder) . She says it was not until she wrote her first song, unaware that she even had it in her to do so, that she felt she had found her calling, saying, “God just put it in me and it just came out.”

When speaking about her early years performing and songwriting with No Doubt, Gwen says, “I had this gift to express myself through these songs. I was doing that for nine years before anybody saw it. It was what I did, not to be famous or not to make it because I knew that would never happen. We did it as band because that’s what we did to procrastinate from school. The fact that I wrote ‘Just A Girl’ and I was so naive living at my parents’ house. I styled my own self in the video, I came up with the concept for the video, I went to the video set and did the video and then walked on a plane and never came home for two and a half years, and was a millionaire when I got home.”

With fans anxiously waiting for new music from the longtime superstar, I asked Gwen if she is noticing her interest in certain sounds and her chosen storytelling through lyrics changing as this stage of her life and career.

“That’s a good question and you’re tapping into something that’s my insecurity. As a songwriter at a certain point, you know that you’re at a certain place, right? I’ve already had my big records. You can only be new when you’re new and I accept that. There’s one thing with songwriting – I’ve never been a writer where I write daily or I never know when it’s going to work and not work or when it’s going to come or not come. I’ve written about this so much. Every hit that I’ve ever made was like that and the fact that I was blessed with so many and that they still get played and people still reference it, it’s truly a true miracle.”

Gwen goes on to share with me, “I did go in during the quarantine years and I did write a bunch of songs, like 30+ songs, but I didn’t feel the passion that I’ve wanted to put it out. I also got married that year and I just wanted to be in the marriage and try not to do so many things at one time and just be realistic that there are only so many things you can do at one time. So, I kind put it on the back burner but I also feel like sometimes, I don’t really have much to say or I don’t know if I do – and so, I’m just going to wait and pray about it. If I’m supposed to write music and something comes, I’m the first to want that. Out of everything I’ve ever done, I love makeup but when you have a song, you write one, it’s the greatest feeling ever. I have sessions coming up and I’m super nervous about them because as you know, as a writer, if you get in the way and have that ‘writer’s block’ thing, it’s the worst. I’ll see, we’ll see! If it happens, I ‘ll let you know!”

Now as Gwen offers her loyal supporters the opportunity to “get a piece of me, financially” through a mutually beneficial partnership within The GXVE Community, she is also making clear that she has had and will continue to have direct input in what her GXVE brand has become and the opportunity it looks to become for others.

“To be able to do this on such a bigger scale, as far as everything from the paper for the packaging to the font to the color palette – everything that comes with the business side of this. Partnering with Sephora, it’s a lot of learning in the last four years but I’ve also shocked myself. I mean, I’m in my fifties, you know what I’m saying? It all kind of led up to this moment and I think it’s just going to be a really incredible thing to be able to have a business that people can be part of, like the people that loved me all these years. I’m just super excited to be where I’m at.”