Tower 28 founder Amy Liu reminds us that it’s okay to be sensitive

Tower 28 has always believed beauty products should be two things: fun and effective, and it delivers on both. What started as a brand that was created with sensitive skin in mind has blossomed into a full line of makeup and skin care products under the vision of founder and CEO Amy Liu.

I sat down with Liu to talk about how her time as a beauty executive translated into being a beauty founder, the core principles that underpin product development, and what it means to follow her intuition.

This conversation has been edited for clarity and length.

Aleenah Ansari: Your dad was an entrepreneur. Did his journey inspire you to pursue entrepreneurship?
Amy Liu: My dad moved to America in the 70s, and English wasn’t his first language. He knew that he needed a job to support us, so he decided to pursue entrepreneurship. Even when I told him that I was starting my own brand, he tried to dissuade me and said that he had moved to America for us to have an easier life, and he knew that entrepreneurship would be hard. I also watched my dad be so interested in what he was doing, and that resonated with me. He felt all the highs and lows of entrepreneurship, and it made me want to prove my own worth.

AA: What made you pursue entrepreneurship anyway?
AL: My mom had a job as a systems auditor where she clocked in and clocked out at the same time. She did that job so we’d have the steadiness of stable income and health insurance. I also knew that the way that my parents made their decisions was different from mine. Now, my generation has an opportunity to make different choices. I loved the idea of building and creating a brand of my own.

AA: When you’re developing new products or formulas for Tower 28, what’s your underlying philosophy?
AL: So much of how I run Tower 28 is informed by my parenting style. When you become a parent, you try to emulate the things that you liked about your own upbringing, including the traditions. At the same time, you’re also trying to change the things that didn’t serve you.

I didn’t start Tower 28 until I was 40 and had worked for 20 years as a beauty executive beforehand. It taught me how I wanted to lead and show up. While working in the beauty industry, I remember noticing that we didn’t hire a lot of Asian models, and I didn’t always feel like I had the agency to change things. Now being in a position where I have agency and responsibility, I’m committed to showcasing the diversity of skin tones and types in all of the assets we’re creating and how we test them. That’s why we did the casting call. It’s embedded in our values.

I also draw inspiration from some of my own favorite brands. My first makeup brand was Clinique, which was available at an entry-level price point in a prestige environment. I loved testing out products in the department store.

AA: For Tower 28, sensitive skin is the starting point of everything you do. How do you create highly effective products that work for sensitive skin, innovate in the product category, and keep it fun?
AL: Creating an effective product is tablestakes, and offering fun products is one of our points of difference. When you think about sensitive skin, there’s so much about it that feels “serious” and even unrelatable. That’s why it’s important to offer more than skin care, which is why we also create complexion and color products that give us a chance to try new things and have more cultural relevance.

We want every product to be good, clean fun.

Good, meaning effective and high performance. Ideally, we want to solve a problem that customers are experiencing. For example, when we launched the GetSet Matte Powder Blush, we wanted to create a long-lasting complexion product that would stay on the skin, so it’s formulated like a setting powder that’s tinted. This was designed with sensitive skin in mind, which is why this is designed to be a high-performance product.

Clean, meaning that it’s safe for sensitive skin and non-toxic. When you’re talking about someone who has challenges with their skin due to things like acne or eczema, they may have a disrupted skin barrier that leads to inflammation. Your skin is also an organ, and some substances that you put on your skin can go into your bloodstream, so you want to be intentional about what you want to put on it.

Fun, meaning that products are reasonably priced. I want to respect people’s time and money, so I want products to be of good value. For example, our ShineOn Lip Oil Jelly is $16, and the average lip color is typically priced around $25. We try to value engineer products so people can spend money on things they care about, which is the product itself, and the packaging is made of recycled materials.

AA: How do you get feedback from the community that informs the products and formulas you make?
AL: We send an annual survey to our community to better understand their needs, and we even put out an open casting call in the New York Times with a focus on finding models with eczema, acne, rosacea, and psoriasis. We were looking for people for our photoshoots and campaigns, and we got thousands of applicants. Now, we pre-seed that group with products. We also have someone on the team look at the reviews of our products and our competitors’ reviews to identify what problems people might be facing and how we could potentially solve them.

AA: What helps you trust your intuition as a brand owner, especially when you’re getting a lot of feedback from others?
AL: We’re always getting feedback, and my goal is to listen and learn, but also to continue to show up and make decisions that are right for the brand. I’m someone who asks questions and collects a lot of information to understand what customers are saying and what feedback we’re getting from retailers. At the end of the day, I believe in instinct and intuition in tandem. My first products were our Lip Oil Jelly and our SOS Daily Rescue Facial Spray, which we created a category for. When you’re doing something no one has done, it can be scary. At the same time, I did it in an informed way by sending out samples of the product and getting feedback. Nothing will ever be perfect, so there will always be pros and cons. 

AA: Do you have any advice for current or aspiring business owners?
AL: My general advice is to work hard and be nice. I really believe that you earn your reputation in life, and teach people how to treat you. If there’s anything I’d tell my younger self, it would be not to be led by fear. I also know that fear, when managed, can push me to do great things. It’s just a matter of getting out from under that.

AA: You recently shared on Instagram that it’s the end of the Year of the Snake, which is a reminder to let go of what no longer fits you, and make room for energy, movement, and motivation with the Year of the Horse. What are you shedding, and what are you embracing?
AL: I’m embracing our next chapter. I mentioned to a vendor that I saw Tower 28 as an indie brand, and they told me that it’s a major brand. I’m trying to level up in terms of the business by not being ruled by fear and spending when I need to spend.

I was taught to be financially frugal, which has served me, but I also know that it’s important to take risks. We just moved into an office that’s twice the size of the one we had before, and that’s a way we invest in the culture, team, and our future. I’m learning how to trust myself and be led from a perspective of abundance.

AA: What’s next for you and your brand?
AL: We are an international brand that’s available in the U.S., UK, the Middle East, and more. At the end of the day, we want Tower 28 to be a household name. We have an opportunity to make something that will grow and be a part of people’s lives, and we've seen how much our products can help people. We want to make sure that the people who are looking for us can find us.