meet luba
I was born in a small town to Ukrainian immigrant parents. I never fit in. I was bullied so badly that I missed my graduation and couldn't wait to leave. I put the small town, with a population of 18k, in the rearview mirror and left for the big city.
I started out as a counter girl in cosmetics and planned to climb the corporate ladder. How was I going to do that with no education and zero experience, you ask? Simple: hard work.
In only three years, I was running the largest cosmetics department in the country, and by my mid-20s, I was running the entire country. I was young, hungry, and very naive about the cosmetic industry and who ran it at the top.
At 28 years old, I was found passed out and unresponsive in a corporate event bathroom. It turned out I had a nervous breakdown. The harassment, the bullying, and the advances from company board members all finally got to me. A psychiatrist told me that it would be best for my health if I never returned to my dream career.
I wanted to somehow create a safe space for women in the workplace. So, in the middle of the mortgage crisis, I leveraged my condo and opened several waxing salons across the USA and Canada. It was now my mission to provide a fun and safe work environment for women. The first uniform I created advertised the saying "I used to work for assholes; now I just bleach them." I sent it to my former bosses, but I never got a response. Today, it's the number one selling apparel at Bryght.
I slept in my car and got a $5 a month gym membership to shower. My salons offered services that people said were for "porn stars, gays, and 'those' people." People protested outside of my salons. I ended up on the news for my battle with a large hotel corporation in Las Vegas, where the VP vowed to "bring my business down."
Now, a decade later, I have a brand partnership with Chippendales and RuPaul's Drag Race. I sold the waxing salons and put all my energy into Bryght. If you haven't guessed yet, yes, Bryght's first products were Anal Bleach. Some assholes need to lighten up, literally.
The industry hasn't changed much since my corporate days. The event owners are men, the logistics team are men, the majority of the skincare brands are owned by men, and they all sell to women. And just like when I was in corporate, I am either ignored, told my brand is too much, or my team is too loud.
But this time around, guess what's different? I'm in charge, I now have a voice, and now I can support women in an industry that is driven by women and owned by men.
And we've only just begun.
"cancer was the best thing that ever happened to me because it allowed me the clarity to reflect on where i was putting my energy"
2020 hit everyone really hard, especially those of us in the beauty industry. for me it was an exceptionally hard year as i was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer at the beginning of lockdown. i underwent hell on earth with chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery. so how did we at bryght move from intimate skincare products to creating a new line for cancer thrivers you ask? it was simple, as soon as my oncologist said “your skin is going to burn, peel, blister and hyperpigment- make sure you use petroleum jelly” i knew that i needed to create products that were specific for cancer thrivers and that were; safe, easy to use, all natural, vegan and scent free. i immediately thought, “hell, bryght already specializes in hyperpigmentation for the most sensitive areas!” that’s when i knew i could really make a difference, this was my calling, this was my purpose, this was why i got sick, this was my “strength” and “courage”
The Bryght brand is fast-acting skincare that evens skin tone and reduces dark spots to enhance the radiance of your skin. All ingredients are listed for full transparency, because we know you care about what goes on your body. Bryght has been a team effort; a team of strong, supportive women. Together, it is our mission to support all of your beauty and wellness needs and take the embarrassment and shame out of "awkward" skin conditions, and fill the gaps in the market that forget these skin conditions exist.
Luba Sasowski
CEO/Founder