When I first started getting an allowance in high school, there were several times I remember taking my $20 bill straight to Sephora to splurge on Boscia's iconic gel cleansers and charcoal masks.

Getting to meet with founder Lan Belinky would be a life-slash-career highlight for any beauty junkie or beauty lover, but all nerves were immediately shaken off by Lan's extreme warmth, kindness, and generosity — you'd never think she built an empire out of a company that once pioneered the entire clean beauty movement in the Western world.

Boscia was certainly one of the first brands outside of Asia to really build its brand upon a passion for clean beauty, a principle that came naturally out of Lan's Japanese family roots.

Her father founded it out of their family's Irvine, CA garage after moving from Japan when Lan was young, and the entire brand continues to steep itself in ancient Japanese principles and tradition even today.

Yes, Boscia's products are some of the best my sensitive skin has ever tried, but my brand loyalty has only been heightened after hearing Lan's background, story, and passion for inclusivity and diversity in beauty.

Not only has Lan been an admirable business woman since handing out skincare samples for her dad at the mall and local festivals while in High School, she now makes every decision for her business in service of developing products to make people feel beautiful.

Coming from a childhood in Japan in which she was marginalized for not "looking" Japanese, and then moving to California where she was made fun of for not being able to speak English, it only takes a moment of observing Lan to know she has a gift for making every person she speaks to feel more beautiful than before they knew her.

Boscia is the physical manifestation of her loving generosity, but this is Lan's story:

Lan Belinky

What is the story you hope to tell with Boscia?

I was born and raised in Japan. I used to watch my grandmother and aunt take care of their skin with so many steps. That's where my love and passion and curiosity began. When I was a teenager, we moved to Irvine, CA and that's when my father started Boscia.

We were one of the first brands to stand for clean beauty. We were all about that from the beginning.

We were one of the first to speak to being vegan, cruelty-free, paraben-free — all those values you see that are so common now, we were ahead of our time with.

The brand was officially started in 2002, but before that it was a smaller brand operating out of my family's spare room.

I used to fight with my sisters because I wanted my own room but we needed the extra room and garage to hold product.

I was in High School and Junior High and was helping out since then. I loved it and knew I could help so I started early, handing out samples at local festivals and at the local mall.

There were times when as a teenager, it was a little bit embarrassing and by junior/senior year I knew it was what I wanted to do but I had to go to college.

I came back and wanted to work for the brand but my dad didn't want me to. I worked around him to apply for the receptionist role and worked it out with him later.

I had a lot of mentors at the time who wanted me to go to their brands and I would speak to my father about it and he'd say, well, no. For the past two years, we've really started incorporating myself and my story with Boscia and obviously in 2002, it's not something we spoke about but it's gained traction with our consumers and so I've become more front-facing.

The story I hope to tell is that we are all about botanical science with innovation and good-for-you ingredients.

Becoming an international brand, we've worked on our distribution to accomplish that goal. For myself, it's been a really great journey and I'm so grateful for anyone who's taught me anything and my father now completely trusts me. We have each other's backs.

What has been your biggest challenge and highlight as an entrepreneur?

One of the biggest challenges is that sometimes you just feel so alone. It's a different level of stress knowing you are responsible for a company and its people.

I always think of my employees. They have families and children so you're always feeling that pressure.

I'm never comfortable, and that's a good thing. I can never be excited about a new launch because I'm always thinking about what's next.

I think one of the highlights is when we complete a big launch or partnership with a big retailer, it's exciting to look back and see all of the challenges we were able to complete. We just celebrated the 10 year anniversary of the Luminizing Charcoal Mask.

How much does coming from a marginalized community play into the way you conduct business on a day-to-day basis?

Since growing up in Japan, I have always been part of a marginalized community.

In Japan, I looked American, so people used to call me "foreigner" in Japanese. Then when I came to America, I didn't speak English. Kids used to be like, she looks American but she can't even speak English or spell her own name.

As a child, I couldn't even spell my own name and I went by my middle name, Diana. Sometimes, it can be difficult because we do work with in the field of beauty in which there are a lot of women so the atmosphere can be catty. But, coming from a marginalized community has allowed me to be a lot more compassionate.

I know what it's like to not feel seen or considered, so I want inclusivity to be at the forefront of everything we do.

I speak to retailers about my Japanese heritage, and people tell me I don't look Japanese. I have to, like, prove my Japanese heritage. Appearance-wise, people assume that I am not a person of color.

How do you feel social media has changed the way you do business?

Social media has changed everything. It's still funny to me to look back at 2007 or 2008. You weren't allowed to check Facebook at work. But now to have whole teams and budgets built around social media.

Instagram is the quickest way to communicate with our customers. A lot of effort and investment goes in to our campaigns there.

The most beautiful thing about social media is the connections you can make with people you wouldn't have had the opportunity to connect with otherwise.

I have a handful of social media friends I have talked to for years who have really become my biggest supporters and fans and I think that's so beautiful.

You're also able to gather so much information. So many of the changes in our culture are driven by social media so it's a beautiful tool for us to further educate ourselves.

What advice would you give to the upcoming generation of entrepreneurs coming from marginalized communities?

I think my biggest advice would be if to say that you're going to have a lot of challenges that others just don't have.

It's going to be difficult, and you may feel like giving up, but to me, personally, those were the challenges that allowed me to grow so I always look back on them as opportunities I had to learn.

If you're putting all this effort in, make sure you're really passionate about it. If it's not something that's worth your sacrifice, hang in there. I really believe in that saying that whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Make sure that whatever you're trying to accomplish is what you're passionate about.

It's so easy to lose focus, and if you're just chasing a monetary reward, it'll be really hard to give it your personal 110 percent, especially if you're not really loving what you're doing. It is really important to enjoy and know you're having fun when you're working.

What can we expect from the future of Boscia?

You can always count on us for innovation. One of the things I'm most proud of with the brand is that we're one of the few prestige brands that launch 10 to 15 products a year.

One thing we have really tried to incorporate recently is sustainability.

It's a huge responsibility. Currently, we're a problem in some ways.

Some of the products coming up next year will be 100 percent recyclable, whether they come in a jar or are post-use plastic.

Our foot peel is our number two top product. We're re-launching that with plant-based alcohol in October I can't wait for you to try.

Lan Belinky

Rapid Fire

What are your favorite accounts to follow on social media?

@wellandgood and @asianamericangirlsclub

Tell us a book you'd recommend.

I read "The Four Agreements" once every year and it allows me to think big picture about what's important in life. It's a guideline on how to live my life. It's super easy to read but when I feel down, or at least once a year, I read it through.

What charities do you support?

We are passionate about giving back locally. Laura's House helps women who are in domestic abuse relationships.

I also love working with Girls On The Run. They work with brining self-esteem to young women and then they run a 5k at the end so you get to mentor the young ladies.

What is the item in your closet you wear the most?

I'm so guilty of wearing my black leggings. I don't even do yoga but I'm always in my yoga clothes. It's like my unofficial uniform now.

What is the one skincare product you can't live without?

I think it would have to be our Chia Seed Moisturizer.

What is on your nightstand?

I have a cup of water, and then our Boscia Cherry Blossom & Bakuchiol Lip Repair.

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