Jenn Harper: Defining Indigenous Beauty

Jenn Harper is not just a name in the beauty industry; she’s a revolution. An award-winning social entrepreneur and international speaker, Jenn is the trailblazing founder and CEO of Cheekbone Beauty Cosmetics—a brand that has gracefully painted the ideals of sustainability and inclusion onto a global canvas. From its inception in 2015, Jenn has nurtured Cheekbone Beauty into a B. Corp Certified force, now gracing the shelves of Sephora Canada and 550 JC Penney locations across the USA.

Jenn’s journey with Cheekbone began as a digitally native, direct-to-consumer brand that took pride in its commitment to reducing environmental impact and supporting Indigenous communities. Her formidable leadership made sure Cheekbone stood out not only for its stunning products but also for its ethical backbone—it became a symphony of transparency, philanthropy, and support for women and youth. To date, over $250,000 has been donated to philanthropic causes, testament to Cheekbone’s core values.

Cheekbone’s prestige has been hard-earned. In 2019, Jenn Harper made a confident appearance on Canada’s Dragon’s Den, the nation’s equivalency of Shark Tank. While she turned down offers, her unwavering resolution steered Cheekbone towards exponential growth. Jenn’s tactical negotiations led to expansive contracts with major retailers in North America, shining a beacon of inspiration for Indigenous women by placing an Indigenous CEO-led brand on equal footing with global industry giants.

Jenn Harper stands as more than a CEO; she is a voice for entrepreneurship, exerting influence on topics that are reshaping the business landscape: social entrepreneurship, empathy, representation, inclusivity, and sustainability. Regularly sought after for her insights, Jenn weaves her narrative as both a woman and a representative of North America’s Indigenous peoples, substantiating the importance of these values in today’s business ecosystem.

The accolades accruing to Jenn’s name bear the weight of her achievements. In 2022, she was listed among the 100 Women of Influence by Entrepreneur Magazine—a list graced by the likes of Jennifer Lopez and Kim Kardashian. In 2023, Jenn was conferred an Honorary Doctorate degree from the Goodman School of Business at Brock University. This honorary degree recognized her unwavering dedication to community betterment and adamant endeavours in championing sustainability. In November of 2024, Jenn Harper was also named as one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women. 

Jenn Harper, with Cheekbone Beauty, brings forth a narrative of passion, resilience, and authenticity. Her biography is not just about the ascent of a brand; it’s the story of a vision brought to life, of barriers broken, and of a future envisioned where commerce and charity coalesce seamlessly, all painted with the strokes of an eco-friendly brush. 

What is your connection to Brock and the Goodman School of Business?

My connection to Brock is rooted in place. I’ve lived in St. Catharines since I was four years old, and I built Cheekbone Beauty right here in the Niagara region. So even though I didn’t attend Brock as a student, the university has always been part of my journey, uplifting me and the brand.

From the beginning of Cheekbone Beauty, I made connections with people across different departments at the university. Whether I was speaking to nursing classes about the business in those early days, working through the Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP) on research and development projects, or, most recently, serving on Dean Barry Wright’s advisory board for the Goodman School of Business. Brock has always been woven through the years of building the business.

I’ve also had incredible mentors come through the Brock community. Meeting Dr. Deborah Rosati, who leads Women Get On Boards and is a big part of the Brock world — seeing how she uplifts and leads, especially for women in business, has been genuinely formative.

What is also really unique is that Brock University and Niagara College feel so connected to each other; I’ve never seen that anywhere else. A college and a university operating almost as one community. It’s special.

When you’re local, these connections to the university feel personal. That’s what I love about the Niagara community: when you’re from a tight-knit region, there’s always someone you can ask. You feel comfortable reaching out to the education leaders in a way I don’t think exists everywhere.

You don’t do anything alone, and having people like that in your circle matters more than I can say.

What was the path that led you to founding Cheekbone Beauty?

I didn’t come from the beauty industry at all. My whole career before Cheekbone Beauty was in hospitality at boutique hotels across Niagara, then sales at a food distribution company, then a seafood company. 

In January of 2015, I had a literal dream of three Indigenous little girls covered in lip gloss, and I woke up from that and thought: this is going to be the next thing that I do.

I just had this innate belief that this brand needed to exist. Which was wild to say out loud, because any right-minded person should not jump into an industry they know nothing about. 

But I kept asking myself: why doesn’t an Indigenous beauty brand already exist? 

I think if this idea had come 20 years earlier, it might not have worked. The world wasn’t ready. 

However, we were at a moment when people were genuinely open to seeing brands from different communities and different stories. Timing and luck are things nobody really talks about in entrepreneurship, but they matter enormously.

I also talk a lot about the concept of representation – for the Indigenous community and beyond – It’s just so important that everybody feels seen by someone. That’s what gives us belief in ourselves.

Were there moments when you felt underestimated, and how did you become undeniable?

I was once told I would never get Cheekbone Beauty products on the shelves of Sephora. 

Yet here we are, in Sephora, as the first Indigenous beauty brand they have ever carried anywhere in the world.

Someone could have given up at that point; the feedback we received in that moment was not entirely wrong either. The key was to take the feedback, whether positive or negative, and consider how to use it. 

The brand I started with is not who we are today. It’s completely transformed over 11 years. I took feedback from experts, improved products and packaging, and came back with a real story and a beauty viewpoint that didn’t exist before.

On a broader level, being a woman in business and a woman of colour, there are real barriers. For years, people would ask, “So what does your husband do in the company?”

I would say, “He changes the light bulbs at the warehouse.”

People assume that he’s a part of it because I’m a woman, but I can’t focus on those things. I acknowledge them and then move on, because if I let them get to me, how am I going to do the actual work of building something?

What milestones or achievements best represent your impact?

Our biggest achievement is our Cheekbone Beauty Scholarship Fund. We’re a B Corp-certified company, and 2% of our annual revenues go back to the fund. 

Since the fund’s launch in 2021, we’ve awarded 52 scholarships to Indigenous youth. That’s what I’m most proud of.

I’m also proud of what the brand represents in terms of visibility. There aren’t many Indigenous women who have built consumer brands at this level. 

I’ve seen firsthand what representation does. 

I lost my brother to suicide while building this brand, and reflecting on his life, I now understand why he would message me every time he saw an Indigenous person doing something remarkable. 

It was because he felt seen. That’s why he shared it. 

Building Cheekbone, I’ve layered that into everything we do. 

As a young girl, I never saw an Indigenous woman in business. 

So even if Cheekbone never becomes the biggest brand in the world, I have a role to fill: making sure young Indigenous people see us and think, “she’s like me, I can do it too.“

I’m also writing a book right now about defining a category I’m calling Indigenous Beauty, and my argument is that it’s synonymous with sustainability because of the ancestral teachings from Indigenous communities around the world. 

That deep-rooted connection to the land and how to take care of it properly — that’s what we want the world to associate with this category. People know Korean beauty, Japanese beauty, and French beauty. They haven’t really heard about Indigenous beauty yet. 

We’re one of the first Indigenous beauty brands to exist, but we most certainly want to see more.

What advice would you offer to the next generation of students and aspiring entrepreneurs?

Entrepreneurship is fascinating because you don’t need every skill to build what you want to build. If you have a vision and there’s a gap in your knowledge, the beauty of being an entrepreneur is that you can find the right people to fill it. 

That opens up the idea that nothing is truly impossible. I don’t have an MBA or a business degree, and I still built something from absolutely nothing. 

Imagine what you can do with the education and the foundation you’re building, and the right team around you.

I think that’s where the people you surround yourself with really matter.

Especially when I was younger, I was so worried about what other people might think, but Brock has single-handedly made me feel like I can do anything because of all the ways they’ve uplifted me. Being awarded an honorary doctorate by Brock in 2023 felt like a reflection of that encouragement and belief they’ve shown me throughout my journey. 

One more thing: be careful who you tell, not because someone will steal it, but because even well-meaning people who love you will tell you it’s a waste of time. Protect it until it’s real. Then trust that instinct, because it’s yours, and no one can build the exact same thing as you.

I once woke up at 3:00 am to give a presentation to a group of Indigenous entrepreneurs in New Zealand. No one was paying me. If you’ll do it for free and at 3:00 am because you’re that passionate, you’re on to something. If an idea will not leave your head, you will truly know.