Beauty Industry Veteran Ylorie Taylor on Strategy, Community, and the Work Behind HUE Affair

Ylorie Taylor has spent more than two decades working behind the scenes in the beauty industry, helping brands grow, advising founders, and navigating the evolving multicultural beauty landscape.

Today, she brings that experience to HUE Affair, a marketplace and event platform that highlights multicultural beauty brands and connects founders directly with consumers through curated events and brand showcases.

Taylor began her career at Kenra, where she gained early exposure to both the professional salon and retail sides of the beauty industry. She later moved into consulting and played a role in helping build EDEN Bodywork’s alongside founder Jasmine Lawrence. Over the years, she has advised a wide range of emerging and established brands, guiding founders on marketing strategy, brand positioning, and growth.

“I’ve been in the industry more than two decades now,” Taylor said. “Over time you start to see patterns in what works for founders and what doesn’t.”

In recent years, Taylor acquired HUE Affair, originally founded by Sabrina Boissiere, and now leads the platform as it continues to host events designed to bring independent brands and consumers together.

For Taylor, creating spaces for discovery and connection remains central to the mission.

“Beauty is still an in-person category,” she said. “People want to touch the products, meet the founders, and experience the brand.”

During our conversation, Taylor also shared several insights for founders navigating today’s beauty landscape.

First, clarity is essential. Founders who clearly understand the problem their brand solves are better positioned to connect with their audience.

“What problem are you solving, and who are you solving it for?” Taylor said. “When founders are clear about that, it strengthens everything from their messaging to their consumer connection.”

Second, adaptability matters more than ever. As retail shifts and new platforms continue to emerge, founders who remain flexible are often better able to grow.

“Agility is really important,” she explained. “The brands that adapt to new opportunities tend to move forward faster.”

Third, founders must make time to think strategically about the future of their brands.

“We spend a lot of time living in our businesses,” Taylor said. “But it’s just as important to step back and work on the vision for where the brand is going.”

For Taylor, platforms like HUE Affair are ultimately about creating the kind of environments where founders, consumers, and industry leaders can meet, learn, and grow together.

After more than 20 years in the beauty industry, she believes the real impact often happens when the right people are simply brought into the same room.

And that, in many ways, is exactly what HUE Affair continues to do.