How Amy Liu Built her Sensitive Skin Brand Tower28 at 40
Naked Beauty
The Naked Beauty Podcast
4.5 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 9 March 2026
⏱️ 50 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Before Amy Liu built Tower28, the company that currently sells products every 10 seconds in Sephora, she was working in the beauty industry and struggling with sensitive skin. With encouragement and investments from close friends, Amy leveraged her 15+ years of experience to bet on herself and build Tower 28, a company that keeps sensitive skin at the core of its product development. During our conversation, Amy shared that she dealt with chronic eczema and sensitive skin her entire life. However, despite working in major roles at companies like Kate Sommerville and Josie Maran and having firsthand experience of how product efficacy could change her life, she still didn’t feel ready to leap. Shortly after turning 40, Amy was in conversation with a former business school classmate who asked what she was waiting for. This friend affirmed her skills and experience, and then offered to invest in her dream. She reached out to other friends and family, all of whom were excited to support her vision for Tower 28. In the seven years since launching, Tower 28 has blossomed into a brand beloved by everyone from essential workers to “gym rats,” to celebrities, and influencers like Hailey Bieber and their recent collaborator, Toni Bravo.
Amy offers us a glimpse into her life as CEO, mom, and lifelong advocate for clean beauty in this chat. She shared what it was like growing up in Los Angeles, in a predominantly white community, instead of a Chinese-American neighborhood. Amy details her parents' decision to move to America and why her dad, an entrepreneur, tried to dissuade her from starting a business. It’s exactly this persistence that has allowed her to become a strong leader, despite having been exposed to some of the worst bosses you might imagine. Amy’s leadership skills are defined by not only what she has done but also by her commitment to educating others. In the summer of 2020, she decided to develop Clean Beauty Summer School, a professional-development program that gives BIPOC founders industry access and education that they might otherwise not have access to. Amy has built a brand that is 100% compliant with the National Eczema Association and regularly gives back to minority founders. Amy Liu’s story proves that a true commitment to inclusivity benefits every single one of us.
Tune in as we discuss:
(2:35) What Amy Learned In Her First Beauty Role At Smashbox
(4:15) Growing Up In Los Angeles Without Close Proximity To Other Chinese People
(6:00) Her Belief That The Beauty Industry Shapes Confidence
(7:05) Her Family’s Immigration Origin Story
(10:48) What She Learned From Her Worst Bosses
(15:00) Why Turning 40 Emboldened Her To Start Tower28
(17:30) How A Friend’s Investment Pushed Her To Take The Leap
(21:10) The Organic Marketing Initiative That Helped Them Thrive During COVID-19
(26:00) Why Eczema Affects 25% Children
(30:00) The True Cost Of Creating Products For Sensitive Skin
(34:18) The Secret Behind The Tower 28 Swipe Serum Concealer
(37:22) Her Mission To Support BIPOC Clean Beauty Founders
(46:07) Amy’s Favorite Beauty And Wellness Products
(49:29) Her Advice To Anyone Wanting To Take A Professional Risk
(51:44) When She Feels The Most Beautiful
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Stay in touch with me: @brookedevard
Follow Amy @amyliu_t28
Tower 28 SOS Daily Rescue Facial Spray Hypochlorous Acid
Tower 28 Swipe Serum Concealer
Shani Darden Smooth & Glow Essentials
MARA Universal Hydrating Face Oil
Sophie Pavitt Mandelic Clearing Serum
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | California love. |
| 0:08.0 | Hello, hello. This is Brooke Rivard, and you're listening to The Naked Beauty Podcast. |
| 0:11.7 | And if you were joining us on YouTube, you were watching The Naked Beauty Podcast. |
| 0:15.5 | I'm so excited about my guest, Amy Liu, who is really a pioneer in the beauty industry. |
| 0:20.7 | I'm going to give you all a little bit |
| 0:21.8 | more information about her background. She's the founder and CEO of Tower 28 Beauty. You know it. |
| 0:28.0 | You love it. Amy dealt with sensitive skin her entire adult life, and she was frustrated that her |
| 0:33.1 | chronic eczema meant she was stuck using boring clinical brands that often didn't even work. |
| 0:39.3 | Eventually, Lou leveraged her 15 plus years of beauty industry experience to bet on herself |
| 0:45.6 | and build her dream company at 40 years old, the result, an array of affordable and effective |
| 0:51.9 | products that celebrities and influencers like Haley Bieber and |
| 0:55.6 | Tony Bravo swear by. I'm so excited to welcome Amy Lou. And I'm going to add myself in that, |
| 1:00.8 | that me, Brooke DeVarra, I also swear by because I love the Tower 28 products. Amy, welcome to |
| 1:05.5 | naked beauty. I am so thrilled to be here. I literally just said, I was like I have really wanted to be a guest on your podcast. I'm so honored. Thank you so much. I feel like we had the chance to meet like, gosh, it was like. Numerous times. But like five years ago. Yes. I remember you did an event. I think you had just moved not that long ago when you. Well, I think I was even still living in New York because there was an event like Soho at, |
| 1:28.1 | it was like this beautiful outdoor area and you were premiering your new like cream bronzers and you |
| 1:34.7 | would work with the makeup artist Jessica Smalls, who was consulting on it. And I just thought, wow, |
| 1:39.8 | I love to see when brands are intentional about inclusivity and not just in like a here's |
| 1:45.4 | our marketing campaign and we've got lots of different color models, but like in the product |
| 1:48.7 | development. |
| 1:49.7 | And you, you know, our skin tones couldn't be further apart. |
| 1:53.9 | But the fact that the Tower 28 products have always worked so well on my skin and the pigment |
| 1:59.3 | has always been there. |
... |
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