Jenna Meek grew up in Bishop Auckland in the North East of England, far from fashion weeks, funding rounds and beauty boardrooms. By her early twenties, she had already launched her first business, building Shrine from her bedroom. What began in 2016 as a festival-led beauty brand known for bold face jewels, glitter and disruptive self-expression quickly grew into a globally stocked cosmetics name, collaborating with major retailers and brands before Jenna exited in 2024.

In 2020, she co-founded Refy with model and influencer Jess Hunt, building a beauty brand centred on refinement rather than excess, from its base in Manchester. What began with a single hero product, Brow Sculpt, quickly gained cult status in the UK for its sculpted yet natural aesthetic. Since then, Refy has expanded steadily beyond its home market, moving into major international retailers and most recently launching into Sephora Middle East.

We met Jenna at Haas Cafe during her recent visit to Dubai. The week was tightly scheduled with meetings and press, yet she was calm and focused. We sat down over matcha, carving out a quiet half hour in the middle of it all. After our conversation, she was heading to a waterpark to spend time with her family before REFY’s private launch party in Alserkal and the next stretch of travel.

“Love for me now looks like spending more time doing the things that fill my cup, with the right people, and just having a nice time.”
Jenna Meek

At 33, Jenna is deep in the reality of modern entrepreneurship. Building a global beauty brand while raising young children, travelling constantly and learning where to place her energy as the business grows. It is not something she presents as a statement. It is simply the shape of life right now. Included in Forbes 30 Under 30 and one of the newest Guest Dragons on Dragons’ Den, Jenna could easily have steered the conversation towards metrics, scale or momentum. Instead, what unfolded felt far more personal. Less interview, more exchange. At times, like a quiet pep talk between entrepreneurs.

What becomes clear as the conversation unfolds is that Jenna’s relationship with work has changed as much as her life has. When she talks about the early days, there is no nostalgia for hustle. Just honesty. “I thought to run a business you just had to be intense,” she says. “Everything was urgent. I used to send emails titled ‘urgent’. I thought that’s just how you speak to people.” It was a way of working shaped by the industry she came from. Fashion in London taught her speed and pressure, but not necessarily care. When she launched her first business at 22, that intensity followed her. For years, it felt inseparable from ambition.

That shifted after having children and after a series of personal moments. What replaced urgency was not apathy, but perspective. “I actually used to think I had to be a different person at work than who I was in life,” she says. “And when I just started being the person I am in life, that’s when everything worked better. People work for people.” Leadership, for Jenna, is now less about control and more about trust. Less about being across everything and more about knowing what to step back from.

“If it’s not going to kill the business, don’t worry about it. That advice changed everything for me as a founder.”
Jenna Meek

“It stopped me from imploding,” she adds. “And it gave my team so much empowerment.” That trust is visible in how Refy operates. We were not just sitting down with Jenna, but with her team too, voices weaving in and out of the conversation. With Refy, teamwork is not a talking point added later. It is the operating system. “I don’t want us to just have a big fancy brand on the outside if people here come into work and it’s not nice,” she says. “We try so hard to make sure we filter out anyone that’s not kind, because that affects everything.”

Refy’s internal culture has become one of its defining strengths. The brand has been recognised for its workplace environment, but Jenna brushes that off quickly. What matters more to her is how people feel when they show up every day and whether they feel trusted to do their jobs well.

That same care extends to how products are made. Jenna has been involved in product development from the beginning and the process remains slow by design. “It takes about two years for us to develop a product from scratch,” she explains. “We don’t replicate base formulas. We start with ingredient research. That’s where ideas spark.” Performance is the starting point, but not the only one. Refy works with over 500 community testers globally, across skin tones, skin types and needs. Their role is not symbolic. Feedback is taken seriously, even when it complicates things. “If we love a product but someone else doesn’t, then we change it,” she says. “Everyone’s got the same voice.”

That philosophy is clearest when Jenna talks about the product that started it all. Brow Sculpt, Refy’s first launch, wasn’t designed to chase trends or reinvent brows entirely. It was about refining what already existed, stripping the step back to something intuitive and effective.

“This is what we launched with,” she says. “It’s what set the brand up for so much success.” Five years on, Brow Sculpt remains a hero. Simple, precise and instantly recognisable, it defined Refy’s approach from the outset. One product that does exactly what it promises, without excess. In many ways, it still acts as the blueprint for everything that’s followed.

One example came early on when a customer reached out to say they were struggling to open one of Refy’s products due to a disability. Instead of treating it as a one-off issue, the team reworked the packaging. “We’re not saying we’re perfect,” Jenna says. “But we’re constantly hearing, learning and progressing.” Inclusivity here is not a campaign or a seasonal message. It is embedded into the process itself. From shade development influenced directly by customers who felt something was missing, to accessibility now being considered as standard, the brand evolves in dialogue with its community.

That commitment to purpose over optics is something Jenna articulated publicly not long after our conversation. Watching her later on Dragons’ Den, the language is sharper, but the message is the same. “Why are they annoyed at everyone speaking? We’re just getting labelled as investors, like we’re all the same. I could not care less. I’ll get my money back because I know exactly how to build a business. I know exactly how to build a business that’s got a purpose. That’s where I absolutely thrive. It’s what wakes me up.

“I’m not worried about when I’m going to get my money back. I’m worried about when we’ve done our mission on that business. That’s all I care about. Do that well, with a good business mind and the money just comes.”

On screen, it reads as conviction. In person, it feels like consistency. As the conversation shifts towards beauty more broadly, Jenna reflects on her own changing relationship with makeup. Thinking back to old photos, she laughs at how heavy everything once was. “My face was caked. My skin didn’t look fresh. I was hiding,” she says. Today, confidence looks different. “I feel confident with makeup, but I feel confident without it too. That’s what the brand has given me.” Refy’s aesthetic mirrors that philosophy. Natural, effortless, elevated. Not rushed, not overdone. Jenna is clear that it is not designed to appeal to everyone and that is intentional.

“If you want contour, don’t come to Refy,” she says. “But if you want that well put together, natural look, this is our world.” As we return, loosely, to Beautilist’s February question, it is clear that Jenna does not define love in one neat sentence. It appears instead in patterns. In how she talks about her team. In the launches, she is willing to delay. In the boundaries she has learned to set. In the decision to leave a meeting and go straight to her family. “I think it’s about putting your energy where your energy is well received,” she says. “And where you get it back.”

Professionally, love shows up as care for standards, consistency and people. Personally, it is presence. Being there when she is there, whether that is in a meeting room, a product lab or as a mother on a working trip. For anyone building something of their own, this conversation offers something rare. Not instruction, not hustle rhetoric, but reassurance. A reminder that leadership does not need to be loud to be effective, and that growth does not have to come at the cost of self.

Sometimes, building with care is not the softer option. It is the one that lasts.

THE BEAUTILIST TAKEAWAY

For founders navigating growth, pressure and change, Jenna’s approach is a reminder that you do not need to become harder to succeed. You just need to become clearer.

➼ Love, at this stage of building, looks practical.

➼ It looks like trusting your team.
➼ Listening to your community.
➼ Saying no when something is not ready.
➼ Letting go of urgency when it no longer serves you.
➼ Staying present in the life you are building alongside the business.

THE DETAILS

Instagram: @RefyBeauty

Shop: Here

Website: RefyBeauty.com