Over the past the year, a wave of change has disrupted the cosmetics industry—from the types of spokesmodels cast in ads to the language we use when discussing what constitutes “beauty.” Still, as Fenty’s breakthrough campaign and product assortment recently showed, there’s much to be done. Adding to that conversation, Jamie Kern Lima, the CEO of It Cosmetics, just called for an end to “unattainable” images in advertising, directly taking on the airbrushed, impossible-to-achieve look women are indirectly told to aspire.

While accepting the Achiever Award from the Cosmetic Executive Women (CEW) organization last week, Kern Lima recited the experience she had when she was first trying to get her now $1.2 billion business off the ground: Investor after investor wouldn’t back the brand because she refused to use thin, flaw-free models. One male investor even told her, “I’m just not sure women will want to buy makeup from someone who looks like you—you know, with your body and weight.”

“The experts told me one thing, but my gut told me another,” she went on to say. “What my gut told me is, women are tired of buying from ads and commercials who don’t look like them.” Powerhouse that she is, Kern Lima followed her intuition and used her make-it-or-break-it QVC moment to demo the brand’s concealer on models who the products were actually created for—women with acne, hereditary dark circles, wrinkles, and her own rosacea-prone skin.

“In the beauty industry we’ve bought into the notion that you have to show these unattainable images of aspiration in order to sell products. And me standing here right now, and the success of It Cosmetics, is proof that this isn’t true,” she said, going on to further implore that the rest of the industry needs to catch up with the demand for authenticity. “I want you to think and answer this question honestly. When you look at the images of models and of beauty for your brand, have they ever made you feel insecure or less-than? Have the images you put out in the world empowered you or disempowered you? […] How did the images you saw of beauty impact you as a young girl? How do they impact you today? […] What will you do with the power that is you?”

Watch her full speech to beauty industry execs, below, which was met with a standing ovation. It’s long, but worth your time.

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