UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — In the latest episode of Invent Penn State’s Dare to Disrupt podcast, host Ryan Newman interviews Vivian Valenty, founder and president of VB Cosmetics, a fully integrated manufacturing company with global brands of clean, nature- and science-based, functional and proprietary beauty products.
VB Cosmetics’ transformational product, Dazzle Dry, a quick-dry nail polish system, is revolutionizing the nail industry. In this episode, Vivian shares stories about her upbringing in the Philippines, overcoming discrimination and harassment in the workplace, acquiring nine patents as an accomplished bio-organic chemist and inventor, and inventing the foundation for what would become Dazzle Dry.
She received her bachelor's in chemistry from Mapua University in the Philippines, and her doctoral degree in organic chemistry from Penn State.
“My passion is in creating products that solve problems. Give me a problem, and I will take it and come up with a product to solve it,” Vivian says during the podcast episode.
Listen to Vivian Valenty’s episode of Dare to Disrupt
At the end of the episode, recent Penn State student Devanshi Mittal joins the conversation. Devanshi graduated this past May from Penn State with a degree in computer science. She is the founder of Trails, a software application designed to offer a centralized platform that unites students and alumni through an AI-driven, forum-based Q&A and knowledge-sharing space. Devanshi has participated in the Idea TestLab and the MVP DevLab at Happy Valley LaunchBox powered by PNC Bank. Devanshi and Vivian discuss building your startup team, the importance of continuing to innovate based on customer feedback, and the benefits of growing your business slowly and steadily.
Students can apply or be nominated to be on the show here.
About Dare to Disrupt
Subscribe to Dare to Disrupt on YouTube Music, Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Dare to Disrupt is a podcast from Invent Penn State about Penn State alumni who are innovators, entrepreneurs and leaders, and the stories behind their success. The podcast is hosted by alumnus Ryan Newman, a graduate of the Smeal College of Business and a Schreyer Scholar alumnus who is now a managing director at Goldman Sachs.
Past episodes of Dare to Disrupt include interviews with Garry Gilliam, David Rusenko and Jess Weiner. New episodes of "Dare to Disrupt" release monthly. Learn more at invent.psu.edu/dare-to-disrupt.
Invent Penn State is a commonwealth-wide initiative to spur economic development, job creation and student career success.