In this episode of Be Anomalous, Angela Ubias, beauty industry veteran and co-founder of Common Heir, joins me to talk about building with conviction, navigating identity in an industry built on perfection, and redefining what leadership looks like when you lead with values over validation.
Angela has spent over a decade behind the scenes helping shape some of the most influential beauty brands — including Native — before launching Common Heir in 2020, a clean, sustainable skincare brand that went on to be acquired by Flamingo Estate. Now, she’s the founder of Halo Haus, an agency helping purpose-driven founders build brands that actually mean something.
In this conversation, we explore what it means to stay grounded while growing fast — the realities of fundraising as a woman of color and queer founder, the lessons she learned from selling her company, and the power of leading with kindness in an industry obsessed with perfection.
If you’ve ever felt like the outsider in the room — and still chose to show up anyway — this episode is for you.
🎧 Listen to the episode:
What You’ll Learn
How Angela went from a small Texas town to building global beauty brands
The lessons behind co-founding, scaling, and selling Common Heir
What it means to fundraise and lead authentically as a queer woman of color
How to protect your peace while being visible and ambitious
The mindset that helped her move from imposter syndrome to self-trust
Why she believes clarity is the most underrated form of kindness
Favorite Quote
“Being clear is being kind.” — Mary Berry, Angela’s mentor
Favorite Book
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
In This Episode, We Cover
(00:00) Angela’s upbringing in Texas and her early love for beauty
(06:00) Breaking into the beauty industry without connections or credentials
(11:00) Helping build brands like Native and the rise of clean, indie beauty
(17:00) Founding Common Heir and raising capital as a first-time founder
(24:00) Fundraising bias and being told to bring on a male co-founder
(33:00) Building a brand rooted in inclusion, sustainability, and real community
(40:00) Navigating identity, visibility, and online hate
(47:00) Selling Common Heir to Flamingo Estate
(53:00) Starting Halo House and rediscovering her love for building
(56:00) The rituals that keep her grounded — journaling, affirmations, EFT tapping
(58:00) What she’s learned about success, clarity, and leading with compassion
Referenced in This Episode
Common Heir — clean, sustainable skincare brand
Halo House — Angela’s new brand-building agency
Native Deodorant — one of Angela’s early client success stories
EFT Tapping and affirmations for grounding and mindset work
New episodes drop every Monday.
Be bold. Be real. Be anomalous.
