Why Trans Beauty DEI Pioneer Joseph Harwood Is Speaking Out

Syco expertise reveals are one the world’s most recognizable breeding grounds for stardom.

Through the years, they’ve turned the likes of One Path, Little Combine, Fifth Concord and extra into family names. Not least of which, Pudsey the canine, who earned himself the starring position in a £2.5 million ($3.3 million) movie after profitable Britain’s Obtained Expertise in 2012.

So, why don’t we all know the identify of Syco expertise reveals’ first trans winner, Joseph Harwood?

Again in 2014, Harwood entered ‘The You Era’, an internet Syco expertise present in partnership with YouTube, trying to share her abilities as a make-up artist.

She had been sharing transformational magnificence tutorials on YouTube since 2007 and, whereas she by no means imagined she’d take house the $75,000 grand prize, she believed the present could be an ideal alternative to achieve new audiences.

“They introduced in a great deal of pop stars, musicians and entertainers and set it up in order that judges in several specialities had been the decision-makers,” says Harwood.

For her entry, Harwood used make-up to rework from one gender expression to a different, and the judges (Sam and Nicola Chapman of magnificence empires Pixiwoo and Actual Strategies) rapidly topped her class winner.

With seven classes left earlier than the grand prize was to be introduced, Harwood accepted the $2000 class prize and held tight.

“Then, earlier than the ultimate class had even completed, they despatched me an electronic mail saying that I had received,” she says. “I don’t know if the final class was in truthful consideration, however that is what occurred.”

Now $75,000 richer, Harwood couldn’t wait to see what doorways the official announcement may open for her. Solely, it by no means got here.

“I grew to become the primary ever trans particular person to win a actuality based mostly expertise present, however they did not even submit me because the winner on the YouTube channel after I had received.”

The following few weeks had been extremely irritating for Harwood.

On the again of her YouTube channel she’d not solely change into a profitable make-up artist however one of many largest overtly trans creators on this planet. And nonetheless, assist from her chosen business felt non-existent.

“I obtained an enormous money prize—greater than profitable most of those television present competitions—however as an alternative of receiving a press launch and being promoted to the everyday information shops, they eliminated all of the content material.”

To the career-crippling impact of over 100 million views misplaced.

Outdoors of the competitors, issues gave the impression to be wanting up although. “I had booked a change section in a weekly magazine with nice mainstream publicity,” she says. “I did two items; an article about my work and a bit the place I reworked the wonder group saying that I would be doing celebs in transformations each single week.”

Solely, on the final minute, they emailed Harwood to say they weren’t capable of proceed and could be changing her with the Pixiwoo sisters.

“Then it acquired even worse. I acquired an electronic mail and tweet from a manufacturing firm a couple of magnificence pilot on tv that implied they needed me to be its make-up artist—like 10 Years Youthful has a resident hair particular person, or a choose, and I believed it will be phenomenal,” she says.

After talking to the producers and community, nonetheless, she found they weren’t occupied with her changing into a choose. They merely needed a makeover contestant.

“They had been actually considering I used to be a ‘Snog Marry Keep away from‘-type contestant, not a magnificence professional,” she says.

“They did not respect my expertise or worth, and noticed me as some kind of freak with various costume needing a conservative makeover, which was the nail within the coffin of this complete state of affairs.”

On the hunt to discover a expertise supervisor who wouldn’t solely respect however champion her trans id, issues didn’t get a lot better. She was repeatedly requested how typically she may ‘current as a boy’ to enchantment to a wider, cis-comfortable market.

“It did not matter that I had the views, the endorsements, or that merchandise I promoted offered out. I by no means had any assist and it made me really feel small.

“I got here house and cried as a result of, till then, I believed that I used to be handled the identical as everybody else—however I wasn’t.”

Deciding to take a step again from the seemingly unattainable world of social affect, Harwood retrained as an MSc in Beauty Science and started to accomplice with manufacturers behind the scenes.

“I developed and co-designed a product line beneath L’Oreal Improvements which broke boundaries and was launched in 2018,” she says proudly. “It hit primary in Elle UK’s Satisfaction checklist and an enormous quantity of different publications like Vogue and Marie Claire.”

Nonetheless, Harwood feels she’s solely on the primary web page of this new chapter.

“I actually needed to unfold consciousness that we’ve been mega centered on DEI within the magnificence business for the final 5 years, however in plain sight we misplaced all our main trans inventive gamers due to the media infrastructure beforehand,” she says. “I actually don’t suppose that individuals are conscious this has occurred and I feel it’s time to begin speaking about it.”

Not too long ago, Harwood has labored as a DEI guide for a variety of main magnificence manufacturers. Not least of which PUIG, for whom she hosted ten ateliers with model VPs to create new outlines to incorporate gender non-conformist folks of their advertising.

And he or she’s not stopping there. On the again of the business’s slowly-but-surely shifting values, she’s planning of launching a product line of her personal.

“I’m a profitable enterprise particular person,” she says, “and I need to create extra visibility within the media so folks see trans folks as common people combating for a greater high quality of life for everybody.”