Raquelle Puglisi | Director of Brand Marketing, KraveBeauty
A conversation with Raquelle Puglisi, Director of Brand Marketing at KraveBeauty, on reshaping how beauty is marketed, resisting the pressure to perfect or shrink ourselves, and creating a culture where women feel empowered to define beauty on their own terms.
Can you take us back to a time when silence felt safer than being vulnerable? What ultimately helped you begin sharing more of yourself with others?
Years ago, I hid behind the version of myself I showed others and quietly battled my emotions in isolation. I was afraid to open up about how I was feeling because keeping everything inside felt safer and more controlled. Sharing it out loud felt vulnerable, almost like admitting weakness. I was raised in a loving way, but with the old-school guidance that the version of yourself you present to the world should always have a smile on, and that the harder things were not meant to be shared.
The shift came with time, growth, and honestly, reaching one of my lowest emotional points. In that moment, I realized how deeply I was craving connection. So, on a whim, I started sharing a few pieces of my poetry on social media because it felt more approachable when it was disguised as art, a way to express what I was feeling without having to directly say, “this is what I’m going through.”
What surprised me was the response. I received messages from close friends and even people I had never met thanking me for sharing my words, telling me they connected with them, and sharing their own experiences or asking for advice. Their encouragement helped me realize that vulnerability wasn’t a weakness, it was a way to create connection. Even in the moments when I felt the most alone, I actually wasn’t. The very thing I had spent so much time hiding became the thing that connected me to others, pulled me out of that dark space, and helped me grow into someone who speaks louder.
What has your team taught you about the kind of leadership that helps people feel trusted, supported, and able to show up fully?
Emotional equity has shown up most meaningfully for me through the team I’ve helped build at KraveBeauty. I feel incredibly lucky to work alongside such thoughtful, talented women who challenge me, inspire me, and cheer me on. While I may be their leader, I don’t believe leadership means having all the answers. Some of my greatest growth as a leader has come from creating space for my team’s perspectives and allowing myself to learn from them.
Our team is small but mighty, and I’m proud of the environment we’ve created together. We can lean on each other, be honest about challenges, celebrate wins, and bring our best ideas forward. It’s a true collaboration every day. There is a shared sense of trust and ownership that allows us to create experiences for our community that we genuinely feel proud of and excited about.
This has been my favorite role I’ve had so far, and a huge part of that is because of the people I get to work with every day. They’ve shown me that emotional equity isn’t just about being there for each other during difficult moments; it’s about building relationships where everyone feels valued, empowered, and encouraged to contribute. When people feel trusted and supported, they show up more fully, and that creates stronger teams, better ideas, and more meaningful communities.
How have the parts of yourself you once felt you needed to hide shaped the way you lead today, and what could sharing them create for others?
For a long time, I believed silence was a form of protection. I thought keeping my emotions to myself meant I was being strong and that my feelings weren’t relatable or something I should ask others to carry with me. Over time, I realized that silence was actually keeping me lonely, and that I had so much more to share with others that could create meaningful impact, both personally and professionally.
The shift began when I allowed myself to be seen, first through sharing my poetry and eventually through building communities around honest conversations and shared experiences. What started as a personal outlet became a reminder that our stories have the power to reach people in ways we may never expect. By opening up about the things I once kept hidden, I realized that vulnerability could be a source of strength and connection.
My experiences with body image, mental health struggles, anxiety, and self-doubt will always be a part of my journey, but they are not the things that define or limit me. They have shaped the way I connect with others, the way I lead with empathy, and the way I approach creating spaces where people feel valued. I think the cool thing about life is that nothing is forever, and change can be exciting. We grow through our experiences, our relationships, and the connections we build along the way. Every day gives us the opportunity to better understand ourselves and show up with more compassion for the people around us.
I feel incredibly grateful to be a leader in the beauty space while continuing to embrace my own humanity. My journey has shown me that vulnerability and leadership can exist together, and that the things we once thought we had to hide can become the very things that help us lead with more compassion and understanding. Through my voice, I hope to continue nurturing spaces where women feel empowered to share their stories, support one another, and know that our experiences are actually what make us much more interesting.
“Their encouragement helped me realize that vulnerability wasn’t a weakness, it was a way to create connection.”
About Raquelle
Raquelle Puglisi is the Director of Brand Marketing at KraveBeauty, where she leads brand strategy, go-to-market initiatives, creative development, partnerships, and social-first community marketing. With a background spanning fashion, consumer brands, and entertainment, Raquelle has built purpose-led experiences for brands including Coach, Parade, and AMC Networks. She brings a fresh perspective to the beauty space, blending cultural insights, storytelling, and community-first thinking to create meaningful connections between brands and today’s consumers.
Outside of her work in beauty, Raquelle is passionate about mental health advocacy and creating spaces where people feel seen, supported, and connected. Through her passion project, We All Get Sad Club, she builds community in the New York City and Jersey Shore areas with the intention of fostering honest conversations and safe spaces around mental health. She is also the author of Tiny Passages to Pass the Time, a collection of passages exploring the many emotions that come with love, heartbreak, self-doubt, self-discovery, and growth. Written as a way to process her own experiences, these passages were created with the hope that they might offer comfort and connection to someone else. For the ones who feel, and the ones who have felt.
Connect Further
LinkedIn: Raquelle Puglisi | Instagram: @raqdanpug, @weallgetsadclub, @tinypassages