Alice Chang looks to ensure consumers worldwide are always camera ready. As CEO of Taipei-based Perfect Corp. she oversees the company’s various beauty camera apps including YouCam Perfect, YouCam Makeup and the newly-released YouCam Nails. Here, Alice talks to Beauty Insider about how she came to land at a company that’s not only focused on developing mobile beauty apps, but also on delivering an integrated beauty platform for real products, brands, influencers and beauty users. She also dishes on the company’s collaboration with Clinique and InStyle magazine, one that allows a beauty user to access makeup products digitally via their smartphone, then connect the experience with a consultation at a physical store.

Beauty Insider: Please give us a brief background of your professional career.

Alice Chang: Upon graduating from UCLA with my MBA, I began my career in investment banking. At the time, the IT industry was at its infancy and booming. I was fascinated by its fast-moving and innovating nature, so I joined Trend Micro, a promising antivirus software company to focus on operations and finance as CFO. As an executive in the software industry, I enjoyed the exciting and ever-changing environment. It was around this time that I felt the entrepreneurial fire growing, and I began to contemplate how to bring technology into the daily lives of consumers and create the best user experience in multimedia technology.

BI: How did you land at CyberLink?

AC: As CFO of Trend Micro, I was preparing their IPO when it was decided that the company would move its headquarters to Tokyo. My husband, Prof. Jau Huang, had just founded CyberLink in Taipei and was searching for a CEO to run the company. He asked if I was interested in taking on the challenge of leading this new software company to drive its growth with a global aim. Although it was a tough decision to leave Trend Micro, I knew it was the right time to move to a startup venture and joined CyberLink.

BI: Tell us about the different services that CyberLink offers and the role you’ve had in evolving the company.
AC: The early success of CyberLink came from bundling media software on new PCs, a primarily B2B business. Building on this success, we saw a major opportunity to expand to the B2C audience by developing a broad range of photo and video editing software. Two years ago we continued our expansion into the mobile app arena by launching smartphone camera apps. We struck instant success with our beauty camera apps YouCam Perfect, YouCam Makeup and newly-released YouCam Nails. Our uninterrupted success is anchored in our in-depth knowledge of both the industry and of our users. We continuously look for opportunities and when we enter a new space we are relentless about building the best products and delivering the best experience. I have been intimately involved in each stage of growth, rolling-up my sleeves and now leading the Perfect Corp. team to ensure we never derail from this philosophy of excellence.

BI: Please describe your role at Perfect Corp. What are the services that Perfect Corp offers?

AC: Perfect Corp. spun off from CyberLink in June 2015 to focus on building a new business model aimed at what I call the “New Economy” created by the global proliferation of smartphones. At the time, I assumed the CEO role of Perfect Corp., a company focused on developing mobile beauty apps. As the leader of the company, it is imperative that I keep an eye on what’s coming next in this new paradigm. Our team endeavors to push the boundaries each day to connect high-tech with high-fashion and reinvent the beauty industry in this digital era. Our products and services focus on delivering an integrated beauty platform for real products, brands, influencers and beauty users. With our beauty apps and social network Beauty Circle, we have created a one-stop shop to discover, try and buy beauty products, exchange ideas and learn about the latest trends. Brands can leverage our platform to connect with users and link their offerings to an ecommerce site or retail store. Perfect Corp. continues to innovate at a rapid pace in an effort to ensure there is always something new and exciting for our user base that has grown to over 120 million in just over a year.

BI: Talk about how Perfect Corp. works with some of the world’s leading beauty companies. Which are some of the latest brands to sign on?
AC: In this emerging era of digital marketing, consumers spend more time on mobile than in traditional channels. Perfect Corp. offers a unique opportunity to showcase and sell brands’ latest products to millions of beauty lovers quickly and easily through mobile apps. We’ve met with many top brands, and those with high digital IQs recognize the value of our platform. Some leading brands have jumped in right away with over 65 expected to be on board by end of this year. For our recent collaboration with Clinique and InStyle Magazine, our makeup artists created six exclusive makeup looks that users discovered and virtually tried on their selfie photos using YouCam Makeup, later visiting select Macy’s stores to apply the actual makeup. This is the very first time a beauty user could enjoy the experience of accessing makeup products digitally in their smartphone and then connecting the experience with a consultation at a physical store.

BI: How do you navigate a mainly male industry?

AC: I do not view being a woman leader in IT as a drawback; on the contrary, being a female in a male-dominated industry brings some exclusive insight on how ordinary and less tech savvy consumers understand and use IT products. That’s not to say that women around the world aren’t still fighting for equal compensation and equal opportunities. Christian Dior never said, “I am a male fashion designer.” He had a vision, he pursued his passion to the fullest and he succeeded. We don’t label him by his gender but recognize his work and achievements. I expect the same for myself or anyone I interact with in our industry.

BI: What is your leadership style?

AC: Together with our management team, I set a focused vision, establish actionable goals and work closely with the team to make sure we deliver the best experience and achieve our goals. I stay highly involved with the process across product design, marketing campaigns or even responding directly to customer feedback. I encourage everyone at Perfect Corp. to share ideas and challenge the status quo. Ultimately, I am motivating our team to never sit still and always strive to enhance the value and experience for our users.

BI: Do you make it a goal to hire more women executives and help them develop professionally?

AC: Perfect Corp. is a meritocratic working environment. At every level of management in each department, you will find both very competent men and women represented. In the start-up environment at Perfect, we reward the best people and the best ideas regardless of their gender. By evaluating employees based on business-focused goals, we believe we can minimize gender or other biases and give equal opportunities to the most qualified talent. In the end, the excellence of our team is the assurance that we will deliver the best experience to our customers. This is the only thing that matters and by which we measure success at Perfect Corp.