Cassandra Grey
The Curator
Cassandra Grey is the founder of Violet Grey, the legendary Los Angeles beauty destination that, since 2013, has set the standard for curation, visual literacy, and taste in the beauty world. In this episode, we travel the full arc of Cassandra’s life, from making Wonder Woman cuffs out of tinfoil as a child, to creating business plans as a young woman in the Bay Area, to falling in love with and marrying Hollywood producer Brad Grey, who taught her that quality is not a preference but a practice. Cassandra talks about what it means to build something with soul, how grief reshapes your relationship to time and objects, and why she’s spent nine years searching for a perfume that smells like the one that got away.
Tune in for a meditation on curation as a life philosophy, the quiet power of surrounding yourself with beauty, and why heartbreak is the evidence of a life fully loved.
Fig. 01 — From the episode archive
Guest Questionnaire
The Questionnaire
- Favorite work of art?
- The Black Sheep by François-Xavier Lalanne
- Favorite quote or mantra?
- “Think big, get big.”
- Favorite book of yours?
- The Power of Your Subconscious Mind by Joseph Murphy
- Favorite time of day?
- 5am
- Favorite movie?
- The Departed
- Album or musical artist you have on repeat?
- Justin Bieber
- Favorite type of tree, plant, or flower?
- Red poppies
Three Questions on Time
Take Your Time Back
If everything on your calendar tomorrow was canceled, what would you do?
I’d spend the day with the love of my life, Jules Grey, at home.
Time is the only thing you can’t fake. What’s something you could have only learned over time?
I think that we’re here to experience love. And heartbreak is the evidence of that. When heartbreak first happens, I felt like I will never be okay. And then we’re just built so miraculously — we are built to process. And ultimately you’re in this place of deep knowing and gratitude to have had that kind of love. Because if it isn’t that kind of love, then it doesn’t hurt, by the way.
When does time stand still for you?
Literally when I meditate. It’s a really important part of my sanity and health — to meditate so that I can really get present in a moment. And I’m sober, so sober presence is very — those are the moments where it just suspends time and reality and space and you’re in this place of serenity. I think it comes when you surrender to God, or whatever idea of that is, and your intuition. If you can get that even a few times a year, great. But if you get it every day with a little meditation, it will change your life.
From the Episode
Show Notes
In This Episode
- 0:00Introduction
- 1:57Breathing exercise
- 2:30Early life and childhood
- 6:14First creative sparks and pop culture
- 8:48Visual literacy philosophy
- 9:30The idea for Violet Grey
- 11:56Building a business from vision
- 13:07Founding Violet Grey
- 15:17Moving to LA and meeting Brad
- 18:12Falling in love and life in LA
- 21:23What Brad taught her
- 24:55Brad’s career and legacy
- 26:17Comparisons to Crown Affair
- 28:34Striving for perfection over profit
- 29:39Redefining visual literacy online
- 30:49Building legacy with Madame Grey
- 38:56Legacy, time, and meaning
- 40:52Creating the fragrance
- 41:47Aura farming
- 43:08Confidence and desire
- 51:19Sex appeal over time
- 52:23Trust and Crown Affair partnership
- 54:16Soul in creative work
- 54:58Take Your Time Back segment
- 59:25Closing thoughts
In Her Words
- “I get the intuition from God, or whatever your idea of that is. And then once it comes and I start building, it’s in flow; and it’s pretty miraculous if you surrender.”
- “Heartbreak is the evidence of love.”
- “Soul is the thing that is missing from most things these days, in the most literal sense, not just the emotional one. It’s a rare commodity now.”
- “The things that you surround yourself with become the visual literacy of your life. And that doesn’t have to mean luxurious. It could be a rock. It could be a feather. It could be anything. And those things have so much power.”
- “Think about everything you purchase through this lens: how is this going to bring emotional life into my environment?”
- “Legacy is about how you learn and grow and fall and get back up. Your character, your integrity, the way you raise your children, the way you bring other people up with you.”
- “I never thought I would be married. I always was in monogamous relationships but there was always sort of an expiration date. And then with Brad, it was just so romantic. Falling in love for the first time — there’s not a lot of experiences that compare.”
Mentioned in the Episode
- Madame Grey, Cassandra’s fragrance house
- Violet Grey
Follow Along
Cassandra on Instagram: @cassandragrey
Dianna on Instagram: @diannacohen
Take Your Time on Instagram, TikTok and Substack
