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Huda Kattan Envisions a Web3 Inclusivity Makeover

Last Updated: July 5, 2023
Boardroom caught up with beauty guru Huda Kattan at VeeCon 2022 to learn more about why she’s so invested in NFTs.

Huda Kattan’s entry into the Web3 industry started with some cryptocurrency investing, but her footprint in the emerging space has expanded in several directions since then.

A renowned makeup artist, beauty blogger, and entrepreneur, Kattan founded the brand Huda Beauty in 2013. She stepped down as CEO of the company 2020 to focus on the creative side of the business, though she still serves as Huda Beauty’s chairwoman.

As far as her interest in the various applications of crypto technology, Kattan told Boardroom in May at VeeCon 2022 that she sees digital currency as “the money for the people.” That’s what drew her in the hardest, kick-starting what’s become an increasingly expansive journey.

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One element of Web3 in which Kattan has chosen to become particularly invested is the NFT space. She said the growing industry reminds her a lot of the beauty industry in that all sorts of people — including some you may not have expected — wanted to get into the space when it was on the rise.

Now, Kattan and her husband, Christopher Goncalo, purchase non-fungible tokens both together and individually. Her NFT investing began in the fall of 2021; Goncalo eventually started gifting her NFTs during holidays beginning with her birthday in October.

Kattan notes that her current NFT portfolio spans more than 200 pieces and includes NFTs from various collections like Doodles, World of Women, and DeadFellaz. It’s safe to say World of Women takes up the largest portion of her portfolio, as she owns more than 50 NFTs from the collection, as Boardroom previously reported.

Aside from her role as an investor, Kattan is big on education in the crypto asset space. She’s confident NFTs will make it through this rough patch and continue to gain accessibility and present value that anyone and everyone can take advantage of in the future. Today, Kattan is especially eager to see the NFT community welcome more women and minorities into the space as well.

As an Iraqi-American woman, Kattan is ready to see more people like herself not just enter the industry, but put their stamp on it. While she doesn’t think the NFT community has achieved true diversity and inclusion quite yet, she envisions a path that leads there.

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Michelai Graham

Michelai Graham is Boardroom's resident tech and crypto reporter. Before joining 35V, she was a freelance reporter with bylines in AfroTech, HubSpot, The Plug, and Lifewire, to name a few. At Boardroom, Michelai covers Web3, NFTs, crypto, tech, and gaming. Off the clock, you can find her producing her crime podcast, The Point of No Return.