Lili Washington
LiLi born as Phillip Washington was raised in the Washington D.C. (DMV) area. As a youth LiLi always knew that something was different about them. Their family and peers knew it, although it wasn't embraced. To relieve the pain of feeling different LiLi began to find refuge in drugs and alcohol. It appeared to relieve the pain until they found themselves in a full blown addiction. Their addiction lead them to multiple overdoses, homelessness, numerous arrest, and eventually serving prison time. Upon their release in 2011 LiLi vowed to turn their life around. They began a spiritual journey. Seeking to learn and honor their authentic self and to serve others. They wanted to give back to the society they took so much from. LiLi also has worked to help others experience the same freedom and self acceptance that they now experience.
From an early age LiLi would get in trouble for mixing their family's cosmetics and hygiene products to create their own products. LiLi began their career by simply making their own version of luxury lip gloss from scratch and they quickly transitioned into a self taught makeup artist. That's what prompted them to create YBLimited Mobile Glam Squad in 2013. YBLimited was the first and only all inclusive mobile services company in the country. They recruited some of the top beauty and fashion professionals to be a part of YBLimited. The Glam Squad included hairstylist, makeup artist, photographers, wardrobe stylist and more.
After doing makeup for the producers of the BET Awards in 2014 the celebrities and television shows came calling for LiLi along with the YBLimited Mobile Glam Squad. The Glam Squad started to be in high demand around the country. The YBL Glam Squad managed to make over 20 national publications in a little over a year. After helping numerous professional actors and models build their portfolios, YBLimited naturally evolved into forming the Model Management division of YBLimited in mid 2017. This was the birth of the YBL Model Management division of YBLimited.
In 2016 LiLi began partnering with a non profit called Our Children's Story for numerous projects. Raising money and awareness to families caring for those with special needs. They even began their heavily sought after Special Mommy Makeovers. In early 2018 LiLi and Our Children's Story produced the first annual Inclusion Fashion Show. Where they brought both typical high fashion models and models from the special needs community together on one runway. They were able to raise funds for Our Children's Story to continue in their mission. In 2018 LiLi became an advisor to the OCS Board.
After LiLi took their love for beauty and cosmetics and launched a limited edition lip gloss collection under the YBLimited umbrella. The lip gloss sold out in it's pre-launch and has been in demand since. LiLi and their childhood friend Ruby Osby partnered to release the YBL skincare line Nov. 2018. Consisting of an all natural, organic facial line.
In 2020 LiLi slowly transitioned from model management to becoming talent. LiLi has walked for Vogue Knitting Live Fashion Show as well as appeared in Vogue Knit Magazine. LiLi has most recently been casted in their first acting role as well as other modeling projects.
Interview: Lili Washington, Founder of YBLimited & Fashion + Beauty Mentor
By Angela Tai
How did you land on the brand YBLimited?
It started out with 3 of us; it was myself and 2 of my closest friends. We started the brand together and it was originally supposed to be a lip balm company. I’m very open about where I came from and all that. I was in prison for 2 years and this was how I set up the brand - we were coming up with names—very limited names that stuck to the traditional beauty brands. Then we thought, ‘YB Limited’ (word play on Why be Limited). I didn’t know where this was going at the time but I knew it was bright.
I just want to say that you’re a luminous light. I couldn’t stop smiling when I was watching your Tik Tok videos. Do you feel optimistic about the future that our generation is building?
I’m glad you asked me that today because my stance has changed—very recently. I’ve spent the last 12 years programming & reprogramming myself, most of us are not conscious of that. This generation refuses to be programmed in the way that we were programmed. I look at them like “what is wrong with you?” They’re more rebellious and it might be a programming process. They have their own set of programming which is interesting to me.
As a motivational speaker, how do you know what to say especially in difficult times or make sure you say the right things?
Sometimes, I don’t, I don’t want to speak out of emotion. I think that’s why we have so many issues now; I own my emotions and allow myself to work through them. If I spoke out of my emotions, a lot of people wouldn’t like me. People in my personal life know that I have very strong beliefs and they’re not always popular. Everyone is at where they’re at and that doesn’t make it right or wrong. COVID and police shootings have made for a really hard time and I’m the type of person who likes to be optimistic at all times. Sometimes, people don’t want to hear that, sometimes people want to be mad. I just like to let people be where they are but I also like to usher in what works for me.
With social media, reactions are so ephemeral and the audience can be fickle. How do you keep yourself grounded?
I have these talks with myself. I’m like, “bitch, look you cannot give people the power to dictate how you feel about yourself.” That is the end goal for both the negative and the positive; if I gave people the power to dictate how I feel, then I’d end up like a lot of influencers who aren’t nice people and think they’re above everyone else. It’s very important for me to know who I am, I don’t censor anything, I couldn’t care less. I choose to focus on the people who genuinely love me. What I do is when I find myself ready to go there, I’m going to give that energy to somebody who deserves it. Instead of using it for something negative, I focus that energy on someone who appreciates my energy.
What are some of the questions you wish people would stop asking you?
I don’t really mind questions, I think it’s assumptions that get on my nerves sometimes. People assume I just want to be a woman, but that’s not true. I just want to be me. I’m okay with the body I’m in, it wasn’t always this way but I am more than okay with that feminine energy in me. I think I get more upset with a lack of questioning.
What’s the toughest part about your job?
The toughest part is the visibility. I wanted other people to be the face and the brand; the visibility is great, I have come across the most amazing people and what you see on social media is an extension of me. I am giving the audience a piece of me but because that’s all they see, they think that is their life. They don’t realize that I’m up until 3am most of the time working very hard on my laptop. I’m willing to help you as long as you are your biggest fan. When you mentor somebody and they take what you give them, it’s so rewarding. There’s other people who think I roll around on the beach all day; a lot of people assume that I’m wealthy for some strange reason which is awkward to me, it’s really weird. The visibility works both ways, you can’t have one without the other.
There’s been so much violence against black trans people throughout history, and recently with the senseless murders of Riah Milton, Dominic Fells, Nina Pop, Tony McDade and many others. It’s unfortunate that a lot of people either aren’t aware of innocent lives lost or just focusing on it and nothing else. Of course, the media doesn’t report the day-to-day mundane activities like dog walking, grocery shopping, and working on a laptop. What advice do you have for those who are perhaps processing both the amazing changes that are happening while grieving for the losses?
I’ve been posting about this a lot. I know a lot about the trans community who deals with murders everyday and nobody is talking about that. It’s very disheartening. When I was 18, my best friend was murdered—once they realized he was homosexual—they stopped the conversation. You have to take the good and the bad. There’s progress being made, we have to acknowledge the process and the progress, focus on that and think more about what we can do.
How has COVID influenced your work?
I had to restructure the way my business operated. I’m still working on owning that but COVID pushed me to really own it, it pushed my creativity to the test. I ended up being so busy during COVID and decided to make my business operate virtually, it made me more free and I started to explore my creativity and allowed my audience to see me do it. My audience is here with me and they’re going through that with me, they’re growing with me. People are showing so much love for the content I’ve been putting out throughout COVID.
You do so much work bringing people light. Who’s there for you when you’re feeling depleted?
I have a very good support system, my inner circle is small and mighty. My husband is the biggest and best supporter one could ever ask for, I could go on and on about how supportive he is. He pushes me to be the best me; I’ve had the same spiritual advisor for the last 12 years, I also have my dad who is very supportive, and my brother. They’re all masculine black men, they’re a major source of love and support, I don’t take that lightly. I have a really good friend and she is one of my biggest inspirations and she makes no excuses, whatever she wants to do, she does it. Those are the kind of people I keep in my life, the most important people to me. At one point, my level of self-hatred was unbelievable, I didn’t even know how bad it was. I had to reintroduce myself to them (as well as myself), people treat you the way you allow them to treat you. I had to apologize to them and I had to take ownership because I wasn’t giving them the real me, how could they accept me when I wasn’t giving them the real me? They are the best. This all took a lot of work.