“Trep,” as in entrepreneur. One wag I know defines “entrepreneur” as “somebody who cuts in line,” and the word does indeed mean someone who pushes in-between, and pushes the boundaries. One who is “intrepid” pushes through fear – trepidation.

This description always makes me chuckle. Being born and raised in the UK, I was taught to have proper manners, and I don’t cut in line. But I do like the idea of pushing boundaries. This is why I was so exhilarated to be interviewed by Teri Evans, who flew out to talk with me in my office above our original flagship on Montana Avenue in Santa Monica, and also filmed at our Carson headquarters. I’m so happy to be in such good company, in terms of other “treps” profiled on “Trep Talk.” Recent interviews have been with Sara Blakely, who created “Spanx Inc” by cutting off the feet of a pair of control-top pantyhose, and Peter Cashmore – a fellow Scot! – who is the young tech-whiz behind Mashable.

Their stories inspire me. Blakely was selling fax machines, and miserable about it, when she cut off the feet of her control top pantyhose because she didn’t like the way her bum looked in the dress-trousers she was wearing to her dreaded client appointments. Light bulb-moment.

Cashmore describes himself as a geek, who was a sickly child. He says that the Internet appealed to him because “it was something I could do in bed and feel like I was achieving something.” Typical British understatement, not to mention sly double-entendre.

The take-away: entrepreneurs usually are not conventional people, and so they often don’t take the conventional path to success. Not that there’s anything wrong with getting an MBA, or going to work in the family business, etc. But if these are not part of your path, or of you’re experiencing disappointment or even failure in a conventional path to achievement – doing what other people tell you to do – maybe there’s an intrepid trep inside you, waiting to cut in line.

Watch Teri as she interviews Jane on ‘Trep Talk’ here.

Fox 5 San Diego News highlighted Katie’s passion for skin health in their feature covering the FDA’s new regulations on SPF. And, as she shows in her interview, Katie knows her stuff! That’s why she’s made it her mission to talk to her clients about the damages of tanning, and the importance of understanding SPF labels.

Does your SPF comply with these new regulations? Dermalogica’s updated Daylight Defense follows the Broad Spectrum labeling to ensure you’re shielded from damaging UVA and UVB rays. View the video to get the fast facts about the FDA’s updates to SPF, and to see Katie in action as she helps her clients save their skin!

I have just had this experience, both humbling and exhilarating, on my recent trip to NYC. I spoke at the United Nations, and I also attended the Third Annual Women in the World Summit, courtesy of The Daily Beast. These are the kinds of experiences which make you feel two things at the same time: small, yet part of something huge, expansive, inspiring, and so important.

I was very excited to participate in the Third International Women’s Day Forum, hosted by the UN Office for Partnership and the US Chamber of Commerce Business Civic Leadership Center. The forum focused on the need for policy innovation, leadership and collaboration across all sectors of business and government, especially in the developing world, in order to engage the potential of women everywhere. I presented our update on joinFITE, and the fact that Dermalogica’s friends and tribe now have micro-financed over 11,000 women in small business: 1100 of them in the USA alone. And, we’ve only just begun!

Then, there was The Daily Beast event, which of course is the brainchild of the indescribably brilliant Tina Brown. Read more about it here.

On the one hand, the place was swarming with names and faces we all recognize instantly: Meryl! Oprah! Angelina! Hillary! Chelsea! Gloria!

And then there were the names and faces I did not know, but now will never forget.

Like Suma Tharu, a young girl who was a former slave in Nepal. Zin Mar Aung, who went to prison for 11 years in Burma because she distributed pro-democracy leaflets (shades of Sophie Scholl, and The White Rose…). And, there was the feisty Kah Walla, a recent Presidential candidate in Cameroon, who almost won. And Leymah Gbowee, Liberian peace activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner, whose book is called “Mighty Be Our Powers.”

Gbowee in particular electrified the crowd when she demanded to know why American women aren’t fuming-furious-angry at the prospect of our reproductive freedom being usurped by conservative politics. She demanded to know why we as American women aren’t on our feet and reclaiming what is most fundamentally ours — our bodies.

Nobody in the house had an answer for her.

Now, to render THAT crowd speechless — truly, that is to be in the presence of greatness.

Dermalogica’s expert skin therapists and amazing products will provide the solution on the spot in just 20 minutes with treatments like flash exfoliation (great for shaping up before events), extractions and even eye revitalization (perfect after long travels). That means no changing out of your clothes, no fuss and big results!

We’ll even show you step-by-step how to identify your concerns and treat them effectively at home to maintain results.

Make an appointment at your local Dermalogica skin center, spa or salon when you’re in need of some skin health attention in a minimal amount of time. Editors at Vogue recommend it!

Old hippies like to say that they were the last activists, and that anyone born after Woodstock is self-centered and consumerist. They are wrong. I spend a great deal of time around young people of this generation – including Lucy, my younger daughter, and her peer group – and I have to say, they are awake, aware, conscious, mindful and most of all, connected in ways that the original tie-dyed flower-children never dreamed possible. Lucy, in fact, is an ambassador for the Invisible Children’s Foundation, representing our Brentwood neighborhood as part of the worldwide cyber-rally to “Make Kony Famous!” next Friday, April 20.

The sad truth is that the story of the atrocities led by Joseph Kony and his grisly Lord’s Resistance Army is far from breaking news. This story was revealed and covered thoroughly and repeatedly, in print media, on television and on radio, a decade ago. When Generation G – for Give, Give Back, Give More – were barely more than toddlers.

Their parents, however, were old enough to read the story in the newspaper, and in major magazines, and to watch the coverage on television. Yet nothing happened. The nightmare went on, uninterrupted, even though NBC, ABC, CBS, PBS, the BBC, The New York Times and all the rest reported on the brutal Kony and his reign of sickening horror.

Generation G resonates to this cause in particular, because Kony’s child soldiers are primarily tweens, many younger, as young as 7 or 8 years old. The current estimate is that the Lord’s Resistance Army has abducted 30,000 children from their homes and forced them into armed combat on the front lines. Their initiation is generally to witness their parents killed before their eyes. They then are programmed to kill others. Approximately 30% of these child-soldiers are girls, who are also forced to “marry” the men who kidnap and enslave them.

It’s both outrageous and inspiring that “Cover the Night” is happening now, because of the wireless generation who truly are wired in to the whole world. FB and Twitter have brought more than one totalitarian regime to its knees in the past few months, powered by the connectivity and social activism of young people, some of them very young, around the world. This is more than a trend: it is our world.

It’s easy to dismiss teens as twitchy, spoiled slackers who spend their days and nights on “Pinterest,” tirelessly texting, and idly “Instagram”-ing photos of what they’re about to eat for lunch. It’s true that they don’t take to the streets the way activists did in the 60s – but that’s only because the cyberworld has no streets. Just tweets.

Digital media in the hands of young people is a much-needed ray of hope in the darkness of world apathy. In fact, our teenaged daughters and sons have a lot to teach us – the grown-ups – about what it takes in terms of vision and commitment to energize a movement and actualize change in 2012 and beyond.

Today, especially in the USA and the UK, there is new awareness and concern around the damage that bullying does. And it affects business, as well as individuals.

The word “bully” meant something very different for this American President.

I felt such compassion for my colleague Jill Kohler, who founded the Kohler Academy – now called the Penrose Academy – in Scottsdale, Arizona. Simply, her school was recently forced to change its name as the result of trademark bullying – see the link to her letter for the particulars. As we all know, having to change a brand name can have a devastating effect on a company – as it nearly did on my own.

Early in Dermalogica’s history, we ourselves tangled with a major corporation on the subject of our name. They objected to the “Logic” part of our brand name, because they had trademarked something similar for a hair care line. We refused to change our name. It was ours. We thought of it, it belonged to us, and it was already an essential part of our brand identity.

The hassle went on for over one year. We were a small, young company with no legal firepower. They were huge and powerful. Their letters to us became increasingly hostile.

Finally, I got someone on the phone and explained that I was making arrangements to fly out to their headquarters in Ohio, and wait in the parking lot until I could speak directly to the CEO. The threatening letters stopped, and we never heard from them again.

For inspiration, read THE WALL STREET JOURNAL article, Small Business Section, February 23, 2012, called “New Tool in Trademark Fights” by Angus Loten. He reports that, “As the economy recovers and competition heats up, trademark disputes are on the rise. Claims rose 5% to 3,692 in the year ended March 2011, according to US district court records.”

Individually and collectively, we have to stick up for ourselves in the face of bullying. Most of the time, these battles are of the David and Goliath nature – huge corporations putting pressure on small business. One current technique which is gaining momentum: what’s being called online “shaming,” meaning creating a Facebook campaign, online petition and other social media protests to throw light onto your cause.

I don’t like the word “shame.” But I like the word “bully” even less.

Penrose Academy Letter

So I am taking this opportunity to sound off on the way the media treats women, including woman entrepreneurs. A company which purports to help entrepreneurs, Volusion.com, really epitomizes what’s wrong.

The current campaign for this online DIY e-commerce company features a quirky little video about “Julie.” Paraphrasing, Julie got sick of the 9 to 5 grind, and she’s up for freedom and fun – she’s ready to be her own boss!

So she decided to start her own online store. And I quote: “It’s seriously never been easier to start your own business and start living the dream. And no headaches.” After all – “All you need is a great product and a little elbow grease. Imagine – you can ditch the grind – call your own shots – and get the freedom to make your work fit into your life, instead of the other way around.”

Oh, please. This campaign really trivializes what it takes. It trivializes the huge investment – of energy, self, faith, time, sweat AND a bit of capital – which entrepreneurial efforts require. It trivializes women, too. Julie’s just a quirky little surf-chick who can’t stand to be cooped up in the office all day! Those glassy peaks are callin’! So she quit! Just like that.

I’d love to know who pays Julie’s rent, medical insurance and car insurance, for instance.

Since we launched joinFITE in January 2011, our initiative which globally empowers women entrepreneurs through microloans, I have an even greater respect for “what it takes.” I should know – I did it myself when I launched Dermalogica 25 years ago. I’ve been continually reminded of what hard work entrepreneurism really is, through the thousands of enterprising women who support our brand. And now through the women who receive and repay microloans via joinFITE, who truly take the entrepreneurial ideal to a new level.

The Volusion ads remind me of a great SNL parody called “Chess for Girls.” It was a parody of a television ad for children’s toys, and featured lots of excited, bubbly tween girls who were thrilled that chess had been made more “girly.” The tagline in the ad went “Chess for girls – not too hard, just pretty and fun.”

That’s the way entrepreneurism is now being marketing to women, especially young women. So in honor of Women’s History Month, let me set you straight. It is indeed hard. It is not pretty. But yes, it is fun.