‘Huda Boss’, currently in its second season, is the first Facebook Watch show to emerge from outside of the United States, filmed primarily in Dubai.
The reality web series follows Huda Kattan, the Iraqi-American CEO and founder of mega make-up brand Huda Beauty, as well as her sisters Mona and Alya Kattan, husband (and high school sweetheart) Chris Goncalo and their daughter, Noor Giselle.
Facebook Watch premiered the first episode on June 13, 2018, when the streaming platform — also home to Jada Pinkett Smith’s ‘Red Table Talks’ — was still geographically restricted and only available to American audiences.
But a dedicated ‘Huda Boss’ Facebook page sprang up with all episodes available to viewers around the world, and across 10 episodes, it garnered a total of 73.5 million views. Thus is the power of Huda Kattan’s global reach.
At a cocktail party on Wednesday night at the Jumeirah Emirates Tower hotel, she and sister Mona were dressed to impress in glittering, sequinned gowns as they welcomed influencers, fans and members of the media for a screening of episode 15 of season two. Days earlier, Oklahoma-born Huda received recognition from Dubai Stars, a walk of fame celebrating influential personalities a la the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Was it awkward watching themselves back on the small screen? “So awkward,” said Mona.
“Only when we’re mean to each other,” Huda added. “We get embarrassed.”
Throughout the episode, Huda grows increasingly stressed as the hands-on CEO of her company. On the verge of “an emotional breakdown”, Huda tells husband Chris that she feels as if she takes on too much and is “giving out of an empty cup.”
“WE HAVE DRAMA”
After the screening, the two sisters insisted on taking a photograph with every attendee as a massive line began to wrap around the proverbial block.
“Honestly, it means the world for all your support, we wouldn’t be here without you guys. A lot of you are our day ones, our very good friends and our supporters, and we’re so grateful to be celebrating this moment with you,” said Mona on stage.
“When we were first approached to do a reality show, it was probably five or six years ago, and we kept going back and forth. We were like, ‘I don’t know if we’re right for reality TV, because we don’t have a lot of drama in our lives and we don’t do too much,’” continued Mona.
“Well, we have drama,” Huda countered as she laughed.
The family wanted a series that could follow the ups and downs of their work life. Other networks may not have been on board with the idea of Bosses, but “Facebook loved it.”
“They were like, ‘We want to share your message with the world, and we want them to be inspired so that they can be bosses, too.’ That’s why we as a family decided to venture into ‘Huda Boss’,” said Mona.
“It was so great working with [Facebook Watch], because they were like, ‘We don’t want the drama, we don’t want the flashiness, we want the realness.’ That was really amazing,” said Huda.
“Actually, a funny fact, we did build everything we built on Facebook. When we first started, I didn’t have a lot of money to get started, and I spent $10 in advertising on Facebook. It’s incredible to see how far our business went because of that. So, it really is like a full circle, beautiful story,” added the founder.
MILLION DOLLAR WOMAN
Huda first launched Huda Beauty in 2013 with a false eyelash range, after quitting her job in finance. As of 2019, Forbes estimated Kattan’s net worth as $610 million and placed her at No 36 on their list of America’s Richest Self-Made Women. She sits one spot ahead of singer and Fenty Beauty founder Rihanna.
At the Wednesday evening event, the Kattan sisters spoke about social media and the importance of committing to sharing their lives openly with their followers.
Huda Beauty has more than 39 million followers on Instagram, while Huda herself recently decided to open her own personal page, @Huda, which at the time of writing has 1.6 million followers.
Season two of ‘Huda Boss’ is ongoing and is currently on episode 16. Facebook Watch is available to a global audience since August of last year.
