Rising Stars: Meet Jeff Parshley of Santa Clarita

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jeff Parshley.

Hi Jeff, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
My journey began with a simple idea and a belief that visibility could create change. I co-founded the NOH8 Campaign, which grew into a global movement documenting hundreds of thousands of people and their stories in support of equality. For nearly two decades, I’ve had the privilege of working with celebrities, activists, artists, and everyday people, all united by the idea that everyone deserves to be seen and heard.

Over the years, that experience changed the way I looked at identity, self-expression, and beauty. I began to see beauty as something that shouldn’t have rules about who it’s for. That led me to create NOW Polish, a unisex beauty brand designed to make beauty and self-expression feel inclusive and accessible to everyone, regardless of gender.

In many ways, NOW is a natural extension of what I’ve spent my career doing with NOH8: challenging outdated ideas, creating space for people to express themselves, and reminding people that they don’t have to fit into someone else’s definition of who they’re supposed to be. What started with a profile photo for Myspace has evolved into a much broader mission using creativity, culture, and business to help create a world where everyone feels comfortable being exactly who they are.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There have been plenty of highs, but also a lot of uncertainty, setbacks, and moments where I questioned whether we were doing the right thing. Building NOH8 was never a traditional path. We were creating something that didn’t really have a blueprint, and there were plenty of times when we had to figure things out as we went.

Starting a beauty brand has brought a whole new set of challenges. Going from an advocacy campaign to creating and manufacturing a consumer product meant learning an entirely different side of business—from formulation and production to pricing, distribution, and getting people to actually put your product on a shelf.

Probably the biggest lesson has been learning not to mistake a setback for a failure. I’ve learned that building something meaningful takes persistence, a willingness to adapt, and being comfortable not having all the answers. The road definitely hasn’t been smooth, but I think the difficult parts are what have made the journey worthwhile.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
My work has always lived at the intersection of advocacy, culture, creativity, and storytelling. I’m the co-founder of the NOH8 Campaign, where for nearly two decades I’ve helped build a platform that uses photography and peoples voices to bring visibility to equality and LGBTQ+ issues. I’ve had the opportunity to work with an incredible range of people, from major celebrities and public figures to everyday people who simply wanted to stand for something bigger than themselves.

More recently, I’ve taken that same philosophy into the beauty space with NOW Polish, a unisex beauty brand created around the idea that beauty shouldn’t belong to one gender. I’m interested in challenging the traditional boxes people are put into and creating products that allow people to express themselves however they want.

I think what sets me apart is that I’ve spent years building communities rather than simply building audiences. I understand the power of culture, celebrity, storytelling, and authenticity, but I also understand that a brand has to mean something to the people who support it.

What I’m most proud of is the community we’ve built through NOH8. Seeing millions of people encounter the campaign, participate in it, or feel represented by it has been incredibly meaningful. Creating NOW feels like the next chapter of that same journey—taking a message of inclusion and self-expression and putting it into people’s hands in a completely different way.

If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
I think persistence is probably the most important quality behind anything I’ve been able to accomplish. I’ve never been someone who had a perfect roadmap or unlimited resources. I’ve had to figure things out along the way, take risks, make mistakes, and keep moving when things didn’t go as planned.

I also think curiosity has played a huge role. I’m always willing to learn something new and reinvent myself. I went from business management to an activist who got to build a global campaign, working with celebrities and major brands, and now creating a beauty company. None of those things happened because I knew exactly what I was doing from the beginning. They happened because I was willing to try, learn, adapt, and keep going.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.noh8campaign.com & www.nownailpolish.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/noh8campaign & instagram.com/nowpolish & instagram.com/jeffparshley
• Facebook: facebook.com/noh8campaign & facebook.com/nownailpolish
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/noh8-campaign/ & https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-parshley-46789812/
• Twitter: twitter.com/noh8campaign & twitter.com/nowpolish

Image Credits
Photos by Adam Bouska