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A Tribute to Cindy Joseph from Pilar Gerasimo
A Tribute to
Cindy Joseph from
Pilar Gerasimo
Today, Pilar is paying tribute to a phenomenal woman… Cindy Joseph.
Cindy was the original founder of BOOM! She pioneered the entire concept of being a “pro-age woman.” She designed the first Boom cosmetics and skin care.
She also was the visionary behind the Pro-age Revolution. Over the years, Cindy inspired entire generations of women to love their lives at every age.
Beyond all that, Cindy was also an amazing human being. Today, Pilar is sharing why in her own words…
So today is the second anniversary of Cindy's passing.
As her friend, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on some of the qualities that made Cindy such a spectacular friend and such an amazing person.
It was really hard making a list with just five things on it. I cheated a little. I'll share them with you now, and I invite you to share the things that you most loved about Cindy. The things that made the biggest impression on you.
“Cindy just radiated this beautiful, sparkly energy…”
For me, the first thing was that she was very sparkly.
From the moment I met Cindy, there was just a shine and a sparkle and a light about her that came through in everything she did, everything she said… just the way that she was.
She looked sparkly. Her silver hair sparkled, her eyes sparkled, her silver earrings would sparkle. She had a sheen and a shine about her. Her healthy skin. Her smile. It's funny, I can't separate any of those things now in my own mind's eye. She just radiated this beautiful, sparkly energy.
Her personality sparkled too. She was an amazing conversationalist. She was incredible at connecting with people. She could just walk into a room and the whole vibration of the room would come up a bit.
That's how Cindy was... sparkly.
“Cindy was willing to try anything once. She encouraged me to come along for the ride…”
The second thing on my list was experimental.
Cindy was willing to try anything once, and she was great about encouraging me to come along for the ride. Things I would never have tried to do otherwise.
For example, one of the last things that we did while she was still healthy was go on a nine-day water fast together. This is something I would never have done with anyone but Cindy Joseph, and I wasn't entirely sure about it based on her description. It was just one of many things we did together that I would have not have done without her encouragement.
She was great about creating experiences that one or many of us had never done before, and just giving it a try.
I remember her even saying those words like, "Oh just give it a try. Give it a shot."
As a person who was less inclined than she was to do those things, it grew my life experience just being friends with her. I really appreciated that, and I really appreciated that about her.
It's interesting, her starting BOOM! was an experiment in many ways. She was willing to try something that had never been done before, like creating a pro-age skincare and cosmetics company, because she was not afraid of doing things that hadn't been done before. In fact, she liked the challenge of that.
So we are all the beneficiaries of her experimentalism.
“There wasn’t much that Cindy couldn’t do, so it was enriching to be around her and always delightful.”
The third thing that I really loved about Cindy, was that she was multi-talented. By this I mean that she really was quite skilled at a lot of different things.
She was an excellent cook for example. She made me carbonara pasta on a whim because I'd never had it before. She was like, "You've never had carbonara?" That night we were eating it, and it was delicious. She was really a very gifted chef in the kitchen.
Obviously, she was an amazingly talented makeup artist. Also, she was just incredibly good at a bunch of other things like dancing and making art. Her home was always beautifully decorated with beautifully selected objects.
She was an amazing writer. A lot of people don't know that about her, and I'm not even sure she knew that about herself.
Cindy and I took a free-form, it's called Free Fall, writing class together. In fact, Cindy hosted this amazing event in her home in New York. She invited a half a dozen or more people to come and stay for a weekend and invited in a writing teacher. We all wrote these spontaneous stream-of-consciousness stories and essays. Cindy's was honestly the best in the group. Really, I was blown away by her ability to write.
She would surprise herself that way sometimes. She would be like, "Oh I didn't know I could do that." That was really a fun part of her. There wasn't much that Cindy couldn't do, and so it was enriching to be around her and always delightful.
“She was silly, kind of funny and a little bit of a goofball.”
A fourth thing that I loved about Cindy was just her love of fun.
She was a very adventurous person. She was also silly, kind of funny and a little bit of a goofball. We spent a lot of our time together laughing and smiling.
She just had a way of making all of the time we spent together intriguing. If it wasn't going to be fun, it was going to be intense.
If we were dealing with any heavy or dark stuff, she would come at it in this way where she had all of her attention on you, on the thing or on the problem. The intensity of it kind of made even the tricky and difficult situations fun in their own right.
She had a way of directing her attention and yours into the present moment that could create a richness of experience that I don't know I've ever had with any other friends.So I miss that about her so much.
There's a lot of days where I think of things that Cindy would have loved to do or to try or just experience with me. It would have been lovely to have that, so I still miss that about her everyday.
“I loved how warm and loving Cindy was. You always felt enveloped by her care.”
The final thing I came up with—and I had to limit it to five—was her warmth.
I loved how warm and loving Cindy was. She was a great friend who would check in on you, and see how things were. In her presence, you always felt enveloped by her care.
If anything ever went wrong in your life, Cindy was there to check in on you and to help you, support you and offer you different viewpoints. I just loved being around her because it was always cozy.
It was like a girlfriend vibe. Whether we were having drinks, or making food, or taking a walk or going on a crazy water fast, she just had a way of curling up on the couch with you and sharing experiences with you in a way that made you feel connected. I really miss that about Cindy.
You know, I shared the story of the day of her passing. Somehow even in a hospital room connected to all of these tubes and wires, with medical personnel running around and family members who were really worried, and in a lot of pain, she managed to create this feeling of connection and love even in that space. That made me feel special for showing up, which was incredible.
I still to this day consider it a great honor.
“I feel really lucky to have had Cindy Joseph in my life, and I bet a lot of you do too.”
I still miss Cindy, pretty much everyday. There are always things where I think: "Oh I wish I could tell Cindy. I should call Cindy." That still happens sometimes.
More than anything, what I feel is really fortunate and lucky.
Whether I'm putting Boomsilk on my skin, or I'm looking at pictures of us doing goofy things together or I'm reading the words that she wrote, I feel really lucky to have had Cindy Joseph in my life, and I bet a lot of you do too.
She'll always be there with us. Her lessons in wisdom and love will continue to expand outward as we share them with others.
Do you have memories of Cindy Joseph to share?
What did you love or admire most about Cindy? What made the biggest impression on you?
As always, we’d love to hear from you.
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