On this episode of On The rise.

I think what I've learned even more recently is that your life actually doesn't

start until you are living in your purpose until

you are going for the things that you feel in your heart and in your gut. Right.

Welcome. Welcome. Welcome to the On The Rise podcast,

a space for some authentic dialogue, some

just good old fashioned homespun Wisdom. I'm your host, Dawn Speaks.

Welcome, welcome,

welcome everyone to this premier episode of On The Rise podcast.

I'm so excited to be able to come to you through this kind of platform.

And this is something I've been thinking about for a very, very long time.

And here we are. We're finally here episode number one. Now,

for those of you who know me, who are out there,

you might know me as someone who,

whether I've had a conversation with you or we've talked about your business,

or I've walked you through some steps you need to take in your life.

You might have had an experience of me as like some real talk.

And I hope that you have. And part of that comes from listen, if I love you,

but more than that, if I'm just in your presence with you,

what's right there for me is I want people to win and I never wanna have

anybody leave a conversation with me leaving you in

some space. That's not working where you're not moving,

where you're not growing.

So that sometimes is gonna look like I'm going to get in your face.

I'm going to lovingly talk you out of whatever,

that mindset that holds you back, that keeps you from moving forward,

that keeps you from fulfilling on what you absolutely care about and

wanna do in your life. And you know,

that also might look like we are gonna have the kind of conversations that can

sometimes be uncomfortable. What areas of your life that we might be looking at?

We look at your life, we look at your business, we look at your family.

We look at your friendships.

We look at everything that impacts you and

every area where you wanna have something move in another direction.

So for those of you who don't know about me,

let me tell you a little bit about myself. I was raised in the Bronx.

I was born in Philadelphia, but I was raised in the Bronx.

I am ultimately what I consider a child of hip hop.

So that looks like, you know,

I was that kid in the street who we played tag on the street.

We ran up and down the street.

We played games like hot peas and butter and freeze tag. And,

you know, we had games like you,

some of y'all might remember things like cab bangers. Like we, you know,

scalies on the street, like all of that. That was my childhood growing up.

And I love growing up in the Bronx and being able to interact with all of the

kinds of different people that I got to interact with. I am, uh,

native, new Yorker. I really do consider myself that. So raised in, you know,

raised in the Bronx, but now I live in Brooklyn for the last 22 years.

And I love living here in Brooklyn, the culture,

the energy I am in a loving,

beautiful relationship. We have three children ages.

I don't even wanna call 'em children anymore. Twenty one, eighteen and 16.

They grown right all in college, headed off to college and you know,

about to do their own thing.

But think the thing that I always really want people to know about me is

all that being raised in New York and all of that didn't keep me from being what

I might consider traditionally Southern.

I was raised in what I would call a traditionally Southern household.

My family's from Beauford, South Carolina.

I was raised by both my great-grandmother and my great aunt,

but my great aunt. That's my mama. That's been mama since day one.

And the way I was raised, you know,

like I being under my great grandmother,

gave me a great sense of how to be with people.

My grandmother never got upset with people. She always loved on you.

Even if she was upset, she loved on you.

And I carry that with me all the time. So a lot of our conversations y'all,

y'all gonna hear me refer to my great-grandmother ethyl Jenkins, bless her soul.

You know, she's gone now, but she's always here. And, um,

I'm fortunate that I have that. So a lot of that homespun wisdom you might get,

you might just be getting what I call an Ethylism that's an Ethylism.

If I say something that don't sound like something that you would hear,

somebody typically say, you know, you just got hit with Ethylism. So,

and I feel like the best or my favorite piece of advice that I ever got from my

great grandmother. She used to say to me, growing up worrying, ain't solved.

No problem. I know about yet.

And as I got older and had to deal with life circumstances and things come at

you, that really stuck with me. You know, I could worry about something.

I could be kind of nitpicking it to death,

but ultimately it never solved anything.

And that stuck with me only because what I got to see

later on as I went through life was the worrying didn't make the

difference the taking actions did.

And so my great-grandmother was a woman of action. She, you know,

I still never can get over. She left her native, you know,

uh, South Carolina brought all her nine children, nine,

10 children from South Carolina up to New York,

left her husband and started a new life.

And then not only did she start that new life and raise her children and send

them off to the world. But then when she got tired of New York, which was like,

she, by then she was well into her, late sixties, early seventies. She was like,

I'm going back down south and moved her whole self back there.

And did that life, you know, started her life there.

And I always admired my grandmother's fortitude in being like,

what that demonstrated to me was there was no stopping in

the movement of life. Like she was like, I don't wanna be here anymore.

I want a space that's quiet. And she did that for herself.

And so the best thing, I, you know, I got many things from my great-grandmother,

but one thing I did really get was life doesn't end.

You keep moving it and you keep, you know, pushing forward,

no matter what age you are. I say all that,

cuz this podcast is really my way of giving you a lot of what my great

grandmother gave to me that real talk that straight, honest talk,

that loving talk that really lives in who I am and who I

get to be every day. So, you know,

I embody all of those great aspects of my grandmother and I get the

opportunity to give that over in the, to the world in whatever way I can.

The purpose of this endeavor, right,

is really to empower and enable listeners to step into their

best selves while you know,

we're gonna touch on everything from business to self love, to mindset,

to healing, all of that. So let's get started

Just about a, maybe like a couple of months ago.

Now a small group of us had the honor of chatting with the

incredible Danessa Myrick. And if you don't know who Danessa is,

she is a makeup artist, a photographer,

an entrepreneur she's made a name for herself as one of the most creative

makeup artists in our makeup industry.

And with the creation of her line,

the Danessa Myricks beauty line and her work in the studio, you know,

she's been able to creatively combine art and product manipulation

as she pushes the boundaries of the beauty industry, right.

And she really does push that forward with her,

both her artistry and her product innovation. One of the things, you know,

I could talk at nauseam about Danessa,

but she's been somebody who's really been committed that, you know,

makeup is for everybody, but not only that, that it is inclusive,

that it is diverse,

that it speaks to everyone from fair to deep complexions.

Vanessa's always aimed to touch all faces equally.

And I love that about her.

Like no one is absent in the conversation when you're with somebody like

Danessa, she's been able to, you know,

put her stamp on global beauty brands like kiss and benefit

cosmetics and LimeLife by Alcone.

She's had multiple consulting initiatives or both prestige pro

and master beauty brands globally.

She's definitely someone who is always ahead of the digital curve with,

you know, really having great success,

just the best techniques in makeup application and

even makeup looks, you know,

you might see a lot of things on Instagram where people show that dewey look

with that makeup. That's Danessa's look right. And currently,

um, Danessa spends her time, you know, she's training other makeup,

artists and enthusiasts, you know, globally in creating her brand,

Danessa Myricks beauty and she's doing a phenomenal job.

You can find her products in places like Sephora and in

other, uh,

makeup spaces around the country and definitely around the world.

So we had the opportunity to really sit down chat and really

get into the mind of somebody like Danessa Myrick.

So our conversation dove into all kinds of things from everything,

from her personal journey to beauty inclusion and the best tips for

business expansion.

How I entered into beauty is probably very similar to how the people who

are on, um, the call right now entered into LimeLife. I,

there were two things that were super important for me that I was not

experiencing up until that point. One was I wasn't, uh,

I, I wasn't living the life that I wanted to live.

I was kind of living the life that was presented to me when it came to work. Um,

and I really wanted to live passionately. I wanted to have, you know,

a reason why I woke up every day and went to this place,

this building or whatever that, um, may have been.

And I didn't feel that I feel like I was,

I felt like I was going through the motions and you know,

when you're going through those motions,

unless somebody like knocks you out or like, you know, uh, shocks you,

you know, you don't even understand how robotic you're moving through life.

And the shift came for me when the company that I was working for for a lot of

years closed. So I had no choice, but to think about it. Right. Yeah. And I,

I always think about like, what if that never happened?

Would I still be on that hamster wheel?

And I really don't wanna go down that path because, um,

it scares me a little bit to think like, you know,

if the opportunity didn't present itself for me,

would I have made a decision just to change my life. So, I mean,

so the one thing was I wanted to live passionately and I knew

I had like some creative instinct inside of me, but I really didn't feel that,

um, as a single mom of two,

that the opportunity exists for me to like wanna play with work.

You know what I mean? So, yep. There was, there was that limitation, uh,

for sure.

And I think the other reason why I made the decision that I made to enter into

beauty,

or just to change the direction of where I was going professionally was just for

freedom. And I think that's something that we all seek, right.

And not freedom in the sense of like go wild and crazy. You know,

I was 30 years old when I decided to, to make this shift and, um,

I really didn't want to have other people controlling my destiny.

And I think that's, we all feel that way. Right. We all wanna have like some a,

I think we're always in control because we are allowed to make our own choices,

but feeling that sense of control over our

financial destiny is not always there,

especially when we are working for someone else. And yes, you know,

freedom has always been the top of my list. And, um,

I wanted to at least give myself, um,

a chance to try, um, to create that for me and my family.

I think what you just spoke like breathes life into so many people there,

there <laugh>. Yeah.

Like people are like your story inspired them to take their lives on in

particular ways. Um, so I think, you know, you just even sharing that,

like, and what I can hear, like in the background, Vanessa, is like,

it's never too late to set that up as your mission. Yeah. You know,

like it's never too late.

Like there you were 30 with two kids and you were like, no, I,

there was something else in life available to me and I,

and inside of like an abundant mindset and I'm gonna grab for it.

And I don't know all of what that looks like, but I want that. Yeah. You know,

like a real declaration.

I think what I've learned, um,

even more recently is that your life actually doesn't start

until you are living in your purpose until you

are going, um, for the things that you feel in your heart and in your gut.

Right. So my life didn't start until I made that decision.

Pause right here. See, for me right here,

this moment was so beautiful and profound. See,

Danessa was really onto something right here. See more often than not.

We think that our lives begin when we graduate college or when we get married

or when we start our new job, or even when we, you know, have our first child,

you know, and maybe, you know,

you are one of those lucky people whose job is your purpose.

Maybe you really did find it in that moment. And that is amazing if you did,

but more often than not people don't find that like they're working in a job

that while it provides what it provides financially,

or it provides what it provides, you know, on a few other levels,

it's not necessarily passion fulfilling.

What do we do when we don't feel aligned when you are in,

when you're doing something or you are in a work or in a job or in a career

that doesn't align with what you believe that you are put on the planet to do,

what do we do when our heart and gut wanna lead us in a different

direction? But we actually have no idea where to go. You know,

one of the experiences I have as somebody who gets to work with people in their

business and, you know,

provide them what I can provide them for them to take the necessary

strategies and,

and look at what they need is also having those kinds of conversations where I

ask people, what is it that you love to do?

Like if you didn't have to do the job that you do say, you know,

and whatever the career is, right. And this is not to knock anybody's career,

but whatever that career is, if that doesn't light you up,

then what is it like? What's the thing you really get joy and satisfaction from.

See one of the things I always like to have people do,

one of the first conversations I have with them is with like,

if we were waving a magic wand. So for everybody,

this is kind of like the magic wand exercise, right?

We were waving a magic wand and you didn't have to be held under constraints

called my finances, my time, uh, my family,

uh, you know, staying in this career because I had spent so long to graduate,

or I spent X amount of dollars to get into this career.

If you didn't have to do all those things,

then what would be the thing that you would want to do?

And I always tell people, actually stop a minute. Just stop.

Don't do anything. Don't, you know, don't even start writing anything,

just stop and think a minute. Okay.

Now that you've had a moment to stop and think,

I want you to take a moment and write down,

what are the things that give you joy?

What are the things that you enjoy doing?

What are the things that lights you up or make you feel good when you're doing

those things? See, when I look at the job that I have or the career,

or I should say the passion, right? That I even get to be here on a podcast,

this is what I would do. This is what I used to do for free. Like when I,

you know, used to go to open mics and do my poetry,

you never got any money for that. There, it didn't have, you know, if it did,

it was like $25 or something like that.

But I loved being in front of an audience of people and sharing,

not just my thoughts. Right? Cause it wasn't all about me,

but that whatever it is that I was sharing somehow penetrated over to where

people are and left them impacted whether it made them self reflect,

whether they were left with whoa, I'm in, you know,

I never heard that before is making me think another way or it impacts them

in some kind of way. That's what lit me up.

And I was really clear from early on. I would do it for free.

Like if I could have the opportunity to get in front of people and share what it

is, not like my thoughts or like the thoughts that people need to hear.

But that if I,

if I was given the opportunity to share that,

what I said could make a difference.

And so just take a moment and write that down.

What are those things you love to do that bring you joy that give you

satisfaction. See, that's like the first place to start.

And now that you've done that you are now at the beginning of

what I like to call a beautiful journey.

What does it mean to you when you look out, when you look out into the field of,

of makeup and beauty, what does it mean to have diversity in beauty to you?

I mean, it means a lot of things. I think a lot of people get stuck on the,

you know, the black and white of it. All right.

Like we need to see every skin tone. And for me that's obvious. Right?

<laugh> that, that's how it should always be. Like,

everyone wants to see themselves represented. It's like in any part of life,

if you go into the gym, if you don't see anybody that looks like yourself,

you feel like you don't belong there and you don't wanna go.

It's like anywhere you go, whether you're in school, at work,

any aspect of our lives, we wanna feel like, you know, we belong in this place.

That is like one of the basic human needs belonging. Right. So yes,

I think in any industry, especially in beauty,

when we're looking at ourselves in a hypothetical mirror, you know,

you wanna see some representation of you. You want somebody who, you know,

feels the same way, aesthetically about how you feel about beauty,

understands what your unique problems are, you know, um,

can see what your specific beauty dilemma is and have a solution for it.

I think that's kind of basic. Right. And so it's, it's,

it's kind of weird to me that the industry is like, yeah,

finally we realize that we need lots of shades, but you know,

we've been here on this planet since the beginning of time and all of these

shades existed, so that's obvious. Right? Yeah. Um, and,

and wanting to create in that space to just be a baseline, right.

Because if you want,

if you're creating something that's beautiful and you want people to

participate,

you need to create for them and show them that there's a place here for them.

And I think, you know, that's really important,

but there's so many other things that, uh,

diversity means for me.

Like I wanna see other moms right.

And how they live their lives and appreciate their struggle and know that they

appreciate mine. I mean, the, the differences in sexual orientation,

just the differences in just how we wear makeup, you know,

there's not one way to do it. Right.

And I think that brands should show all the ways,

like if I like to wear like red eyeliner, let me do it.

You know what I mean? And let that be okay. There are no rules to beauty. Right.

I just want,

I feel like people should be able to show up as who they are and be able to look

from left to. Right.

And just feel like even if they don't see an exact representation of what that

is, that the environment is welcoming them in that space.

And so that's what it means for me.

I really got what you said that whole world of diversity is not this black and

white, which is really how it's shown up for such a long time. Yeah.

And if we start to look beyond that, look to, you know,

the different sexual orientations look through, like even differently abled,

like look at, you know,

looking at this whole realm of people out there who are part of the fabric of

what it is to be a human being. Yeah. What would you say?

And you might have already kind of answered it,

but I wanted to delve into a little bit is like,

what would you say then would be one of those vital and necessary parts for

beauty brands to really start to pull in, uh,

to re uh, to create that, like, what is, what would,

what would be necessary for beauty brands to start doing,

to cultivate that?

I think what you guys are doing right here,

just be open and willing to have the conversation,

to acknowledge that a conversation is necessary. Yeah.

And be open and willing to hear the voices of people who really wanna

participate in what they're creating. Right. It really is just about that.

I mean, I, I spent a lot of years working corporately,

um,

developing for a lot of brand it's and it's really interesting what happens in a

boardroom and versus what the reality is.

And there are people who really do sit in rooms and their world is this small.

Like literally they,

they can only see the path that they walk every day.

And there's really very little acknowledgement of the rest of the world. Right.

They kind of are in a bubble. Um,

and I just think that's it even just being a woman in corporate when their

leadership is mostly men, you know,

they can't see why a woman needs to take a day off from work or a child is sick.

It's just not part of their world, so they don't get it. And so a lot of brands,

it's just not part of their world and they don't get it right.

And a lot of brands, um, in my experience, what they do is they look at data,

they look at a piece of paper with numbers and they make decisions about how

they're gonna create based on a piece of paper with numbers and never really

take an opportunity to listen to anyone's voice.

And I think what's happened recently is that they were forced to hear the

voices. You know what I mean? Um, which is the thing that made the,

the difference. And maybe if, you know,

people weren't speaking louder or really a being activists about what they

felt was necessary in beauty, they may have never changed.

And there are some who still aren't changing. Like they're like, okay,

I don't care what you want. This is who we are.

And financially things are working and this is where we wanna be.

And that's okay too. I think for us, it's just like,

who do we want to participate with? You know,

who deserves our time and our energy and our money.

And what's great is that we can make those decisions.

And that there's an opportunity. There are opportunities for us to choose now,

which didn't exist before. You know? So, uh, I think that's what the,

the major difference is. But the bottom line is just, you know,

you wanna be in places in spaces where people feel like, you know,

you belong there and they wanna hear your voice and they wanna serve you. The,

the baseline is service, you know,

and even if a brand doesn't have it all together, the,

if they're open to the conversation and moving in that direction,

I think that's great too.

All right. I have a confession right now.

So I did not come up in the beauty world or the beauty industry at all.

I currently work with a makeup and skincare company,

but that wasn't my background, you know?

So I wondered what consumers like you and myself should be

looking for in order to identify a genuinely inclusive company.

Uh, I mean, I think there's a lot of things.

Like one is like the open conversation and you'll, you'll see brand to,

you can tell very quickly whether a brand is being performative or if they're

really making strides to change.

And so a lot of brands like overnight have 40 shades,

but then when you look at the shades, they made no sense.

And they really didn't represent the people who they created those shades for.

So it was pretty obvious that you just did that just to show it. Um,

I saw so many brands just create like two dark shades at the end of the

collection to say, this is for everybody, you know?

So it it's beyond the shades. Right? Yep. Um, I think it's also,

it's, it's the things that you're doing outside of just the selling.

And this is why I have so much, and it's not just because I'm on this platform.

This is how much, uh, I,

I have so much respect for like what you're creating here,

because it's a learning curve for everyone.

There are a lot of brands that still just don't know. Right.

But they're having the conversations and bringing people into space,

decision making positions who can, um,

teach them and then execute. Right. Yeah. So, and things don't happen overnight.

And understandably there's a process,

but the acknowledgement that there has been a miss and

the acknowledgement that we're open and willing to change,

it's not always like instant in like new shades.

It's the things that are happening behind the scenes too,

in conversations like this, which are important. Um,

and just creating an environment for conversation is a big part of it. Yes.

You know, so I, I, I think there's that I think, um,

just seeing the progression,

like when new launches happen, like what do they look like?

What do they feel like does pigment work on everyone?

And even if it's not a hundred shades, you know,

of the things that they are creating inclusive in terms of formulation,

you know,

there are brands who have a hundred shades that only look good up until a

certain point in like you're to medium deep you'll look like Ash

on you just wouldn't work. Right. Um,

so when you look at the color assortment, when you look at the pigmentation,

the coverage of the products, you know, okay, well, they, this is this,

you know,

at least there was a consideration about somebody being on a fair skin tone,

um, using it. Um, and just as launches happen, you know,

how are things changing as things roll out? Like you can kind of see,

it's kind of, it's easy to see,

but I think a lot of it more so is about the conversations that are happening

internally, the, the people that they have in the decision making positions,

like, yeah. What,

what are they doing to make sure that the misses don't continue to

happen? I think that that's a big part of it.

I knew I was gonna be, you know, quote unquote interviewing. And I was like,

let me get my stuff together. Right.

So I did like all this reading and research and everything. And then, you know,

I started looking at the, uh, the difference, you know,

like, there's this whole thing around,

I'm not asking you to answer this question, but I wanna give you the context,

which is, you know, natural.

There's like these trends like this natural hair texture and diverse skin tones.

And the truth of the matter is for anybody who's not present to that.

Those have been in before. That's not a new conversation. Mm-hmm <affirmative>.

But when I look at beauty brands, you know, now would you say, like,

if you look at it now, from your perspective and just even, you know,

for maybe many of us, would you say that the inclusiveness that increase,

like you said, though, they add two shades on, is that all trend based?

Um, I think it really just depends on who the brand is.

And I just think a lot of brands just don't know. Yeah.

So there are some things that they think are,

I think I could say like this, like I have I'm, um, a,

a deep skin, black woman with natural hair. Like, this is not like a trend here.

I wear my hair like this all the time, because it's just me. Um,

right. But I have people in my family who have, uh,

blue eyes and blonde hair and they're black. Right? Yeah.

So if you,

there are some people who have a very limited perspective of what a woman of

color means. Like, you know, how blended this planet is and, you know,

yeah. People who just don't know, like I do a lot of traveling,

there are people who've never seen. The first thing people usually ask me is,

can I touch your hair?

Which is probably one of the most disrespectful things that you could ask,

the weirdest thing that you could ask somebody <laugh> like,

I would never walk up to somebody and say, can I touch your hair?

I don't know you at all, but can I just grab your hair,

put my fingers through it. It's like weird,

but they don't think it's weird when they ask me, you know? And I, I, I,

I don't necessarily get offended. I'm just like, wow,

this is a lot of education that needs happen,

but they've never seen somebody who looked like me or saw hair that looked like

me. Like I'm scared. Right? Yeah. I'm strange.

It's not the norm because it's just not part of the world.

So I think a lot of times with brands will create like, um, uh,

campaigns and they go to extremes. They want to, like,

I,

it's almost like a character version of like what a black person looks like.

And yes, you know, we look like a lot of different things, right.

Even just looking at this panel right now,

I look completely different than some of the other women of color who are on.

So it's not, we're not a hairstyle. Um,

and yeah, I,

I just think there's a lot of education that needs to happen. Yeah.

But I I'm, we are on the way,

at least we show up now. Yeah. Big part of it. And so, you know,

there's just a lot of education that needs to happen, I guess I would say.

Yeah. Sometimes it's on the fly education, you know, like, and I also, you know,

um, to your point, I, you know, as a woman of color, as a black woman,

you know, like one of the things I discovered, but it,

it happened like over time, those things like microaggressions and all of that,

and didn't realize what those things were until like later on down the road.

And so now I find myself doing on the fly education. Right. But like, you know,

that time I was in, you know,

in London and like right now, if you don't know every,

if you don't, I have locks, I do, you know, not as high as Vanessa,

but I got a picture that, you know, I'm in second place. But, um,

but you know, I like to wear hair too when I can, and like literally on the fly,

like somebody reaching out and I'm like,

I'm gonna have to educate you right now. That would be the equivalent of like,

can I put my hand on your face because your nose looks interesting, like,

you know, right. And having people get like, I'm still a person that the,

my hair is not separate from this body. Right. So sometimes,

definitely I could get is on the fly education.

As we start to look at this world of, you know,

beauty inclusion and how the inclusive beauty movement, you know,

even how it's redefining the industry, you know, people often,

you know, at least now how it occurs to me are really asking, you know,

how can I make my beauty industry more inclusive?

What can I do? And certainly, you know, there's ways for that to happen.

You know, we need to start thinking more about, you know,

male personal care and beauty routines, males are not excluded from that.

Definitely increasing the skin shade ranges for people of color, you know,

Rihanna broke the mold with Fenty,

but that doesn't mean that other industries certainly they may not, you know,

get to where Rihanna, what she created, but listen, you're not off the mark.

If you're having like 35 or more, really like 40 or more shades,

it's really putting, you know,

any company into that range where you are

being inclusive. Also thinking about beauty across generations, you know,

while we may look at TikTok and Instagram and you'll see lots of people who are

certain age ranges, you know, like in the early twenties and, you know,

things like that. The thing for us to start thinking about is, listen,

I am 48 years old about to be 49. I'm thinking about beauty too.

And women who are in their sixties and seventies across various generations

are very much committed to the beauty industry and looking good and feeling

good in the skin that they're in. You know,

the other thing is I really love that.

I work for a company where our we're transparent around our ingredients.

Um, you know,

our products are free of harsh chemicals and they are Paran

free. We're leaping bunny certified.

And all of those things that we are concerned about going into our skin,

that in a lot of cases,

we found out more and more through studies that a lot of the things that people

have put on their bodies and on their face and in,

on their skin have turned out to be, you know,

carcinogenic and have cancer causing agents.

So even having that degree of ingredient,

transparency is definitely one of those ways that people but

industries, you know,

you're talking about being in the beauty industry can really move forward. Woo.

This was a lot today and I'm so glad you were with us

for the first on the rise podcast. All right.

Now that's our time with Danessa and she graciously took questions

from the audience who were all entrepreneurs and business owners in their own,

right. In the beauty industry and having walked the talk,

Danessa provided some gold nuggets for expanding your business.

So if you hadn't already had your pen handy,

go grab it now. Cause we got some goodies. So what was, uh, what was,

is the best way you like to grow your network and make your stamp on the beauty

industry?

I think, oh, that's a great question.

I think what I've learned is that people follow people,

not things, not lipstick, not foundation, right?

Mm-hmm <affirmative> they really are concerned about who you are and what you

represent. And so I found that, you know, I'm very much an introvert.

If anybody who's known me over the years,

they know like even having conversations like this are difficult for me cuz I'm

just a shy person. I just, I, I just am in a, uh, in a,

in a industry that's about the extrovert. Right.

But what has grown my business and has grown my

brand is the,

any time I opened up and let people know like who I am and what I represent.

And sometimes it's not with words. Like, um, if I use my social as an example,

you're always gonna see every kind of person you're gonna see a plus

size, I mean, or normal size actually cause, okay. Right. You're gonna,

you're gonna see all different types of skin, tones, skin types,

all different types of people. You're gonna see boys.

You're gonna see everything because that's just what I represent.

You're going to, um, today I posted, um,

a model who covers and she's just incredible. Oh, I saw that. She's like,

you know, no one ever post that. And I'm like, why? I don't understand.

Like she, like,

she didn't even think that I would have her come into model and I'm like, no,

like everybody wears makeup. It's okay. You know?

So it's not always with your voice. It's what people see. Yeah. Um,

and so I think the biggest way to, um,

build a community is to let them know who you are and what you stand for.

And you don't have to be an eloquent speaker or anything like that.

You can just demonstrate it by, you know,

what they see when they visit your page and just, um,

in the conversations that you do have. I, I think, you know,

every brand is built on those like intimate connections.

Like people wanna feel connected to you. Um, so even with my social,

like I was so against like building social, cause it just it's,

it felt like just so much work and it felt like I was just creating in a world.

That's not real,

but I really had to reevaluate like how I think about social media. It's really,

you know, I wanna connect with people. I want people to know who I am.

I want them to know that I care about who they are.

So we need to have conversations.

And social media just gives you an opportunity to have those conversations with

more people on a broader spectrum. Um, and,

and that's how I think about it.

So like when I post like literally I make sure I, I best I can.

I respond to every comment I send private messages to my DM.

I leave voicemails when I can.

I just want people to know that I see them and I hear them or, you know,

I'll read the comments and acknowledge what they're saying and make sure that I

show up in the way that they expect from me or at least they understand why I

show up in the way that I do. So I think, um, people wanna know who you are.

Yes.

So don't be afraid to tell your stories is your stories is what's gonna build

your community and it's not just building a community, but it's like deep,

um, relationships within that community. So they stay with you through ups,

through down, they know who you are and, and they support you no matter what,

which is, you know, what you need in order to grow. You know,

every business is about problem solving.

Every business that started that's successful is about,

there was a problem and they created a solution.

So it's really about speaking to those problems,

to the people who are those problems and offering them a solution.

So they've got lots of questions. What's.

I'm here for it.

<Laugh> you're here for it. We love it. Um, Ooh, this is good.

What keeps you motivated in the industry? Are you doing the same,

looks techniques all the time. How often do you change it up?

Which I know a lot of people struggle with like finding like when to move on or

when to just hold true to something that you know how to do.

Yeah. I mean,

I've changed so much since like my aesthetic is completely different and uh,

like everything about what I do every day is different and it gets a little

tricky sometimes because you know,

sometimes the way I feel about makeup is different than a lot of people.

My perspective is a little different.

I remember when I first started creating just for my own brand,

like I really wanted to see like dewy skin on, on deeper complexions.

I wanted to see women of color not be like always represented as like super

matte. I wanted to see glow. But at the time that I started doing that,

nobody was doing it. And people used to, um, send me messages. Like,

why are you making black people look greasy like that?

Like I used to get all of that and then suddenly it's a trend for everybody to

be glowy and dewy.

So I think any the way I think about it now,

and even though it may be difficult, um,

when you're the only one or it feels like you're the only one in that voice is

that, you know, I,

I like doing things that are gonna move a conversation forward.

Especially if you're in an environment where you don't see what it is you want,

like the only way to get to that space is to create it. So,

and, and people will follow, right? Like if you think about it now,

like in what world were like,

people going to corporate jobs with glitter on and like now it's like

completely acceptable. Right. You know what I mean? It's like, oh,

before made everything acceptable, right.

For a 45 year old woman or a 50 year old woman, like 52 year old woman,

like me to like put some rhinestones on my face and go to work.

Like everything's okay right now. But somebody had to do it to make it. Okay.

Right. Yep. So I always think about things just moving,

shifting the industry forward or creating the awareness.

And honestly,

you will find that you may do something that's different or express makeup in a

different way.

And suddenly the floodgate's open because everybody was waiting for somebody to

do this thing.

Yes. They were waiting for somebody to be the first. Yes.

So just be the first.

Yeah. Right.

This has been really great.

I just wanna like point out a few things that really stood out for me in this

whole conversation. One of the things that Danessa pointed to is, you know,

like her reason for entering the beauty industry,

it was like when she hit that age, right.

That there came that moment where she was like 30 years old and she decided to

make this shift. And you know,

she wasn't about having other people controlling her destiny.

And I think that's really important to remember. I said this before,

locate your passion, locate what lights you up,

not what other people think you should be doing or the direction, you know,

other people should think you should be going.

This is really you taking control of your life in a way that fires you up,

lights you up, inspires you. And yes, you know, you know,

one of those things she talks about is that freedom to be, you know,

like freedom has always been at the top of her list. Why?

Because giving herself that chance to be creative and to, you know,

make that available impossible for her family.

And then the other thing I really wanna point to in all of this is we have a

real opportunity. All of us, you, me,

everybody listening right now to have a really deep and profound impact on an

industry that has had a deep and profound impact.

Like the beauty industry is not young.

It's pretty old and like very old, really right in the ways,

uh, the beauty industry has shaped the way women think about themselves,

the way we see ourselves, the way we dissect our bodies,

the way we think our facial structure should be the skin color. We should be.

All of those things have greatly impacted us,

but we also have an opportunity in the current realm, right?

The current day and time,

we've got a real opportunity to shift those kinds of conversations.

How by speaking up by, you know, being, when I say influencer,

I mean, being somebody who speaks for particular, you know,

groups of people who speaks to people who are of different

origins, whether you're black or Latina or Pacific Islander or Asian,

or American Indian, native American,

all of these different groups of people that exist,

you have had a real opportunity to make a difference, to showcase,

highlight feature,

and make great impact on these different constituencies of people where we talk

about across generations. When we talk about men,

when we talk about those who are differently abled, when we talk about,

you know, all these categories,

different groups of people that really we have an opportunity to impact.

So I kind of wanted to point that out because that was just like a couple of

those highlights and the work that Danessa has done in creating

the space for diversity and inclusion and continuing to do that

work. And the other thing I wanna say about it is it's not a, you know,

do this today and bear fruit tomorrow. It's an ongoing,

consistent like diligent process. And it's a committed process too.

And so, you know, if you're in this, in a,

in this to make some, you know,

impact today to get on Instagram or TikTok and get, you know, 10,000,

30,000 followers, then you're in the wrong, you're in this for the wrong reason.

This is like,

we're talking about the difference that could be made over the long haul.

And maybe I won't see it in my lifetime,

but I'm damn sure committed to seeing it, that what we do,

what we say and the work we do right now makes the difference,

makes a difference.

And the difference I didn't grow up seeing

myself. Right. And when I say myself, I mean, you know,

for those of you who know me, I'm a very chocolate skin woman,

you know, dark skinned woman. And I'm a plus size sister too.

And I didn't see images of myself.

I didn't see images of myself for sure in the beauty industry.

But if you even look further back than that, you know,

you looked at women who were dark skin and plus size, even in, you know, movies,

they always pet played the asexual being, you know,

no shade to butterfly McQueen because she was the queen and took that on.

But like, you know, characters like butterfly McQueen or, you know,

Hadie McDaniel those characters who, you know,

didn't get seen in any sexual way or even really seen as having beauty,

at least from a very Western point of view. Right. And I,

so I say that because I didn't see an image of myself that let me know

I was beautiful or let me know that I'm thinking about you, you know,

I would go into once I started to wear makeup, which was much later in life,

but going into a makeup store and picking up red,

it was just garish looking it, you know, I looked clownish it,

wasn't the look that I wanted to go for. And then, you know,

and that had a lot to do. I think, you know,

it's been mentioned before because a lot of these companies,

weren't thinking about tint and shade and tone and all of that,

they just made red and that red was supposed to be for everybody. And frankly,

to be honest, that red didn't include you being a woman of color.

And so going into a store and not seeing shades for myself or

going to a makeup counter, when I'm, you know,

about to go to my senior prom and preparing to go get my face done,

and what this person puts on me is I shave, like,

there's probably like three shades lighter than my actual skin tone and look

like,

like making that crazy line around my jaw in between my

chin and my neck. Like, I just look like a different person.

And so to be in the space now where conversations like this are,

so candidly talked about is really affirming that while we're not

there, we're not, we've not arrived.

We're certainly on the best damn journey and

things that I can say, you know, like actionable items moving forward.

I think it's important that people advocate to the companies that they

are, you know, purchased from to be like, what about this?

I like to see more of that. Or if you are a makeup artist,

please make sure that the next time you do a look on Instagram,

you're doing a look on somebody. Who's not what you would typically see. Right.

And that's one of the things I really love about Danessa is like,

if you even look on her Instagram, Hey, she's using different types,

different models, different skin tones, all across the board. It shows me,

oh, I see, I see myself when I look in that direction,

when we talk about actionable items for On The Rise. Well,

that's exactly what it is.

Create those looks that speak to different constituencies of people

think about, uh, skincare for men.

Think about makeup application for women of different

skin tones. Think about incorporating, you know,

plus size women think about body image. Think about all these aspects,

generational women who are older the over 60,

think about all of those different groups of people and really showcase that as

an opportunity to be like, this is a place and this is what I wanna show you.

And this is what's possible. All right. Well,

thank you for joining us for the on the rise podcast tune

in next time for some more home fun wisdom, some deep realness,

some authenticity. I am your host. Dawn Speaks.

On The Rise is brought to you by LimeLife by Alcone where true beauty is worth

sharing.