MADEINC
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F
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YOUR FRONT ROW SEAT TO
ENTREPRENEURIAL SUCCESS
HOW DOES MENTED STAND OUT
FROM THE CROWD IN THE COSMETICS
MARKETPLACE?
“We are the consumer as well as the owner and
we have this very authentic approach to beauty,
the company we want to build and the space
we want to create for inclusion within beauty.
I think that’s something that the big box beauty
brands can’t replicate,” says Johnson
“We say all of our products are about solving
problems. We would never create something
that we wouldn’t wear ourselves. Being the
consumer as well as the owner really helps us
in thinking about solving real problems and
putting the consumer first as we create our
product. None of our products will ever be ashy
and none of our products would not show up.
These basic things that women of color need for
beauty, we’ll always be able to address and do it
in a different and better way.”
WHAT ADVICE FOR RISING
ENTREPRENEURS ON STARTING A
BEAUTY BUSINESS
“I think the number one question is really
around passion for the idea,” says Miller. “Prior
to Mented, I attempted to launch a number
of startups and never really followed through
fully with any of them. Never quit my full-time
job for any of them and at the end of the day,
the passion just wasn’t not there. It’s got to be
something you wake up thinking about, you go
to bed thinking about it. You’re always texting
your partner saying, ‘Hey, what about this? Or
we could do it like this.’ There’s just this passion
and excitement that you really can’t clamp
down. I think if you’re in that boat, then you’re
probably in a good place to really move forward
with something. I think if you have an idea, but
Long gone are the days of settling for a
nude lipstick that does not compliment
our complexion. The founders of Mented
Cosmetics, KJ Miller and Amanda Johnson,
had the same problem and after three years
of looking for the perfect nude shade, they
decided to create their own line of cosmetics
for women of color. Mented Cosmetics
(short for ‘pigmented’) has created its own
lane in the beauty industry as a luxury
beauty brand that celebrates and prioritizes
women of all hues and different ethnicities.
MENTED
KJ MILLER &
AMANDA JOHNSON
it doesn’t excite you all that
much, then you really want to
rethink it.”
“I never thought of myself as an entrepreneur
before Mented. Finding the right partner and the
right idea gave me the confidence to go after
this, but I just encourage women to explore
entrepreneurship as a career,” says Johnson. “I
think it can be intimidating and you can think
it’s something for only rich people or white
people or males, but I think we as a community
need to start normalizing it even more and
going after it and taking the risk. Sometimes it
will not work out, but it’s worth the journey and
it’s worth the effort.”
Keep up with the cool things happening
at Mented Cosmetics by following them @
mentedcosmetics.
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