Outside Seven Brown’s Harlem Skin and Laser Clinic.
You’ve been in the beauty industry for over 15 years, which is a great achievement. What sparked your interest in this industry?
First and foremost, I would have to say it was my grandmother. She was a beauty junkie, if there was ever such a thing along time ago. She had her Maja powders, her Chanel No. 5, everything across her dresser. I was that one kid all up in it, and always getting in trouble and always going back. I was really fascinated with the products. I would just take my chances and run.
Eventually she said, you know, let me just show you what to do. She was the first person to tell me makeup is only supposed to be worn on special occasions. ‘You do it everyday, you’re never going to look different.’ So if you show up at a wedding, or party, nobody’s going to say, ‘oh my God, you look great,’ because it’s the same thing you did to go to the mailbox. That kind of set that tone.
Later on, my first career path was law enforcement. I was supposed to be an ATF officer knocking down the doors. Most people don’t know I’m a licensed private investigator. That’s my past. But it’s all led up to this point.
One of my children, who did not like the idea that I was at work, must’ve called my job 20 times a day after school until I got a severance check and a goodbye. (Laughs.) They said, please go home to your child.
When I was working at a law firm, a friend of mine was working in the beauty business. He was repping hair and makeup stylists and photographers. His name is Mutale Kanyanta. He said if you need a job, come work with me. That was actually the first leap in that direction.
Can you share a few tips for beauty entrepreneurs?
I think it’s the same in any industry; first, you have to have a passion for what you do. Nine times out of 10 it won’t work if it’s not your passion. That’s the first thing.
Once you get past that hurdle and you find actually what you want to do, you just cannot take no for an answer. People say that over and over again, but I mean no. No when the eviction is happening. No when there’s no money. You just cannot take no for an answer. Usually the point where you’re about to give up, you’re like two steps away from completion.
You should surround yourself with people that even if they don’t understand; they’re not going to put you down because you need them. You need them to keep you going. I tell my students all the time when they tell me they hate selling, or can’t hear no from a customer, I say, it takes 10 no’s to every yes. I was taught to count your no’s and be happy ‘cause you’re getting closer to the yes. One, thank you, great. Two, great. And you keep going. You get to the 10th one and there’s your yes. [Editor’s note: Brown was the lead advanced educator at Atelier Esthétique Institute of Esthetics. She created, taught and managed all postgraduate curricula.]
What’s next for you?
What’s next is definitely my product line. Definitely! Possibly a television show. But delving more into the causes that are important to me and being able to leverage what we’ve done to get some of those things done.
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