Today we’d like to introduce you to Aida Danielle and Αmberly Carver.
Aida and Αmberly, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
(Aida) I moved to California from France almost 20 years ago, I decided to move to San Francisco because growing up my father was a Politician and so we traveled a lot and lived in San Francisco for few years. While living in the City, I attend the French-American School and made wonderful memories. When I returned to California as a young adult, I worked mainly for Tech Companies and also in Banking while completing my studies in Business Management and side jobs as a model and makeup artist, which led me to Los Angeles. I Grew up with a very Chic and Bourgeois mother and like we say in French “Très Coquette”, so I believe that’s where my love for makeup and beauty came from! In 2008, while working for a big Social Media Company, I decided to start a makeup line and started getting in touch with manufacturer to help me create natural and cruelty-free lipstick and lipgloss. Few months later, AIDA Cosmetics was born! In early 2009, I met my now business partner Amberly Carver. We were both working for a tech company and quickly started a friendship. We shared a passion for beauty and the common desire to provide quality makeup and beauty products for All women regardless of the color of their skin. We continued to work on growing some capital to make our ideas into reality and in 2012, we started our business partnership.
(Amberly) I was born and raised in Southern California. As a young girl, I would torture my little sister by always doing her hair and makeup, like she were my living doll because early on I connected with Beauty and make-up. In my adult life, I have worked in a few Corporate America sales and marketing roles that allowed me to tap into my passions in life which were talking to people and also creating exciting things for people to look at. In addition, I put myself thru College earning my BA in Business and a Minor in marketing. When I met Aida in 2009 she was instantly my sister from another mister, it was destiny that we would share a business together because our vision and goals fit together like a puzzle. We both wanted to empower women to know their self-worth, feel beautiful no matter what they were dealing with in there personal life and provide quality beauty products for all shades of skin because beauty is not one color, it’s many.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road because although we were excited to embark in this Billion dollars industry, the beauty industry is also one of the most competitive out there and even more so with makeup! Some of the biggest challenges is establishing our brand and gaining recognition locally and nationally. We needed to build a unique rapport with our customers and gain their trust. Initially, it required lots of sacrifices and full commitment while we were both working high-level full-time positions in management and Amberly being a mom. There are still struggles we have, whether it is juggling motherhood, business life, relationships and now the newest obstacle which has been this very horrific pandemic. Aida also became a new mom within the past year. We think a lot of women can relate with being a professional Juggler since women do so much in their daily lives already. A quote from Steve Jobs that we love and truly opened our eyes is “ If you want to know who your friends are, start a Business.” We were both faced with this harsh reality that most of our friends and even some family didn’t want to support or even want us to succeed. This was a clear struggle for us to understand because by nature, we are always supportive and encouraging of others but we think it gave us even tougher skin. The tough skin we need as an Entrepreneur!
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
AIDA Cosmetics is a natural plant-based and cruelty-free cosmetics company. We believe in beauty for All Women and Beauty with Confidence. Our mission in to provide quality makeup products for all complexion! Our mission is to empower women and from the start this was the heart of our business. We dedicate our efforts to highlight Black beauty, brown skin beauty, white beauty and every shade in between. We were one of first cosmetics company to collaborate with Plus Size models and partnered with a Foundation that allowed us to provide makeovers for young girls whom were sick with cancer or recent cancer survivors. We’re a beauty brands that strive for inclusion and beauty empowerment!
Any big plans?
With the current pandemic, our business has shifted a bit because we are not able to attend any events, so therefore we have been working towards a stronger online presence with social media and it’s been very rewarding so far. We feel very connected to our customers and we are also engaging with them more by being in front of the camera; something that we’ve avoided doing in the past. We’ve expanded our line to include new vegan beauty essentials such as Eyelashes and Beauty Blenders and we are continuing to work towards expanding the line.
Contact Info:
- Email: info@aidacosmetics.com
- Website: https://aidacosmetics.com
- Instagram: http://instagram.com/aidacosmetics
- Facebook: http://facebook.com/aidacosmetics
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/aidacosmetics
