Today we’d like to introduce you to Brittany Brown.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Brittany. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I started my business almost five years ago. In 2014, after graduating from Stevenson University in Baltimore, MD with a B.S in Business Communication. I decided to explore my love and passion for Beauty. I enrolled in The Baltimore School of Massage to study aesthetics. While receiving my license, I decided to launch a skincare line, Monee Cosmetics. I no idea what I was doing. However, I knew that I needed to get my brand in front of as many people as possible. The first thing I did was sign up for tradeshows, expos, and events. I quickly realized that many of the events that existed weren’t conducive to my small beauty start-up. I didn’t have the big budget for displays or freebies so my brand was often overlooked and lost in a sea of big beauty brands. I felt that other beauty start-ups that were in the growth phase felt what I was going through so I launched the first tradeshow created for and by women of color – Project Beauty Expo.
PBE started as a one-day marketplace. In just four short years, we expanded to become a 2-day event and have secured sponsorship with global brands, Target and Shopify, and has been featured in outlets such as Forbes, Essence, CEW, WWD, among many others.
Has it been a smooth road?
The struggles that I faced early on was financing. I worked several jobs to fund the business and didn’t begin paying myself until 2019.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
PBE is an online platform and offline conference created to provide women of color with tools needed to build a sustainable beauty business.
We’re known for our annual event titled Project Beauty Expo where indie brand founders and beauty enthusiasts come together to Connect, Collaborate, and Share Ideas.
As a company, I am most proud of our growth and amazing partnerships. In 2019, we secured sponsorship with Target and Shopify and have been featured in outlets such as Forbes, Essence, CEW, WWD, among many others.
What sets us apart is we are not trying to be like any other conference/tradeshow out there and we specifically focus on highlighting and promoting indie beauty brands.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
I personally feel like LA is a tough city for Beauty. California is a very large state that is segmented unlike other states on the East Coast. It’s been quite tough finding a tribe of women that have similar points of interest about Beauty. A lot of folks are here from other states and don’t really have a place to go and connect with other women.
However, I feel that our mission and brand voice is strong enough to create this on the West Coast.
I would recommend to start wherever you are. I don’t think the city matters early on. With social media, you can truly make it anywhere. I didn’t physically move until late 2018 but was operating my brand from Baltimore City even though I never executed at event in my hometown.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.projectbeautyexpo.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/projectbeautyexpo
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/projectbeautyexpo
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/projectbeautyex
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