Rising Stars: Meet Korinthia Marsh

Today we’d like to introduce you to Korinthia Marsh.

Hi Korinthia, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started MyBeautyIQ a week before COVID had closed down salons for what we thought would only be two weeks. At the time I was an assistant in Beverly Hills and one day during my break, an idea hit me! I thought to myself, how do beauty professionals like myself find in-person education classes? Most of the time I have found classes through an Instagram stylist I may follow or through a brand rep inviting me to a brand education class but I know there are so many other classes happening and talented independent educators wanting to reach an audience like me, but how? First thing I did was tell my incredible mentor who is also an amazing educator. She encouraged and supported my idea and agreed that there was a lack of accessibility to in-person education classes in our industry and believed a central platform where educators can find an audience of students wanting to expand their education opportunities and beauty professionals who would love to have a variety of classes accessible to them all on one platform, could be incredibly helpful to the growth I. our industry. After talking it through with her, I began doing research on what it would take to make a platform like this possible.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Creating an app wasn’t necessarily easy even though my development team is incredible and makes it look easy! At first, I didn’t even know where to start! Building an app was never something I thought I would do and I definitely had no tech skills. The first biggest obstacle was finding people who could help me get my vision from idea to execution. I am very grateful that throughout this journey I have met amazing people along the way who have heard my idea and helped me get connected with someone who would end up knowing someone that could help me on whatever next steps were required to get this app going. After about a year of getting connected with people and networking, I had found a designer and a developer who could take on my project.

With most start-ups, money is a huge bump in the road. After running out of money during the design process and applying for every grant possible, I was feeling defeated. I had started on the project but couldn’t move onto the next step of the coding and development until I came up with more money and with savings being gone and in the middle of a pandemic and out of work, there was no sign of progression. After months of prayer, I met an investor who invested in me and MyBeautyIQ for the development of the app!

The development of the app was a HUGE hurdle to pass. There are still many outside expenses that you don’t think or know about until you’re in the process of creating your first business. I’ve come to realize that there is no such thing as a “smooth road” when launching your first business. Many little bumps and hiccups have happened and will continue to happen along the way, but there is something so exciting and fulfilling about encountering a bump in the road and taking it as an opportunity to learn more about how to run my business and find solutions. It really does grow your confidence in your ability to handle whatever gets thrown at you, and I constantly give myself the grace of “you don’t know what you don’t know”. Take every struggle and turn it into an incredible opportunity to try again and learn!

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a hairstylist in Los Angeles, CA. I specialize in color and extensions!

I am most proud of the relationships and growing community being created with beauty professionals through MyBeautyIQ. I am passionate not just about my clients and their hair but other professionals who want to be the best for their clients as well, and that starts with affordable and accessible continued education classes so they can advance and thrive in their careers.

Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
I learned so much through covid but my biggest takeaway is to get serious about the life you want to live. Surround yourself with the people you love, who you are your best self with. Spend time on things that resonate with your passions and your purpose. Remind yourself often of the life you’re trying to create and ask yourself if the things you are doing, participating in, surrounding yourself with are in line with the life that will bring you joy, peace, love, and community. If it’s not, pivot! Time is precious and best spent intentionally.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.mybeautyiq.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mybeautyiq/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA%3D%3D
• Other: https://mybeautyiq.beehiiv.com/