Ginger King of Grace Kingdom Beauty and FanLoveBeauty on the power of trusting your gut in business

Describe your business in a few words?

Grace Kingdom Beauty - We help you to create your own beauty brand from concept to launch so you can create your own legacy on your own terms.

FanLoveBeauty - A clean beauty brand for entrepreneurs by entrepreneurs to empower confidence through beauty. We take care of your appearance so you can focus on crushing your goals.

What made you take the leap to start your own business?

Inspired by Shark Tank's Daymond John.

What was your background prior to starting your own business?

Cosmetic chemist.

Did you always know you wanted to be an entrepreneur?

No, until the debut of TV show, Shark Tank.

Take us back to when you first launched your business, what was your marketing strategy to get the word out and did it go as planned?

For Grace Kingdom Beauty, it is mostly word of mouth referrals. For FanLoveBeauty, it is by networking with various groups and direct messaging on social media.

We always learn the most from our mistakes, share a time with us that you made a mistake or had a challenging time in business and what you learned from it?

Trust your gut and not so much on other people's experience. For my FanLoveBeauty website, I have changed it 3 times in a year because I trusted people have the right experience and will deliver. I was wrong. It was a lot of trial and errors to land to my current website.

What is the accomplishment you are the most proud of to date?

I have been quoted over 30 beauty media and am one of the most frequently quoted cosmetic chemists in the industry. I have also served as the breakthrough beauty award judge for Allure magazine since 2017 and Brain Trust for New Beauty. I have also won a pitch competition for my brand FanLoveBeauty.

When hiring for your team, what is your go-to interview question? Please share any hiring tips you can share from your experience?

Why do you want to work with my company? Why says a lot of how they will work and how it aligns with their personal, professional and financial goals.

How has your business or industry been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic?

Thankfully not in a big way for my consulting side. For the brand side, it is a little bit slower than I like.

What's next for your business? What can we expect to see over the next few years?

I would like to build a team for my brand FanLoveBeauty so I can scale faster.

What is the biggest lesson you have learned in 2020?

You can do everything remotely. Even though we have a physical 6 feet distance, we do not have any limitation virtually.

What do you know now that you wish you knew when you were first starting your business?

Getting the right mentors and aligning with the right partners.

How have you managed to stay grounded this year?

Keeping focus. Read goals twice a day. Focus on the prize of getting known.

Do you believe in work/life balance? What are some of your best tips?

No I don't. We all have the same 24 hours and working takes priority at this time.

What's something our audience would be surprised to learn about you?

Originally I wanted to be a makeup artist but because of my Asian background, I was told I need to get if not a phD, at least a master's degree so I majored in Chemistry and became a cosmetic chemist.

What are your top 3 tips to stay productive each day?

Have a priority work list. Time blocking for tasks. Stretch and take a deep breath when you move from task to task.

What does being an Entreprenista mean to you?

The power of reaching my true potential for financial freedom and building my beauty empire.