Today we’d like to introduce you to Sophia Long.
Sophia, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I knew that making people feel good about themselves is something I wanted to do, I just wasn’t sure how. I started as a hairdresser in 2013 and loved the feeling of helping women find their confidence. Being a light for women who were so down on themselves gave me something I didn’t know I needed.
After struggling through some of life’s obstacles on my own, I realized truly how important self-care and feeling confident is. When I was 19 years old, I struggled with an eating disorder and found myself in an in-patient facility with a little self-love and a lot of anxiety about how I would ever feel confident again. After spending some time away to get better, I found that lipstick was one of the things that helped me focus on my recovery. The bolder the lipstick color, the more confidence it gave me to go through my day. Slowly I started to feel like myself again.
Going through that time, I clung to lipstick and started to create my own shades by mixing brands. It was something so simple that gave me the feeling of being “put together” at a time when I didn’t always feel that way on my own. Lipstick was my superhero cape and made me feel like I could conquer the world.
Dipping my toes in the cosmetics world made me realize that other people felt the same way I did about a perfect lip.
In a study conducted at Western Australia’s Edith Cowan University, out of 300 female-identifying lipstick users, 85 percent reported that they felt “very confident” when wearing lipstick and 82 percent said lipstick made them feel “really good” about themselves.
I decided in January of 2019 that starting my own custom color lipstick bar was my next big move because I wanted to help people feel as invincible as I felt when I had a perfect lip color on. Through my lipstick journey, I struggled to find my perfect shade. It was always too dark, too brown, too pink, too sheer, etc.
Most major companies catered to skin tones that were just like mine (light to medium-light) and I still struggled to find the right one for me told me that there was a huge opportunity in the industry to make an improvement. How could such a large percentage of people just be left out of finding their perfect shade? It didn’t feel right. I had heard of the concept of a “custom blended lip bar” and fell in love. That way, everyone (and I mean everyone) could create their own perfect shade. From the color to the scent, Prism Beauty Lipstick is made for my clients, completely custom.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Challenges are of course inevitable in any new business venture. Recently married, moving to a new state and managing a salon while starting a business is challenging to say the least. But the key to overcoming challenges is having an incredible team behind you to cheer you through to the finish line.
My job managing Maggie Rose Salon has introduced me to such incredible women who lift me up and teach me how to be a better businesswoman and leader while driving diversity in my business. I also love networking events and plugging into my community, and lean on the minds of other women who are also in their own business ventures.
Surrounding yourself with other women in business and leadership is so important when starting your own business. It’s easy to get discouraged when something isn’t working the way you want, but having a support system makes it so much more bearable.
So, yes. Challenges are inevitable. But by surrounding yourself with kind, honest people who reflect who you want to be as a leader makes things so much better. Swipe on your favorite lipstick shade and power through the tough times with people who inspire and uplift you and you can accomplish anything.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
We are a custom blend lip color experience. We offer several different versions of custom lip color blending. We are able to travel to the location of your choice and able service groups of all sizes. For groups up to 20 we typically do class style, and groups of 20+ we do appointment-style for a more individualized experience. We love bachelorette parties, bridals showers, charity events, birthday parties, etc.
A cool feature we just launched is our online ordering option. If you’re looking for a custom color but can’t spare the time to attend an event, you can place an order online – directly on our site. Once you place your order, we send over a color quiz. You fill out the color quiz with your preferences, we mix it up and send it directly to you!
I think we’re unique in a few ways, but the most important thing to me is that we absolutely love what we do. Not only do we have the ability to customize colors completely, but we approach each client’s interaction personally and authentically. We love our product, love the experience and want you to love it too. Prism Beauty Labs is 100% cruelty-free with vegan color and base options.
We have two bases, a Lip Glaze and a Lip Velvet. The Lip Glaze is similar to a lip gloss with a high-shine, moisturizing finish. The lip velvet is similar to a liquid lipstick – it starts off as satin and dries to a soft matte.
After choosing your base, we then collaborate together on the perfect lip color for you. We combine the pigment with the base until we reach your desired color, with you trying it on as we go to ensure it’s perfect. After the color is where we want it, you have the option of choosing a scent, flavor, shimmer, glitter or lip plumper.
We are most proud to be able to give women the power to create their own beauty. They can choose to be as simple or as bold as they would like. Giving people a platform to create something that maybe didn’t exist for them is really powerful. Finding a lipstick that you love and feel great in is a deeply personal thing and we are so happy to be able to assist in that.
Whether it’s for a job interview or wedding day Prism Beauty Lab has you covered and can’t wait to help you feel your best.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
I consider myself the luckiest girl in the world to be surrounded by so many cheerleaders. My husband has helped me tremendously through the struggles of a new business. He keeps me grounded and reminds me to keep my work life balance. My family has helped me to keep a cool head and approach my business with an organized mindset to beat any of the chaos that accompanies small business ventures. The owner of Maggie Rose Salon and Get Lit Candle Bar, Jamilla Powell, has encouraged me to keep going through the tough moments and shares the same joy for my successes that I do. I am surrounded by so many people who love cheering on others and for that, I’m incredibly lucky.
Pricing:
- Lip Glaze $25 (add on’s available)
- Lip Velvet $30 (add on’s available)
Contact Info:
- Website: Www.Prismbeautylab.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: Www.Instagram.com/prismbeautylab
- Facebook: Www.Facebook.com/prismbeautylab
Image Credit:
@snapstudiogr
Snapstudiogr.com
(Headshot)
Suggest a story: VoyageMIA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
