Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in beauty and cosmetics but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Akosua Nyarko, founder of Crème de la Crème Beauty, located in Sherwood Park, AB, Canada.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
Crème de la Crème Beauty Lounge is a Canadian operated beauty boutique established in 2013. We specialize in custom cosmetics such as color replication for your favorite discontinued lip product! We have custom cosmetic services that aren't offered anywhere else in Alberta or Canada!
Another cool factoid is that we create all of our unique and innovative products in-house, manufacturing small batches of luxury beauty products with ingredients we've sourced from around the globe! Crème de la Crème products have been used by the likes of the Kardashian/Jenners, Christina Aguillera, Naomi Campbell, Rihanna, and many more!
We are shaking up the Canadian beauty scene by being the first-ever boutique in Canada to offer niche services and products that have been designed, created, and manufactured in-house! At Crème de la Crème we live, play and dream in color!
Tell us about yourself
My origin story is a little funky in the fact that I did not have a formal education in business, business management, or even anything related to the beauty industry. I came from a health and medical background and took optical sciences for my post-secondary studies. So the correlation between what my career path was and the career path I chose is vastly dissimilar and unrelated. What drove me to make a switch from health and medical to beauty was my absolute pure love for anything and everything beauty-related. Fun fact, I wanted to go to cosmetology school, but my mother quickly and swiftly thwarted that idea. However, 6-8 years later, after I had finished all my schooling and worked in my industry related to my post-secondary schooling, I decided to make the decision to persuade my passion! And ultimately, that passion was beauty-related!
What first got me motivated to start my business was that, at the time, cosmetics for women of color were underwhelming in certain aspects, such as color performance, color range, and availability, depending on demographics. The second thing that inspired me was the lack of beauty-related boutiques in Edmonton and surrounding areas that had a larger focus on color cosmetics. Besides your local drug store and a few stores at shopping malls, there weren't a lot of places at the time that was dedicated to color cosmetics. And there were zero places that specialized n custom color cosmetics.
That gave me the idea to create a space that would transport you to a magical place that would make a shopper feel like they were no longer in Alberta. I wanted to create an environment where beauty lovers could truly immerse themselves in all things beauty! What motivates me each day is connecting with our clients and seeing how they light up with something as simple as a lipstick that flatters their complexion drives me. It drives me to become more innovative in the services we offer. There is something quite magical about makeup and what it can sometimes do for a person.
This is a daily phenomenon we see at our boutique, the change in body language, posture, the smile from ear to ear, and the inability to stop staring at themselves in the mirror. These are the reactions that I love to see, and I truly can not get enough of them!
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
My biggest accomplishment is that I was able to conceptualize, then create a working model of a brand and business that didn't exist in Western Canada. The difficulties that came with creating a business with no other models to study from made my vision a little obscure. For instance, if a person wants to open a: hair salon, cafe, furniture store, or art gallery. There are many models said person can draw inspiration from because these are very well-established types of businesses, where the processes and functionality are quite similar across the board.
However, with my business model, there were no other prototypes remotely similar to what I wanted and needed to do. I relied a lot on research, trial and error, and quite a bit of ingenuity in order to create my own processes and functionality. And till this very day, I am constantly learning new, improved, and great ways to consistently improve the business model that I essentially "invented."
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
There are three challenges that I personally have faced or still am facing.
One of the most difficult challenges that most business owners face is the work-life balance. There isn't enough time in any set day to accomplish all your tasks; nevertheless, you still need to create and set time aside to enjoy family and friends.
The second challenge (more so for mothers in business) is the dreaded "mom-guilt"! It's inescapable, unavoidable, and is unfortunately inherent to all mothers who juggle running a business and children. Regardless of how well-rounded your work-life balance may seem, that awful feeling of "am I being a present parent" seems to find its way into your subconscious.
Last but not least is the challenge of saying no and setting boundaries for yourself and your business. There were times in the incipient stages of my business when I wanted to fully immerse my brand and self into everything; therefore, I never said no to any opportunity that came my way. This led to fatigue, stress, and the overwhelming feeling that I needed to do more than was humanly possible. Learning to say the two-letter word NO comes with experience as you manage and grow your business. The moral of the story for me was that I was inadequately running my business by seldom saying no. I had to learn how to dial back and properly assess what opportunities and ventures held value to my business.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- I find this tip to be the most important! And that is to have a strong, solid support system. Whether it be your significant other, family member(s), or close friends. Because the road to entrepreneurship can at times get very lonely, overwhelming, and extremely stressful, it is very important to have those support systems in place for the times that self-doubt or regret starts to play with your emotional and mental well-being.
- Listen to your gut and your brain and do your best to silence or quiet the naysayers. And when I mention naysayers, I don't mean that in a negative way. Because, at times, the naysayers can be friends or family members who are voicing their concerns about the new path you want to venture on. However, these concerns can at times come off or be misconstrued as unsupportive. Therefore it is important to listen to your gut and brain.
- DO NOT compare your journey or business to anyone else's. Taking the leap to start a business in itself is a huge risk and undertaking. Looking at one person's success and comparing your business or yourself to that person is impractical. And the reason is that you have no idea what trials and tribulations that business or person has endured to get to where they currently are. There are many highs and lows to starting and running a business; your journey will be as unique as a fingerprint. You will make mistakes along the way; those mistakes help you evolve. And the chances are that the successful business you want to compare has made a multitude of mistakes and errors on their journey of entrepreneurship.
Is there anything else you'd like to share?
Starting and running a business is like being a child. You have to nurture it, be present, vigilante, and allow it the time and space to grow. With love, care, and a lot of patience, you will see the fruits of your labor flourish.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://maisoncremedelacreme.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/maisoncremedelacremecanada
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/housecremedelacreme/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Maisoncreme
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solopreneur that you'd like to share, then email community@subkit.com; we'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
Feel inspired to start, run or grow your own subscription business? Check out subkit.com and learn how you can turn "one day" into day one.
