Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in beauty and cosmetics but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Jen Cayle Gaum, founder, and CEO, located in New York, NY, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
I am a makeup artist, educator, and founder of two makeup lines. I use the power of makeup to empower, educate and fuel life-changing confidence in women. I do this by teaching women of all ages and backgrounds how to embrace their own unique, authentic beauty by using makeup to enhance, brighten and highlight their best traits and emphasize the features they love.
Makeup isn’t about concealing what we feel are our flaws. Instead, I help people reframe how they perceive and use makeup to allow them to look like themselves - but in a natural and elevated version.
Having supported and educated hundreds of strong, confident women from all over the world and from all walks of life as a beauty expert, I know that makeup is often seen as a way for us to create a mask to hide behind. So many women fail to recognize their natural beauty because they’re often too self-critical or focused on their “flaws.”
My ultimate goal is to help women shift their perspectives and focus on the features they love. This is so much more than appearance; it’s about tapping into our true selves and loving every part of that! As a makeup artist, an advocate for women, and most importantly, a mom to a 9-year-old daughter, I am on a mission to disrupt the harmful makeup industry narrative of masking, hiding, and fixing. I strongly believe that this message needs to be communicated to the younger generations. My mission is to change our approach, to address this fear, and ultimately, to empower all women to feel their best and strongest selves.
My clients range from tweens and teens to single women for online social profiles, brides, new moms, corporate executives, notorious professionals, founders, entrepreneurs, keynote speakers, TV personalities, women applying for the job of their dreams, and everything in between. I often see the same underlying insecurities in all of these women, and it’s time to change that!
Tell us about yourself
I began my career in the beauty industry as a part-time makeup artist while attending university in Toronto. The more time I spent working with women, the more I noticed the empowering affect the correct use of makeup can create. I loved watching my clients light up from the inside out as they looked in the mirror and saw their authentically beautiful reflections shining back. Not one that was masked but one that was refreshed and glowing.
Every woman is gorgeous, and I discovered I have a unique ability to allow them to see the beauty they might not always recognize finally! This passion is the driving force behind my work and message. With 20+ years of industry experience, I have worked with and for the world’s most renowned beauty brands, including Prescriptives, Estée Lauder Companies, Paula Dorf Cosmetics, Chantecaille Beauté, Laura Mercier, and Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, to name a few.
Recognized as ‘Best Makeup Artist’ by Allure in 2010, I founded my first makeup line in 2013 and named it Sam & Maddy Makeup (after my kids). After I had my two children and spent more time around new moms, I saw how tired they felt, how they were constantly giving to everyone else around them and neglecting their own time and self-care.
I started showing the moms in my circle quick and easy ways of doing their makeup, so they looked like they’d had a great night’s sleep and a killer workout. I then trademarked my next makeup brand Flushed Yoga Glow™ based on my philosophy that makeup should mimic how we look when we feel our healthiest on the inside. This allows women to step out and into the world looking and feeling like their best selves and with more confidence than ever before.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
I’m originally from Canada and moved to NYC after graduating from university. I went through a divorce several years ago with two young children, no family in this country, no financial backing, and I was trying to grow my small business. Five years later, with perseverance and an unshakable belief in myself, I showed my children that divorce does not need to be negative and that we are still a family unit. I proved to myself that I have the power to take control of my own life and pursue my passion of changing the way women look at wearing makeup.
I want as many women as possible to understand that when you naturally accentuate your outer beauty, the impact of this allows your inner beauty to shine through. This essence of who we are at our core is where our true power originates and has always been my motivator for helping as many women as possible.
When women tell me they finally love the person who is looking back at them in the mirror and feel more comfortable about who they authentically are, I know we are making a difference, and this is what keeps me moving forwards.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
You have to be your own cheerleader every single day. You have to stay positive even when you’re not where you want to be in the current situation. You have to learn to turn your disappointments into learning opportunities and grow from your setbacks. Trust that when things don’t’ work out as you might have planned, this isn’t a failure. It’s because it wasn’t supposed to and sets you on the path to something even better. When one door closes, several new ones will open! And when you want to give up and start to doubt yourself, that is the exact moment you have to keep pushing forwards.
Due to the pandemic, my business partner and I made the decision to shut down our West Village boutique. I was determined to pivot positively and opened a new makeup studio and called it The Sun Room — an intimate, appointment-only beauty experience set somewhere incredibly special and sacred to me: my home.
The reception from clients has been overwhelmingly encouraging, and I find that the light, energy, and peacefulness of the space are exactly what was needed during the turmoil of the last year. My makeup business grew during a time many companies closed. Be adaptable, be flexible and let the process unfold naturally from there.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- You don’t need permission or belief from anyone but yourself.
- Learn to make your own noise – don’t be afraid to speak up and use your voice!
- Know that the road isn’t linear. Be adaptable and know that if something doesn’t work out, it’s creating a pathway for something even better!
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://www.jencaylegaum.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jencaylegaum
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jencaylegaum/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jen-cayle-gaum/
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.
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