Shannon Doody, a 19 year old beauty enthusiast, entrepreneur and cruelty free advocate talked to us about her Australian handmade cosmetic line, Shannon Renae beauty. Her brand specializes in glitters and shadows made "from organic and synthetic mica powders." Shannon herself tests the products to make sure the safety of her consumers. She talked about being an activist while pursuing one's own passion as a career and the importance of ethical living.
What’s the message you are trying to get across with your brand?
Shannon-Renae Beauty has two key messages:
The first is to not be afraid of experimenting with different makeup looks. I love makeup and class it as an art form. The glitters and eyeshadows we create allow people to try new things but also support the inner and outer beauty of everyone in the world.
The second is to stop animal testing. By purchasing some of our products, people don’t lean towards the bigger companies who do test on animals. This is super important as they need to consider the importance of cruelty free products.
The first is to not be afraid of experimenting with different makeup looks. I love makeup and class it as an art form. The glitters and eyeshadows we create allow people to try new things but also support the inner and outer beauty of everyone in the world.
The second is to stop animal testing. By purchasing some of our products, people don’t lean towards the bigger companies who do test on animals. This is super important as they need to consider the importance of cruelty free products.
Why did you choose to be cruelty free?
I chose my line to be cruelty free because I am a huge supporter of the movement to fight against animal testing. I think it’s such a necessary movement to be part of as I believe animals should not be tested on. The products that get tested on animals are often very painful and affect millions of animals each year. [Being] cruelty free can help to break the chain on testing on animals for large beauty companies.
Can you talk a bit about ethical living?
I believe ethical living is so important in the world. As the world grows older it will not be able to sustain what it used to. There are so many types of ethical living (consumerism, sustainability, environmentalism and animal welfare) that I think with more knowledge and awareness, people are beginning to change little things in their life to do their part.
Whether you take shorter showers, recycle, or purchase ethical goods can make all the difference. I really encourage everyone to read up about ethical living and try and incorporate a few ideas into their lifestyle.
I believe ethical living is so important in the world. As the world grows older it will not be able to sustain what it used to. There are so many types of ethical living (consumerism, sustainability, environmentalism and animal welfare) that I think with more knowledge and awareness, people are beginning to change little things in their life to do their part.
Whether you take shorter showers, recycle, or purchase ethical goods can make all the difference. I really encourage everyone to read up about ethical living and try and incorporate a few ideas into their lifestyle.
What are your visions for the brand?
My vision for Shannon-Renae Beauty is to offer high quality products to all women and men, to [help them] gain confidence and express personalities through makeup. to offer products that fight animal testing in beauty product and to sustain an enriched world full of life and beauty.
Who/what has been your biggest influence?
Very cliche, but my friends, my boyfriend and family are my biggest influences. My friends and my boyfriend are ALWAYS super supportive and forever are pushing me to do what I want and what makes me happy in life. My family is always supportive too but I’m not sure whether they understood what I was doing until I got it up and running. They are all so proud of me and can’t believe how well Shannon-Renae Beauty is doing, and are always there when something doesn’t go how it should and of course, the celebrations.
I’m so thankful to have these people in my life ♡
As a young entrepreneur who’s just starting out, what are some obstacles/challenges you face?
A few obstacles I have faced are the society rejection, self doubt and financial side to business.
The first being society rejection, I found it quite difficult to get my message across in the beginning stages of production. However, since then my cruelty-free message has gotten a lot more response due to how much the fight against animal cruelty has been covered in the media.
Self doubt was definitely a huge challenge in the beginning. I had invested a lot of time and money into my brand and I really doubted everything I was doing. For a while there I lost what I wanted to do and how I was going with my brand. I also found it really difficult because I am only 19 years old, so a lot of people were doubting my abilities to create a business and succeed in it.
Another challenge was the financial area. I had to invest a lot into starting my own business. Getting everything sorted took a while and a bit of my money. But I really believed I could do this and I had always dreamt of having a little business to run so it was really worth it. Time was my biggest weakness, it took a lot of time when I probably should have been prioritising other things, but I knew Shannon-Renae Beauty was a dream of mine.
As a young entrepreneur who’s just starting out, what are some obstacles/challenges you face?
A few obstacles I have faced are the society rejection, self doubt and financial side to business.
The first being society rejection, I found it quite difficult to get my message across in the beginning stages of production. However, since then my cruelty-free message has gotten a lot more response due to how much the fight against animal cruelty has been covered in the media.
Self doubt was definitely a huge challenge in the beginning. I had invested a lot of time and money into my brand and I really doubted everything I was doing. For a while there I lost what I wanted to do and how I was going with my brand. I also found it really difficult because I am only 19 years old, so a lot of people were doubting my abilities to create a business and succeed in it.
Another challenge was the financial area. I had to invest a lot into starting my own business. Getting everything sorted took a while and a bit of my money. But I really believed I could do this and I had always dreamt of having a little business to run so it was really worth it. Time was my biggest weakness, it took a lot of time when I probably should have been prioritising other things, but I knew Shannon-Renae Beauty was a dream of mine.
You can find Shannon Renae Beauty here:
Website/shop: shannonrenaebeauty.bigcartel.com/
Instagram: www.instagram.com/shannonrenaebeauty/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/shannonrenaebeauty
They are currently only shipping their glitters and shadows to Australia but more products are on the way!
No comments:
Post a Comment