I Noticed One Problem And Built a Multi-Million Dollar Beauty Brand (All Self-Funded)
Executive Summary
A Shopify Masters interview with Rea Ann Silva, founder of Beautyblender, a Hollywood makeup artist who improvised a sponge on the set of Girlfriends to get a sheer, natural look in high definition. She covers how she found her first customers, going unpaid for about 8 years while funding the business from her makeup income, the pro stores as her first retail partners, patent rejections, dupes, and running a leaner company. Sponsor: Shopify, which presents the show and links a free trial in the description. PARTIAL COVERAGE: this note is based on the opening, the origin story, the sections on first customers, not paying herself and the first retail partner, the closing on scale, and the description, and does not cover every part of the roughly 44 minute conversation. Names follow the video description because the captions spell them inconsistently. All business claims and figures are the speakers' own and are not independently checked.
Key Takeaways
The problem on set
Silva says Girlfriends was the first show shot in high definition, so makeup had to look sheer and natural all day, and airbrushing was too noisy on set.
Borrowed technique
She says she applied techniques from an Oscar-winning makeup artist's class on GI Jane to the sponges she was using, and began cutting and using them wet.
It was always an egg
She says the egg shape came from cutting the sharp edges off the triangular sponges that makeup artists already used.
Start with the pros
She says her first strategy was to put it in the hands of makeup artists, using her network and her union, because they shared the problem.
Not paying herself for 8 years
She says she kept putting money back into the business and lived on a thriving makeup career, doing two or three jobs a day.
First retail partners
She says the professional stores that supplied film and television makeup artists became her first customers, and she says it is now in about 6,000 doors or more.
Leaner and faster
She says she runs the company like a family business and that for two years it has been about becoming sleeker, leaner and able to pivot quickly.
The Conversation Breakdown
The problem on set
⏱ Untimed topicSilva says Girlfriends was the first show shot in high definition, so makeup had to look sheer and natural all day, and airbrushing was too noisy on set.
Borrowed technique
⏱ Untimed topicShe says she applied techniques from an Oscar-winning makeup artist's class on GI Jane to the sponges she was using, and began cutting and using them wet.
It was always an egg
⏱ Untimed topicShe says the egg shape came from cutting the sharp edges off the triangular sponges that makeup artists already used.
Start with the pros
⏱ Untimed topicShe says her first strategy was to put it in the hands of makeup artists, using her network and her union, because they shared the problem.
Not paying herself for 8 years
⏱ Untimed topicShe says she kept putting money back into the business and lived on a thriving makeup career, doing two or three jobs a day.
First retail partners
⏱ Untimed topicShe says the professional stores that supplied film and television makeup artists became her first customers, and she says it is now in about 6,000 doors or more.
Leaner and faster
⏱ Untimed topicShe says she runs the company like a family business and that for two years it has been about becoming sleeker, leaner and able to pivot quickly.
Core Frameworks & Ideas
Solve your own problem - Silva's origin
Build from a real problem you face every day, not from an intention to sell a consumer product.
Start with experts - her first-customer strategy
Put the product in the hands of professionals who share the problem.
Reinvest before paying yourself - her funding path
Use another income stream to keep the business going while it grows.
Actionable Next Steps
- ✓Write down the problem in your own work that you solve in an unusual way.
- ✓List five professionals who would instantly understand your product and offer them a sample.
- ✓Decide how you will fund the business before taking a salary from it.
- ✓Treat the business figures as the speaker's claims and verify them before repeating them.
Notable Quotes
“It was always an egg.”
“I didn't pay myself for about eight years.”
“I still run my business like a family business.”
The One Thing to Remember
Rea Ann Silva says Beautyblender began as an on-set fix for high-definition makeup, and that she grew it self-funded by starting with makeup artists and reinvesting her own income.