We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sheryl Espinal a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Sheryl thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

“Be a dreamer and doer!” The first set of advice my mother Stephanie Wilson gave me in the early stages of my business. In the early stages of my business, I was afraid, insecure, and most of all scared to take risk. The fear of failure was so crippling it held me back from taking chances to grow my beauty brand. My mother would often offer suggestions I could use to improve growth, but I would always find an excuse on why I should not take chances, especially when it came to financial investments into my business. One day my mom plainly said to me, “Sheryl, you have to believe in yourself and the brand. You can’t just dream about having a great successful business, you have to do things to make it successful. You can’t just be a dreamer, you have to be a doer too!” The best advice I have ever received on taking risks in entrepreneurship. Of course decisions must be sound and sensible, but removing the fear of going for it, is what I got out of that priceless advice.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Sheryl Espinal. I was introduced to the beauty world by my mom. My mother loved makeup and self care products since I could remember. Unfortunately, quality products for women of color was non existent and severely limited to certain products. This is what inspired me to create an inclusive beauty brand that was based on affordable luxury. MSC Virgin Hair & Cruelty Free Beauty is a collection of lip color, skincare, & hair extensions that are cruelty free, ethically sourced. & most of our lip color and makeup is vegan with all of our products being cruelty free and paraban free. “MSC” is an acronym for Muse Cosmetics. Our team and customers is the reason we continue to grow. We affectionately refer to our tribe as “Muse Mob”. Hence the name of our website MuseMob.com. I am proud to be the owner of a brand that cares about providing the best products for everyone!

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I opened a brick and mortar store in 2012. In 2016 I sought the help of U of M DNEP project. This organization helps businesses rebuild along with other improvements. At that time I was suffering financially! My business was in the red, my personal relationships were suffering, my health was not the best and I had a disorganized business. After thoroughly examining my business and finances with the help of U of M DNEP program, I decided to close my brick and mortar store in 2017. This was humiliating, I felt like a failure. I didn’t give up! I took a ton of business classes and joined local groups for support and relaunched my business right before COVID. Though, I was afraid the relaunch was successful and MSC continues to grow!

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

I remember going to workshops and hearing the speaker say, “Hey go to your family and ask for capital for your business.” What if you come from a community or family where disposable income is not available? These are the kinds of tone deaf things I would hear when looking for funding. I remember going yo a large commercial bank asking for funding and they pretty much said “No way!” So I financed my own dreams. I worked full time as a nurse and invested in myself. Eventually, I learned about micro loans and community funding. I never let money be a hindrance!

Contact Info:

• Website: MuseMob.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/musecosmetics?igsh=OG94M3N3a2Q0NDE0&utm_source=qr
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/musemob?mibextid=LQQJ4d
• Twitter: https://x.com/musecosmetics?s=21&t=g-4D_e51hUIm82y_QHkUYw
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@sherylespinal1848?si=Z0PUMOfBnXJaPAfZ

Image Credits
Makeup Artist JosMeily Victoria Hair Stylists: Stylist 1: Michel Lugo of Cris Dominican Beauty Center. Stylist 2: Diana Diaz of DiazStyles