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

Lisa , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Are you happier as a business owner? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job?

I am definitely happy as a business owner. I was originally on a path to become an attorney and through my internships, I realized that working for someone else or in a 9-5 environment was not for me.

Around that same time, doors opened for me in my personal life through my pageant and modeling career that allowed me to create the business I have now.

Lisa , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I started my first business, Vizcaya Swimwear when I was 20 years old. I made my own swimsuit when I was a contestant for the Miss United States pageant. I ended up placing in the top 5 and my swimsuit design caught the attention of the director, Chris Wilmer, who then offered me a 3 year contract to serve as the official swimsuit sponsor of Miss United States. In my free time, I started a womens lifestyle blog and YouTube channel called ladycode. My tutorials gained popularity and I started getting booked as a makeup artist for small scale pageants and proms. I eventually started getting so booked that I built up a team of makeup artists and hairstylists, and this company is now called Beauty by LadyCode. We have over 100 makeup artists nationwide and we have won multiple industry awards, including the best hair and makeup artist award from the Global Beauty Awards.

My most recent endeavors is the LadyCode Shop. This is a line of vegan cosmetics for the trendsetters and creatives. Our products are very unique and created for multipurpose use.

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

All 3 of my business grew through social media and word of mouth. They were all side hustles meant to provide some fun (almost a hobby) and provide supplemental income, but we have now scaled to the point where I have hired help because of how much each business has taken off.

A key milestone for Vizcaya Swimwear would be the success of our annual swim week shows.

For Beauty by LadyCode, winning awards are always a milestone, but also the opportunity to work with celebrities like Myrka Dellanos, Miss USA, and Alabama Barker.

For the LadyCode Shop, having international retailers in Dubai, Colombia, and a pop up in Japan has been a milestone for me.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

My advice is to collaborate! Tag brands, tag your team, and don’t be afraid to reach out to brands for gifting or work as a content creator.

The importance of tagging is because these brands may have huge followings and if they like your content, they may repost you to their thousands of followers, providing free exposure for you. I always tag everyone I possibly can because if even 1 brand reposts you it will bring you followers and engagement. Don’t get discouraged and don’t give up. It took me 10 years to build my page.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ladycodeshop.com
• Instagram: Lisa_opie
• Facebook: Facebook.com/lisaopieofficial
• Twitter: Lisaopie_
• Youtube: Ladycode

Image Credits
The Code Creatives