We recently connected with Betsabe Apte Roman and have shared our conversation below.

Betsabe, appreciate you joining us today. The first dollar your business earns is always special and we’d love to hear how your brand made its first dollar of revenue.

I was still going to school for makeup and hair when I got my first paying client. The previous week, I had invited a random lady from a Facebook group to come and be my makeup model in class. She was super sweet and she was also pregnant; she loved her makeup and told me she wished she met me a week back to do her maternity photoshoot and that was that. Fast forward to a week later, I was getting a text from an unknown number asking if I could do their hair and makeup for their maternity photoshoot! I was stoked! She also told me she had gotten my number from a girl who had been my model and that had loved my work. Now, one of my number one clients are pregnant ladies, for their maternity photoshoots! I think that with being a mom, I can relate to them and make them feel beautiful through my artistry.

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?

I started my business after becoming a mom. I wanted more time to spend with my daughter and husband. I have a PhD in Sociology and was a professor for a while, but I didn’t know anything about the makeup and hair industry! I knew I had to go back to school if I wanted to start and grow my business, which is why I chose Alchemy Beauty Academy; they have a beauty business class and I think that’s what’s made the difference in starting my business, just knowing where to start. About me, I am Mexican and my husband is Indian. Therefore, I wanted to cater my services to Indian brides, because I’ve learned about the culture and the bridal ceremonies through my own family. This is why I specialize in Indian bridal.
However, I don’t wear a lot of makeup myself and I didn’t like the full-caky makeup look that I wore for my own wedding or the looks that I was seeing in Indian bridal accounts that I followed. I wanted to potentially bring a new Indian bridal look; one where my client’s skin looked beautiful and where I could just highlight their best features. As a result, I started practicing as much as I could with products to create natural makeup looks and to match any complexion as much as I could.
My brand is known for these two things: Great Californian glowy skin (created with makeup) and South Asian styles (glam eyes and lips).
I am proud of the work I’ve put into my business and getting my name out there. It hasn’t been easy, but I’ve had the support of God, my family, my friends, the artists that have been so kind and patient to teach me, and the clients that come back or refer me to others.
As of now, I also offer hairstyling, but my passion is in Makeup. I am thinking of just offering Makeup services in the future, we’ll see how it goes.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

I didn’t know how much money I needed to start a business, but I knew I had to put a lot of effort into it. I was teaching for two quarters at UCSD and I saved the money from that to pay for the makeup and hair courses.
My goal was to recover that money within the next 2 years of work. I recovered it within 6 months! I cannot express how important education is when you’re starting a business.
Of course I had to use my credit card to buy products and update my kit, but as I get better at my craft, I’ve seen growth. Even though doing makeup and hair might not seem as something you need a lot of training for, you do! I’ve invested the most in education since starting my business and it’s been so worth it.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I think that it has been very important to me to get really good at an specific type of makeup. At the beginning, I didn’t know a lot of Indians in San Diego because I’m Mexican. However, I started joining Fb groups to find Indian friends and I would offer to do their makeup while we chatted. I would ask them what were their concerns when getting their makeup and hair done and I would ask if I could practice two or three times until they felt their skin and hair looked good. Then, I would take what I learned into my business: I knew what questions to ask and how to ask them, I knew what products worked best with different types of skin and how to style different types of hair. I think that mostly learning how to ask and what to ask my clients is what led me to practice specific techniques, and what’s made me become known for how I make skin look beautiful.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.betsabeapteroman.com
• Instagram: @b.a.r._beauty
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BetsabeApteRomanBeauty?mibextid=LQQJ4d

Image Credits
Lauren Nicole Peters Amy Huang Annalisa Johnson Corinne Jackson Sweet Paper Media