Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Chanla Frederickson. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Chanla , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We believe kindness is contagious and so we’d love for you to share with us and our audience about the kindest thing anyone has ever done for you?

My very first customer, Paula, believed in me, and that took me so incredibly far in many ways in my life including my skincare business. Her saying she loved the product, asking what else I could make, and saying she wanted more- made me feel like I could do more. Paula made me feel like I was talented because I made a product she enjoyed and looked forward to using. And with those kind words and belief in me, I pursued making more skincare. Throughout my skincare making journey which started about 9 years ago, this eyebrow client turned customer, turned into a dear friend. We considered each other family. All those years, Paula encouraged me, believed in me- even when I didn’t believe in myself. She was my number one fan and supporter the entire time. Without her, I would not be making skincare. I didn’t know if I had anything worth sharing, but she made me know the world needed to know about my products. Paula recently passed away and I am absolutely heartbroken. I am so grateful for the time we had together and for her kind and encouraging words during our friendship. They will continue to take me far into my journey.

When you first come out with something to share with the world, it can be scary. For me, it was terrifying. What if no one liked it? What if it was a bad product? What if it smelled bad? There were so many thoughts in my head about my first product I was playing with. Of course, I thought it was great, but I was so nervous what other people would think. When I gave Paula a sample of my very first product, she loved it. She embraced it. She was so happy for me. She wanted more. I had known Paula as an eyebrow client for a while and knew she was one of the pickiest when it came to skincare, so the fact she liked my serum made me feel like a million bucks. She gave me confidence to peruse more. It means the world to me to this day, because here I am, still making skincare.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

My journey with skincare started when I was 10. I suffered from painful, cystic, inflamed and red acne. It was awful. My nickname was pizza face. Although my mom took me to countless makeup counters, dermatologists, and those so called proven acne systems, they all failed my problematic skin. It wasn’t until I got a job working as a receptionist at a salon and spa where the esthetician took me in and started giving me facials and proper at home skincare. I realized my skin needed to be nurtured, not stripped of everything it had. I saw my skin transform. With that, my obsession with skincare started. Anytime I had an opportunity to sell products to customers, I jumped on it. In October, the company had a pumpkin face mask contest. Loving the product and being naturally competitive, I sold a lot of them. 30-40 a day compared to the 1-3, maybe 5 the others were selling. When the contest ended, they told me I sold the most pumpkin face masks throughout the entire company. They asked me to go into makeup, which was sales. At the time, all I wore was a little maybeline mattinaye mousse foundation and cover girl eyeliner. I decided to go into the makeup route and it changed everything for me. I loved the skincare aspect of the makeup part. So I decided to enroll in esthetics school in 2008, and got my license in 2009.

I gained experience as an esthetician in a spa where I could work with skin and see how products could help or irritate skin. After that, I worked at a major cosmetic retailer doing eyebrows. There I saw many people a day, helped them with their makeup and skincare products while doing their eyebrows. I got to see what at home products could do for the skin.

During my work years, I had two babies. When my son was 3 and my daughter was 1, we decided it was best for me to stay home with my kids. After about 6 months I became a little bored and started playing with some oils and clays to make my first serum and mask. I always loved mixing so this was the perfect outlet for me. But would anybody like my serum? I gave a sample of it to a customer who was very picky when it came to skincare. I was so nervous. She loved it, wanted more, and asked me what else I could make. She made me feel like a million bucks by feeding me with kind words and encouragement. With that, I went on to create more products.

In 2015, I went to Cancun to study in depth skincare and makeup for a month from a world renown educator. I took when I learned from her and applied to my business and skincare. Since then, I’ve continued to take classes, courses and learn more about formulating.

I formulate and make natural, plant-based, vegan skincare products. My products are made with natural ingredients found from earth. I love to give my customers a truly sensorial experience when they use my line of natural skincare. I handsift the coconut milk in my cleanser to give them the fluffiest textures to play with. From the time they open their box, to the time they are using my products, I want them to feel grounded and connected to nature. A rather quick, but intentional morning skincare routine is such a great way to get started with any day.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

My business started as a hobby when I was bored at home and wanted to do something for myself that I enjoyed- and maybe make some extra money while doing it.

It started with friends and family ordering some products here and there. Maybe a few sales a month if I was lucky the first year. I remember my first customer always buying everything I came out with, and frequently which meant a lot to me. It helped me buy more ingredients and packaging to keep making skincare. I was staying afloat.

As time went on, I kept falling in love with formulating. I did my research, took classes and courses on how to make products. At this point, I wanted the best quality ingredients and formulate them well. I continued to share my products on my personal Facebook page, business Facebook page and eventually started an Instagram.

The people who were using my products started to share them to support me, and because they truly liked the products. As time went on, the shares continued and I was reaching people beyond my friends and family.

Social media, IG to be specific was a place I gained a small following and made sure to foster my little community by engaging with them regularly. I knew people by name. I started getting holiday cards from strangers I had never met in person.

People continued to share my skincare products with their friends and family and I got busier.

I remember when my husband told me I could be doing 1k a day, I did not believe him. He told me thinks I could do 5-10k days. Again, I never believed him. Well here I am, having 1k days and hit my first 10k day just months ago.

Building relationships with my customers and making a good product has helped me grow my business to where it is.

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

Social media is a big part of my growth because I am an e-commerce product based business. It’s impactful on gaining new followers who may turn into customers.

I built my social media presence by being highly engaging with what started out as my friends and family, then random followers and now what I consider my small community. When replying back to someone, I like to use their names if I know them, or something specific to what they are saying rather than a generic response or emoji. People like to see that I am talking to them and not on autopilot or just commenting to comment. And I make sure to reply to each comment. Often, I see businesses not reply to their audience.

When it comes to fostering community, I follow other small businesses and make sure to show my love my commenting, sharing or purchasing their goods or services.

If you are first starting your social media presence, don’t look at the numbers. Focus on building what you have with your current following. Go to their pages, comment on them and spark meaningful conversations. Share about your struggles and wins. People want to see the real life behind the scenes. They can relate. Share your personal life, they want to get to know you.

Have fun, don’t take it too seriously and show up consistently as you.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.chanlachaucosmetics.com
• Instagram: @chanla.chau.cosmetics
• Facebook: Chanla Chau Cosmetics

Image Credits
Dana Chaplin of Preservation Heart Photography Leslie Cortes