We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Deirde Ball. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Deirde below.
Deirde, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.
The word risk to me used to be a frightening word out of a sense of fear when it came to me and my business goals. I worked at Wells Fargo for almost 5 years throughout my journey of being a collector and even before I’ve always felt like my purpose was too big for me to be sitting behind someone’s desk and helping that company build legacy when I could be doing that for myself. With being used to receiving a every two-week paycheck which most would consider that stability especially with me having two children how crazy would I be to leave that for full time entrepreneurship, although it was a two-income household my vision was starting to become much larger than my worries of “will I make it”?
When I decided to step into the skincare industry it felt right and natural like I’ve been doing it all my life, the more I prospered the more I began to like the idea of this could be me full time doing what I love which is healing. Although I found this new sense of happiness in my new business venture it was scary it was almost too good to be true, suffering from different unpleasant experiences in the corporate world and especially with my last place of employment my Fiancé witnessed my daily struggles of stress and knew how important it was for me to venture off and build my own generational wealth for our family he promised that when we got the opportunity for me to not have to work again that he’d be my biggest supporter and that I’d had better taken it :)
June of 2020, I launched my skincare business BellaAuNatural which is now Aura Aesthetics, May of 2021 I left working a full-time job and officially became a full-time business owner. I know for most people that would mean no more insurance coverage and guarantee paychecks but for me taking that risk of leaving meant Freedom, gaining back my integrity and doing what was best for my soul I knew the rest of my blessings would follow. At this very moment almost one year later I’m thriving I’m happy and when I wake up in the mornings, I’m not starting my day with rude phone calls
I’m checking my business algorithm and revenue and creating content to further my business brand. It took alot of inner growth and faith for me to be comfortable enough to leave corporate America, with ancestral guidance and learning who I really am and what I’ve been put here on this universe to do has made me even more confident in knowing that my time will come soon when Aura Aesthetics will have a location and become one of DFW’s top black owned skincare brands.
Deirde, 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?
My name is Deirde 32 years young, a mother to two young kings engaged to their beloved father which is my soon to be husband come July of this year. Becoming more of a woman has changed the way I view certain things in life, and I understand the importance now more so than ever when it comes to your health internally and externally, I made my mark in the skincare industry when I began making my own brown sugar exfoliates because traditional skincare was no longer working for my melanin and I knew I needed to make a change. I began to send family my exfoliates before I even had the thought of launching a new business when I began to receive phone calls of them expressing to me how my exfoliates were changing their skin for the better I knew I was onto something. With the help of my fiancé he helped me realize something I hadn’t even noticed which was I had a formula of organic ingredients that’s healing acne-prone oily skin and I had proof of it, this was something that needed to be shared with the universe.
Aura Aesthetics went from selling one product to now offering over 10 different organic skin and body care products to choose from that best fits your skin. Each product heals different skin concerns such as acne-prone, hormonal acne, hyperpigmentation, psoriasis, eczema and so more with careful research and monthly test trials with Aura Aesthetics being a one women army I’m testing product on myself or close family members before launch. I have very strict discipline when it comes to my ingredient list because I want my customers to know that when they are purchasing from me they’re not just buying another skincare product that’s advertising lifetime guaranteed results or your money back but Aura Aesthetics is promising long-term healthy skin results and a lifetime commitment of our natural healing and guidance when it comes to boosting skin confidence and bringing back that WOW factor when our customers look in the mirror. With our top product reviews coming from our sweet nectar yoni bar which is an organic feminine cleansing soap that restores the woman’s ph balance our customers also can’t get enough of our gentle cleansing Turmeric and Chamomile cleanser to cure acne-breakouts and give instant relief from skin inflammation. I am most proud of my determination and drive of not giving up seeing what Aura Aesthetics has done for people and the reactions I get when someone can finally see past their acne is more than enough validation that I’m understanding the assignment.
The intention I want to put out there when it comes to my current and future customers is that every product and piece of content for my business is done with love, when I’m making your skincare it always crosses my mind that I’ve turned into the women I wish I knew back then who could’ve guided me into the organic direction of skincare instead of me turning to Teen Magazine’s weekly beauty section looking for all the latest skincare trends. I don’t like to label myself as just a business owner because I view myself as so much more than that, I’m a healer, a teacher and will continue to do so.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
Top three key points to building your audience is being true to your trade, showing consistency within your brand, and engaging with potential buyers by creating eye catching surveys and polls. I took free marketing webinars which I felt was extremely important because I stepped into the skincare industry without realizing that this was different field of work, I needed people to trust me with their skin and trust intentions behind the brand.
For example: If I was launching a particular product I focused my marketing on the ingredients of it and how they will benefit the skin, simply by making eye catching “did you know” post giving brief knowledgeable tips informing potential buyers of information you know can benefit them in the long run.
Behind the Scenes: There is an all time high for BTS (behind the scenes) videos when it comes to businesses on social media, how awesome would it be to view footage of your favorite brand packing your order, mixing together your favorite body scrub, or simply making business cards on Canva and showing you that process. There are 100’s of ways to keep your audience intrigued and that’s how I built and is still building my community.
We’d really appreciate if you could talk to us about how you figured out the manufacturing process./
I handmake all of my products, when I began to make my own personal brown sugar exfoliates, I learned how to do so from a google search I went straight to Walmart and found the most organic ingredients I could find. I was in the middle of a switch over to organic ingredients crisis and wanted to genuinely learn the do’s and don’ts so I feel like everything came natural when I decided to be the one to take on the task of formulated all products for my business and searching for a vendor was unnecessary in my book.
I had to put everything in a category that way I wouldn’t overspend on ingredients and for package/labeling. I learned that when it comes to making skincare products patience is key and to not rush anything I’ve had to throw away bowls of unfinished product while self teaching which meant I’d have to take away from what I needed and that caused me to buy more product ingredient. Learning to take my time and learning balance has beneficial in my growth process when it comes to manufacturing the skin goods.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.aauraaesthetics.com/
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/auraaesthetics.com