We were lucky to catch up with Erica Melton recently and have shared our conversation below.

Erica, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

I’ve always been super girly, I was into makeup at a early age. By the time I got to high school I was already wearing fake eyelashes, eyeshadow, eye liner etc. which made me stand out because that wasn’t an everyday thing for most girls my age at the time. My love for makeup grew the older I became. I became a self taught makeup artist basically from watching other people and learning. By the time I left high school I was doing a full face of makeup every chance I got and it was so fun and made me feel so good even if it wasn’t perfect, I was determined to practice until it became perfect to me. Years later, I started working at Fed ex and in bars/clubs as a bartender as a side hustle and I always loved getting ready for work because it required me to do what I love, my makeup! I figured, “I’m serving drinks, why not look gorgeous doing it” and that’s where the motto “Hustle and glow” for my business came about. I love to see women empowering each other to make money! My mission with my cosmetic line is all about encouraging women to be the best version of themselves, making women feel beautiful at all times, and to always remind women you can remain yourself and make money!

Erica, 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 Erica Melton, owner of PINK CLASSIC COSMETICS currently in business for two years. I currently reside and grew up in philadelphia. I’ve always had the love & passion for makeup. I started out wearing light makeup in high school which made me more noticeable because all the girls in my grade at the time didn’t wear makeup.. After high school in 2012 I decided that starting a cosmetic line is exactly what I wanted to, I knew I didn’t want to work for anybody for the rest of my life but I didn’t know where to start so I began watching others on YouTube and different social media platforms to teach myself how to perfect my craft. 4 years later I became a self taught makeup artist. I was determined to learn because it was my passion. In 2017 I worked at Fed ex, Old navy and at different bars/clubs as a side hustle. During my time working in that industry; bartending, I always loved getting ready for work because it required me to do what I love, makeup! In 2018 I sat down and came up with a business plan because I knew I had to push myself towards my dreams and come out of the clubs/bars but I got distracted dealing with certain things in life and got caught up making such fast money I kind of put the whole idea on pause because I felt I wasn’t ready at the time. When the pandemic hit in 2020, I got fired from my job and didn’t want to work at any club. I then went over my business plan again and finally put it into motion. By the end of 2020 I launched PINK CLASSIC COSMETICS, providing Beauty products such as mink eyelashes, skin care cream, and lip gloss. Being an entrepreneur can be arduous at times but it’s all worth it because I know I put all of my Effort and love into what I do and I know it’ll really pay off in the end. I’m proud of not giving up on myself, because I almost did and that’s kind of what my brand is about. The motto for my brand is “Hustle & glow” because that’s all I use to do, I would do my makeup, get dolled up and go to whatever bar/club I was working at and hustle, whilst glowing in my makeup! My brand is all about empowering women to be independent, self sufficient, remaining true to yourself, not giving up on yourself and doing whatever it is you love to do in life that’ll make you money! I also create all my own ads for marketing! I love being a creative inspiring others to do what they love.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

When I got fired from my last job and decided I did not want to work at clubs/bars anymore, I knew I had to make something out of all the money I saved that I made over the years bartending and working two other jobs. In March of 2020 prior to starting my business I started another job and instantly knew that was the moment for me to get things going. I dumped more than half of my savings into starting my business and it turned out to be worth it, my first year of my business was very successful!

We’d really appreciate if you could talk to us about how you figured out the manufacturing process.

Initially I wanted to manufacture my own products but that turned out to be really time consuming for me so I decided to find a vendor who could manufacture my products for me. It takes a long time to find the right vendor, for me anyway. I wanted to find the right vendor that would give me good quality products to sell because I wouldn’t want to buy products that were low quality, so I give my customers exactly what I would would want. I went through three different vendors before finding the right one for me and my brand. It took months to actually get the right products that I wanted, because I had to sample each product and make sure it was exactly what I would want to sell to my customers. I gained a lot of patience during this process, learning that everything won’t just happen right away and it won’t always be perfect the first time.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://pinkclassiccosmetics.com/
• Instagram: @pinkclassiccosmetics
• Facebook: Pinkclassiccosmetics
• Twitter: @PINKCCCOSMETICS