We recently connected with Kiana Newsom and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Kiana, thanks for joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

The idea of starting a Makeup line came from my own personal experience working in the beauty industry. I always loved makeup and I wanted to gain more experience within the industry so I started out as a Beauty Advisor at Macy’s it was a flex position so I would always pick up shifts within the cosmetics department. I would work for different counters like Lancôme cosmetics, Estee launder, Bobby Brown cosmetics, etc. I was able to learn more about complexion, skincare, and product knowledge. I loved every second of it making women feel beautiful and helping them pick out makeup was so fun. Then my journey took a little turn when I got the opportunity to work at Ulta Beauty as a Prestige Beauty Advisor full-time. At Ulta, I got the full experience of using different products and brands on customers, being a personal shopper, and helping out with different brand events to bring more awareness to a brand. It was the first time I felt very passionate about what I was doing and how I was making other women feel. I also remember the times when it was a struggle to help out customers who couldn’t find products that always fit their skin complexion. That was a big concern for me because I felt like some brands don’t always cater to women of color. It made my job a little more difficult because I want people to leave feeling good and confident about the makeup they choose to buy. That’s when a light bulb went off in my mind about wanting to start a makeup line of my own. I knew there were brands already catering to women of color but I said not enough. I wanted to join the conversation and start my own makeup line that will cater to every woman or person so they can always feel welcomed and included. I researched starting a makeup line and went back and forth with a friend regarding names for it. Everything just came to light and now I have a business idea so I just started the process. My first thought was I wanted to create my first product that would align with who I am but also cater to the needs of the women who I used to help when I worked at Ulta Beauty. A struggle that I saw was not being able to help women find lip products that fit their complexion. I realized that sometimes I had that struggle too and I wanted to create nude lip gloss products that catered to every skin tone so everyone who shopped in my makeup line had a color for their complexion. That was my first product idea after wanting to start the makeup line.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Kiana Newsom I am Beauty Enthusiast who loves makeup and I got into the makeup scene by working for Macy’s cosmetics department and working at Ulta Beauty as a Prestige beauty advisor. I gained a lot of knowledge in makeup by working for Ulta Beauty and also a lot of self-taught. I would practice makeup looks on friends and family. I also watched a lot of Youtube and I learned a lot from beauty influencers. I always stayed up on the latest products and I wanted to be knowledgeable in this field. My passion has brought me this far in having a makeup line that is meeting the needs of women. I always knew that I wanted to start a makeup line that was aligned with who I am as a person. I think makeup is a luxury and it creates beauty and art in one. I wanted to be a part of this conversation in providing quality products to everyone in this beauty industry. My main focus from day one was to cater to women who look like me and women who feel left out of the conversation when it comes to makeup. I don’t want women of color to feel like an afterthought I want women when they come to shop at K Klass Beauty to see we are for them. Every product I’ve come out with this far caters to everyone. That will always be my goal moving forward as we produce more products. I am just very proud that so far we are making quality products and people are loving it.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

In 2021 my business took a big hit I wasn’t making consistent sales and I wasn’t able to launch my next product because I didn’t have enough capital to do so. It was a very hard time for me because I put so much into this business and I wasn’t seeing the return like when I first launched. I went back to working a full-time job which was a remote position that aligned better with having to still work for K Klass Beauty part-time. I spent more money on marketing, tried to rebrand, and hire someone to help with social media marketing. Just consistently trying to find more ways to market and bring more awareness to K Klass Beauty. Nothing was helping and it was discouraging at that time but thankfully I had people around me who supported me and uplifted me. I had high expectations and I felt like I was failing then I realized that failing is a part of the process. I had so much more to learn and grow from. You will face hurdles in owning a business is no way around it but what will you do when that roadblock comes? I chose to persevere and keep going because I see the end goal and nothing worth having is easy. I believe K Klass Beauty can be something big and I didn’t want to let myself down and the people who were rooting for me. I gave myself grace for a couple of months and eventually I was in a better financial position I was able to get started on the next line and come out with my third product. It was worth the wait and sometimes those breaks are needed to regroup and come back stronger than ever.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

When I decided to start my business I was looking into loans and grants because I didn’t have the capital to start it at the time. It wasn’t so easy to get loans or grants and I decided to start saving up money. That wasn’t the easiest because life gets in the way and things happen. Thankfully while I was still living at home with my parents and I didn’t have big financial responsibilities. I was in a position where I was able to save up money for my business to get started. With that support from my family, I was really able to bring my business to life and give it the capital it needed to begin.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://kklassbeauty.com
• Instagram: @KKlassBeauty
• Facebook: @KKlassBeauty
• Twitter: @KKlassBeauty

Image Credits
Photographer- Leef Parks Makeup artist- Kristen Gallo Makeup artist- Cindy Bonema of Artistry by Bonnie