We were lucky to catch up with Lauren Lobo recently and have shared our conversation below.

Lauren, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

It was a regular, sunny afternoon in the fall of 2017 when 18 year-old me was sitting in my bed when my mom came bursting into my room excited about this great, new idea she had. She says, “I found a website where you can buy lashes for super cheap, really cute styles, and they even have some that are magnetic.” I remember I was just about to go down for a nap at that time so of course, teenage me had a little attitude. She keeps going on to say how she watched the tutorials on the magnetic lashes and it looked easy so she was going to buy them anyway despite my dismissive and uninterested attitude. She goes, “We can name the line. ‘Lauren Victoria Lashes’!” I laughed at her and told her that that was way too long of a name for a business and that if I were to do this, it would be called ‘LoboLashes’ instead. She agreed and walked out of the room so I could be by myself again. Her coming up with this idea was so bizarre to me because I was not the girl to wear lashes. I was a basketball player, hardly ever wore makeup other than some quick eyeliner and mascara, and the last time I had worn lashes before that afternoon was maybe at my prom 6 months prior to that. I thought to myself, why would I start a business and promote something I hardly ever think about or wear? I didn’t know where she was going with this, but I brushed it off and went about my nap.
Fast forward a month later, the package of lashes came in and I started to look through them, reluctantly. I still wasn’t completely sold on the whole idea. She had bought 6 styles of the magnetics and about 15 other glue-on lash styles. Her and I both tried the magnetics on and were surprised at the look, feel, and quality of the lashes. That’s when I caught the wave of her vision and decided to use this lash business as my little side hustle.
At the time, I was a freshman at the University of California, Irvine. When applying to colleges, I was seeking to be declared as a business major. My mother is a business woman so I grew up watching her pursue to be an entrepreneur; I wanted to follow in her footsteps since that is what I was familiar with. When I got accepted into UCI, they spontaneously put me in the school of Criminology, Law and Society. I was so confused, but happy I got into the college anyway. I figured I could just go to the school and change my major down the line when it was convenient. But, I didn’t. I fell in love with law and kept my major the same and graduated with a B.A. in Criminology and a minor in Psychological Behavior. During my whole college experience, I never gave up on the lashes though. I remember year one of college, I had my website all done, products uploaded, pictures taken, etc and I would go through the Facebook marketplace, posting advertisements of my lashes on there, trying to scrape up any customers I could. I had success a couple of times and I would get an order here and there. A lot of my customers at that time were family and friends who wanted to support me and try out the magnetic lashes I was wearing all of the time. It was a good product and I had people referring me! It was cute! I knew from the little support I had, I must be doing something right.
I would post myself wearing my lashes every now and then on Snapchat, Facebook, and Instagram and that is where the love came from. Not from everyone, of course, I knew I couldn’t sit and message people all day to show support and give my lashes a chance. I knew that I would actually have to really sell these lashes. This realization didn’t really dawn on me until my 3rd year of college but what also hit me my third year of college was the pandemic.
The pandemic hit everybody in the worst way: mentally, physically, emotionally, etc. All I knew at that time is that I had to go back home and continue to finish school with remote learning. Getting my degree was the most important thing to me at that time. I continued to promote my lashes here and there, but I knew I wasn’t doing everything I could with the business like a real business owner should.
Just like every other college graduate out there, I was hounded with the question, “Well, what are you going to do now?” My response every single time was, “I don’t know. I’m going to give myself a year to think about it.” And I did exactly that. In that year from June 2021 to June 2022, I thought about what I wanted to do because honestly, I truly did not know what my calling for this chapter of my life was. Do I go back to school and prepare to become a lawyer with my degree? Do I take a year off of school and just pursue a job with my degree for the time being? Or do I really want to invest myself into this lash business and be my own boss? Throughout the four years, my mother would always tell me, “You do not have to use your degree right now. You can build your business up in your 20s and pull that bad boy out in your 30s when you have a stable enough financial foundation under you to do whatever you want.” I pondered upon this for a long time and kept it in the back of my head for the future decision I knew I was going to have to make when that year was up.
On June 19th, 2021, I had my first official pop up shop at Black on the Block. They are now a well-known black market flea based in LA, but that day, that was their first event. I was so excited for the event, I made sure to have a beautiful display so I handmade a backdrop by hot-gluing some model pictures I took, about $50 worth of Dollar Tree synthetic flowers, and letters from Michael’s to a black tablecloth I bought off of Amazon. It was a bomb backdrop and I got so many compliments on it that day, I was very proud of myself. I sold so many lashes at the event and it gave me a thrill. The after effects of the event excited me as well. I had new followers on my Instagram, women were leaving beautiful reviews, and more orders were coming through on my website. I continued to do more pop-up shops at Black on the Block every month until this current day.
A game changing moment for me that I have to mention is when I lost my first magnetic lash vendor. I was finally selling the magnetic lashes frequently, so I needed to get some more. But when I went to look for them, the vendor couldn’t be found. Certainly, I started to freak out. Magnetic lashes were everywhere at that point but the ones you only ever heard about were the ones with the eyeliner. I, personally, gave up eyeliner in high school. People liked my magnetic lashes because you didn’t need the eyeliner or the glue. I knew I couldn’t sell something that I didn’t like, so I begged my mom to look long and hard for a vendor that does not require the eyeliner. No more than a week later, she found some that did not require either of the two. They got sent to the house a few weeks later, and I hated them. I had every complaint in the book (You can see a pattern of stubbornness here). They weren’t EXACTLY like the last ones, so I left them alone for months until I told myself I had to sell them anyway cause my mom already spent the money on them. Long story short, not only did I fall in love with them but my customers did too. I made the tutorial videos, took the pictures, advertised the benefits, and that is how I am where I am now. With these magnetic lashes, I knew it was a product that could change the lash game all around. Not only that, these magnetic lashes pair very well with filling in eyelash extensions when they start to fall out. I was solving problems that girls all over the world had; whether it was they were allergic to lash glue, hated spending so much money on eyelash extensions, or needed a temporary fix on their lashes until their next appointment, I had the answer. These lashes that I hated so much at first were something I was proud of and had no problem selling. When I fell in love with the product and saw how my friends, family, and customers were falling in love too, I knew I hit the jackpot. I knew that I had something that I could expand beyond a “small business”; I knew I had a million dollar business. And it isn’t just the magnetics that I am proud of, my lash line has range. I have short lashes, colored lashes, DIY lashes, 25mm lashes, and more. With an extensive catalog of lashes, I appeal to everyone of all ages and of all styles.
Throughout my journey, there were many moments that led to the belief in myself and my business today. I’ve always been told I was born to be a leader. In school, I was always taking the lead in school projects and I spent a lot of time, creative space, and dedication into every assignment I had. Everything I did must be presented in an elegant and professional way. I was a straight A student from 7th grade until I graduated high school and this hard work is what allowed me to attend UCI on an full ride academic scholarship. I had the adequate skills in a little bit of everything. I knew how to work a computer, edit pictures, make videos, design templates, and influence people to buy whatever I was posting about. Looking back at my school and life experiences, I truly believe I have everything I need to be a successful business owner. God graciously gave me that year-long break to reflect and think about what I wanted to spend my 20s on, but once that year was up, playtime was over. Life forced me to make a decision on what I wanted to do from there on out.
So here I am today, completely and 100% dedicated to my business because I see all the potential it has to offer. I know in my heart that this idea that my mother came bursting into my room about was for something bigger than me. I am nowhere near where I want to be at right now, but I see how the ducks are aligning in my favor. This business can fund my biggest and wildest dreams. I know that with my creative ability and all-around personality that I can be a successful business owner because I already have everything it takes within me. My mom knew it too, she saw it in me before I seen it in myself and her coming up with this idea back in October 2017 is going to be the best thing that has ever happened to me.

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 name is Lauren Lobo and I am a 23 year old entrepreneur from Southern California. The idea of this business came from my mother one random day in October 2017. I was skeptical about starting this business because lashes were not a thing I was fond of at the moment. But as my journey went on, I trained myself to love lashes and find ways to market all the beautiful things about them. I went from a young basketball player who never wore makeup to a woman who has a found a love for lashes and what they could do for a woman’s (or man’s!) appearance and overall confidence. My e-commerce store, LoboLashes.com, has a variety of lashes one can choose from when looking to fulfill their lash needs. I have short lashes, long lashes, DIY lashes, colored lashes, and they either come in magnetic or glue-on styles. My store is perfect for any and everybody because of the range I carry. Many times I have women who come to my store because the lashes they see at other places are either too long, too cheap, or too difficult to put on. With my extensive catalog, I have the answer for anybody seeking.
My biggest and most popular selling items are my magnetic lashes. These lashes are unlike any others in the market because they don’t require glue or magnetic eyeliner. My customers love these because they are easy to apply, durable through wind and water, easy to remove, don’t rip your natural lashes out, help fill in eyelash extensions until the next appointment, and are the perfect solution to women who are allergic to lash glue.
I take pride in being inclusive to everyone in the lash market business. Lashes are a great way to express your personality and switch up your look whenever you feel like it. No matter what lash type you are looking for: short, colored, 25mm, etc, I want people to come to my store to find the perfect lash to help them accentuate their facial features and boost their overall confidence.

Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?

I keep in touch with my clients mainly through social media. Social media is the ticket to riches these days. People are constantly scrolling and interacting on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and other platforms all day, every day. I encourage my customers to feel free to reach out to me on social media all of the time and I love when they comment and interact under my posts. I feel as if I express my personality through the business’s social media via reels, photos, and videos the best so I prefer to communicate with everyone through there. I learned from other successful business owners that although the quality of the product is a major part of the success of your business, your personality sells. Aside from social media, I love keeping in touch with customers and fostering brand loyalty through pop-up shops. At pop-up shops I am able to speak to my customers face to face and have a genuine interaction with them. Through my experience, becoming friendly with my customers in person has pushed my brand further forward than when I was not hosting pop-up shops.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

This year, I had the beautiful idea to throw a lingerie and lash party around Valentine’s Day. I asked around my friends and family if they thought it was a good idea and if they would come and have some fun; I had green lights all around me. So, I got to work, I threw a lingerie and lash photoshoot with my friends in my living room, made the marketing material, did the promotions, bought the food and decorations, and hired the bartender; I was so excited to throw this party. Unfortunately, I threw this party on the same day of the Super Bowl. Bad, bad, bad decision. Ultimately, I thought the two would not interfere and since the game was earlier in the day and my party was at night, I wouldn’t have any problems with people coming. Overall, I think I had about 5 girls who were not my original friends come to my party and only one of them bought lashes. I cried my little eyes out to my mom upstairs after I had sent everyone home for the night. Some of my friends that said they were coming, of course, didn’t show up. My sisters who said they were going to be there for me, didn’t show up. A lot of people who said they would, didn’t and my heart was broken. In that moment, I wanted to give up on the whole business; just get a regular job and make money for myself so I never had to worry about anybody not showing up for me again. After a lot of praying and realization, I knew that I needed this fail because it was going to be all apart of the bigger story. I knew that there couldn’t be rain without sunshine and rainbow with a pot of gold at the end. I picked myself up and told myself I would try again when I knew the time was right. The lesson I took from this was not to rush into anything just because I want to turn my dreams into a reality as fast as possible. The whole time I planned this party, I had a voice in the back of my head telling me that maybe throwing an event on Super Bowl Sunday was not going to go well, but I didn’t listen. Now, I will never ignore that voice and I trust in my intuition and God to guide me into the success I see for myself. This experience was a huge stepping stone for me in my journey and it strengthened my resilience and dedication and for that, I am so grateful.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://lobolashes.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lobolashes/
• Other: TikTok tiktok.com/@lobolashes

Image Credits
Instagram: @_blackout_tv