We were lucky to catch up with Melinda McDuffie recently and have shared our conversation below.
Melinda, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. The first dollar your business earns is always special and we’d love to hear how your brand made its first dollar of revenue.
I received my first client from a co-worker while working as a Paralegal. I started building my beauty brand with selling only lipsticks in 2018. Due to my personal need of not being able to find a lipstick that provided great coverage in beautiful shades that were appealing to my lip tone.
When I let my co-worker sample a few colors, she bought a lipstick in every shade. There were about twelve in the collection at the time and she said they were better than some of the expensive brands she had purchased. That’s when I knew I was in business.
Melinda, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I have a Masters Degree in Business, a Bachelors Degree in Public Administration, Twenty-Six year career as a Paralegal, Paralegal Certificate, Modeling Certificates and a Fitness Certification. I always knew I wanted to be smart and not like everyone else, different. While having a passion for beauty, fitness and fashion and constantly receiving compliments on all three, I knew I had the capacity to inspire others.
I offer different types of beauty products, including lipsticks, lip gloss, lashes, lash adhesive, bonnets, skincare, t-shirts, Caps, eye shadows, and jewelry.
I maintain great customer service by answering questions immediately, walking customers along the way to solve a problem, providing quick processing for orders, having all products in stock, always giving free gifts with every order, writing personal notes to each customer and offering great products for a great price.
I am most proud of people trusting in me and the products I provide that makes them want to keep placing orders with me.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
When I first started, I hired someone to do all the posting on social media for the business. After a couple of months, I wasn’t getting the results I needed to keep paying someone. When I started to reveal myself as the owner, my sales went up. I didn’t realize that my followers wanted to hear from me or to know who I was; but they did.
Advice: Show up consistently by providing useful information.
Have you ever had to pivot?
I started getting really frustrated with the politics of working as a Paralegal. In 2017, I started a new job and I said to myself “this will be my last job as a Paralegal.” In this position, I was paid the most money I had ever made but, I didn’t like working there. It was treated awful. In 2018, I started my business while working and in 2019, I was let go. I never felt more relieved. It’s now 2026 and I never looked back.
When you choose to do something different, it will work out.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://larnetcosmetics.com
- Instagram: larnetlv_
- Facebook: Melinda McDuffie Mba
