We were lucky to catch up with Melissa Polanco recently and have shared our conversation below.
Melissa, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?
Ring of Color is all about promoting the beauty of diversity through inclusive, makeup, beauty, and lifestyle products that enhance the unique features of each wearer. Through the Ring of Color product line, we will put the focus on YOU and celebrate all facets of beauty that can be found within our community!
It has always been very important to me for this brand to be a welcoming space for those who do not feel seen in the beauty industry. I personally as a consumer have felt not included and it would made me feel some type of way. Ring of Color is not just a beauty brand with high quality products, but a circle where we are all welcomed to be who we are.
Melissa, 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 always been a very quiet and self-conscious person. I go into makeup in my late 20’s when I learned how to cover my birth mark that’s on my lower left side of my face. The more I covered it, the more I was questioning myself as to why was I covering something that is part of who I am. I learned to be more confident and love who I am through the power of color, which was another reason why it inspired me to create a brand. I wanted to help elevate others just like I did for myself.
Ring of Color currently offers high quality and cruelty free lip products to make every beauty lover feel empowered and seen. We have long-lasting and non-drying velvet matte liquid lipsticks that are hypoallergenic, we have pigmented lip lacquers, we have ultra hydrating and vegan lip glosses and lip oils and we also have super creamy lip liners.
Every product is made with the intention of looking amazing on different skin tones.
I’m very passionate and proud of Ring of Color as it is a brand that celebrates who you are!
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
One of the things that I feel is not talked about when it comes to being an entrepreneur or an entrepreneur in the beauty industry is the constant “no”‘s you might get from others or from potential opportunities. Hearing “no” so many times or having doors close on you can take a toll on you not only as an entrepreneur but as a person too.
It makes you go into self-doubt mode and question yourself if you have a good product or a good brand, but in the end is always people that do not see your vision or potential. All the rejections are always leading you to something better and there have been times that I wanted to just stop and give up, but I didn’t because of the great passion for this brand and for what it represents.
You are successful from failures and we have been grateful for those rejections we have experienced because it lead us to better collaborations and opportunities.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
Social media has its pros and cons but as a small business, social media is a way for us to connect with our target audience and share our story and about our products. Being consistent and authentically you is what will help in connecting you with the right people.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://ringofcolor.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ringofcolor/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ringofcolor
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ring-of-color/