We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Singrid Thompson . We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Singrid below.

Singrid, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?

The name of my company is a God-Given name. I started my company while working as a police dispatcher, which was a dead end job. I knew I had more of a purpose than what I was doing.

I wanted to do more with what my passion is. My passion, at the time was makeup, traveling and meeting others. I decided I was going to be a makeup artist but I didn’t have a name. I said to God, “God I need a name for myself”. His response was “iMakeUpMe”. I said, “That’s cool and marketable. I can work with that”.

It was not until months later that I realized the true meaning. iMakeUpMe means; I make up me regardless of my flaws, imperfections, physical attributes, accolades or class. Everything about me makes up me and me only. No amount of makeup can cover up or change the true person that I am.

Since this revelation, I have been walking in it. I can comfortably say, “iMakeUpMe” and believe it.

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.

I am a southern woman, born and raised in Tuscaloosa, Al. I started my company out of a need to fulfill my purpose of meeting and helping others. As a young black girl, I attended a predominately white elementary school where I was surrounded by small white girls with long hair or slender black girls with “good” skin. I was “thicker” than most of the girls and I had eczema really bad and asthma. So, I felt like there was something wrong with me or I didn’t quite fit in.
As I went through middle and high schools, I found myself blending in, but still not really fitting in. Beyond college and into young adult hood, I began to realize, I only get one me and I better appreciate that.

Fast forward to my adult life. After working as a dispatcher for 9 years, I started thinking to myself, there has to be more to me and my purpose than this. Although my job was to send help to others, I still felt like my life was missing something. I felt like my purpose’s growth was being stunted. I could only help from the other end of the phone or dispatcher’s radio. I had more in me.
I then began to think about what I liked to do and what other things excited me. The lightbulb went off. Makeup, Makeup is what I like. I started iMakeUpMe LLC. I knew I was on to something.
After researching how to become a makeup artist and everything makeup, I enrolled in a makeup certification program and soared from there. A year after starting my company and doing makeup, I began to make my own skin care products. My signature body butter was the first installment of my skin and body care line.
I created my body butter because I got tired of using products for my skin that did not work. I was fed up with wasting money on products that did not help my eczema or was full of harmful ingredients. From the body butter, I created sugar scrubs and soon added a facial care line of products.

4 years after becoming a certified makeup artist and brief illness, I quit my job and opened up iMakeUpMe Beauty & Skincare Spa. We recently celebrated 5 years of being open.

Being an entrepreneur has always been in the back of my mind as something I would like to explore but becoming a full -time entrepreneur was not something that was in the immediate plans for me.

I will admit, opening my spa has been one of the most rewarding and challenging things that I have ever done. But I would not change it for the world.
I am blessed to have a successful and growing spa that offers customized facials, wax services and yoni steams. I pride myself on having a place where others can come to relax and receive uninterrupted quality self care services.

I count it an honor to have such loyal and supportive clients that have been by iMakeUpMe before and during Covid-19 through now. I would like to think that treating them as individuals and not as if they are like everyone else, has something to do with their level of loyalty. My clients know that I am committed to a level of excellence that includes valuing their time and respecting them.

The iMakeUpMe brand is committed to encouraging others to value their true selves, self care and living life daily. I regularly participate in health and wellness as well as craft events in Tuscaloosa and out of state to show others the importance of taking time out for themselves. One of my favorite things to do is to get out into the community and do vending events. During these events I get to meet others as well as introduce our products to a broader audience.

One of the main accomplishments I am most proud of is trademarking my business name. It took me 3 years to fight for it. After legally fighting and proving that the name belonged to me, the USPTO finally granted my trademark. That felt good to me. To fully own your business and the name, a lot of people may not be able to say that, but I can.

Now I am headed into year 6 of my spa being open and I am just now getting started. Who know what’s next for iMakeUpMe? Expansion, product placement, etc?

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I think my presence in the community, doing vending events in and out of state, and consistency as it relates to policy and procedure enforcement have all helped me build a great reputation within my market.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

That all small businesses fail within their first 3 years of opening.

I was told this by several people when I first opened my business. This was something that invoked fear in me. I realize that that saying had nothing to do with me or my business. Failure is not an option for me or iMakeUpMe

Contact Info:

• Website: www.imakeupme.com
• Instagram: @imakeupme
• Facebook: imakeupme