The Pivot Years (Where I Learned That Trends Are Everything)
By 2019, I had moved into handbags with a boutique at the ComeUp event. Then came 2022 and My job as Product Manager at Local As Can BEE, an online marketplace that had me diving deep into product photography and digital presentation.
Each venture taught me something different:
Fashion taught me about seasonality and timing
Beauty showed me the power of niche communities
Handbags was all about quality and positioning
The marketplace gave me insights into what actually sells online (versus what we think should sell)
A look into My creative Past.
The Beginning (AKA When I Thought I Knew Everything)
My entrepreneurial journey started in 2005 when I launched my first fashion brand. With the help of my wonderful mother, in 2007 it ended up on Channel 4 news and the KTLA 5 morning show, which was an amazing opportunity that I really wasn’t ready for. I remember thinking, “Well, that was so scary but I made it through somehow!”
The Post Fashion Years (And Learning About Product Development the Hard Way)
In 2011, I had a fashion collection featured at a Rock Your Curves event, which taught me that understanding your specific audience is everything. But it was when I dove into the beauty world that things got really interesting.
I started making handmade lipstick in my kitchen… because apparently, I thought the beauty industry needed another person with zero cosmetic chemistry background mixing pigments on a table in the living room. My brand, Nicolet Beauty, got into DragCon which was great but the sales could’ve been better, barely made back the entrance fee.
Those events taught me more about product presentation, customer psychology, and the importance of understanding niche communities than any business course ever could.
