"Follow your passions but also make sure there’s a market for it and that you have the capital for it" with Eve Dawes

Eve Dawes is a fitness professional, Mrs. England World, a WBFF Pro athlete, content creator, and founder of Dawes Custom Cosmetics which fills the cruelty-free void in luxury cosmetics. Not just another lipstick company but a custom experience where you create your own custom lipstick to ensure the perfect color for you. Giving you, the consumer, the power; where it’s all about you and your specific beauty needs!  

Eve is a certified Personal Trainer, blogger ‘Glamour and Gains by Eve’, podcaster Glamour & Gains, and has beauty, fitness, and fashion segment on Spill The Tea Live! You may have seen her in Oxygen, Iron Man, Strong, Fit & Firm Magazine, Huffington Post, bodybuilding.com, and various commercials. 

Dawes Custom Cosmetics is a Double award winner of the Health Beauty and Wellness Awards for Best Custom-Blended Cosmetics Business 2020 USA and LUX Customer Service Excellence Award Las Vegas. 

Can you tell our readers about your background?  

I don’t have a traditional business background if there’s such a thing! Meaning I didn’t study business at college.  

I grew up in England where I trained as a ballerina. After graduating, I toured all over the world before getting married and retiring from touring and the dance world. 

My husband has his own business, which I’ve been involved with since day 1 of getting my green card. Originally, it was to spend time together as he travels so much,  but we realized we both have very different business skills that complement each other, so I ended up being more involved. 12 years later, we still work on the business together. 

Fast forward 9 years...We’ve always used marketing companies, etc to help with our business. Over that decade, I learned from them and started accumulating various hands-on business skills from both the external companies we worked with, as well as my husband’s 25 years in business and from my successful entrepreneurial friends. So it wasn’t too much of a leap when I decided to venture into business on my own. I say on my own loosely, as my husband has been really helpful in all that I do. 

Business is always going to be an ongoing learning process, as the world is constantly changing so quickly, as is the environment we live in. Especially this year with COVID-19 forcing so much of business to be online. A key skill in business, especially as the owner, is to be able to pivot (that word always reminds me of that scene with Ross in Friends moving the bed down the staircase). 

What inspired you to start your business? 

There wasn’t a solution being offered to the problem. The problem is that there was a gap in the makeup world for luxury, cruelty-free cosmetics. Nor was there a custom lipstick experience in Las Vegas so I wanted to kill 2 birds with 1 stone.  

With the cosmetic market already being saturated, I wanted to offer a luxury customer experience where guests create memories as well as their perfect color lipstick. It’s a process that puts the client in control and isn’t just another product or commodity.

Where is your business based?

Las Vegas, Nevada. However, we are also online and offer video appointments so you can create your custom lipstick with us virtually or shop our ready to wear collection wherever you are in the World and we’ll ship to you.

How did you start your business? What were the first steps you took?

It was a long process of research and saving. Checking there were no competing businesses in the area and that there was a need for it. Researching ingredients and learning formulas. Making sure I had enough to fund the project and having the patience to wait to launch until I was ready.  

I’d been listening to a lot of business podcasts before and during the pre-launch phase to learn and implement as much as I could by learning from successful businesses. I still listen to them today, to learn where they’ve failed and what’s working for them 

What has been the most effective way of raising awareness for your business? 

Word of mouth. There’s trust behind friends and family’s endorsements of brands and products that any other marketing channel can’t replicate. Which is one of the reasons customer reviews are so helpful to us and to potential new clients in deciding whether or not they want to purchase from us. 

What have been your biggest challenges and how did you overcome them? 

Because custom lipsticks are a fairly new concept, it’s raising awareness of the experience and getting the word out there.

How do you stay focused?

I’m a creature of habit and love discipline and routine, I think from years of ballet training. So staying focused isn’t an issue for me, I just get up and go. Plus, I love being creative and creating memories with guests which makes it something I can’t wait to do every day.

How do you differentiate your business from the competition? 

The level of service and quality of products we offer. 

We aren’t a store where you’ll be sold whatever they’re making the most commission on. We’re a service, where we’ll listen to you and create with you to give you exactly what you want.  

There are very few luxury cosmetic brands that are cruelty-free and made in the USA which we are. We also use vegan ingredients in most of our products and are in the process of switching over to making everything with vegan ingredients only. 

What has been your most effective marketing strategy to grow your business? 

Word of mouth. Friends tell friends. When they say relationships are everything in business, they truly are. 

What's your best piece of advice for aspiring and new entrepreneurs? 

Follow your passions but also make sure there’s a market for it and that you have the capital for it.

What's your favorite app, blog, and book? Why?

Favorite app: Instagram as I love how conversational it is, staying connected with my family and friends from all over the world, and for inspiration (fashion, decor, travel, food). 

Favorite book: The bible. It’s always a place of comfort, wisdom, strength, and guidance.

What's your favorite business tool or resource? Why?

I have a few, mainly ones for online analytics or scheduling. Ubersuggest, Keywords everywhere and Ask The Public are my go to’s for my blog Glamour and Gains By Eve.

Who is your business role model? Why? 

My husband. He’s managed to make a very niche business successful while finding the work/life balance.

How do you balance work and life? 

I’m still working on that as I have problems relaxing or sitting still. After 5 minutes of sitting in front of the TV I’m ready to do something else or playing on my phone.

What’s your favorite way to decompress? 

Travel. I love getting away with my husband either to a tropical beach or European destination to enjoy each other's company, eat good food, and give the blue screens a rest. Failing that, a good massage with aromatherapy oils is hard to beat.

What do you have planned for the next six months? 

I’m currently redoing all of my NASM training, prepping for Mrs. World, reopening the lipstick lab in phases to follow protocols, developing new colors for the ready to wear collection, continuing to write my blog Glamour and Gains by Eve, and podcast Glamour & Gains, and trying to remember to find time to breathe.

How can our readers connect with you?

Websites: 

https://glamourandgainsbyeve.com

https://www.dawescustomcosmetics.com

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/dawescustomcosmetics/

https://www.instagram.com/evedawes/

Facebook: 

https://www.facebook.com/dawescustomcosmetics/

https://www.facebook.com/evedawes/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/evedawes