Meet our featured beauty with brains Jessica Renfro, an entrepreneur and medical assistant based in Fenton, Missouri (USA).
“Hello! My name is Jessica and I currently work full time as a medical assistant an I also sell ZYIA active. I was invited to one party and got hooked for life! I enjoy hiking and spending lots of time outside in the summer so it goes great with my values. I am married and we have a teenager. My husband works on computers and he and our son love to play video games with each other. Together we enjoy watching Ethan (son) play soccer. So we are a very active family.” – Jessica.
Here is an interview with her.
Who or what inspires you?
My family inspires me. I want to support them in every way that I can, by joining ZYIA I am hoping to build a team and save more money for future travel. I really enjoying seeing new places!
What is a typical day in your life like?
I work full time in a doctors office, I am the medical assistant that will bring you back into the rooms before the doctor sees you. I do vitals, shots, EKG’s and anything else the doctor might want.
After work you can find me working on my ZYIA business or out taking a hike with family and friends.
What kind of active wear is trendy nowadays?
Leggings and matching leggings and sport bras are very trendy right now. We have some really awesome shorts too for the summer!
Do you feel there is a need for women to either compromise on comfort or style while buying activewear or is it possible to have both?
I feel you can totally have both comfort and style! ZYIa has clothing you can wear for just comfort, but you can add heels and style it for a night out too!
Recently many women, including celebrities, have been posting black and white images of themselves on social media as a sign of women empowerment, using the caption #challengeaccepted. It is a part of a campaign called “women supporting women”.
We were curious what started it and did some research. Some claim it started in Turkey. The government there has been trying to get rid of the Istanbul convention that protect women from violence. Without it, Turkish women are vulnerable to psychological and physical violence.
Apparently women in Turkey are getting frustrated over seeing black and white photos of murdered women in the media almost every day, and by posting black and white photos of themselves, they are trying to make the point that anyone of them could be next. This campaign also aims to raise awareness about femicide in the country.
Others have claimed that it’s a response to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s viral speech against sexist remarks leveled at her by Rep. Ted Yoho in the US.
Well whatever the reason, like American film director Ava Duvernay said on her Instagram: “Pretty sure this is just a cool excuse to post pix, but I’m gonna always roll with whatever.”
Thanks to these girls/ ladies who decided to participate in the Empowered Beauties With Brains Black & White Photo Challenge to show their sisterly support, standing together in solidarity. If nothing else, this is a great opportunity for women to provide a positive boost to each other.
Meet our featured beauty with brains Lucy Peters, a businesswoman based in Sydney, Australia. She owns Lulu Beauty Bar (http://www.lulubeautybar.com.au/).
“My name is Lucy Peters and I own Lulu Beauty Bar. I am a committed small business owner with a serious passion for beauty and all things pretty! My interest in beauty started at a young age, however I didn’t enter the industry until a few years ago when I trained in London, England to become a fully qualified Eyelash Technician. Alongside lash extensions and lifts I also offer spray tanning, nails & brows at my friendly and cosy home salon in Castle Hill, NSW. I am fully passionate about what I do and I aim to make women feel amazing and confident in themselves!” – Lucy.
Here is an interview with her.
Who or what inspires you?
To be honest, I don’t have one particular role model. I admire many successful entrepreneurs who have overcome a plethora of obstacles throughout their lives, such as financial hardship or class barriers, in order to achieve their dreams. Michelle Mone (founder of Ultimo, the UK Wonderbra) is amazing and continues to inspire me to this day. If you ever get the chance to read up on her rags to riches story starting out on a Glasgow council estate to now being a hugely successful multi-millionaire, it’s well worth the read! Gary Vaynerchuck is also one of the most fascinating and driven people I have ever had the pleasure of listening to.
What are your aims and goals in life? Have you achieved them?
I always knew I wanted to travel and explore the different cultures of the world, so I spent most of my 20’s traveling and working my way around the globe. I have definitely ticked a large majority of my travel goals but naturally I still have more! At a young age, I expressed an interest in entering the beauty industry, however I was discouraged to do so by certain family members (which is why I only came into beauty later in life) so instead I pursued a career in music. My music career enabled me to experience some insane achievements like singing for the Queen on multiple occasions, performing on TV and appearing at some infamous music venues. I still have many more goals and I am currently in the process of updating my bucket list.
How has the pandemic impacted your business?
So, a quick back story; I returned to the UK for about 2 years as I am originally from England and having spent 11 years prior to that living in Sydney, I felt I needed to spend some quality time with my elderly parents. Having absolutely no idea that we would be hit by an international pandemic, my partner and I planned to and subsequently moved back to Australia in March this year (great timing, hey?!).
Fast forward through mandatory quarantine, then lockdown, I finally set about opening my salon from 1st June. It has definitely been a bit of a tricky road to navigate given I’m building my business again in the current climate. The major positive from all of this is that I have received a huge amount of support from the community who are actively choosing to shop local and support small businesses, which has been amazing.
Where do you see yourself ten years from now?
My aim is to grow Lulu Beauty Bar into a large salon focussing on multiple facets of beauty i.e. lashes, semi-permanent makeup, injectables, hair extensions. Somewhere in that mix I’d also like to have a child but one thing I can guarantee is that I won’t be moving away from the beautiful shores of Sydney ever again!
Many of us want to start a business or a venture but find it hard to take that first step. It could be the fear of failure, rejection, humiliation etc.
Here are some tips to motivate you to take that first step:
• Research successful entrepreneurs. Their stories will inspire you and studying the structure of their business will give you ideas. Reading about other successful business owners will motivate you to believe that you can do it too.
• Believe in yourself. We ourselves are often the biggest obstacles to our success. Self doubt, insecurity, internal questioning, what ifs etc can hold us back. It’s best not to over-think and start with baby steps. The good thing about taking small steps is that if for any reason your venture doesn’t work, it’s easier for you to change, adapt or move on to other things.
• Change your attitude towards failure. We often think that failing at something will make others think of us as ‘losers’ and we may lose all our money and possessions if we fail at a business. Well you will only be a loser if you allow yourself to be. Failing at one thing doesn’t change your personality or character, you will still be the same person you were before you started the endeavour. You can’t control the thoughts and reactions of other people, so why care.
• Regarding losing money and possessions, you can structure your business in such a way so as to limit your liability. Use your fear as a fuel. Feeling fearful and uncomfortable can be good. It drives you, it motivates you to do better and learn more. Being comfortable and complacent means that you are going to be left behind. So don’t fear the panic, use the panic to make sure your business is the absolute best you can make it.
The key is to embrace the discomfort and manage your fear. Once you do, you will feel empowered and committed to your new dream/goal.
Meet our featured beauty with brains Poonam Kumar, a makeup artist based in Sydney, Australia.
“My name is Poonam Kumar. Sydney has been home for the past 23 plus years, I moved here with my family when I was only 13. All through my life, I knew I wanted to be my own boss, as working for an hourly pay wasn’t my thing.
Life’s moral was to always work smarter not harder. I always wanted to follow my heart and do something that I really loved and I have always been passionate about making women feel and look beautiful.
I have dedicated years in perfecting my skills as a makeup artist learning from the best celebrity artist out there so I am able to give my ladies the same red carpet look the stars get .I decided that I will open up my own hair and makeup studio 5 years ago.
I feel very blessed to have my hard work pay off as I saw my business flourish as years went by. A single mother with 3 kids wasn’t an easy task as depression and anxiety attacks became a part of me after my divorce, but I kept fighting through so I can be a role model to my kids. I needed to know that even through the hardest of times quitting was not an option.
I believe in empowering women to be the very best they can be, even though it can be hard as we are burdened with life duties, I believe we all need to find our passion and follow it to the very end. Happiness is when you achieve your dreams and you know you have worked your butt off for it. I want every woman to know that they are the strongest and the most valuable thing God created.” – Poonam
Research done by Harvard university shows that wearing makeup makes women feel smarter and more confident. The phenomenon is called ‘The Lipstick Effect’ and it has been proven that by boosting self esteem and positive emotions, makeup indirectly leads to other benefits like improvement in academic performance, professional growth etc.
Feeling beautiful is powerful. Our Glam Dolls fashion feature is all about inspiring women to express their creativity through makeup (either on themselves or their models).
Meet our featured beauty with brains Shalina Lodhia, a businesswoman based in Sydney, Australia.
Here is her story:
“I was never the smartest one in the classroom. Never the popular one in school, and by no means was I confident in myself either – it was quite the opposite when I was growing up. My school life was filled with bullying and racism which had affected me a lot. The only thing which kept me sane, was a diary and a pen. I used to write in this personal diary, which was also like a creative journal where I would write about my experiences and turn them into creative writing pieces and poetry. It was a form of self-reflection and healing. I began singing at the age of 8 and performed a few times on stage as well. I chose to keep music and writing as a hobby instead of turning it into a career. But I knew I wanted to use my voice one day to stand up for what I believed in and to make music.
Growing up and experiencing life and its challenges made me develop an avid interest in human behaviour – particularly the criminal mind. I always questioned the motives of people and what led them to commit crimes. Out of pure interest, I eventually ended up graduating from university with a bachelors in social science with my majors being criminology and criminal justice.
I always knew that I wanted to be my own boss and do my own thing, my way, one day. After years of experience in the public sector, I now have my own business as a career counsellor and business writer. It felt like the right thing to do as I enjoy guiding people to achieve their highest potential. I will always tell you everything you can do, not everything you cannot do. I love being able to give my clients options and clarity of what their future could look like – it opens up a world of opportunity where potential is limitless.
Apart from this, I am a human rights activist. I raise awareness and share my experiences about topics that need to be heard – domestic violence, mental health, sexual assault and bullying, just to name a few. I endeavour to be the voice of the voiceless and to provide people with as much insight and knowledge as I can. If I don’t know the answer, you can rest assured I will find you one. These issues are close to my heart.
I am currently also working as an independent artist under the stage name of SED8. I sing, write, produce and record my own music. I just released my fourth single called “Higher”. I stay raw and real with my work – unapologetically me. Art in its truest form is intensely beautiful. I do not expect everyone to enjoy what they hear, but my goal is to reach out to anyone who can resonate with my experiences and feel understood.
It is a common known fact that women are multitaskers. Why stop at one thing when you have the capacity to do plenty?” – Shalina
Here is an interview with her:
What is a typical day in your life like?
I love to balance out my day with a mix of things. I exercise in the morning – brisk walk/run on the treadmill or do some boxing; I love cardio. I am trying to be vegan (was previously vegetarian), so my health is important to me – I cook fresh food almost every day and am still learning new recipes. I believe your health is your wealth. No matter how much money you accumulate, it won’t save you from health issues, so I try to take preventative measures – my diet and exercise is imperative to me.
I work remotely from home, so I will then check my emails and start working. If it is a quiet day work-wise, I will research about current events/trends on the news or social media and post my take about them, or I will research topics less talked about and write articles or posts about that. Music and writing are something I do almost every night as I feel the most creative at that time. If I am not making music, I’m still thinking of rhymes and lyrics in my head and writing them down throughout the day. Even though I work from home, balance is essential. I’m always doing something until I sleep. It keeps me going.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
In 10 years, I see myself continuing with career counselling, business writing and my activism work. I want to continue to help the underprivileged by always being approachable, reliable and ‘one call away’. One day, I hope to be recognised as an Australian born Indian singer/songwriter and producer – working and collaborating with other artists would be on the list of things I’d love to accomplish. Marriage and kids are something I look forward too, I love children. But I could never give up my passions – it’s all about balance and making sure your family, partner and friends know your dreams and goals. These cannot and should not be taken away from you.
What does women empowerment mean to you?
It means individually working towards continuously bettering ourselves and collectively working together to create a positive experience with the people around us. It’s about challenging social norms and expectations and changing the way the world sees women without belittling anyone. I think women already know, and need to always remember, that we are indestructible – we always were and always will be. Social constructs have made women believe they are not capable or worthy of certain things and that is absolutely false. Throughout history, women have endured and have also overcome A LOT. We still have a long way to go and we need to stick together and support one another to get the recognition and respect we rightfully deserve.
Bohemian fashion is not just a trend, it’s a culture. Borrowing styles from the hippie fashions of the past, it’s relaxed and effortless. It has always been the style of creatives and artists, different from mainstream fashion.
Here are some photos from our ‘Midsummer Dream’ photoshoot depicting the boho-chic style.
The aim of our fashion features/ photoshoots is to empower and uplift women through fashion and make them feel confident about themselves. Another purpose is to provide a platform for women in the fashion and beauty industry to showcase their talents, skills and products.
Meet our featured beauty with brains Surjeet Bawa, a fashion designer and stylist based in Sydney, Australia.
She is the owner of the label ‘Coco By Bawa’. She is very passionate towards her work and her designs are very unique and trendy.
Surjeet started her career as a model. Since childhood, fashion was her passion. She took up modelling offers and assignments while studying at college in Delhi (India). She also achieved fame in the field of fashion design and styling and is known for her distinctive designs. Her taste and ideas have always different from the rest.
Label ‘Coco By Bawa’ has been a part of many distinguished fashion shows. Surjeet Bawa is not only a master of design but also of creativity and innovation. This lady is going global!
Meet our featured beauty with brains Pragati Jain, a makeup artist based in Sydney, Australia.
Here is an interview with her:
Tell us more about yourself, your hobbies, passions etc.
Well, for the basics, I am a 20 years old girl pursuing my degree in business administration from SP Jain School of Global Management, Sydney. As for my hobbies, I love to dabble between things and explore new skills. I am an avid bathroom singer, hahaha. Besides that I really like to dance, sketch and write. I even have an instagram page where I portray a bit of my writing and sketching (@doodlesbypaggy). Currently I have started a new venture called BreakThruu that advocates mental health and wellbeing (www.breakthruu.com) I am sure you see what I mean by dabbling between new things. Apart from that I really love to travel. I’ve visited a lot of countries and explored lots of new cultures.
Who or what inspired you to become a makeup artist? To be honest, I’ve been drawing and painting ever since I was a kid and makeup just expands those boundaries. I mean with makeup being added to the list, you are not just constricted or confined to the canvas or a sketchbook, you have much more to explore. Apart from that I love meeting new people and makeup allows me to connect with amazing people with really powerful personalities. I learn something new from every client of mine and that’s what I really really like. This is why I decided to become a makeup artist and this was my inspiration.
If you could give any celebrity a makeover, who would it be and why?
Ummm, this is a tough one actually because there are so many people I would love to give a makeover to. But if I have to come down to one person, I think it would be Emma Watson. She inspires me. Ever since I was a kid I have been a potter head, plus she is the one person who fights for things she is passionate about. She has done so much for the world. She is a true feminist and has constantly fought for gender equality and sexual harassment. I really admire her. We need more women like her.
Who is your style icon and why?
I have 4 style icons and they are my mom, my grandma and my aunts (bua) (masi). All four of them are strong, independent women who carry themselves with a certain class and elegance. I’ve really admired the way they wear what their heart desires but still look refined and sophisticated and I think that’s really rare. I’ve always looked up to them and will continue to do so my entire life.
Feel free to check out her makeup page on Instagram:
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