How/when did you become interested in the beauty community?
I’ve always been interested in fashion. Ever since I was seven years old, my grandmother would always get me magazines and I’d just cut them up to different posters with all the looks that I enjoyed. So I’ve just been interested in [fashion and beauty] from a very young age and as I got older, I would make videos and lookbooks. In the lookbooks, I would make my makeup a certain way and try different looks. I obviously wasn’t really good at makeup back then but I kind of just grew into it as I got older. I maintained my passion for it, so when I turned 25 I started my own beauty line, Tiara Adelaide Beauty. I wanted my line to stand out and be more like a blend of fashion and beauty, kind of like the vibe of the brands “Fear of God” or “Yeezus”. I wanted that similar vibe, but for makeup since I’ve never seen that done before.
In terms of the name of the brand. It’s actually my name. My name is actually Naomi Tiara Adelaide Mputu So, I just removed the first and last name.
What has been the biggest challenge/sacrifice when it comes to starting your own business?
My challenge was kind of having a bit of fear and initially being worried about what people would think because I’m mainly known as a fashion persona and I didn’t really talk much about beauty at first. I was kind of afraid that people had labelled me as only a fashion girl, but I knew that God called me to do more. So I wondered how do I then step out in faith without being judged? But then I just received a lot of boldness and my husband ( who is also a co-founder of this business) was a big part of that. He helped me in so many ways by encouraging me to be bold. I eventually realized that being bold doesn’t necessarily mean that you won’t have fear. You will have fear in some areas, but it’s just about overcoming that fear. Another challenge is that it just takes a lot of work to start a successful business no matter how much support you get at the end of the day you have to be the one willing to put the work. So, I just had to focus on the vision in my heart and believe that I could do it with my family and with God supporting me.
What has been the best part of starting your own business?
The best part is that starting this brand has helped me be bold in so many other ways. Like when I’m speaking to people, when I’m at work, how I approach things now is different because of how I approached this brand and started. It’s been amazing to have a vision in my mind, and being able to create and see it being manifested. Recently we had video and photo shoots for our upcoming line and revamped the website and just to see my vision come to life has just been amazing.
What is the best business advice you’ve been given?
Just start. That was the best advice, to be honest, it’s the most simple advice. It’s one sentence. It’s really simple, but a lot of people fail to do it. Someone might say “I have wanted to start a clothing line for 20 years now” And I’m sure that for some people there are some unforeseen circumstances that come about, but sometimes you just need to start it. Even if it starts with a pair of socks, you just need to manifest it into a clothing line eventually.
Tiara Adelaide beauty started off as a subscription box, eyelash brand and now it’s a whole cosmetic line. And soon it’ll be a full cosmetic and fashion line and branch off into so many things. I truly believe that if you can be faithful with the small things and just start it with a small brand, then it will branch off into something big. You don’t worry about having everything be perfect or having every design detail ready, Just start.
What advice would you give to other beauty influencers/business owners?
I would honestly just tell them that when you start as a beauty influencer your goal should not be to look/be like anybody else. Focus on what’s different about you and what stands out about you. what’s different about you is what makes people want to buy into your product or buy into your vision, right? If you’re going to be like everybody else then why can I just go and get KKW? Why can I just go get Fenty beauty?
Your story is unique, Your story’s beautiful, your story is different. So hold on to your story, that’s what will make you stand out as an influencer and amplify your brand.
What are your future plans for Tiara Adelaide Beauty?
We’re going to drop the revelation collection. It’s out right now for pre-order on the site and web we’re gonna revamp the whole thing. We changed the packaging for it. We added another pallet to it as well. So there’ll be two eyeshadow palettes and we’ve also come out with three new lipsticks, which are waterproof, and they’re amazing.
Where can people find you?
Website: TiaraAdelaide.com
Instagram: @Tiaraadelaidebeauty