Ginger King has been passionately creating beauty products from concept to finish for more than twenty years. She is well versed in innovative concepts, creative product formulation, advanced technology applications, ergonomic package development and impactful competitive analysis. Ginger has developed over thousands of products from hair care to skin care, and sun care to color cosmetics. Her claim to fame products include the revolutionary first to market Joico ICE SPIKER, water-resistant hair glue, Freeze 24.7 Ice Shield, SPF 15 face wash and Avon Advance Techniques Color Protection series. Her Avon True Color Eye shadow and Daring Definition Mousse Mascara have also been selected as the finalists for CEW (Cosmetic Executive Women). Ginger holds several patents in cosmetic formulations.
Ginger is the founder & CEO at Grace Kingdom Beauty, a cosmetic product development firm in New Jersey where she consults for cosmetic brands, contract manufacturers and raw material suppliers. She has previously held management positions with Barnet Products Corporation, (cosmetic Raw material supplier), ChemAid Laboratories (cosmetic contract manufacturer), Freeze 24/7 International (Cosmetic marketing company), Avon Products Inc. (Fortune 500 company), Joico laboratories (salon hair care) and Jason Natural Cosmetics (Natural Cosmetics). Ginger has also received numerous corporate awards for thinking out of the box claims, cost savings and leadership. Ginger holds an MBA in Marketing from Long Island University as well as a Master’s in Natural Product Chemistry from San Jose State University. She is an active member of Cosmetic Executive Women and Society of Cosmetic Chemists.
Ginger loves to make and sell cosmetics and was once a beauty consultant for Chanel, Clarins,
Estee Lauder, Clinique and Elizabeth Arden. Ginger travels extensively in Asia and is aware of the
Asian cosmetic trends. She has been the keynote speaker for brand launches and has spoken at HBA conference on product development and In-Cosmetics on product innovation. Ginger is a beauty expert on Beauty Press and has been on radio and video chat with leading beauty magazines. Ginger has published an e-book in 2016 on How To Start Your Own Cosmetic Line.
She has been quoted by top beauty magazines such as Allure, Self, Marie Claire, Harpers Bazaar,
Shape, Teen Vogue and Women’s Health. Ginger has served as Allure’s Beauty Judge for Breakthrough Products and Yahoo’s Diversity In Beauty Award. Additionally, Ginger has been an adjunct professor at Rutgers Business School teaching a Saturday class on Business of Fashion/Beauty.
Where did the idea for your company come from?
Everyone has a dream to create a company of their own. Often times for women, it is beauty. I am a cosmetic chemist and have been in beauty for over 20 years with experiences ranging from formulation, marketing, product development, branding to sales. I help people to build beauty brands from concept to counter.
What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?
I read extensively on the latest technology and experiment with cosmetic raw materials. I also embrace myself in the business world by learning how to do sales and branding on a daily basis. When you love what you do, every day is productive without downtime.
How do you bring ideas to life?
Through trial and errors and research. When I create products I also always have consumers in mind because I love to have an impact on people’s lives, that often is their outer beauty. I am not interested in creating a museum piece which cannot directly benefit consumers.
What’s one trend that excites you?
The wellness trend is great because beauty is inside-out as well. While my focus is outer beauty, we all know if we don’t take our inside, no matter how much we take care of our outside, you are not going to be a 100% beauty.
What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?
I follow shark tank star Daymond John’s social media for constant inspiration. He always said he’s a little brown boy from queens who can’t sing or dance or have a rich Daddy. If he can make it, anyone can make it. He also encourages his followers daily. He is a mega dose of inspiration.
What advice would you give your younger self?
Get to the workforce earlier. Being Asian, we were brought up that going to school and getting good grades are the only jobs we need to take care of. This actually prevents us from being street-smart. In the real world, sometimes street-smart outsmarts book-smart.
Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on.
When you want to hire someone, go with your gut. There is no perfect fit until you try. Most of the people take their time doing their so call due-diligence but there is nothing truer than trusting your gut.
As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?
Never stop learning as the world is changing. Constantly brush up on your skills. You do not have to be a specialist in every area but you have to know everything so when you hire someone, you know if they are doing a good job or not.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business?
Most of my clients came through referrals so networking is the key to growing the business.
What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?
I had a separate skin care brand business which I got the investment too early. The number one mistake business fail is over-funding. I did not exercise the power of broke so the funds came in quickly but went out quickly too due to lack of financial intelligence in business dealings.
What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?
Everything is a cycle. If customization is hot right now, go in the opposite direction for unisex because there is a market for everything. You do not want to compete. You want to dominate. There is always room for different niches.
What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?
Facial. Even with all the products on the market, it is important that you go for a professional facial to steam and extract out the blackheads and have a pampering experience.
What is one piece of software or a web service that helps you be productive?
Google Calendar alerts. I put appointments in there with the 5 minutes alert so I do not miss any appointments.
What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?
Power of Broke by Daymond John. I made the mistake of getting an investment too early. I did not boot-strap and exercise the power of broke. If his book would have come out earlier, it would have saved me thousands of dollars of mistakes.
What is your favorite quote?
There is no perfect time. Make the time perfect.
Key Learnings:
– Always have consumers in mind when you are developing your business.
– Never stop learning. You don’t have to be a specialist but you need to be a generalist in everything.
– Exercise power of broke. It is a mindset to help entrepreneurs to bootstrap to grow the business.
Connect:
www.gracekingdombeauty.com
www.linkedin.com/gingerking
www.instagram.com/thebeautysharkginger
www.facebook.com/gracekingdombeauty
www.twitter.com/asianginger
www.anchor.fm/ginger-king
www.asianginger.wordpress.com
Carlyn runs the day-to-day publishing operation here at ideamensch and interacts with our awesome customers and entrepreneurs. She is likely editing this with a cat on her lap.