A Pandemic Success Story: AxV Beauty
AxV Beauty is a natural skincare and wellness brand, founded by Asata Evans and Vic Rose, that specializes in non-toxic skincare that is gentle on acne-prone skin and perfected to enhance your glow! Created during the pandemic, the brand has highlighted and embraced Black beauty while becoming the solution to many skin concerns. We had the opportunity to speak with Asata about AxV Beauty’s ongoing road to success!
How did you start? What was your inspiration?
I am the co-founder of AxV Beauty and we are a natural and non-toxic skincare and wellness brand that actually started in September 2020. Our business is one of those "pandemic babies". We sort of just developed on accident to be quite honest. I was breaking out and I couldn't go to the dermatologist, so I needed something that could work immediately for my skin. My best friend, Vic Rose, ended up making a face oil for his own personal needs and that ended up being the solution for my skincare problems as well! We used the product for a few months and we realized that we had something special and decided to act on it. I started the business process around June 2020 and was ready to fully launch at the end of September 2021. Since then, it has been great--we've been featured in HuffPost and Buzzfeed and just won the IFundWomen grant with Neutrogena. There has been a lot of opportunities!
What was it like finding out that you were being featured on popular blogs like HuffPost and Buzzfeed?
Overall, it was a really great opportunity for our business expansion! We have built this small community of people who really love our business and that has also helped with the brand’s legitimacy and social proof especially because we are so new to the industry. To be able to have press that we didn't have to seek was amazing for our business!
How was your transition from the corporate world to starting a business?
My background is actually in corporate retail. I was trained as a buyer for Macy's, but was working as a merchandise planner. Having that corporate lens and understanding the back end of a business, for example, how to be profitable, how to set pricing, understanding costs of goods, and positive margins helped. Having that knowledge from other companies was definitely very helpful. I got didn't go into starting a business not understanding the business concept or business fundamentals.
What was your biggest challenge starting a business?
My biggest dilemma honestly was learning digital marketing. I took a four-month-long digital marketing program through Columbia University. It helped me even understand social media from a business standpoint. We all have Instagram, but creating a profile with the intention of people shopping requires skill and intention--especially now since social media is a bigger thing because of the pandemic. There is an expectation for brands and if you don't have a social presence, then you're not legitimate in the eyes of consumers. If you're a brand and you don't have a “shoppable” Instagram, you're not considered legitimate.
I also had to learn how to “allow the process”. Entrepreneurship teaches you to be flexible, to pivot, and to react quickly to things that are happening. You have to be okay with "failing". That was a huge challenge for me in the beginning. Now I understand that what works, works, and what doesn't, still keep going. I'm much more open to the unknown and I'm much more open to allow things to manifest in the way they're supposed to, as opposed to setting very rigid expectations around how things are supposed to play out.
What are your hopes for the future as a business?
I would love to grow our wholesale business and have presentation in major retailers across the U.S. We currently offer our products on our website, at MakerhoodsMarket.com, and Earth & Me located at 2509 Astoria Blvd, Queens, NY 11102.
I also want to find more opportunities to collaborate with other Black-Owned businesses within the health and wellness industry. I want it to be known that we are a Black-Owned businesses that helps Black skin concerns. This is a very radical skill. We want to scale in ways that are meaningful and smart which is definitely a huge goal of the future.
Diamond Cheek, Digital Marketing Coordinator
Diamond Cheek is currently studying Digital Marketing in the Masters Program at Rutgers University-Newark. She has also received her Bachelors of Science at Rutgers in Leadership and Management. Over the years, digital marketing and content creation, have become a passion of hers which has lead her to apply her skills to the virtual and physical business world.