Today we’d like to introduce you to Azariah Parks.
Azariah, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I started my lash line in June 2019. In 2017, I taught myself how to do individual mink lashes by watching YouTube. I would do them on myself & a few friends, but I never took it seriously. I did it for fun, and I was able to save money by doing my own lashes. Fast forward to 2019. I needed to figure out how to have multiple streams of income. I knew you must first start with something you know, a skill you possess with ease. Something you can have fun with, and it doesn’t feel like work. So, I decided to sell lashes because I didn’t have the time to physically do lashes anymore. Once I made my decision, I thought of a business plan to include business name, lash type, lash names. When I came up with the name DrippedNMink, I automatically made an Instagram account for it and asked friends to follow it. I chose that name because I am really into music. In Atlanta, there is a whole wave of drip, fashion and creativity which is highly influenced in our music. I also wanted my brand to reflect my personality. I am a very hype, upbeat and down to earth person. Most women who have businesses in the beauty industry use cute & flirty language to describe their brand. I wanted my brand to be for real down to earth women who may or may not be into beauty or even someone like me who only get on fleek occasionally. I already had a vendor because my sister is an entrepreneur; she does hair and sells raw hair on Instagram (@blessedhandsbytanesha). Tanesha was the one to really push me to start a lash line. She told me that she already had a vendor for me and that I already had an audience from doing lashes previously. I researched the vendor and selected what type of lashes I want to sell. Now I have a whole movement of “only pretty girls wear drippednmink” ladies, MUA’s, celebs and beauty influencers wearing my lashes.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
So far, it has been about four months. It has been pretty good as far as the response from beauty influencers, celebs, MUAs and customers. I didn’t think it would go this well. The biggest challenge I have encountered and still in the process of is getting my brand to reach new levels. I don’t have a Facebook to run ads and promotions on my Instagram. Every time I try to create an account, it doesn’t work, or it eventually disables my account. So, I really had to network and brainstorm with ideas to reach the following I have now.
DrippedNMink – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
When I started my lash brand, I knew I wanted to sell volume real lashes not ones you can get from the local store. So that is how my brand became home of the 3D and 25 MM mink lashes. I called myself the ATL lash dealer because before I went online. I used to do everybody lashes literally in my neighborhood from word of mouth. I thought that was unique because you hear of lash techs, lash specialists, lash gurus on Instagram but who you know is a lash dealer! I’ll wait. What makes my brand different is the quality. You can reuse them up to 25x and look good as new with every wash.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
My proudest moment was when before I became an online store, I had sold out of 2 shipments within the first 4-5 weeks of starting my business. Also, when I attracted my first celeb client Blaatina, who is a female rapper from Atlanta, GA. That was very exciting for me because my idea for my brand was is highly influenced by Atlanta music.
Pricing:
- Lashes : $15
Contact Info:
- Website: www.drippednmink.com
- Email: drippednmink17@gmail.com
- Instagram: _drippednmink
Image Credit:
Deandre Moreland
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