Meet Founder and Editor: Venus Austin

Today we’d like to introduce you to Venus Austin.

Venus, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I started Pinkklipstick over 6 years ago through creating beauty videos on YouTube. I was in graduate school at the time, so I didn’t take it seriously. I moved to Atlanta shortly thereafter and decided to relaunch Pinkklipstick and become more consistent because people begin to ask me about my videos and my blog and where I had been. Upon a soft relaunch in 2012, I did a hard relaunch in the middle of 2013. Since then I have been able to grow Pinkklipstick and make connections with some of my favorite beauty and fashion brands. I have also been able to host events, sell merchandise and host my first styling workshop coming up in November. Pinkklipstick is the perfect manifestation of who I am as a brand; we are all about defining fashion and beauty as you want to by being able to appreciate trends at the same time. We are all about being unapologetic in our purpose and lifestyle.

Has it been a smooth road?
Absolutely not! A major struggle for me has been consistency and balancing my 9to5 with my business. The last month or so I’ve had a large influx of partnerships that had deadlines, in addition, to increase responsibility at my 9to5 that I had to balance. Pinkklipstick can operate 24/7 and there is always something that needs to be done especially as we begin to prepare to add more services and merchandise to our repertoire and being able to step away or organize what needs to be done next can be a struggle for a visionary like myself. Once I begin to start hiring others, I know that I will need someone who can and loves to be a taskmaster, for sure.

What role has luck had in your life and career?
I don’t really believe in luck. I think all things, bad or good happens for a reason based on your faith and the actions that you take. In my career, I’ve worked hard and kept my faith and therefore have seen the fruits of that. On the other hand, I’ve seen areas where I have slacked and notice how that has negatively affected my career or delayed it.

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
The quality that I feel is most important to my success is my passion. Without passion, no matter how determined you may be or what goals you may have outlined, they will be difficult to accomplish.

Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I love the energy and the creativity of the people here. There is always something to do and be inspired by. The least thing that I like about the city is, of course, the traffic!

Contact Info:

• Website: http://pinkklipstick.com
• Email: info@pinkklipstick.com
• Instagram: @iamvmil
• Facebook: pinkklipstick
• Other: Youtube: vdmilz123 and Twitter: @iamvmil, Snapchat: @iamvmil

Image Credit:
Alfred C. Austin IV