Meet Erica Taylor | Lip Mermaid Cosmetics CEO & Founder

We had the good fortune of connecting with Erica Taylor and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Erica, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking.
Being willing to take risks has played a huge role in my business and my life. A few years ago I took a personality test and my results came back with being a risk taker and a freedom seeker which for me is spot on and it was suggesting that the best career path for me was to be an entrepreneur. At this point I had already started my business and it felt like confirmation that I was on the right path. I’m not afraid to take risks because I’m not afraid of failure. I don’t view failure as a bad thing, I view it as a learning opportunity and a way to allow myself to pivot faster. Frankly, I have failed in many ways when it comes to my business but I’ve also learned more than I could’ve ever imagined from failing and starting my own business. For example, I created two Amazon accounts at first under two different emails and my product was initially approved on the account that wasn’t linked to my Trademark, Amazon flagged both of my accounts and deactivated them. I had to delete the account that wasn’t linked to my Trademark and start over on my other account. To get this all cleared set me back 6 months with Amazon as it was a domino effect where I then needed a new UPC code for the product that had been approved on the wrong account and I had to reprint all the boxes for my product with a new UPC code. In this situation, I did fail but I can promise you I learned the hard way to never have two accounts again. My favorite entrepreneurs such as Sara Blakely, the founder of Spanx and Gretta van Riel, founder of Skinny Me Tea have both openly talked about how they have failed in their lives and businesses but they learned and kept going. Sara Blakely has spoken about how her father would ask her each night at dinner what she failed at that day and then celebrate it. Gretta has spoken about how when she first started Skinny Me Tea, she had a large shipment from the manufacturer show up and all the tea was moldy. She had just wasted a colossal amount of money in inventory and I’ve had similar things happen with cosmetics where I had to trash product because it wouldn’t pass quality control. The mindset shift of celebrating failure is game changing. Being willing to celebrate your failures as a learning opportunity can help you become a more powerful entrepreneur because no amount of failure can deter your celebratory spirit. This will help drive you forward even when things get bleak or you lose large amounts of money. This is the true mark of an entrepreneur, overcoming obstacles and adapting regardless of what hurdles are thrown your way. Oftentimes, this is when people walk away but if you can learn and keep moving forward your chances of being successful are greatly increased as you become more experienced with each lesson learned. Having a vision and seeing it through regardless of any hardships is the best superpower in the business world in my opinion. I view taking risks the same way in my personal life as I do in business. I’d rather just go for it and shoot my shot and if it’s not for me then that’s okay and I will adjust my approach from there. I’d rather be rejected or fail than live with the regret of not trying and same goes for my business. Be a visionary and turn those visions into a reality, the risk is worth it.

What should our readers know about your business?
Lip Mermaid Cosmetics is unique to other cosmetic brands as it allows for direct application of shaped glitter such as stars and butterflies on the face and body without needing an additional adhesive and without creating a mess like free glitter typically does. It also allows for on-the-go application or reapplication to touch up glitter while you’re out living your best sparkly life! Although the vibe of my brand is very playful and fun, starting my business has been anything but sunshine and rainbows (I’d still love to make glitter cosmetics with these shapes and colors eventually though). I first started product development in 2018 and I spent a year and a half perfecting my product to something that I myself would be ecstatic to purchase. I was ready to launch in March of 2020…which as we all know is when covid hit and it felt like the world had been put on pause. I’m aware that covid destroyed many businesses and honestly mine was also almost a covid casualty too. My product was inspired by festivals and events and is meant to be worn while going out and right as I launched no one was going out. I tried to pivot by targeting social media influencers who were still getting dolled up in the comfort of their homes as they could also help me market my product but I was drowning financially and had to step away to get another job to help out my family for awhile. Once I got my footing back post-covid I was able to get back to running Lip Mermaid and I’m now selling my products on TikTok Shop, Amazon and my website www.lipmermaidcosmetics.com, even though I had to step away for a bit, I never lost sight of my vision for LMC. As always some things are worth waiting for and all the adversity that has been throw my way since starting this venture has only made me a stronger individual and entrepreneur because I know I can get through anything as I was able to turn my losses into lessons. Those lessons are the foundation on which I was able to turn LMC into a successful cosmetics brand. Adversity can be the biggest blessing in disguise and my business is a true example of this.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
When my best friend from my hometown of Reno, NV came to visit for the first time I wanted to show her all the best that San Diego has to offer. We started with brunch at Breakfast & Bubbles then headed to Pacific Beach for a beach day. Later we walked the boardwalk in mission beach, went on the rides at Belmont Park and had dinner at Cannonball Sushi. The next day we strolled the Saturday Little Italy Farmer’s market and had brunch at Morning Glory. That afternoon we went to liberty station to go wine tasting at Carruth Cellars and then went to dinner at my all time favorite Italian restaurant, Cesarina. After dinner we went to North Park to go out for drinks at Botanica, Part Time Lover and Polite Provisions. On Sunday we went out on a Triton Charter catamaran day trip and after we went to dinner at Ketch at Portside Pier to enjoy the sunset with a glass of wine. I genuinely enjoy showing my friends around America’s Finest City because they quickly realize how much it has to offer! I also always take my friends to a Padre’s game whenever they come to visit and the Padre’s are playing at home, there is a reason the stadium has been voted best in country. The food, the ambiance and the spirit of the fans can be felt from the second you step into the ballpark and I love sharing that with them. I’ve witnessed my out of town friends fall for San Diego as quickly as I initially did. They always wondered why I left my hometown where I had a great life filled with great friendships but each time I’ve had the pleasure to show them around SD they all have had the same thing to say, “I get it now.” SD will forever be a part of me and I’m blesSD to call it home.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My shoutout is dedicated to Sara Blakely and Gretta Van Riel for being an inspiration to me as fearless and successful female entrepreneurs where taking risks and having the mindset shift of celebrating those risks has paid off for them ten-fold.

Website: https://www.lipmermaidcosmetics.com

Instagram: @lipmermaidcosmetics

Facebook: @lipmermaidcosmetics

Image Credits
Carlos Frayre