Today we’d like to introduce you to Kerry E. Yates.
Kerry, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I fell in love with fashion at a very young age and would frequently accompany my mom and grandmother to Neiman Marcus. I just loved touching the clothes and seeing all the beautiful colors. I actually started a clothing business at 16 called Kazinke; it was a failure, as the designs were a bit ahead of the time.
However, that did not stop me from pursuing fashion design as my major and I left for NYC after my high school graduation to attend the Fashion Institute of Technology.
While attending college, I secured a part-time job working with Clinique. I fell in love with the way beauty products can change a person’s esteem and overall self-confidence. I found, unlike fashion, beauty is all-inclusive and does not discriminate based on a person’s size, shape or income. As a result of my changing view, I decided to expand my studies and actually ended up graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in Cosmetic, Fragrance and Toiletry Development. After graduating from FIT, I secured a coveted marketing position with Revlon and have been developing beauty brands/products ever since.
Has it been a smooth road?
Every journey has some bumps in the road but I count myself incredibly lucky as I had several mentors to help me along the way. My advice to future business owners is to be flexible and always have a reserve fund. Unexpected expenses are a guarantee and your best-laid plans will need to evolve as you build your business.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Colour Collective story. Tell us more about it.
Colour Collective was dreamed up while I was living in London working in Global Development for Unilever. Responsible for new innovation, I realized the time to market for a new beauty product/brand was taking too long. Internal teams could not focus on bringing new innovation to market efficiently and effectively while also managing the existing brand. I seized on the opportunity, creating Colour Collective in 2012.
Colour Collective is a true collective of creatives, innovators and influencers. We design, develop and deliver innovative beauty brands/products for a global clientele and audience. We’re well versed in developing brands across hair care, hair color, skincare, cosmetics, and personal care. As a small company, we have a soft spot for start-ups and indie brands but have also worked with large beauty brands as well.
What sets up apart? We offer a turnkey solution to developing beauty brands. Whether that means developing a new product, finessing the brand story, providing market support or facilitating consumer usage tests. Since our inception six years ago, we have added an in-house testing center to our office. This allows us to apply and test hair color, makeup, body products, etc. We have a panel of 100+ models across the DFW area that are in our program.
We would love to increase our panel of models for various projects. If you are interested in learning more about the opportunities, please email: hello@colour-collective.com.
Contact Info:
- Address: 801 Core Street, Suite A, Dallas, TX 75207
- Website: Colour-collective.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/colourcollectivebeauty AND instagram.com/theeight01
Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
