Today we’d like to introduce you to Mary Erickson.
Mary, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
As a Makeup Artist in San Diego California, I had to drive to Los Angeles to get professional makeup year after year.
I realized all the artists from San Diego were driving to Los Angeles for makeup. Most artists in my area had to drive 3 hours just to restock their kits. Online ordering was very hard back then, most stores had very limited online offerings, the process was difficult and the customer service was lacking. I saw a gaping hole in the market and decided to fill it. I put a simple website online to make ordering easier and began selling out of my living room. I soon became overwhelmed with orders, I had my teenage son helping me pack and ship daily.
E-commerce grew so quickly that I had to move the business 4 times in just a few years. In 2015 I was tired of moving and decided I wanted to own my own building; I purchased a 12,000+ SF building in North Dallas that included a production studio. I moved the entire company to Dallas Texas. 10 of my employees and their families moved from San Diego to Dallas with us. We have a busy showroom/retail store and employ 30 people. Our business has continued to grow year after year, Camera Ready Cosmetics is the largest e-commerce Professional Makeup store in the world.
Has it been a smooth road?
This is a very tough business and it will always be tough. Every day brings a new challenge. The cosmetics industry is one of the most competitive industries in the world. The competition is always right behind you and you have to move fast to stay ahead. I have an advantage in that I was a working artist in the industry for 30 years, I know what makeup artists need. I had to learn marketing in the world of e-commerce, I had to learn fulfillment and online customer service.
I had to learn everything about business one day at a time through trial and error before e-commerce became user-friendly. This company grew organically, I had zero investor funds and started my company with nothing, I purchased a few items, sold those items and put the profit back into buying more inventory. To this day my company has zero debt and I’m very proud of that.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
Camera Ready Cosmetics sells professional cosmetics to professional artists and makeup enthusiasts. We are known for great customer service, we employ makeup artists that work in the industry. We have a huge selection of great products.
I’m most proud of building a company from nothing, without investors or loans, and to this day we have zero debt. I’m proud of my staff who made the move from San Diego to Dallas with me.
What sets us apart from others is our competitive nature and desire to provide the best products and services.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
I feel like Texas is a good place for business but there are issues in Texas that can’t be overlooked, issues that were a surprise to us. There are not enough people in the workforce to fill the positions available. It’s very hard for us to find employees in Texas.
Also, in Texas we have to pay inventory tax, this is new to us, in California, we didn’t pay inventory tax and this can be very high if you have a business with inventory. Texas would be much more appealing if they dropped inventory tax, I don’t think there is much Texas can do about the employment issue, low unemployment is a good thing for the State.
Contact Info:
- Address: 14203 Proton Rd Farmers Branch, TX 75244
- Website: CameraReady.com
- Phone: 214-302-0290
- Email: service@crcmakeup.com
- Instagram: camerareadycosmetics
- Facebook: crcmakeup03
- Twitter: crcmakeup
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/camera-ready-cosmetics-dallas-2
Image Credit:
Morton Visuals
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