Knowing that other people don’t get handed their success, but work hard and work hard until it’s theirs helps us in our plight. They are the ones determined to let their downfall be their motivation. It’s women like this that I admire the most. Because they didn’t give up. And you shouldn’t either. Michelle Phan launched EM cosmetics in 2013, spent three years developing it and then, it failed.
This story to me is way more inspiring than any success story because we are always taught to be afraid of failure – but after hearing this, we shouldn’t be.
1. She learned from it
“Looking back, the price point was too high for the demographic we were trying to reach — which were my followers in college and high school. And we didn’t have that happy ending we all anticipated. But, we both learned something from it. At the end of the day, if you learn something from it, and you can evolve from that, I think that’s a success in its own right.” She told Refinery 29. Failure is just an opportunity to learn, reset, and rethink. It was sad because she dedicated three years to the business, was never home and hardly saw her family, and at the end, she had nothing to show for it, but she had to pick up, dust off, and try again.
2. She stayed above the drama
In business, there’s going to be a lot of it, but it’s just business. Michelle knows to separate her emotions away from the business. You don’t want to be the person making it worse, but if there’s an issue – you need to raise it. You need to call someone out, which is not always the easiest thing to do, but as long as you separate your own emotions from it, it will be nothing but productive. Michelle says that to run a successful company she needed to lead people, even people who don’t get along. She kept going with that, despite the failures.
3. She turned it around
Sure, EM cosmetics failed, but when her company ipsy raised 100 million, she decided to buy EM Cosmetics back and do it better. She had learned that the price point was too high for her target audience of high schoolers and college graduates, so she tried to do it again. Looking back, she told Refinery 29 she thinks “Wow, I could’ve done things differently.” Never take a failure as a failure, it’s not the end of the line – maybe it just isn’t the right time.
4. She gave herself some time
One of the most inspiring things Michelle did following the failure was realize she needed a break, anyone in business, especially an online business, can easily get overwhelmed. Michelle took off, went traveling and left her commitments with her team. It was quite dramatic, fans and followers thought she was dead, because, after years of posting every day, she just stopped. But she needed it, she needed to distance herself from the commitments she had and try again. She then had the time to refocus, clear her mind and figure out a way to relaunch. “When I took away that pressure of expectation and staying busy and I realized what I wanted for myself, I found so much freedom. I’m not dwelling on the past; I’m focusing on today,” she said.
Want more? Listen to a podcast about the whole failure here.
Sign up for our newsletter and stay up to date
Knowing that other people don’t get handed their success, but work hard and work hard until it’s theirs helps us in our plight. They are the ones determined to let their downfall be their motivation. It’s women like this that I admire the most. Because they didn’t give up. And you shouldn’t either. Michelle Phan launched EM cosmetics in 2013, spent three years developing it and then, it failed.
This story to me is way more inspiring than any success story because we are always taught to be afraid of failure – but after hearing this, we shouldn’t be.
1. She learned from it
2. She stayed above the drama
In business, there’s going to be a lot of it, but it’s just business. Michelle knows to separate her emotions away from the business. You don’t want to be the person making it worse, but if there’s an issue – you need to raise it. You need to call someone out, which is not always the easiest thing to do, but as long as you separate your own emotions from it, it will be nothing but productive. Michelle says that to run a successful company she needed to lead people, even people who don’t get along. She kept going with that, despite the failures.
3. She turned it around
Sure, EM cosmetics failed, but when her company ipsy raised 100 million, she decided to buy EM Cosmetics back and do it better. She had learned that the price point was too high for her target audience of high schoolers and college graduates, so she tried to do it again. Looking back, she told Refinery 29 she thinks “Wow, I could’ve done things differently.” Never take a failure as a failure, it’s not the end of the line – maybe it just isn’t the right time.
4. She gave herself some time
One of the most inspiring things Michelle did following the failure was realize she needed a break, anyone in business, especially an online business, can easily get overwhelmed. Michelle took off, went traveling and left her commitments with her team. It was quite dramatic, fans and followers thought she was dead, because after years of posting every day, she just stopped. But she needed it, she needed to distance herself from the commitments she had and try again. She then had the time to refocus, clear her mind and figure out a way to relaunch. “When I took away that pressure of expectation and staying busy and I realized what I wanted for myself, I found so much freedom. I’m not dwelling on the past; I’m focusing on today,” she said.
Want more? Listen to a podcast about the whole failure here.