Iman on Black Enterprise 2011

welcome to Black Enterprise Business Report your ultimate source to achieve wealth for life I'm your host Caroline Clarke coming up when conventional banks say no - your loans will show you a popular alternative plus our exclusive interview with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and how one wine store is serving its community and finally must-know essentials for executive entertaining but first she hasn't walked the runway in more than 20 years but supermodel iman still is a major influence on the beauty and fashion world as founder and CEO of iman cosmetics i am emma I was discovered from Africa and there was the talk that I was a goat herders or or a princess she arrived in the US as a stunning statuesque nineteen year old the daughter of a Somali diplomat yet as Iman recalls behind the poised were moments of panic because the young model had never worn makeup or high heels in her life to walk into that showroom and be given high heels to put on it was terrifying to me and I was struggling because I put one on and then I got up and I was trying to put the other one on and I was struggling with it what ended the struggle was the action of runway model bethann Hardison who would soon become a super agent and Iman's lifelong friend Beth Ann got on her knees and put the shoes on for me and all the girls of course they were so upset with her but I've never forgotten that act of kindness Iman is someone who came to this country you know as a young woman and the first person she meets track of the first week she sees me and so I became an important person that stays strong to her and I was also someone who always could give her a better advice or outside of her agency she needed someone who was outside feeling like they have something to gain Beth Ann doesn't iman would become the modeling muse for fashion giants gracing scores of magazine covers but the seed for her current success as an entrepreneur with Iman Cosmetics took place during her first photo shoot when a makeup artist said he didn't have the right foundation for black skin I wanted to create a brand that it was not about about race it is about skin tone the company has blossomed into a twenty five million dollar a year enterprise doing well even in the current climate with the economy how it's going a lot of women are responding to get something that they think that they're getting more value out of it now iman cosmetics is set for even greater growth with its launch into the mass market I was happy even to go to mass market because I thought we have reached the glass ceiling with JC Penney it was very successful but there was only so many doors we could do was that the most challenging period for the company making that transition yes it's very scary because you know the product was known as as a high-end product and now when you go to mass market the the first is to bring the prices down but I wanted to become comparable like the other brands what from your modeling career has most informed your career in running this business you think it's not just fun and flair and pictures and pretty pictures it's business and especially if you want to survive as a model you have to be really a good businesswoman so that actually was came in handy Iman feels her transition to top entrepreneur has come far more easily than even her work as a model as a businesswoman I have a mind I'm very proud of the process so that and as a Somali which is just naturally emergence so that came naturally to me the beauty business especially as a model is very very difficult because it's an assault and once identity because there's always somebody who's prettier than you are younger than you are so that's a different kind of a ball game she's also caught on the teachings of her parents to keep taking bold steps throughout her career I remember as young as seven eight my mom telling me always know your worth don't ever settle for less so that is what I came to this country with so I was the first mother who said I'm not gonna do any job unless I pay and get paid the same my mom because to me it was just I'm providing a service so what has that got anything to do with now every day on the job is actually a family affair with daughters zuleyka Heywood handling the revenue forecasting and planning for the brand the business is doing really well in this economy what I'm finding is that women still want to look and feel good no matter where they're at in their in their financial status at any given time watching your mother run this company what have you learned from her what I've learned about business and just being a woman for my mother is anything that you want in this life you can have provided you you know you apply the work this woman of vision who was named a fashion icon by the Council of Fashion Designers of America and who hosts Bravo's the fashion show is now making a mark on the Home Shopping Network where her bags jewelry and fashion accessories have become one of its top sellers are you afraid that when you venture into these new areas what if people don't respond failure to me I'm not scared of it because it just gives me the opportunity to for change I think change is very good regardless in what shape or form it comes into it because it makes you really observant reorganize and rethink your life no matter where the future takes the 55 year old fashion favorite her hope is that her line of products for skin of color will be her lasting legacy within my office our we call it eye it's the universal eye and the individual eye that's what Iman Cosmetics stands for up next the trend behind online lending and its popularity and dinner party essentials

Channel: Black Enterprise

Views: 26,802

Rating: 4.8441558 out of 5

Keywords: Iman, Black Enterprise, Iman Cosmetics, Black, Enterprise, Business Report, Caroline Clarke

Id: ASvjFZWbh8k

Length: 6min 55sec (415 seconds)

Published: Mon Feb 14 2011