Beauty tech is transforming the cosmetics industry, and in today's Wantrepreneur to Entrepreneur Spotlight, we're featuring Riean Knight, the innovative founder of Honey to Cocoa. What started as a beauty blog has evolved into an AI-powered makeup artist app that's addressing a critical gap in the beauty industry for People of Color. With a strategic approach to growth and a commitment to intentional development, she's building a solution that's helping customers spend less time researching and more time feeling confident in their makeup choices.
Hi, Riean! Thanks for joining us today. Tell us about your business. Who do you serve, how do you serve them, and what's the impact that your business and work makes?
Honey to Cocoa is an AI-powered makeup artist in your pocket, and we help People of Color match makeup to their unique skin tones. We seek to close equity gaps for People of Color in the beauty industry, allowing customers to shop more and research less.
Tell us about the moment you finally felt like you went from wantrepreneur to entrepreneur.
The moment I felt like I went from wantrepreneur to entrepreneur was when I applied for and made it to the quarterfinal round for a pitch competition. Prepping for the competition required me to create financial models, refine our revenue model, think strategically about go to market, and anticipate some tough questions from the judges. The preparation activities really forced me to think deeply beyond building a cool product. I had to make sure I could demonstrate that I had a viable business.
Describe the moment or period in your life/career that motivated you to make the entrepreneurial leap.
I've always had an entrepreneurial spirit! I started my first business with my friends in the 8th grade called MAD Bookmarks. We handmade and decorated custom bookmarks and sold them. That experience taught me so much about the customer experience and money management. The sense of pride I had right before 8th grade graduation when my friends and I split the profits was the same feeling I've carried with me throughout my life. When I look at every role I've had in my career, it required and/or motivated me to operate as an entrepreneur, so when I decided to take the full leap into it and leave my corporate role behind, it felt less like a leap and more like a step forward.
Describe a tool, service, or software that has been a game-changer for your business. How does it contribute to your success?
I hate to be that AI-obsessed person, but ChatGPT hands down has been a game-changer for my business. I've used it to help me outline strategic plans, gain technical guidance in the development of the app, edit documents, etc. ChatGPT is only as good as the prompts you give it, and it not only helped me in the most obvious of ways listed above, but it also helped me improve my ability to communicate with clarity.
We know that success is very often a non-linear path. Tell us about a failure, pivot point, or lesson that changed your course or direction and helped to get you where you are today.
Honey to Cocoa started as a blog that I ran for a few years. I was convinced that this was what people wanted because blogging was simply popular back then, although I had a broader vision for what I wanted Honey to Cocoa's solution to look like. One day, the blog was taken over by hackers and I lost all of the content that I'd published. Instead of lamenting the fact that everything was lost and trying to rebuild a blog, I figured that was a sign to pivot our solution to the app-based AI solution that we have today.
What unconventional strategy did you employ that significantly impacted your business?
The startup world can be fairly chaotic so it's challenging to see anything as particularly unconventional. One thing I can point out that may be outside of the norm is how I manage to raise capital. I've been incredibly deliberate in how we fundraise, favoring non-dilutive funding. The reason for this is that I don't want to bloat the business and grow for growth's sake as a result of targeting venture capital too soon. I believe this strategy has allowed us to build our product with intention.
What’s something you wish you knew sooner that you’d give as advice for aspiring or newer entrepreneurs?
I wish I knew that you can do whatever you want! In the beginning, I thought I was beholden to the paths that other prominent startup entrepreneurs took and that in order to be successful you had to follow a specific formula. It wasn't until I actually started talking to entrepreneurs at my stage and seeing that they ALL tackled problems in very different and creative ways that I learned that there's no right way to do anything. I realize that ultimately it comes down to doing what's best for your business and yourself.
Want to dive deeper into Riean's work? Find out more in the links below:
- Visit Honey to Cocoa's website honeytococoa.com
- Follow Honey to Cocoa on Instagram @honeytococoa
- Find Honey to Cocoa on TikTok @honeytococoa