For beauty entrepreneur Nyakio Grieco, the road to success was paved with the obstacles many new business owners face: closed doors, long nights, and the hope that the venture will thrive (or, at the very least, break even). But Grieco’s perseverance has paid off. She’s now the cofounder of e-commerce beauty site Thirteen Lune, which features Black- and brown-founded brands and inclusive beauty; as well as the creator of award-winning luxury skincare line Relevant, which specializes in melanin-rich skin. “Being in the beauty trenches as a woman of color has been profoundly challenging, but ultimately life-affirming,” she told me recently. “Elements crucial to success such as access to capital was always my greatest challenge. Even when I was able to get into partnerships, Nyakio Beauty—my first beauty brand before Relevant and Thirteen Lune took off—was such a niche brand within other companies’ portfolios that often, marketing dollars would be put elsewhere. Before I was able to get into national retailers, sometimes I’d have to say no because I knew I couldn’t afford to be there.”
But the Oklahoma native—who is the first-generation daughter of Kenyan parents who worked in academia—saw launching her businesses with intention as her “quest.” “I wanted to create a community to help Black and brown beauty founders who create products for all people realize success more quickly, with amplified support and on a much bigger stage,” she adds. Keeping that ultimate goal in mind led her to launch Thirteen Lune with Patrick Herning, who also heads up the size-inclusive e-commerce platform 11 Honoré.
“We’re here to debunk the myth that Black and brown people only create products for themselves. We create products for all,” she says. “At Thirteen Lune, we practice the 90/10 rule: 90 percent of all the brands we carry are created by people of color from around the globe who create products for everyone; 10 percent are dedicated to…
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