While most kids her age were planning how to do a promposal or figure out their geometry homework, Nia Phillips was calling lip gloss manufacturers who might mass-produce her vegan beauty products.
Nia, a 17-year-old teen entrepreneur, finally did find a manufacturer and - with a little help from her mom - launched her own beauty brand that’s gained national attention and investments from the owners of McDonald’s. On an average month, the Cypress Lakes High School senior ships 5,000 lip glosses and beauty products from her home, employs her sister as a warehouse manager and works closely under the watchful eyes of her toy poodle, Nugget. All this while she juggles friendships, chores and typical teenage demands.
“It can get difficult sometimes because you have to juggle being a business owner and going to school and doing your homework,” she says.
Through her brand Ni’Abri Beauty, Nia’s sells American-made, cruelty-free vegan lip glosses and lipsticks. Each product is named after an empowering character trait such as “self-respect” or “inner beauty.”
“I really hope that people get a sense of self-worth and inner happiness,” she says. “Something they’ll be able to put on and say, ‘I feel good. I feel content with myself.’”
Nia had always been a fan of lip gloss, so she started watching YouTube videos on how to hand-make her product. She signed up for business classes and dreamed of launching her own business. At first, she’d start small and sell just to friends - or so she thought. But after Nia chatted with her mom about her hopes of becoming a teen entrepreneur, her mother made bigger plans.
Then, at Nia’s sixteenth birthday party - where everyone expected her to receive a new car - her mom unveiled a surprise. It wasn’t the keys to a new car. Instead, Nia was gifted an established beauty line with products bearing her name, Ni’Abri Beauty. She was ecstatic.
“(My mom) wanted me to have financial freedom,” Nia says. “She wanted me to be able to live my life the best way I can. Frankly, I think this is way better.”
Since then, Nia has been featured on Ebony.com, Black Enterprise and on the Tamron Hall Show. In February, Nia’s brand drew the attention of McDonald’s business owners Marla and Marissa Thrower. The business tycoons surprised Nia on national television with yet another twist in her business story - a $25,000 grant to take Ni’Abri Beauty to a new level.
Nia is using the cash for new product packaging, business training and has plans to expand her product line to include blushes and makeup highlighters. She also chose to donate $3,000 of her grant to help three kid-owned, startup businesses. She created a competition and funded a teenage bath-bomb soapmaker, a 15-year-old jewelry maker and a 14-year-old duo who create and sell hobby subscription boxes.
“I’m just taken aback by how much she has grown,” says Dedra Phillips, Nia’s mom. “How much she wants to give back, and how much she thinks about others.”
Next, Nia wants to get her products into beauty stores like Ulta or Sephora and eventually establish her own Ni’Abri Beauty store. Her advice to other business owners? Get a mentor and establish a clear business vision - without it, a business won’t thrive. For Nia, it’s as simple as this: “I’m going to use this business to empower people. I want people to feel they are worth something.”
NiAbriBeauty.com