Hidden Gems: Meet Mercedes Tate and Leslie Rivera of Lovely Laughs Lashes

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mercedes and Leslie.

Hi Mercedes and Leslie, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
We’ve been best friends for over ten years and we have always done everything together. One day we started talking about how we should start a business and inspire and empower women. We started thinking of different business ideas and back then in 2009, our friends would call us Laughs and Lovely. We decided after two years to make something that would symbolize our friendship so we decided on eyelashes. We both love eyelashes so we just put our foot forward and decided we needed to leave something behind for our kids, and so that is how we started our business. We are where we are today because we aren’t giving up. We aren’t going to give up, and we are so thankful to those around us who have pushed us to keep going, and we’re thankful to God because it’s not easy but I know we became friends for a reason, there are always reasons to quit but we have put our foot down but weren’t not giving up. We continue to strive and will keep going. We are here today and we are just getting started. The most important part of having a business is that you continue to learn and grow every day.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It hasn’t been easy, everything comes in waves some days are good, some days are slower than others. We have found ourselves with several challenges, especially starting our own business with no prior experience. We have had the struggle of choosing our branding. Being open to feedback and we are always finding ways to improve our brand. Rejection comes along in this type of business and we work hard and we know that at the end of the day we aren’t doing this for the people we do this for ourselves no matter the negativity. We just focus by taking constructive criticism and staying motivated in this type of business and lifting each other up, knowing we are not alone.

We’ve been impressed with Lovely Laughs Lashes , but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
We are two female best friends who sell mink eyelashes and be will be adding more beauty products sometime in the future. We are in the beauty industry, trying to help women feel more beautiful and confident when they put on our lashes. Lashes are a girl’s best friend and they make a huge difference. We have not had any negativity. We keep pushing every day. We are proud of our current lash cases because our first casing was not what we expected it to be. We feel accomplished by our sales and meeting our goals. I would say what sets us apart is that we are not the kind of best friends that are competing against each other. We want to see everyone to succeed and to love to see each other succeed there is no competition we want to remain humble. We want to provide joy and happiness to each customer. We are genuine in what we do and we aren’t just doing this for money we have fun and love it!

Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
Watching videos on YouTube, especially if you’re a new business owner. Seek advice from a friend or family member who owns their own business. What has helped us the most is getting tips from other small business owners. We listen and will continue to get new ideas. We are very grateful that they are willing to share their tips, advice etc… with us. You can start by brainstorming with a friend and taking the time to reflect and talk about ideas and get each other’s input. You can get a vision of your business and in the direction you want it to go towards and towards and utilize all social media platforms.

Contact Info:

• Email: mercedesayala23@icloud.com
• Website: Lovelylaughslashes.bigcartel.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lovelylaughslashes/
• Other: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMJqHeoEp/