Amanda Caroline’s journey to success is nothing short of inspiring. Despite facing setbacks like a skin cancer diagnosis and a divorce, Amanda has remained resilient and bounced back stronger than ever. She’s now the founder of her own successful skincare brand, Amanda Caroline Skincare, and is continuing to expand her range of high-quality, effective skincare products.
Amanda’s story is a testament to the power of perseverance, faith, and self-care.
When asked about her secret sauce, Amanda credits her physical and mental strength, faith, and the importance of keeping the right people around her. Her passion for mentoring others and sharing her knowledge and experience is a true testament to her character and dedication to helping others.
For aspiring business owners, Amanda’s advice is to map out your vision, understand your market, be passionate and confident about your product, and have a financial plan. Her story is one of resilience, perseverance, and pursuing your passion. Amanda’s journey serves as an inspiration to anyone facing adversity and shows that with hard work, dedication, and a little faith, anything is possible.
Ready to be inspired Read on…
Tell us about the journey that led to the launch of Amanda Caroline Skincare.
It began towards the end of 2016, and only upon reflection do I truly understand how I arrived here. Over the years, I worked as a model – a career with a short lifespan – and overcame skin cancer, which sparked my interest in skincare and epigenetics, the power of the mind, and staying youthful. I started investing more and more time in taking care of my skin and leaned into beauty as a way to relax and escape a difficult time in my personal life.
I struggled to find a skincare routine that addressed my own skin concerns, including pigmentation from sun damage and a damaged skin barrier from harsh products used in my teens. Everything I bought seemed to clog my pores, leading to further problems with congestion and dehydration.
I felt there must be a way to disrupt this cycle, creating products that were super hydrating, clearing, and brightening the skin, giving a more youthful appearance and slowing the ageing process. When my personal life improved, I decided to start my own company, find a cosmetic scientist and manufacturer that could turn my vision into a reality, and that’s how our Haute Lift Duo was born.
You were diagnosed with malignant melanoma skin cancer in your early thirties. How did you turn this difficult moment into something positive?
Overcoming this difficult time left me with an 8cm scar on my right leg that was quite prohibitive as I was a swimwear/fashion/legs model. Because my melanoma was so close to being fatal, I took a closer look at my life and made significant changes, giving up modeling and focusing on what was important. This led me to where I am now.
How do you want people to feel when they use your products?
It’s essential to me that people see immediate results, feeling refreshed, plumped, and hydrated. I prioritize high efficacy and high-quality ingredients and value for money. I oversee all product development and brand development and spend a lot of time researching the ingredients and developing the unique formulas with our world-class Cosmetic Scientist, all made in the UK.
The personal experience is all-encompassing. When I see customers excited about the texture, delicate rose fragrance, and instant/long-term results, it reinforces what I have achieved, and it signals to me that I’m on the right path. I’m passionate about creating a non-complicated, no-fuss skincare routine, and I believe my customers appreciate that, building trust and confidence in the brand.
You always seem to bounce back from adversity, such as your skin cancer diagnosis or divorce. What’s your secret sauce?
I consider myself both physically and mentally strong, and keeping myself at an optimum level in both areas helps me to achieve what I need to do in my business and personal life. Faith plays a huge part in my life, providing constant support and strength during challenging times, whether personal or business. When I’m going through a difficult period, I focus on looking after myself, my health, and keeping the right people around me. It’s essential to have a trustworthy circle that cares about each other.
Have you got plans to expand your range and launch other products in the future?
I can’t wait to launch more products, we have so many plans and I have a huge vision for the brand, our plan is to complete the skincare, facial routine first that be used at home or in spas so we will be launching our cleanser next. This is a beautiful addition to the range and another really unique and special texture that we have been working on for over a year, it also has our signature rose scent and plenty of actives whilst being very gentle. We also have a few more exciting products in and out of development so over the next 18 months will be adding to the range
If you didn’t pursue this career, what else would you have liked to do?
My dream in the mid 80s was to be an air hostess, this is what I told my careers advisor, they told me I was too tall but I applied anyway and ended up having an interview with Virgin airways which was very new and glamourous at the time. Then I started modelling and decided to move to London and pursue this full time. I also really love to mentor people from all age groups and have worked with people who are starting businesses or going through a difficult time. I love to share my knowledge, experience and passion for life so would love to continue this, later on I would love to use my experience starting Amanda Caroline Skincare to help other women in business.
What advice would you offer any aspiring business owners who are struggling to get started?
It is important when you’re thinking of starting a business to map out your vision and understand your market. You need to be very passionate and confident about your product, if its not unique, how is it protected. You need to understand revenue and make sure you are you going to make a profit after your outgoings.
How are you going to manage the day to day workload and who are you going to bring onboard to support you. Burnout for CEOs of start outs is around 5 years so you have to be conscious of having the right level of support as the workload can be massive at the beginning. You need to understand resources and where they are going to come from as its always more expensive than you think and if you run out of money its game over. Most start ups fail because they run out of cash so its vital that you have a financial plan.
Developing products has been a great joy in my life and the launch of these products was a pinch me moment, switching on the ecommerce made it very real, when you start selling and realise there is an appetite in the marketplace for your products that’s very memorable and exciting, its huge!
Talk us through an average day in your life…
I like to compare myself in the mornings to Jeff Bezos who has quoted ‘I like to potter in the mornings’ I take time for myself, have coffee in bed, I scan emails and social media, I love waking up to orders, making money whilst I sleep! I then either get ready for the day, a full outfit, hair and makeup which takes some time or go for a sporty look and walk or do some training. I like to do sport most days, lifting heavy weights, lap swimming and cardio which helps focus my mind and strengthen my body. I check in at the office and at my local retailers, I don’t believe in micromanagement, and I trust my team to manage their schedule of work.
I often have meetings with retailers, doctors, aestheticians, press and financial people and I’m always looking out for new markets, that’s a big part of my day. I always make time to visit my daughter Sofia Yeganeh in her art studio in Mayfair and then we go for coffee and catch up. I don’t socialize until at least Wednesday where I may have an early dinner with my daughter or some friends.
On a Friday I like to take a half day for a long lunch and on the weekends catch up with friends and loved ones, I love to visit art galleries, watch the ballet, shop for antiques in London and visit other Cities around Europe. Looking back since launching the business, is there anything that you would do differently? I stand by my journey and all of the difficulties and challenges that came along, these have made me stronger and more resilient. Business as in life is a series of battles that need to be overcome and won. I have no regrets at all and am grateful for all of the experiences that have presented themselves during this learning curve.
Our readers love to travel, what destination is at the top of your bucket list?
I’ve always wanted to visit Australia and New Zealand, I haven’t yet had the time. I would also love to see more of South America, Latin America, Africa, Middle East and Eastern Europe. I know that America is going to be a really big market for us and so I am really looking forward to visiting more of the States. Running a business can be non-stop, what do you do to switch off? I love entertaining in my beautiful new home, I love cooking, feeding people and hosting parties for people. I make the best margaritas in London at my bar, the Chez Amanda. I built my house to be the perfect, social and safe space for my friends to get together and open up.
Letting off steam with my close friends is very important and helps me to unwind at the weekends. Like everyone else, I also love TikTok, watch Netflix, keeping up the with current trends. Swimming is a big part of my life and really helps me to relax during the week and find resolution. Sport helps keep my mind focused and allows me time away from my phone and emails. I’m also a big part of the church community.
What’s your go to quote when you’re lacking motivation?
Like every true entrepreneur there is always an element of self doubt that can creep in, this is normal and very healthy. I just find a way to push through, punch through… there is always a way. Again this is where my faith helps and I am able to reach out within my community for support and advice. Asking for help is a vital part of being a business owner and its always humbling and it’s a relief when people respond to that.
In five years from now, where do you see the brand?
I have a very clear vision for the brand, skincare for the face and then we will work on body care, I would love to create a perfume as I am really passionate about the scents in our products and love to mix my own perfumes together for a signature scent, supplements, makeup, to be in every top spa in the world, doctors offices, luxury pharmacies, beauty clinics, pop ups in major cities and an Amanda Caroline skincare flagship store and spa. As a digital business we are growing our online presence.
Where can people find out more?
You can visit our website and shop at www.amandacarolinebeauty.com On Instagram and Tiktok we share a lot of behind the scenes and have a great community of followers @amandacarolineskincare My personal Instagram is @amandacarolinecronin I want people to know that I’m really approachable and read all my DMs, I love to connect with anyone that follows the brand and is or wants to become a customer. Our products are also available in Fenwick stores and online, and at Saksfiftheavenue.com.
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