Listen to your customers. Listen to their reviews and follow up with them. Customer service is key. If you want to be successful in business, no matter the business, make sure you’re really checking in with your customers — that your customers are happy.
Inan era where conscious consumerism is on the rise, the beauty industry is undergoing a significant transformation towards cruelty-free and ethical practices. This series aims to highlight and celebrate the brands and individuals who are at the forefront of this movement, showcasing their commitment to ethical sourcing, animal welfare, and sustainable production in the world of cosmetics. As a part of this series, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Ashunta Sheriff-Kendricks, founder of Ashunta Sheriff Beauty.
Ashunta Sheriff-Kendricks is an illustrious figure in the beauty industry, acclaimed not only for her pioneering makeup artistry for over two decades but also as the innovative force behind Ashunta Sheriff Beauty. Her brand epitomizes the pinnacle of clean, progressive beauty solutions designed for everyone, underpinned by a mission of inclusivity and diversity.
Thank you so much for joining us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’?
Iwas always a creative kid — experimenting and being creative with regard to fashion, beauty and art. At the age of three, I started doing modern dance then went into African, jazz, tap, hip hop, and ballet. I continued into my young adulthood, doing various dance troops. Makeup is always a part of that process. Even from being a young performer, they’re putting glitter, rhinestones or face painting on you. So, I learned really early on how to paint my neighbor’s face.
My mom was also a creative person. She was a singer and we were constantly around a lot of creative people. So, I was definitely that kind of kid who was going to do something creative in my life.
I began my career as a pioneering makeup artist, collaborating with leading brands such as Dior, Bioré, and Armani Beauty and have been fortunate to illuminate the visages of such entertainment titans as Zendaya, Rihanna and Alicia Keys. Initially, however, I focused on male grooming for icons like Jay-Z and Diddy.
I then went on to develop Ashunta Sheriff Beauty, a brand that has come to be known for its clean, progressive beauty solutions designed for everyone, and its mission of inclusivity and diversity. Beyond my creative side, I’ve long had a deep passion for mentorship and have dedicated myself to cultivating the next generation of talented makeup artists, with a particular emphasis on empowering women. I feel like it’s part of my duty as a Black creative to foster inclusive opportunities.
Now, through Ashunta Sheriff Beauty, I strive to celebrate and elevate individual beauty. We empower individuality through clean, cutting-edge beauty solutions. We are so much more than a brand; we are part of a movement towards a brighter, more inclusive future in beauty.
Can you share with us the most interesting story from your career? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘takeaways’ you learned from that?
There have been so many on my journey. But I had a really big learning lesson with my first brand, Perfect Face by Sheriff, that I introduced in 2012. We had a product called Perfect Blend, and we got all the way up to QVC. Long story short, I got hit with a trademark infringement lawsuit because Perfect Face was owned and trademarked by another brand. My partner at the time didn’t do due diligence in researching that, assuming that because my name was a part of it that we were in some kind of safety zone.
Having to start all over with Ashunta Sheriff Beauty now I made sure to be a part of every single process. Because I realized as an entrepreneur, you really have to wear every single hat. You have to truly understand the nuts and bolts of how your business is built. And that carries through into your artistry as a creative as well. You have to make sure you’re re-inventorying, staying on top of trends, staying on top of education, etc.
There are a lot of learning curves that I’ve gone through, but they’ve cultivated me to be a strong businesswoman and a better creative artist.
You are a successful leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
On top of everything is family. And family can be my born family, blood family or my chosen family of creative artists — my makeup artistry family or my Ashunta Sheriff Beauty family. These communities of people form my family and that family support throughout my life, wherever it’s come from has been the conveyor belt that’s kept me going through those ups and downs.
The second characteristic is I’m a warrior. And warrior for me means a protector and fighter of morals and values, and what’s important to them and to their culture and community. I definitely feel like I am a warrior for the community, whether it’s women, Black people or LGBTQIA+.
The third characteristic is innovation. Innovation is really like, I think that we constantly have to be innovative with ourselves, with our art. And it inspires others. So with innovation, it’s really important to let yourself go and be free to let your brain connect with the universe to give you the information. I believe we’re conduits of energy. When we flow with that energy, we really get great creative, innovative ideas.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that might help people?
Currently, I’m in the SEED SPOT accelerator program and working on getting all of our certifications down. This was something that was on our roadmap for a while, and when I got into SEED SPOT, what I needed to do was kind of laid out for me. So, I’ve already applied to do Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) certification and working on Women-Owned next.
I’m finding other promising programs through SEED SPOT that will ultimately help us grow and expand our mission of inclusivity and diversity. The certifications, for instance, can help with getting funding or getting grants. On the consumer side, many are choosing to only support women-owned, Black-owned or minority-owned in addition to the vegan, paraben and cruelty-free certifications. So you have those certifications.
Ok, thank you for all that. Now let’s shift to the main focus of our interview. What inspired you to embrace cruelty-free and ethical practices in the cosmetics industry, and how has this commitment shaped your brand’s philosophy?
I feel like if we’re going to create makeup brands and we know that our environment can be saved by each person’s effort, why not make the effort? So. most of our packaging is paper, even our compact is paper so it’s a fully recyclable product. excited about that. We’re also looking into other beyond vegan and cruelty- and paraben-free that help support social causes. For instance, we’re starting a program soon called Currency Exchange that will give a certain portion of each product sale directly to young, single mothers living in underprivileged countries where they aren’t able to open bank accounts. This program sets up a bank account for them and puts the money directly into their hands rather than a third-party organization.
So, our mission of ethical practices and inclusion and diversity has really been the driving force behind all of our brand decisions and development. It’s our North Star.
How do you ensure that your products meet both ethical standards and consumer expectations for quality and performance?
We vet our manufacturers extensively. That’s where the real process begins. We look into all their certifications to ensure they are vegan and cruelty-free. That due diligence is how we ensure we’re formulating a product line from A to Z that’s truly clean, cruelty-free and paraben-free.
Can you share a challenge you faced while transitioning to or maintaining cruelty-free practices and how you overcame it?
There wasn’t too much I had to overcome because I had a lot of product development knowledge from doing it over the years. When I was a celebrity makeup artist, I did a lot of product development and worked on production with major brands. So, I had a lot of understanding about the chemicals and the processes, and what’s safe and what’s not.
But one big learning came from the chemists that I worked with. They said we are chemicals, and I think that’s what’s so easy to forget. A lot of people say they don’t want chemicals in their bodies, but we are composed of chemicals. All of the many elements of the Periodic Table form the human body. Once you get your mind around that, you start to differentiate what are the safer chemicals that align with the body and don’t create disruption. That’s where we’ve really had to take a closer look and make sure that just because it’s vegan and cruelty-free, it’s not causing any kind of disruption. It’s about safety too.
For instance, if I know that a large percentage of people have nut allergies, I’m not going to lean into putting almond oil or cashew oil or even coconut in the product because it could be dangerous. Speaking of chemicals, we also had to learn about Prop 65 before we could get our products into California-based retailers. We passed, but the criteria is very stringent and exact.
In your opinion, what are the biggest misconceptions about cruelty-free and ethical cosmetics, and how do you address these in your marketing and education efforts?
One of the biggest misconceptions is that being chemical-free is better, and that’s not always true. It’s about finding the right chemicals, because remember, the human body is made of chemicals. You have to find the right chemical combination that works best for you.
There’s been this movement of zest towards chemical and toxic-free, and we just need a better understanding about it so that we’re not always equating chemicals with bad. It’s about what the chemical is actually doing. Maybe the chemical is replacing a nut or seed because so many people are allergic, so a synthetic vegan oil was used. What is that made of? Well, many times oil comes from an avocado, but some people have avocado seed allergy. So, there are a lot of things you have to think about when you’re making products. We need to do our research on what works best for us individually, because not one person is chemically the same.
Based on your research or experience, can you please share your “5 Things You Need to Create a Succesful Cruelty-Free Brand”?
- Know what your brand is. Know who you are. Be rooted in who you are. Don’t look to other people to mimic yourself like because people will eat you alive. They’ll see through that and know that you’re not being real or authentic. So always be yourself. Know who you are and know what your brand is about.
- Know who your customer is. Know what they want. Know them better than you know yourself, because that’s how you’re going to create products that last. Remember, products are not for you. They’re for your customers.
- Listen to your customers. Listen to their reviews and follow up with them. Customer service is key. If you want to be successful in business, no matter the business, make sure you’re really checking in with your customers — that your customers are happy.
- Keep customers engaged. Give your customers incentives to keep them excited and engaged in your community.
- Know when to take rest. Know when to relax yourself and take a break. I had a friend who told me that she works six days straight and then always takes a day off. So no matter how it falls that way, she always ends up with a day off every day of the week. At the end of the day, all that success is nothing if you are not resting. Having quality time with your family and friends, and alone time. Really take time to preserve and have wellness for yourself. It’s just as important as your success.
Looking ahead, how do you see the future of the beauty industry in terms of sustainability and ethical practices, and what role do you hope your brand will play in this evolution?
I think that within beauty, we’re going to see so much more innovation with regard to sustainability. I think in terms of what can be done with just what I’ve seen, even with packaging. There’s so much recycled packaging that you’d never guess it was recycled from waste. It was so stunning and beautiful. So, there’s a lot of innovation around recycled packaging. I can’t imagine what we’ll see coming out in a few more years.
I also believe technology is going to move really fast as well. We’re already seeing manicure machines and eyelash extension machines. Maybe we’ll see makeup machines. Who knows? I think there’s going to be a lot of “Jetson-esque”-level things coming to life because we’re already seeing some of these things come to life.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?
I think I’m at the beginning of creating a movement for the Ashunta Sheriff Beauty community. I just started our pro artist community, and I want to make a movement for makeup artists that creates a space that’s beyond just buying products from me and the brand, but becomes a resource for networking, of helping each other. A community that supports with launching their business or getting funding — just resource sharing.
I want to become that place and space for the makeup artists who decide that they want to evolve beyond artistry. They want to become global educators, but they don’t know how to pull the curriculum together. So, I want to be like a mentorship program that creates an empowering community for artists in a different way. That’s what Ashunta Sheriff Beauty’s pro program is going to be all about, and I think it’s going to be game changing.
What is the best way for our readers to continue to follow your work online?
Connect with me on LinkedIn or through Ashunta Sheriff Beauty.
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent on this. We wish you only continued success.
About the Interviewer: Wanda Malhotra is a wellness entrepreneur, lifestyle journalist, and the CEO of Crunchy Mama Box, a mission-driven platform promoting conscious living. CMB empowers individuals with educational resources and vetted products to help them make informed choices. Passionate about social causes like environmental preservation and animal welfare, Wanda writes about clean beauty, wellness, nutrition, social impact and sustainability, simplifying wellness with curated resources. Join Wanda and the Crunchy Mama Box community in embracing a healthier, more sustainable lifestyle at CrunchyMamaBox.com.
