Meet MonaLisa Miguel | Founder & Creator of Whipped Studios

We had the good fortune of connecting with MonaLisa Miguel and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi MonaLisa, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?

Where I come from and how I grew up, there were never talks about owning your own business, creating self-wealth, or carving your own path for yourself vs someone else’s vision of what you should do or where you could go. The best I could do is go to school, graduate and get a job, working for someone else that would give me stability and consistency. It’s exactly what I did. I worked hard, always giving it the ole’ 150%, pushing myself to greatness. Well, so I thought. I learned I was smart enough, worked hard enough, motivating enough, reliable enough, and capable of innovation, finding gaps, and creating solutions that worked for the businesses I supported, but one day I had the Oprah Ah Hah moment. “Why am I not doing this for myself?”

It was time to draw my blueprint. I simply was tired of following instructions that was being given by someone who didn’t believe in the things that matter. My days had become about profit over people, ego over empathy, and control over heart share. It was my oldest son who said “Mom you got this.”, he said that to me often. Anytime I thought, or considered that I couldn’t do something, he motivated me to follow my own dreams. I made some decisions, saved start-up costs that would give me the ability to get through the first year, and here I am.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?

Whipped Studios–Lash Bar is a growing national lash extension brand. Not only do we service lash artists around the country but service clients who come in looking to have eyelash extensions properly applied by trained, certified, and licensed experts along with the access to experience many of our other beauty services. I’ve had the ability to take my 14+ years of corporate experience and travel across the country to train and coach businesses, entrepreneurs, and upcoming creators, and let’s make no mistake, beauticians whether Esti’s, Cosmo’s, MU artists, etc., are creators.

One of our many goals is to educate lash artists around the country about the proper application, product quality, proper customer etiquette, and more importantly, how to succeed in their own businesses.

I would like to say one of our prouder achievements is to be recognized in our community as a place of empowering women! You walk in our doors and it’s the little luxuries that give you not just a beautification boost, but an emotional lift. Being different for us is easy because of our old fashion work ethic; customer service is everything. Regardless if it’s an artist buying extension adhesive online or a client coming in to get one of our many beautification services, we ensure you have world-class service regardless of what you’re doing.

Another star attribute that I think we all can appreciate is that we ensure our products are quality-checked before every shipment. We have partnered with American manufacturers, who provide some of the best products on the market. We are extremely excited to bring those products to the world. One of our biggest partnerships to date is with Oil of Bergamot®, we have combined our Complete Care Eyelash Extension Cleanser with their groundbreaking All Natural Lash & Brow Rejuvenator. I am so proud of this accomplishment, it’s every black girl’s dream; to stand alongside a national brand that allows your own to shine.

We want to be the first of many things and I know we can do it. To be the first black woman to innovate in this arena is an amazing accomplishment and I look forward to the success in front of us. I have an amazing team of people who have been willing to fight the good fight. Turning a start-up into an empire, that’s the goal.

Lastly, I want any person who reads this to know, I’m a girl from Inglewood, California, it wasn’t easy, and being an African American woman was even harder. There were no shortcuts, there was no help, there was no hand that reached back. It’s always been about trying, falling, failing, and trying again. It’s been about attempting to understand the business behind the business. I’ll tell you this, all my life it’s been a journey of not just playing the game but understanding how to coach and come up with winning plays; not as a player, but the game creator. And here I am, I didn’t create this particular game but I’ve darn sure re-created it! Anyone, can, it’s never about making new things but making old things better.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Oh boy, that would be difficult for me. Right now it’s all about work, which is why I’m single, ha! Growing and expanding the brand is the best time ever for me. But, if I do get out, my favorites are a movie at the IPic theatre in Westwood, CA, a dinner at my favorite sushi restaurant, Yamashiro in the beautiful hills of Hollywood, or just a good laugh at the many Improv’s throughout Los Angeles and Riverside County.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?

My inspiration is counted in two’s. My 2 sons and my 2 cents.

First, my sons provide all my inspiration, all my motivation, all my strength, and all my love. I am a mother first. A mother who always wanted to see her sons do better with better. I wanted to create wealth not just financially, but mentally. If I want to be successful, it’s simple, I think of them.

There is an eight-year difference between my sons, so my oldest has always been the one I ran ideas through. He could make me feel like I was a superwoman, with “Can do anything” superpowers. His spirit and positive energy kept me strong and focused. He helped me seed ideas and they are now busting through the soil. My two boys inspire me every day of every waking hour. Who can fail when you have that behind you?

Secondly, my 2 cents. I am a person who always has ideas. Unfortunately, working for someone else, those ideas are capped, non-recognized, and of no value. Because my opinion was important to me, my thoughts, how I wanted things to work, it was my passion for my ideas that motivated me even more. So I give credit to myself because I stuck through it. Nothing has come easy. But my passion for my own success is also a contribution to where I am now. We shouldn’t run away for crediting ourselves for doing the work! So I’m thankful for the experiences in my life that allowed me the freedom to think and act.

Website: www.whippedstudios.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/whippedstudios

Twitter: whippedstudios

Facebook: www.facebook.com/whippedstudios

Other: www.poplme.co/whippedstudios

Image Credits
Whipped Studios Lash Bar