Chances are, you already know Rowi Singh. The South Asian-Australian beauty-content-creating powerhouse has amassed hundreds of thousands of Instagram followers who admire her bold self-expression through a unique, technicolour-hued makeup aesthetic.
Having worked with iconic brands like Instagram, Nike, Fenty Beauty and Puma, among others, Singh has now embarked on a new, exciting business venture of her own: Embellish By Rowi. She shares the news with BuzzFeed here.
1. Tell us in your own words what Embellish By Rowi is.
"In a nutshell, Embellish is creative makeup made easy; self-adhesive rhinestones to accessorise any makeup look. Inspired by bold colours and aspects of my Indian heritage, Embellish taps into innovative beauty in a curated way."
2. Why did you want to launch this brand? What does Embellish By Rowi mean to you?
3. Is Embellish By Rowi the first brand you’ve founded?
"Yep, it's my first!"
4. When did you first come up with the idea for it?
"Embellish was developed out of need — and initially I had no plan to market the product. I wanted delicate and elegant rhinestones that aligned with my eclectic makeup looks, so I curated my own sheet for personal use. I eventually brought it to market based on audience demand."
5. Roughly how long did it take from idea to the brand launching?
"It took about a year from idea conceptualisation to launch."
6. Can you tell us about the planning process? What was involved in actually bringing the idea to life?
7. What were the biggest challenges along the way?
"The vision will always be modified by what can actually be achieved. It wasn't as simple as having an idea and making it reality. I needed to make sure it was feasible and commercially viable to produce. I have a huge vision for the types of designs I want to create, but it's a lot of trial and error. If the product doesn't exist, you need to create custom molds and build from scratch — devouring my time and money. I'm still working through these innovative designs.
I was also out of depth in areas such as web development and finance management. It was a huge learning curve and the process was a lot more tedious than expected. I found myself needing to outsource a lot of the skills I couldn't take on myself, which actually helped to push through the process quicker. However, that means more investment. Developing a brand is definitely a risk, but the reward is sweet."
8. And of course, what were the highlights?
9. Can you tell us roughly how much it cost to make Embellish By Rowi a reality? Did you personally save for it? Was it boot-strapped? Were there investors?
"Embellish was born out of my personal savings. Start up cost was around $25,000 AUD."
10. Can you take us through how you felt embarking on the process of launching the brand?
11. What did it feel like on the first day Embellish By Rowi went live?
"I was wracked with nerves and anticipation, but the support was incredible. I couldn't concentrate on anything I did that day; I don't even think I ate. I just sat and waited for the website launch timer to tick down to the final minute, and watched as the orders came through. It was surreal!"
12. What advice do you have for anyone who wants to do something similar?
13. While the above questions are about pre-launch Embellish By Rowi, can you also tell us about a highlight and a challenge post-launch?
"I'm no longer marketing myself, I'm marketing a brand. I'm responsible for everything the brand puts out, every late or missing order, every typo and every technical difficulty. I needed to respond fast and efficiently, and make decisions based on customer insights and analytics. Keeping momentum is hard too, as there's been a few delays with my next few designs. But we keep pushing!"
