Michelle Phan
Michelle Phan is 29-years-old and has already built a $500 million beauty empire, according to Forbes. What started as YouTube tutorials spun into a global beauty, wellness and inspirational phenomenon, and this was done all while Phan was struggling to make ends meet working as a waitress and trying to put herself through art school. She eventually had to drop out due to financial reasons, but that didn’t stop her for continuing her undeniable presence on and offline. In 2011 she founded Ipsy and wrote a book. In 2015 she partnered with Endemol Beyond USA and formed the ICON Network. She has over 8.7 million YouTube subscribers, has created her own digital graphic book (HELIOS:FEMINA), and the list goes on. All this and she hasn’t even hit 30 yet. Michelle Phan shows us that financial problems can smoke us all in our pursuit, but it’s how we power through, the networks we hold close, and the drive behind our own brands that can make success happen through unconventional ways.
