The Future Of Beauty: “An App That Can Help You Find A Beauty Artist” With Courtney Summers of VaultBeauty
It seems that between social media, filters, and apps that make Photoshop so easy, women aren’t able to see the beauty in their own faces. Scrolling thru social media women start looking the same. It’s sad to see so many people ignore their own beauty. I can’t imagine how hard it makes it for young girls trying to figure out how to be comfortable and love who they are.
I had the pleasure of interviewing Courtney Summers, the Founder & CEO of the innovative VaultBeauty app available in the iTunes store. After 10 years working as a makeup artist, mostly in the pageantry and sports industries, Courtney sought to provide a solution to easily connect beauty professionals with clients (and vice versa!). When she was 8 months pregnant, unable to travel with a client, Courtney was tasked with finding another artist in the area — except she couldn’t. Shocked by how difficult it was to find beauty experts in a specific area, Courtney worked to create a new era of expert sourcing. Thus, VaultBeauty was born as the ultimate solution to finding local professionals across the cosmetics industry for all your beauty needs
Thank you so much for joining us Courtney! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
As a makeup artist always traveling to various locations, it became difficult when I was 8 months pregnant. A valued client asked if could recommend a reliable artist in the area she would be going. I searched for days and couldn’t believe how hard it was to find an artist in a specific area. I could not find anyone for her. It made me realize how many clients I was missing because they were having the same issue. It was a problem I couldn’t ignore, so I started working on a solution.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
Switching roles from freelance makeup artist to launching an app was very interesting to say the least — especially when you add in adjusting to being a new mom. Good times and hard times for certain. I was just in New York City for our first launch event. It was incredibly fulfilling to be able to talk to this group of women and hear their excitement regarding VaultBeauty! Even though I knew we had created something great, it was amazing to be able to finally introduce it to users and see their reaction.
Are you able to identify a “tipping point” in your career when you started to see success? Did you start doing anything different? Are there takeaways or lessons that others can learn from that?
The first month VaultBeauty was live in the app store we didn’t want to do a big PR push. We wanted to just reach out to users, slowly get artists on the app so we could eliminate any “bugs”. We had to figure out the best way to connect with our users but once we did, we started getting amazing feedback. VaultBeauty is still VERY new, but that one moment just reminded me that if something isn’t working, to keep trying till you find what does.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person to whom you are grateful who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
100% my parents. They started their own company when I was very young, so I grew up seeing their work ethic, how they never gave up, and how they treated their employees. At that time, I didn’t realize everything they sacrificed when I was younger and looking back, I have no clue how they did it. I’m am so incredibly grateful I have them to look up to and to go to when I’m stuck in a crossroads.
The beauty industry today has access to technology that was inconceivable only a short time ago. Can you tell us about the” cutting edge” (pardon the pun) technologies that you are working with or introducing? How do you think that will help people?
I think people have become accustomed to being able to find out anything from the palm of their hand, and VaultBeauty takes that one step further for the beauty industry. With VaultBeauty, we have simplified finding an artist. We want to save clients time by helping them know exactly who they will be working with, while the artists will have confidence knowing through VaultBeauty, they are not lost in a sea of hashtags. Although we are still in beta phase, we have an ongoing list of features we will be adding in the upcoming months to make our platform better for both artists and clients.
Keeping “Black Mirror” and the “Law of Unintended Consequences” in mind, can you see any potential drawbacks about this technology that people should think more deeply about?
It seems that between social media, filters, and apps that make Photoshop so easy, women aren’t able to see the beauty in their own faces. Scrolling thru social media women start looking the same. It’s sad to see so many people ignore their own beauty. I can’t imagine how hard it makes it for young girls trying to figure out how to be comfortable and love who they are.
Can you share 3 things that most excite you about the “beauty-tech” industry?
It’s exciting thinking about the future of beauty and how the tech industry will impact it.
- I have always loved skincare and can’t wait to try out 3D printed sheet masks! An app maps your face and takes skin diagnostics to find what you need, and the printer creates a mask that perfectly fits your face.
- L’Oréal is coming out with a system, Perso. It creates on-demand, personalized formulas for skincare, lipstick and foundation.
- I’ve also seen different apps/smart mirrors that do everything from trying on different makeup shades to telling you your hair type.
Can you share 3 things that most concern you about the industry? If you had the ability to implement 3 ways to reform or improve the industry, what would you suggest?
- I would love to see people stop photoshopping their photos — or at least overusing it!
- Don’t get me wrong, I love a good filter (especially if it works on my dogs) but there are so many filters that completely change your face.
- I wish more people would think about what they are promoting to their followers that put all their trust in them. There is a reason these brands pay certain people to post their products. Because their followers will buy without even thinking about it. But some of these products aren’t good for you.
You are an expert about beauty. Can you share 5 ideas that anyone can use “to feel beautiful”? (Please share a story or example for each.)
- Appreciate your body and take care of it — Going thru a pregnancy has made me appreciate my body so much. It’s incredible what your body is capable of.
- Fall in love with yourself and your life — One of the most important things I’ve learned is how to love myself. It’s hard to allow someone else to love you if you can’t be happy with yourself.
- Embrace your originality, your quirks, imperfections, and talents. — I love seeing a person who has accepted themselves and is comfortable in their own skin. It’s so beautiful.
- Do at least one thing a day for yourself — Whether it’s a bubble bath and a mask, or taking 10 mins in the morning to stretch and mentally prepare for your day.
- Good brows and the right haircut — Bad brows and a bad haircut are two things that are really hard to cover up…. I’ve had both, and neither help you feel beautiful. Haha.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
I wish everyone could be just a little more empathetic. Everyone is going through their own struggles that you might never know about. A tiny bit of kindness has the ability to completely change someone’s day.
Can you please give us your favorite” Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
This is a pretty generic response but, “Treat others the way you want to be treated”. Growing up, I’ve never seen my parents treat someone poorly no matter what kind of a day they were having. That’s definitely something I try to do. It doesn’t matter how successful you are, or how much money you have. The way you treat people is everything.
How can our readers follow you online?
@courtneysummers_ @vault_beauty
The Future Of Beauty: “An App That Can Help You Find A Beauty Artist” With Courtney Summers of… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.