Never let anyone tell you what you can or cannot do. Sometimes you have to hit rock bottom before you can reinvent yourself or as we say, let the magic happen. Founder of natural, organic and gluten-free cosmetics brand, Evelyn Iona, Brandi Leifso is that success story we keep on sharing.

Brandi Leifso founded Evelyn Iona in 2013 and her story is a special one. One that makes women everywhere believe that anything is possible if you put your mind and soul into it.

“I want the company to be known for having good products, not just a sob story.”

Brandi grew up in a household of nine siblings on a dairy farm in Canada. No, they were not the former Brady Bunch. Unlike most teenagers, she left the house when she was only 17 and started working in the entertainment industry as a Model Manager. Fun fact: Brandi was homeschooled due to being a figure skater on the junior Olympic team. “I was skating competitively in Canada. We were second in our division. After my partner quit, I was never able to refill his spot due to synergy.”

While in the entertainment industry, Brandi started dating another fellow entrepreneur. But, that relationship was very unhealthy and she ended up admitting herself into a women’s shelter in 2012. “I wanted to get myself back up on my feet and help other women who were in the same situation.” During her time at the shelter, Brandi founded her company and wanted the brand to revolve around creating real human to human connections.

“Our products are made of things you find in your breakfast.”

Yes, this is true. For all you foodies out there, Evelyn Iona’s mascara is made out of coffee beans and its lip gloss is made out of carrots. “When we first started, our products were not natural or organic. But once I started acknowledging that most of our products are gluten free, have 5-8 ingredients and are very simple, I started to integrate products that are hard to find. For example, our gel liner stays on all day but is organic. This is what we have been recognized for mostly by The New York Times and Vogue.” Insider tip: the FDA is very lenient on regulating what goes in beauty products. Here are a couple of nasty ingredients most of your favorite brands probably used that you weren't aware of: whale vomit (great preservative), horse urine, iron and lead (gross!). Fear not, Evelyn Iona uses grapefruit and lemon as preservatives with a shelf life of 18-24 months.

“It is very rare that I sit down and talk to somebody about makeup. We just use it as a tool to make a connection and build a community.”

Brandi has done a great job on creating a community around her brand. She tells us how she finds it very important to build human connections with her customers. “We don’t Photoshop any of our photos.” When she is not up late at night commenting on every single YouTube video about her products, you can usually find her socializing with bloggers. The trick? “We reach out to bloggers saying ‘hey, we don’t want anything from you. We just want to be your friend and grab coffee.’ I literally flew to Boston, New York, Toronto, Chicago, you name it, to sit down with these bloggers and speak about our values, their values and build relationships. As a result, they have written about us because people generally tend to help their friends.”

The Marketing

Brandi reminisces on how she started the company with zero budget for marketing. As a result, everything has been via word of mouth. Evelyn Iona also had a launch event in partnership with Birchbox and Credo and to show just you how good storytelling gets, “people have been reaching out to us after they hear about my story or product.” Currently, the team consists of 5 full-time members with 7 individuals contracted out. The product is sold primarily through wholesale in 38 stores across the USA, Australia and Canada and can be found at Credo, Aillea, and QVC (just launched yesterday).

The Advice

Being an entrepreneur is hard. Not only is it a lonely journey, but it also takes an emotional toll on the soul. Brandi’s key advice for those wanting to start their first venture: “you work the first four years of your business the way nobody would be willing to so that you can live the rest of your life the way most people can’t.” If you are planning to enter the beauty industry, create a product around a lifestyle and go organic!

The Future

“My vision for the company is to build a platform of different companies with the same values, social responsibility and community.” Brandi is looking to branch out into skincare and fashion industry in the next few years. Keep a look out!

Freaked out by what you just read? Don’t worry, get your new look here. Everything is sold under $30 and for every product sold, $1 is donated to the YWCA. Want to meet Brandi and get some makeup advice, email us and we will put you in touch. Bonus: We will be giving away Evelyn Iona products via Instagram, follow us and get in on the action!

Photo courtesy of Evelyn Iona.