Why I'm Closing Erin's Faces (& What's Next)

I've been trying to figure out what to write about for the last month. How to write it - how to say how I'm feeling. So I'll tell you a story that helped me make my decision on closing Erin's Faces.  

I had called a dear friend who's a fellow beauty brand founder and talked with her as I was wrestling with my decision of "to close or not to close". Something she said struck a chord with me - it was to the effect of, "You've worked so hard, put in so much time, and I hate to think that it would just be over."  

I thought back to when I started Erin's Faces.  I was living in Queens and had been a musical theatre performer. Since I was 22 I had worked in makeup to pay my bills and every so often I'd book a show, clear out of town for a few months, sing, dance and share stories with an audience. And so at 33, I was doing all of this and the seed for Erin's Faces was planted, so I started the company but kept auditioning.  

Erin's Faces began to grow and certain point I couldn't audition anymore - I had to make a choice.  EF was too small to leave in someone else's hands, as I was a one man band at that point. But I believed in it and I knew if I left it to do a show I wouldn't be able to keep it going very easily. And so I stopped auditioning and even paused my union status in the stage actors union. I chose Erin's Faces.  Even though I had put in so much work, so much time into performing, so much money into training. Even though I loved theatre and singing and storytelling, I stopped doing it because I was called to do something different. And so I walked away from it.

A realization came over me: "what if I had stayed in theatre?  Erin's Faces would have never existed as it does today. I wouldn't have the community, the amount of products, the staff, the people I've met all over the country, the education sessions I've led, the lessons I've learned, the goodness we've shared with our customers - none of it would have existed if I stayed where I was." And that's when I knew what my decision needed to be.  

I'm being called to do something different.  And it won't get a chance to exist if I don't step away from Erin's Faces. Which brings tears to my eyes as I type because I love what we've built - and let me be clear - WE built this together. I couldn't have done it by myself - not a chance. And I love what we made -  the products are my favorite products -  but most of all I love US - I love the people, the connections. It's YOU.  

And I'm hoping to build on that and create even more connections with even more people in this next phase. It feels right, it feels exciting, and I have so many ideas. Coaching entrepreneurs, working with corporations about company culture/empathy in the workplace, shining a light on small businesses, teaching courses about building your company - I want to do all of it.  

Some piece of Erin's Faces will continue to exist - formulas will be shared with other folks, either on a small or large scale, that remains to be seen - but the trust that we've built together - that isn't going to go away. I'm still here and will still be on social media and I hope that we can stay in one another's lives.  

In the days since closing I've received some of the kindest messages about the good that we've done at Erin's Faces - telling people they're beautiful just as they are, that nothing in your appearance needs to be fixed or altered in order to "fit", that we're all valuable and deserve to be seen and heard. I want to do more of that. I want to lift more people up. I hope you'll stay with me as I do because I truly believe this is just the beginning.  xo