Life & Work with Erica Kane of Ohio

Today we’d like to introduce you to Erica Kane.

Hi Erica, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Modeling and makeup has always been a passion of mine ever since I was a little girl who had access to a JCPenney catalog and the drug store magazine Top Model. And the days of lip smackers and wet n wild….

I dreamed of wearing beautiful fashion, being a famous face (knowing more about the darkness of the industry I’m actually glad that my dream of Fame did not come true) and living the lifestyle of photoshoots and runways.

After a “missed opportunity” to fly to New York right before I was set to graduate from high school I had all but just given up on the likelihood of living that life and found a rhythm in party nights, and then marriage motherhood and eventually single motherhood and all the struggles that came with that…..

Few and far between some random opportunities would arise and most of them I missed out on because of my immense responsibilities but one notable experience was being in a calendar and even as a single mother of three I still held that dream that there was more meant for my life.

However many years would pass and more failed attempts at marriage and the normal life of raising babies…. I still found a way to keep my passion Alive by using makeup and even started a channel on YouTube talking about makeup that I would find at the drugstore.

As I was taking my babies on a stroller walk I had met another mom who had little kids around my kids ages and we clicked and her sister had joined a Makeup Company and was showing people the amazing ways of this lipstick that didn’t kiss off and I was absolutely floored !
Like what do you mean I can actually kiss my babies without getting lipstick all over their faces??? Is this for real??? A fire lit up inside of me and I just knew I had to be a part of this and so Luxury Lips was born !
I started a YouTube channel of Facebook business page and found a lot of success early on from doing what I do best just yapping about the things I love and demonstrating them to all of my friends online and in person!!!! I felt like I was living The Best of Both Worlds there for a while being able to be a mom but then also having a side hustle that reminded me that I was also Erica and I hadn’t fully lost myself……
So much momentum went into this and I was growing steadily and team-building and finding a lot of sales success … getting together with my Facebook friends in real life being able to apply their makeup for them when they have a date night or a wedding to attend and just all around feeling like I actually had a social life!!! I truly enjoyed being known for being the lipstick girl ! And it was pretty normal back in that time period for friends to stop by a couple times a week and I was really selling….

…until the pandemic hit and everything kind of fell apart for me because of the restrictions that people were following as well as the low morale of humanity at that time….
Things were falling apart with the person I thought I would spend the rest of my life with and I was once again trapped in the darkness of single motherhood and my business was literally failing because absolutely nobody wanted to buy any lipstick.

So I decided to put that on hold and just focus on spiritual healing and resting and just spending quality precious time with my little ones and just loving every second of them being out of school and all of the other simple Joys that came out of the pandemic experience…..

When I found myself mentally healthy and well rested some years later as things started getting back to normalcy I decided I needed to start getting out more on weekends when the kids were visiting their dad’s instead of sitting at home crying so I got into attending local music shows at this point and I was presented once again with modeling opportunities….. in person live appearances….
I basically got my start back into the industry from going out and enjoying music and being seen by artists who needed models and backup dancers for their live performances and also videos… this was a really fun era for me because it allowed me a really good reason to start wearing my makeup again and an outlet to wear sexy fashionable clothes and start feeling like a real woman again not just a single mom….

Eventually the networking expanded into doing photo shoots and promotional work for local photographers who wanted to show off their photo sets as well as content Creation with other music artists and eventually I decided to Rebrand my makeup business Luxury Lips with Erica to Luxury Lips Baddie Glam, as I really felt that this caliber of makeup has evolved from something that anyone would want to wear every single day to something that really works for those in the industry who are under the bright lights and dedicating time to high energy performances!!!

So now present day I am still a stay-at-home single mom and I have expanded my passion for makeup and modeling to doing Ambassador programs with clothing that I like and still doing YouTube tutorials and when the opportunities arise for music videos or in person appearances, i enjoy that as well. I also create my own original content, as well as photo editing.
Anytime I shoot, I make a video tutorial for the makeup , and basically wrap up every aspect into one.

I always get compliments on my makeup when I do go out for parties and even had some opportunities to host my own parties in which I brought a lot of makeup with me so the girls attending the party could try some for themselves and passed out my business cards there….

So I’m kind of just doing my thing right now and seeing what takes off for me but not pressuring myself to perform because I want everything to feel like a natural extension of myself not something that I am trying to hard at!

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has definitely not been a smooth Road….
I will say the beginning start was pretty smooth and that’s what kept me hanging on for as long as I have. Aside from a big external struggle of the pandemic and what that had done to not only my business but a lot of people’s businesses and trying to grow back after that,
My personal struggles with myself worth after failed marriages and single motherhood had sometimes left me feeling so much shame and distraught that I couldn’t even bring myself to appear on a camera to talk about something I loved or even take a picture so a lot of times it’s an internal battle of even finding the motivation to continue in the industry.
I took a long Hiatus to do some healing and I have taken breaks and I make sure to give myself Grace on days that I just can’t face pretending and I always feel like I don’t want my sadness and my negative energy to ever come through the video and affect someone in a bad way so I just keep to myself while I am in my Despair and work through it with my spiritual practices and other therapies……
I can’t even say that I fully bounced back after what the pandemic had done so I would stay I’m still kind of on a rocky road but I feel that it’s getting a little smoother because I’m finding my own worth

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I specialize in applying and selling smudgeproof products for full faces of makeup using the brand SeneGence, im known for wearing bold lipstick, daring to rock bold colors and somehow make them work, not being afraid of seeming risqué or taboo or taking fashion risks with hair and unusual color schemes.

I also create art through the medium of photography!

What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
If its not fun and enjoyable, take a hiatus. Dont pressure yourself to be what you think others will approve of.

Pricing:

• Long wear liquid lipsense $28
• Long wear cream lipsense $32
• Makesense anti aging foundation $58

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @luxury.lips.baddie.glam
• Facebook: @luxurylips3
• Youtube: @luxurylipswitherica