Many people believe that success is the result of pure luck, but Jamie Kern Lima’s inspirational story proves that nothing could be further from the truth. As a television news anchor and reporter, Lima was used to appearing on video. She loved her job, and had always wanted to be a journalist, so she even accepted unpaid jobs at the beginning of her career, in order to gain experience and improve. After a while, however, her cheeks gradually began to turn red, and there was nothing she could do to control the appearance of the red patches on her face. Appearance and image are naturally very important for a journalist working in television, but Lima was unable to find make-up that would cover the blemishes, not least because the warm lights of the TV studio tended to melt the make-up. She soon discovered that the cause of her skin condition was rosacea.
Although rosacea is not a serious illness, it nonetheless affected her work, caused her significant anxiety, and had a negative effect on her mood, state of mind, and especially on her self-esteem. In short, she was devastated and suddenly began to feel insecure and almost ashamed to talk to people for fear of being judged by the state of her skin.
Despite the challenges, Lima managed to channel the negative consequences of her condition into a desire to improve her situation, so she began to look for a solution. She searched high and low for make-up to cover up the red patches, but was unable to find a brand that satisfied her needs, largely because they all seemed to have been created for people with smooth, flawless skin. So, Lima began to think about creating her own make-up line.
She had no experience of the make-up industry and had only ever really used make-up when on air, but as the saying goes, desperate times call for desperate - or creative - solutions. Lima’s solution came to her in the form of a completely innovative product: she decided to create cosmetics that could cater to everyone with problem skin. There was nothing similar on the market at the time, and the big cosmetics companies typically used models with flawless bodies and perfect skin. This made it almost impossible for many women to identify with the promotional images, since the skin of a young woman in her twenties is naturally very different to that of a woman in her forties. Lima realised that there was a niche in the market that she could explore.
An idea, however, is only the beginning, a mere seedling. It has to be planted and nurtured, if it is to grow. So, Lima had to build her company from the ground up, but her self-esteem was very low at the time, as she was feeling really insecure about the red patches on her cheeks; what’s more, investors showed little interest in her idea. The market was saturated with all kinds of skincare products, and no one was willing to take a chance on a product for people with problem skin. After all, when something is lacking on the market, it is often because there is no real demand for it in the first place.
Lima then spent many years conducting experiments and product trials, but without success. The biggest obstacle was that Lima was unable to make a name for herself. She was told that there was no evidence that her product worked, but the main issue was her image, as the cosmetic culture at the time gravitated purely towards the needs of flawless women.
It was an extremely hard time for Lima: she had a good idea, but nobody would give her the chance to test it out and build a following. Most people, when they find themselves at an impasse like this, tend to give up on their idea, because it is just too hard, and Jamie Kern Lima was about to do just that. Years had passed and she was working around the clock on her project with her husband Paul, spending their own money on tests, and trying to get the product out on the market, but the answer was always a resounding no.
There is usually only one thing that stops us from giving up, and that is an unshakable belief in what we are doing, an inner drive that pushes us to come back from the rejections with practical solutions. If we are able to overcome rejection, we will eventually be rewarded, and we will gain a sense of self-confidence from staying true to ourselves and staying strong in the face of failure. Our failures teach us lessons that will eventually lead us to success.