Ep 373 - The Hustle Behind Colourette

EPISODE INTRODUCTION

This week on Hustleshare, host Ron Baetiong sits down with Nina Ellaine Dizon, the founder of Colourette Cosmetics, as she shares her journey from selling items in school to accidentally entering the beauty space through soap—and scaling the brand exponentially through online growth. Nina also opens up about her decision to raise venture capital and how it reshaped Colourette’s trajectory from a side hustle into one of the country’s most recognizable beauty brands.

Ep Timeline:

00:01:31 – From mom-and-pop chaos to scale: why documentation suddenly matters

00:02:49 – Finally on Hustleshare: meet Nina Ellaine Dizon

00:04:40 – Back to Macabebe: where the real hustle began

00:05:09 – Childhood side hustles: polvoron sales and selling song lyrics

00:07:18 – Quiapo sourcing lessons: negotiating before it was cool

00:09:49 – Grit mindset unlocked: quitting was never an option

00:10:46 – School struggles: labeled stubborn, learning street smarts instead

00:14:35 – Financial pressure hits: selling scrap soaps just to survive

00:15:56 – First brand born: launching Fairness & Flawless

00:16:51 – The big leap: dropping out to go all in

00:21:13 – First real win: buying a Montero with hustle money

00:29:12 – E-commerce era: mastering Lazada and going DTC

00:32:30 – Mainstream milestone: entering SM stores as a local brand

00:36:00 – Breakout product: Color Tints redefine “sulit”

00:43:34 – TikTok explosion: founder storytelling goes viral

00:48:45 – Public backlash moment: turning crisis into charity

00:52:30 – Why VC happened: when bootstrapping hit its limits at Colourette Cosmetics

“"We make makeup for Filipinos by Filipinos”

RESOURCES:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nina-ellaine-dizon-b24bb6100/
Website: https://colourette.ph/

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