Deepica Mutyala: Founder and CEO of Live Tinted

Deepica always knew how she wanted to spend her life. By the age of sixteen, she was determined to create her own beauty brand. In 2015, Deepica’s youtube video on how to cover under-eye circles with lipstick went viral. As result, she was invited onto “The Today Show” and gained a large following.  Soon after, Deepica founded Live Tinted, a multicultural community to discuss all things beauty and culture. She also launched the Huestick, a multi-use makeup product designed for every skin tone. I am still in shock that I was given the opportunity to interview her as she is my favorite influencer. I am so honored that I was able to tell her about the enormous impact she has had on my life. 

When you were growing up, what were your goals and aspirations?

I was one of those few people who knew exactly what they wanted to do at a very young age and what they wanted to achieve. My dad would always joke about how my sister would grab a stethoscope and I would always grab a lipstick at such a young age and he still makes this joke to this day. He would want to give me the stethoscope but I would always grab the lipstick. I told my dad when I was 16, your age, I was going to have my own beauty brand. Essentially, everything I have done from then to now is to build up to launching this brand and now pieces have all fallen together. 

When was a time you wanted to give up, and what made you persevere through it?

When I quit my job and went to being an influencer full time, it was a challenging shift for me. I went from working in an office with my friends, being in a relationship, and living with somebody, to working for myself, living alone, and being single. It was a large 180-degree shift in my life. I remember doing the influencer tasks, and every day you had to have this next level of self-motivation to even get out of bed.  It is just really hard to have that motivation, and I still have a strong level of motivation. I just remember thinking that there were plenty of days when I got up thinking I don't want to get out of bed but I did and I kept going and it was all worth it. 

What is the greatest challenge you came across, and how did you mentally challenged through it?

I have never been insecure in my capabilities of doing my job. For me, my challenge is that this is the first time I am a CEO and now it's no longer just about me. It's my company, and there are people's careers and livelihoods at stake. It has been a huge challenge for me, mentally and emotionally, to recognize that. Instead of being the do-er, I am the one to order the do-er. Being the CEO sounds really glamorous online, but it is also the scariest and hardest job anyone in the company has. So, I think owning that, recognizing it, and knowing that there will be challenges is necessary. It's not that I am scared of my role, but it is challenging. I am just taking it day by day. However, I am so blessed to have advisors and mentors in my life who I can seek advice from.

When was a time you failed, and what did you learn from the experience?

I did an internship at L'Oréal, and in my brain, I thought my plan would be to be a marketing major, get a job at the world's biggest beauty brand, attend Harvard Business School to make my parents happy, and start my own beauty brand. After I interned and everything went sort-of to plan in college, they did not give me a full-time offer. It completely threw me off as I thought I had a great plan and the plan was broken. However, I learned when you fail, something greater is waiting for you on the other side. Because I did not get that internship, I ended up working at BirchBox and I learned SO much from them. One of the founders at BirchBox is one of my current investors, and she introduced me to my other investors. So, everything happens for a reason and it's so hard to think so at the time, but everything happens like it is supposed to. 

What is one dream you have yet to accomplish?

It is so surreal because everything that I have ever said I have wanted to do has sort of happened. I truly believe in the power of manifestation and making your dreams a reality. It has always worked for me. My largest dream is what I am doing right now, and I feel really grateful to be able to do so. However, I hope that this idea of inclusivity - being what my brand stands for - will no longer be what my brand has to stand for because it is just the norm and there doesn't need to be someone advocating about that. I hope my brand can change the current standard.

What advice would you give your younger self?

The only thing I would tell my former self on the business side is to keep going, don't get caught up in what others are saying. I would want to remove all of the self-doubts that I had. I would tell my younger self that people may not always understand you, and they might think you are ridiculous or silly. But, they are WRONG and you are RIGHT. Listen to yourself, and your motivation will get you further than you can imagine. I would also tell my 16-year-old self to be kinder to my parents and to embrace where I come from. When I was younger, I did not do that and I wish I did.