Vivacious, Confident and Hardworking Maria Valentino - On Beauty’s Big Business

“That has always been my goal—to build an empire by the time I was 30,” says Maria Valentino, “I come from a family of strong-willed Italians—very hard-working and a huge influence on my life, as you can imagine.”

Maria does indeed come from a strong-willed family. Her mother was in her early twenties when she operated a clothing company that evolved into a highly successful endeavor, which she later sold. In fact, Maria had just flown back to New York from a promotional event in Los Angeles, where she had been speaking with guests and networking.

“There were no video games or anything like that. It was always: ‘Oh here, let’s draw patterns today.’ As I got older, I was in New York constantly. I was working under different designers and patternmakers, and I learned quite a bit within the industry and through that, fell in love with swimwear,” she affirms.

Maria (or MV, as she is affectionately called by those closest to her) is speaking about swimwear, the Maria Eliza Collection. From patternmaking, fabric selection, and trying on the samples, to the choice of hardware that is incorporated into each piece, Maria has her hand in everything.  

“I make exclusive and very high-end swimwear pieces. All of the fabrics are from Milan and all of the hardware is 18k gold-plated. It’s not something that I am trying to mass-produce,” she explains.

While listening to Maria, it’s obvious that she pays fine attention to detail, especially with products that carry her name. “[I design something with] a limited quantity so that I can say, ‘Only a 100 pieces of this particular bathing suit are available.’ You know you’re getting an exclusive piece of fashion, which adds a lot of value to it.”

Maria coupled her love of fashion with yet another passion—beauty. Considering the current economic landscape, which makes it difficult to start one business and ensure its success, launching a second business, like Maria had decided to do, is very difficult.

Maria is an incredibly beautiful woman with the drive and zeal to match. She pursued pageantry in her teen years, and was very good at it, having won awards in both national and international competitions. Around that time, Maria realized that she couldn’t just use typical run-of-the-mill beauty products—they simply didn’t agree with her. Out of this dilemma, an idea for a product was created.

“I’ve always had custom makeup formulated for me,” enthusiastically recalls Maria. “There’s a woman who has formulated makeup for a lot of the major beauty brands, like L’Oreal and Chanel; these products are good for the skin. She is a good friend of mine—she created this line for me, it has all natural anti-aging additives, and it’s firming,” she shares. “I also worked with a top dermatologist. So, now, you can literally have flawless skin and all day coverage; you don’t have to worry about touchups. It’s great for the woman on the go.”

When it was time to design the packaging, she kept it sleek, elegant, and simple, by creating a matte black and gold logo that reads MV, which aligns with her carefully strategized brand.

Maria has used her expertise in marketing herself to develop her bourgeoning beauty brand. She has a loyal fan base on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, collectively topping out at around 500k and increasing by the thousands. Using this to her advantage, she asked her followers about what they were looking for in a skin and beauty brand.

“At first, I thought I wanted to help other women achieve this beautiful look without having to pay a fortune. I wanted to create something that was affordable and without compromising quality. I did not think it was going to be this huge. As soon as I am done making these products, shipments are literally going out of the door.” 

With her social media followers, Maria takes the time to clue them in on the latest product developments and ask for customer feedback in real time.

“I think it’s so important to get involved with your target market—just engage your followers. When I have a new product, I like to use a lot of media. It gets people excited! I give them imagery to check out. So, I like to take pictures of my products and tweet them out. I’ll put them on Facebook. I’ll put them on Instagram. I’ll ask my followers for their opinions and really get them involved in the process.”

At one point, I ask Maria about how to conceal my freckles and ever so fine under-eye lines. She tells me, “These are the things I love hearing about,” and then proceeds to inform me of her latest creation involving an “under-eye firming highlighter that would be perfect,” for my complaint. And just like that, I became part of the MV process.

Fashion and beauty are synonymous; their relationship is evident by the modern concoction of “glam squads” (which typically include a wardrobe stylist, a hair stylist as well as, beauty expert) that big A-Lister’s enlist and rarely debut without. Which is why it wasn’t so vast of a leap that Maria would develop her own fashion and beauty brands. 

“At heart, I am a businesswoman and entrepreneur. I saw a huge opportunity—there were things missing in the marketplace and I wanted to fill the void. As a creative person, I’ve always had my hand in both,” she explains. By owning two successful businesses at such a young age you have to wonder if some of those 20-hour workdays get to her. “I don’t ever want to slack off in one or the other,” she continues.

Maria defies the odds by showing that youth doesn’t always equate to ignorance. When asked about her struggles as an entrepreneur, she says: “There are going to be a million road blocks and [more than a] million people saying that you can’t do it. You have to be confident, believe in what you want, and handle funds and time wisely. There are going to be times when you hit those roadblocks. A lot of people under 30 feel entitled, but no one is going to hand you anything in the real world. You’re going to have to work for it.”

Maria’s advice is invaluable: “You have to be very careful about how you execute your plans and how you handle your funding. From the day you decide that you want to start a business to the day you decide that you want to sell it, and everyday in between, make sure that you have goals set for your business and that you are properly allocating your time and your funds. Set benchmarks.”

Planning is crucial to Maria’s success. Success is never a straight line, and those who are courageous enough to forge their own path will always be the first to tell you this. But, it can’t always be about work, can it? In those rare moments that Maria does take breaks, she manages to oil paint. “I will pull out a huge canvas and just mix colors and paint. But, somehow I’ll mix the colors and say ‘that would make a great color for an eye shadow’” Work and play always blend seamlessly for her.

Maria Valentino has achieved a lot for her 23 years, when most other young adults are still trying to figure it all out. Her undeniable style and beauty lead to the creation of two successful businesses—a swimwear line and now, the launch of a cosmetics line. “Fashion and Beauty Empire by 25?” I ask. She laughs: “Sure. No pressure.”