A rite of passage no one prepares you for is heartbreak. It is inevitable and, most times, it leaves you fixing pieces of yourself you didn’t know were broken.
In this week’s Kindled Series, we go down the rabbit hole of how heartbreak led people to start profitable businesses.
Yes, while your heartbreak led you to become an avoidant, vengeful heartbreaker, these people built businesses after their most painful and unforgettable breakups.
Mend The Heartbreak App
Did you know there are apps created to soothe broken hearts? One of them is Mend, founded by Ellen Huerta.
Ellen remembers her first heartbreak. It came from her parents’ divorce, which she did not see coming. However, the most life-changing one was after her first long-term relationship.
As she was healing from the heartbreak, alone in San Francisco, she could not find resources with beyond cliché advice. This made her see a need she could fill, and Mend was born.
Mend started as a newsletter giving real stories and science-based advice on heartbreaks, and with time, it transitioned into an app and programs that help people maneuver heartbreak.
Breakups to Makeup
To many people, make-up is just… make-up. The products women apply on their faces to hide flaws and to enhance their looks. But to people like Angelique Velez, make-up is much more. It is art, a form of expression, and a way to heal.
In 2013, Angelique started Breakups to Makeup, a brand meant to communicate that make-up has a lot of power and impact on people’s inner worlds. The inspiration for this brand came after (you guessed that right) a difficult breakup.
Angelique says that when she was going through the heartbreak, doing make up was the only thing that got her out of bed. She believes make-up saved her life, and over the years, she has had her brand, many people have proven her theory true. Yes, makeup saves lives.
Today, Breakups to Makeup is not just a brand. It is a reminder that no matter what life throws at you, you can face it head-on. With bold slogans and playful designs, their seasonal collections keep fashion, beauty, and attitude in perfect sync.
Real Estate Mogul Barbara Corcoran
There is a running joke online that a heartbreak is all you need to tick all goals off your vision board. You get your heart broken, and suddenly you have the energy and inspiration to start a business and get your life together.
For Barbara Corcoran, the real estate mogul and investor on Shark Tank, this is not a joke. She got her heartbroken at 23, and instead of swearing off love, she founded Corcoran Group. The group ended up being one of the most successful luxury real estate brokerages in New York, such that 28 years later, she sold it at 66 million dollars.
Barbara’s heartbreak story is one she fondly tells and accredits her success to. Her heartbreaker-Ramone Simone, was her boyfriend and business partner with whom they had co-founded another real estate company. But in true style of what happens in the office movies, Mr. Ramone cheated on Barbara with their secretary. Only that this was not a movie, but a setback that propelled Barbara into one of her many successful ventures.
Turning Your Story into a Brand
See, there is always a story behind every successful endeavor. You do not just wake up one day and think, I want to start a revolutionary business. Something happens, and it pushes you to see a need that should be filled, if not for other people, for you. Telling that story, capturing that moment when it clicked that you needed to find a solution for you and for people with a similar need, is invaluable content.
Like Barbara, do not let a setback hold you back. Whether heartbreak or betrayal, or grief, find a way to rise from your circumstance and tell your story to foster connections and turn people into believers- that is Brand building 101.
And like Ellen and Angelique, how you saw the light after a dark season is priceless. Share your story, your techniques for handling difficult emotions, tips to come out of the other side successfully- that is a product people will buy without needing much convincing.