The beauty of owning your own business
“I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit,” says Sharron Eyers. “I was always working on the side by myself.”
The owner of Le Visage Cosmetics & Skincare Boutique grew up 20 miles outside of Manchester, England, with her single-parent mother and two siblings. Excelling at languages, she moved to Belgium at 16 to learn French, assuming she’d become a professional interpreter. But Belgium would open her eyes to the vast opportunities available to her, and to a sense of adventure that’s stayed with her until today.
At 19, Eyers entered the beauty industry. She worked for Estée Lauder, Clinique and Clarins, but it’s her mother she credits as her biggest inspiration.
“She was a huge influence to have good work ethic," says Eyers. "My mom always made an effort and always looked so beautiful to me. She chose nice things and taught me the importance of taking care of my skin.”
Always pursuing new challenges, Eyers returned to school to study business. She met her husband in Bermuda and married in 2004 before moving to Grand Cayman, where she briefly worked in banking. While she loved her team, Eyers realised that a career in the corporate sector wasn’t the right fit for her.
Raising two young sons, she became a stay-at-home mom for five years. But in 2010, she was looking to do something different. “My husband said, ‘If I was a betting man, I would put my money on you — maybe it’s time to open a store.’ I needed to do something for myself and make my own decisions.”
She had only Camana Bay in mind. At the time, the Town Centre was home to a handful of restaurants and retail stores, but Eyers knew it was a prime location.
“We started with two brands — Penhaligons and Kevyn Aucoin. There were days when there were no customers. Believing in myself, my husband’s support and trust from customers brought us where we are today.”
Eight years after opening in a small 517-square-foot space on Market Street, Le Visage had so many brands and so many products, Eyers relocated the shop to a larger space on the Paseo next to West Indies Wine Company. But it's more than just brands and products that have made Le Visage a success; it's also how Eyers goes about running her business.
“I am very much a people person and I love being on the shop floor," says Eyers. "I’m more pulled into administration and logistics now, but I’m still very hands-on. I pride myself on customer service and all the employees have the same standard — they feel the same passion that I do.”
As a purveyor of beauty products, Eyers says beauty is not just about vanity.
“How you look is how you feel," she says. "I also maintain health from the inside out. I have a vegetarian diet and lead a healthy lifestyle.”
This article originally appeared in the July 2021 print edition of Camana Bay Times.