No success is ever achieved alone in life and Anastasia Soare’s shares hers with her daughter. She is a positive and determined Romanian woman who opened her own salon: Anastasia Beverly Hills. She has also created her own product line for eyebrow care, that is now a brand name known worldwide and is found at Nordstrom and Sephora stores as well as in their sister salons in Japan, France, Italy, and Sweden. However, during Anastasia’s search for her life’s quest, she had to incorporate her book smarts, a little bit of fearless luck, and her daughters help to get her through it.
Anastasia came to America with her family not knowing very much English. She would watch Oprah on TV to improve her skills in English, and to gain motivating lessons. Anastasia studied architecture, engineering, math, and drawing in the culturally rich seaport of Romania before getting her Aesthetician license. She always strived to combine her artistic interests with her technical skills. She found a quaint salon to work at in Beverly Hills upon moving to America. Pretty soon, though, she felt like she was stuck in a rut. The words of her mother came into her head “If you keep doing what you’ve been doing, you’re gonna keep getting what you’ve been getting.” Anastasia was full of creative ideas with little to no opportunities to launch them.
Often working 12 hours shifts, Anastasia found herself with one day off a week. She and her daughter would take full advantage of this “precious little spare time” in order to pursue her interests. On her frequent library trips, she would research Da Vinci’s drawings, the Golden Ratio, aesthetics, and the Fibonacci sequence to try to determine the way people perceive “beauty”. Meanwhile, her daughter would do homework across the desk from her. While Anastasia was working in this beauty salon in the mid 90’s, she couldn’t help but notice that there were no eyebrow products to be found on the market. The words of her mother (once again) resonated in her head: be fearless. She knew that she wanted to pursue creating this product line till the very end.
Anastasia believed that whenever you accept a new challenge you always, somehow, find the resources to accomplish the job. With this mentality, she was able to convince a loan officer to help her start her now, famous company and brand. Today she has come full circle with her life. She was able to meet the very influential Oprah, as well as make trips back to Romania to get healing botanicals that act as a key ingredient in her make-up and skin care products. Her and her daughter still run the business together.
What I believe makes her business so successful is her focus on family first, her determination, and her vision to help women. As Anastasia puts it, “I believe there is never a time to stop growing. While it is true that I’ve come to be known as an “eyebrow specialist”, I always see myself pursuing a wider goal, that of helping women achieve a balanced, natural beauty.”
Guest Writer – Clarissa Burt with Haleigh Hoffmanner
Clarissa Burt is an award winning media personality, television producer, actress, show host, emcee and top international supermodel with more than 25 years of experience in the modeling and media industries. A leading authority on beauty, image and self-esteem, Clarissa is a featured columnist for such international publications as The Huffington Post, Supermodels Unlimited, Runway Magazine, Catwalk Magazine, Bella Petite, Fashion Faces and The LA Fashion Magazine. Read more about Clarissa by viewing her website at www.clarissaburt.com.