This article was first published in news.com.au on May. 20, 2020

It’s not often a moment of chaos can turn into something amazing – but for Michelle Hu, it sparked a multimillion-dollar business.

The 24-year-old from Melbourne had a light bulb moment one morning back in 2016 as she struggled to get ready for work.

“I was getting ready in the dark, had shocking lighting and always misplaced items,” she told news.com.au.

That’s when the idea for Etoile Collective, a beauty focused organisation and lighting solution, was born. Creating a range of acrylic make-up organisers and celebrity-inspired “Hollywood mirrors” that solved bad light problems, Ms Hu had no idea her side hustle would become a multimillion-dollar business that would eventually see her quit her six-figure banking job.

“I noticed a disconnect in the ‘beauty process’ whereby each end of the spectrum was such a feel-good moment and in the middle, pure chaos,” she said, explaining the beauty process typically starts when purchasing some new makeup or beauty goodies and ends with “confidence-boost” once the product has been applied.

But the process of using and storing products – the part of the process Ms Hu describes as “the middle” – was a completely different experience, with products lost in the back of drawers or stuffed into overflowing makeup bags.

“The middle, at least for me, was chaos and stress,” she said.

 

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