Before she was old enough for a driver’s license, Arica Scott had started her first business.
As a sophomore in high school, Scott – who will graduate with a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in marketing from North Carolina Central University (NCCU) in December – started So Glossy Cosmetics, a product line of lip gloss and other non-sticky cosmetics manufactured with vegan ingredients.
Her inspiration came from perusing social media.
“People would post the amount of make-up products they have,” said Scott, thinking, “I could promote these products.”
Which she did. “When I posted my cosmetic brand, it blew up,” she said. “I got like 500,000 views. A lot of them translated into sales, 30 to 40 sales a week from different parts of the world.”
Today, she is working on getting stores to sell So Glossy Cosmetics as well as selling on TikTok Shop and other online outlets.
Starting Early
Scott was raised in Raleigh, North Carolina, where she attended a private high school. Both her parents own their own businesses – her mother a real estate company and her father a trucking company.
“That’s where I get my drive from,” she said.
A veteran entrepreneur by the age of 18, she decided to share her knowledge. She spent the summer of 2019 writing a guide to entrepreneurship for young people titled “Bag Talk: 21 Ways to Secure the Bag.” The 98-page book was published by A2Z Books.
Scott graduated from high school in 2020 and enrolled at Winston-Salem State University. This was at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to a slowdown in her cosmetics business.
“You can’t wear makeup with a mask on,” she said.
In 2021, she started You Love Selfies Museum in the Crabtree Valley Mall in Raleigh.
“It was basically a photography studio,” Scott said. You Love Selfies had 21 different backdrops where people could pose for photos. The location could hold 200 people and, beyond foot traffic, it hosted birthday parties and corporate events.
In 2022, she transferred to NCCU as a sophomore to major in business administration with a concentration in marketing.
“My whole family goes here; aunts, cousins,” she said. “I had friends here who are thriving. I always knew I wanted to go to an HBCU.”
In 2023, she closed You Love Selfies and focused on her studies plus being a real estate agent (she earned a real estate license in 2021). She works with her mother’s company. For the last six months, Scott has worked with a builder selling new construction homes.
Scott notes that her accomplishments have come in the opposite order of most young people.
“I feel people our age think I have to graduate to start my business or become who I want to become,” she said.
Angela Miles, Ph.D., chair of the NCCU Department of Business Administration, said she is proud of Scott.
“She has already proved she has the entrepreneurial spirit and can put that into action,” Miles said. “She is very concerned with achieving.”
Scott credits much of her success to her social media skills. For others who want to start their own business, she recommends posting every day and to overcome their fear.
“It can be intimidating for students who post content or share their business because they don’t think anyone will care,” Scott said. “You don’t know. You could post and it could get someone’s attention and resonate with them.”
