Amy Liu Shares Her Playbook for Using What You Learn as an Employee To Become an Entrepreneur
Even though Amy Liu was co-president of the Entrepreneurship Venture Management Association in business school, she wasn't totally convinced her post-grad career plans would include adding "founder" to her CV. "I've had a really linear path," says Liu. "I went to business school, I worked in the beauty industry, and I worked my way up. I just kept telling myself I'm going to learn on someone else's dime, and I'm going to get really good."
And that she did. Liu's time as a marketing executive for beauty brands like Smashbox and Kate Somerville built up the knowledge and experience she needed to finally launch her own beloved makeup brand, Tower 28, and helped make the learning curve of going from an employee to an entrepreneur less steep for her.
Having always felt that founders were typically authorities in their field—professional makeup artists or skincare experts, Liu initially didn’t believe she belonged in the same cohort of women who were building disruptive beauty brands, seemingly singlehandedly, because her experience was in working for others. Not to mention, she had kids and a mortgage to think about, which made the decision to start a business even scarier.
But after a meeting with a friend from business school 15 years into her career, Liu finally was convinced that her experience in the corporate world would be instrumental in preparing her for entrepreneurship. "I gained a lot of skills in terms of understanding what it's like to be an employee," she said on this week's episode of WorkParty. This epiphany led to a core lesson in Liu's playbook: Never underestimate the power of experience—no matter the industry.
Liu suggests taking stock of your background and identifying transferable skills that will be valuable in your new venture. If you work in marketing, you likely have know-how in branding, advertising, and customer acquisition. As an employee you likely built up a network of contacts in your industry. These contacts can be valuable resources when starting your own business. (Liu's co-president from the aforementioned Entrepreneurship Venture Management Association was Tower 28's very first investor!)
Liu also emphasizes the importance of being adaptable and willing to learn. As an employee, you likely had a set of defined responsibilities and tasks. As an entrepreneur, you will need to be comfortable with uncertainty and change, try new approaches, and pivot when necessary. In fact, the most successful entrepreneurs tend to be middle-aged, according to a study of 2.7 million startups.
On this week's episode of WorkParty, Liu, who's also an honoree on this year's Create Cultivate 100 List, joins Jaclyn to share everything from her favorite hiring tips to what she learned while formulating Tower 28’s first product. Plus, we get into the business details like her tech stack, scheduling strategies, and go-to personal development tools.
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