You may have seen her gracing the social pages with Adelaide's elite, but Shahna Smith is more than just a pretty face. The 24-year-old Ngarrindjeri CEO is building an empire with her business Amplified Beauty Australia and her range of products that enhance and uplift every skin type and tone.
Originally from Broken Hill it has been a long eight years for the young entrepreneur, her mother naming her brand only two weeks before passing, Smith has made it her mission to build the empire she promised her mother she would one day reign.
Smith worked four jobs to support herself and her brother after their loss and put herself through beauty school in Melbourne before working for cosmetic giant Sephora.
"After graduating with my diploma in makeup, working for Sephora is really where my career in the industry kicked off and I felt after two years I had the confidence to move to South Australia and start my own business which was SSmith Artistry – which still exists today." said Smith.
"I was working on a photoshoot for a magazine and we had a model who had really deep skin and I was mixing different products trying to make it work. That was a lightbulb moment for me, this is where the gap in the market is, and this is where Amplified Beauty started."
Smith then spent her time entrenched in her business plan, researching products and designing her own before gaining investment and signing with Indigenous Business Australia.
It was the move to engage with Lot Fourteen – The Circle First Nation's Entrepreneurs Hub, who helps Indigenous entrepreneurs and business owners build capacity, capability and connections to thrive, that changed the game for Smith now being given the opportunity to open her own brick and mortar store in the heart of vibrant Glenelg on Adelaide's coast.
"It was an opportunity that came up very quickly, and I decided to take it up straight away." Smith shared.
"It was definitely a risk and it did spark thoughts of oh, can I do this? Can I afford the rent on top of being a start up?"
"But I just shifted my mindset to well, what if I can? And that is when I started strategizing and before I knew it I had the keys in my hands."
Smith has now built a solid following, is ahead of her business plan and in conversations with some of Australia's largest retailers as well as recently having her story profiled in Forbes Australia. Her sights now set on breaking into the international market with interest in Canada and the Netherlands to name a few.
Focusing on diversity, inclusivity and female empowerment this is more than a cosmetic line, Smith driving the narrative in her own story and building what is set to break down the stereotypes of what an Indigenous owned business can look like.
You can visit Amplified Beauty Australia online here: https://www.amplifiedbeauty.com.au/?gclid=Cj0KCQiA_P6dBhD1ARIsAAGI7HAO1SAu5tF7iGwbgdX8ZdwXH_euq8ABV47N0LfDIYdrlyqcqD4wDcAaAhXVEALw_wcB
