If you let them, challenges will always hold you back. Jennylyn Pringle, on the other hand, did not. Her entrepreneurial career began with her final attempt at her family business. Working her way up from being a onewoman show, mixing and packing paint, to traveling the world and giving seminars on how to paint beautiful, she leads as the CEO of Fusion Mineral Paint.

After seeing her parents struggle to run their family business growing up, Jennylyn eventually took over by using all of her skills and study to fill a gap in the market, only to create successful brands. With her passion for painting from a young age, she overcame several challenges that life threw her way to demonstrate her inventiveness and resilience as a female entrepreneur.

Insights Success caught up with Jennylyn in our endeavor to find “The 10 Most Empowering Women in Business, 2022.” We spoke with her to learn more about how her experience is helping to improve the design and paint industry.

Below are the highlights of Jennylyn’s interview:

Brief our audience about your journey as a business leader until your current position at Fusion Mineral Paint. What challenges do you have to overcome to reach where you are today?

I grew up with a paintbrush in my hand. The family business Homestead House Paint Co., was privately owned by my parents, who worked tirelessly producing and selling milk paint and other house paints. I had worked for the family business since the age of 14 and watched my parents struggle. By the time I was 23, the company was failing. I believed in our products, alongside so many other dedicated followers, but we didn’t have the ad budget and reached of the large paint companies.

I decided to give it one last shot when my mom left the company to pursue her full-time Nursing career so we could pay the rent. I wanted to bring this company back to life and see these amazing products thrive. This isn’t where my entrepreneurial life began, I had been closely watching my parents run their business for years. I gathered knowledge and encouragement from everywhere; books, online, seminars, listened to what customers wanted, and stretched my reach. By the time I was 27, I had launched a private label brand and finally a profitable business, by the age of 29 a second international selling brand.

DIYers were looking for a more approachable paint, one that was easy to use without intimidation and easy to apply without much prep. I saw a clear gap in the marketplace, and using my knowledge of my parent’s company, I saw what was most successful over the years and took those keys of information and created Fusion Mineral Paint. It checked all the boxes. To make my brand even more userfriendly, we poured each of the carefully curated paint colors into perfect project-sized pint containers. To make them even more visually attractive, I made them clear so you could see the pop of color; come to life!

I am a single mom; I battled with a rare infection that made me ill for two years. But I believed in myself and my products, and here I am, CEO of Fusion Mineral Paint, a successful business that continues to grow in leaps and bounds in over 30 countries worldwide.

Tell us something more about Fusion Mineral Paint, its mission, and its vision.

At Fusion, we believe in a concept we call “Paint It Beautiful.” For us, this means acknowledging, respecting, and honoring the deeply therapeutic nature of painting. There is a reason our tagline is “Paint is good for the soul.” I have been humbled by the customers who have reached out to me to share their stories of growth and healing and the amazing positivity that our paint has brought into their lives.

The world of paint is a highly competitive marketplace. My vision has always been to show the world that anyone can paint it beautiful and that Fusion Mineral Paint is unique in this industry. Fusion is more than just a paint product; we inspire the everyday person through our education and social media, providing the knowledge and tools for our customers to make painting a piece of furniture a joy and ensure their outcome is a success.

Enlighten us on how you have made an impact in the Consumer Goods niche through your expertise in the market.

I strongly believe that a sense of community gives a business its heart and soul. Our paint is special, created, packaged, and sold, following the tenets that all communities hold dear in today’s marketplace. We solely support small, independent businesses and boutiques. We don’t just sell great paint; we teach, inspire, listen (there it is again), and encourage. We believe that our success can be your success, and we will show you how to make it happen.

Through community involvement and engagement, Fusion has broadened the reach of what something as simple as paint can achieve. The DIY market is huge and continues to expand at warp speed. Through our broad social media reach, consumers have discovered the magical transformation that our paint can bring to their homes and keep coming back for more.

Describe in detail the values and the work culture that drives your organization.

For us, quality comes first. Our goal is to offer the best of the best in everything that Fusion produces. At the same time, we strive to keep product costs at a level that consumers can afford. We never want the price point to steer anyone away from the joy of painting with Fusion.

On a personal level, we treat our staff like family. I grew up in a “mom and pop shop” and never wanted to lose the warmth, camaraderie, and satisfaction that comes with this positive work environment. Our successes are many, and they are proudly shared and celebrated by the Fusion family team.

We celebrate with our annual conference and retreats where I have the honour of hosting an amazing 3 day event offering seminars with industry leaders, sharing our knowledge and expertise and creating a strong merchant network and help them grow their business.

Undeniably, technology is playing a significant role in almost every sector. How are you leveraging technological advancements to make your solutions resourceful?

Technological advancements have made it possible for us to produce excellent, earth-friendly products, including our paint and prep and topcoats. Our pigments ensure our paint emulsions are rich and stable. We continue to research and find the best way to produce every product we sell with the knowledgeable consumer in mind.

The technology behind social media provides us with direct contact with our selling agents as well as our consumers all over the world. Inspiring and teaching through videos, blogs, and photography easily accessible on our websites is crucial to our mandate to keep current and Paint It Beautiful with the very best paint.

Feedback is crucial to the growth of our business. We listen to our retailers, and consumers. We value their feedback, and it helps shape our future business decisions. We have huge social media numbers and use these platforms to continually strengthen our reach and plan for the future

If given a chance, what change would you like to bring to the Interior Design industry?

For me, change should always signify positive growth. For many years the Interior Design industry has championed the DIYer. Through television shows and magazines, the idea that you can design and style your home by yourself, or at least take a role in the process, has been blossoming. Any changes that I bring with Fusion products are aimed at designing your home a nurturing, safe, and satisfying one. I see a celebration of handmade accessories and reclaimed furniture becoming focal elements in interior design. Everyone should feel empowered to live beautifully through their décor, armed with the knowledge of how to achieve it themselves.

What, according to you, could be the next big change in the design industry? How is Fusion Mineral Paint preparing to be a part of that change?

There is a tremendous movement toward reclaiming and preserving furnishings that are otherwise headed to the junkyard. Salvage business and secondhand stores are booming. Fusion is a leader in providing all the products you need to transform furniture. And as important, we are the leader in easy access tutorials and how-to videos, all free on our websites and YouTube. Fusion products are affordable and guarantee to Paint It Beautiful results. We look to expand further into the home goods market, focused on beautiful home décor elements.

Where do you envision yourself to be in the long run, and what are your future goals for Fusion Mineral Paint?

I see Fusion expanding into a whole range of home goods, including wallpapers and fabrics. I envision ‘Fusion Home’ delivering the knowledge and products you require to make your home uniquely yours, backed by the knowledge of a strong brand bringing excellent quality first and foremost.

We continued international growth. When I began, we had 100 retailers, and we now have over 1,500 and growing fast. This international reach plays an important role in how we continue to design our product lines and choose our colors. Now in over 30 countries, the possibilities are endless in our colorways.

What would be your advice to budding entrepreneurs who aspire to venture into the business sector?

It is so important to start with a dream. Know what you want to accomplish and where you see yourself positioned in your chosen field. Research your dream from every angle. What’s out there already? Can you make it better? How can you finance your startup? Be honest with yourself; this is hard work, 24/7, energy driven. Is that you?

Hold onto your dream, focus on it, and be ready to work 10X harder than imagined towards making it a reality, success doesn’t happen overnight. It took 20+ years of my parent’s company struggling, taking out loans, both working two jobs and taking out second mortgages to keep afloat.

I was finally able to find that one thing to skyrocket us into success; with a lot of hard work and dedication, my dreams finally came true.

The post Jennylyn Pringle: Inspiring You to Embrace Your Creativity appeared first on InsightsSuccess.