Kim Roxie has been at the forefront of celebrating the beauty of multicultural women since she founded LAMIK in 2004, while still a college student in Atlanta.
She didn’t set out to become an entrepreneur at 21 but was inspired to create her own line when she researched the ingredients in the brands available to her customers while working at a cosmetics counter part-time while in school. Dismayed by the unhealthy ingredients she uncovered, Kim decided to become the change she was looking for and founded LAMIK, an environmentally conscious cosmetics line that would not only look good on women of color but also be good for them.
By naming her brand LAMIK, which means Love And Makeup in Kindness, Kim signaled that her brand was about more than makeup. She believes in promoting a deeper meaning of beauty, that it emanates from the inside out.
Armed with her savings and a small investment from her mother, Kim set out to build a meaningful business. She returned to her hometown, Houston, embarked on additional studies to obtain her Esthetics license, established a manufacturing hub, and opened her first store in the Sharpstown Mall. Her commitment to safer cosmetic ingredients led her to join the Safe Cosmetics Campaign in 2005. The LAMIK store became a gathering place for women because of Kim’s ability to connect with and empower women. Clients not only loved LAMIK but Kim’s inspirational outlook, this led to invitations for her to speak at events. She travels the country to participate in panels, workshops and delivers keynote speeches.
Kim also used her ability to passionately communicate her mission for women of color to advance her business. In 2011, she was appointed as spokesperson for the Workshop at Macy’s Retail Development Program. The following year, the LAMIK brand launched in Macy’s Texas locations making her the youngest African American women to launch a cosmetics brand in a major department store. She also graduated from the prestigious Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business Program.
That same year, Houston Mayor named June 23rd “Kim Roxie Day” because of her promotion and positive impact on the city’s economy. In 2016, Kim was recognized as one of the “Top 30 Women in Houston”.
Kim won the Odyssey Media’s “Key to Business Success” Pitch Competition in 2017 and the Lift Development Enterprise’s “Elevate My Business Challenge” Audience Choice Award in 2018. As she refines the LAMIK business, she has immersed herself in the startup ecosystem, to refine her brand to scale effectively. She has completed Tuck Business School certification, DivInc Pre-Accelerator, the Sputnik Accelerator, and the Jon Brumley Texas Venture Labs at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas, Austin.
But with all that is on her plate, Kim always finds time to give back. She designed a lip gloss, Status Red, to benefit HIV/AIDS programs for women and girls. In 2014, the same year her mother succumbed to breast cancer, she became chair of the African American Initiative for The Rose Foundation in Houston. Since joining them Kim has raised more than $250,000 to ensure that uninsured black women have access to mammograms.
Kim has been featured in a variety of media outlets including BET, Ebony, Black Enterprise, ESSENCE, and Southern Living, among others. She holds a Bachelors of Arts Degree in Public Relations from Clark Atlanta University and an Esthetics license from Houston Community College. And when she isn’t traveling the country inspiring women and spreading the LAMIK love, she lives in Houston, with her husband, toddler daughter, and bonus son.
