Shan Berries' Magnificent Journey From Media Darling To Makeup Industry Guru
By: Kristen Philipkoski
In 2018, Shan Berries life’s trajectory seemed to be pretty much figured out. She was a successful TV and radio host in the San Francisco Bay Area and had climbed to the highest echelons of her industry. As executive producer and on-air host for the morning show “Now” on 99.7, KMVQ-FM, San Francisco’s biggest pop station, it seemed her media education, hard work and natural charisma had paid off in a big way.
But after 11 years in media, the 3AM wakeup requirements and grueling schedule began to wear on her, and she wondered if her future might go in a different direction.
“My mom always instilled in me and my sister that someday you had to start your own company and I was like, yeah, someday, someday,” Berries said. “I never knew what that was going to be, but I knew that that drive was in me.”
That drive found a roadmap in 2018 when she started noticing so many beauty influencers collaborating with makeup brands on social media.
“I thought, these girls have so many followers, why wouldn't they just come out with their own company—their own brand?” she said. “And that’s when it clicked in my head like, hey, I have a little bit of a following here. I love makeup. Why can't I do that?”
And while she loved makeup, she had no experience in the industry, nor did she have much knowledge about formulations, other than being tired of spending $300 on makeup and hating half the products she bought after she got them home.
So after a deep dive into ingredients and formulations, Shades by Shan was born. But Berries wasn’t ready to give up on her media career, so she continued on with the morning show, plus her makeup business. But it wasn’t just the business—she also founded her own nonprofit alongside the makeup brand.
Berries knew any company she founded needed also to have a social impact. Raised by a single mother, she wanted to team up with a non-profit that helps single parents. And after doing some research and discovering that 11 million single parents are raising children in the United States, she was surprised not to find a single charity that fit the bill.
“So, I thought to myself, people start non profits. Why can’t I?”
And she had the perfect partner in mind: her sister, Erika Clark.
At the time she was living and working abroad and had been for 12 years in sales and marketing. But she didn’t skip a beat when her sister brought up the idea.
“If you’re for real for real,” she said, “I will quit my job this week, because I’m getting burnt out.”
Together, they simultaneously launched both Sades by Shan and the Mamaberries Nonprofit Foundation, a 501(c)3 nonprofit that supports single parents in need.
Their success with both organizations was swift. They ordered inventory they thought would last six months, and it sold out in 24 hours. Every time they reordered they immediately sold out.
The nonprofit was met with the same level of enthusiasm.
“Guys were coming out of the woodwork saying, ‘Hey, I don't wear makeup, but I was raised by a single dad and I want to support Mamaberries,” Berries said. “People were buying makeup for their family and friends. It just started growing and growing and growing. And I couldn't keep waking up at three o'clock in the morning.”
After a challenging year of triple duty, in 2019 it was time to say goodbye to the morning show and focus on her new business and nonprofit. Shades by Shan is now in stores all along the West Coast and in Ipsy subscription boxes across the United States and Canada, as well as Boxy Charm, the largest full-sized subscription box in the world.
Berries credits her focus on quality, comfort and affordability with her success.
