The CEO of Anastasia Beverly Hills says she had to beg for a $500 credit card before she could start her beauty empire

Before she became the CEO of a planetary quality marque with personage clients, Anastasia Soare needed a $500 recognition card.

When she arrived successful the US successful 1989 arsenic an immigrant, "nobody paid attention," the laminitis of Anastasia Beverly Hills said. At the time, she was an aesthetician with zero recognition past and constricted English — and a bold thought that needed backing.

"I went to Wells Fargo and had to beg the manager to springiness maine a $500 recognition card," she recalled. "Thirty-four years ago, they didn't propulsion astatine you with recognition cards similar what they are doing close now."

Soare made the comments connected a sheet astatine the 28th Milken Institute Global Conference connected Wednesday. The conference, held successful California this year, draws planetary leaders, tech executives, and experts to sermon finance, innovation, and planetary markets.

In 2000, Soare launched her archetypal merchandise enactment to bring her signature shaping techniques and tools to anyone who wanted beauteous brows. Since then, Anastasia Beverly Hills has go synonymous with eyebrows successful the quality world. The brand's personage clients see the likes of Jennifer Lopez, Kendall Jenner, and Kim Kardashian. In May 2024, Forbes estimated Soare's nett worthy astatine $900 million.

Soare shared the recognition paper anecdote arsenic portion of her pursuit of the American dream — 1 that started decades earlier successful communist Romania.

At 15, her gramps would instrumentality her into a tiny room, unopen the windows and curtains, and tune into a banned vigor presumption called "Voice of America."

"He utilized to archer maine that I did a large mistake coming to Romania. The communist authorities took everything distant from us," she said.

"You should spell to America," Soare recounted her gramps saying. "That is the American dream."

Under the communist authorities successful Romania, entrepreneurship didn't exist. "You worked lone for the government, and that's it. You couldn't beryllium an entrepreneur," Soares said.

But Soare knew she wanted more. "I wanted archetypal to amusement myself what I'm susceptible of doing," she said.

Chasing the American dream

When Soare arrived, she started moving arsenic an aesthetician — 1 of the fewer jobs that didn't necessitate "perfect English," she said.

She noticed a spread successful the quality marketplace — cipher paid attraction to eyebrows. Believing successful the imaginable of eyebrows arsenic a concern idea, she began doing clients' brows for free, arsenic it wasn't "considered a service" then.

"My hubby thought I americium wholly crazy," she said. "You don't cognize however to constitute a check, you don't person a recognition card, you hardly talk the language, and you privation to unfastened a business. Not adjacent American radical calved present ain a business," she recalled her hubby saying.

But Soare went each in. "What bash I person to lose?" she thought.

From that small room, she built a clientele. Then she opened a salon successful Beverly Hills. "The remainder is history," she said.

"I americium arrogant to accidental that I invented a class successful the quality manufacture that didn't beryllium before," she said astatine the panel.