Anastasia Soare is turning heads and raising brows.
The brow expert’s memoir “Raising Brows: My Story of Building a Billion-dollar Beauty Empire,” $32 for a hardcover, is out Tuesday via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and a variety of booksellers.
“Everybody was telling me ‘You have to share your story’ because I always like to support young entrepreneurs and support businesses,” Soare said. “I thought ‘I need to share my story to make everyone who goes through the same thing believe that they cannot give up. It’s hard. You have good days and bad days but don’t give up. If you believe in your dream and you believe so hard and you love what you do, you should not give up.’”
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Soare’s book first explores her childhood in Romania, her eventual move to the U.S., inspiration from her family and finally building her billion-dollar beauty business, Anastasia Beverly Hills.
“I talk about the time growing up in a communist regime Romania, and the hurdle that we went through to come here,” she said. “My husband went to ask for political asylum in the American Embassy in Italy, and I had to wait for two years and a half to come here.”
In the early chapters of the book, Soare recalls key moments in her childhood that inspired her to move to the U.S. and start her own business, including working alongside her mother, who made clothes, and listening to “Voice of America” on the radio, which was prohibited at the time.
Upon finally moving to the U.S., Soare initially faced immense struggle, not speaking the language, scrambling to make enough money to get by and missing her family and support system in Romania. Eventually, she found her footing in the form of a beauty salon.
“I worked there for almost two years. Meanwhile, I bought a disposable camera, and started taking family pictures,” she said. “I realized that I looked surprised in all the pictures. I knew that was the eyebrows…because in the ’80s, that was the fashion.”
This chance photograph, and Soare’s memories of her mother creating clothes ultimately led to the concept of Anastasia Beverly Hills. Throughout the book, Soare goes deeper than she ever has on the ins and outs of building the business, acquiring dedicated celebrity clients and the wins and struggles of being an entrepreneur. Soare’s hope for the memoir is that her entrepreneurial journey will inspire others looking to build their own business.
“They will have those moments when they think, ‘Oh, I’m going to give up. I cannot do it.’ They should think, ‘If Anastasia was able to do it without speaking the language, without having money, without knowing anyone and having the support of friends and family, I can do it too,” she said. “I went back to things that were a long time ago, but now I feel like they are vivid in my mind. I worked so hard for so many years that I never had time to stop and look back but writing this book, I had the chance.”
As the book launches on Tuesday, Soare has already received overwhelmingly positive feedback from her clients and friends.
“This book is a must read for anyone chasing a dream and determined to leave their mark,” said Kim Kardashian in her review printed on the back of the book.
Soare said she knew she’d done something right when her friend Oprah Winfrey read the book.
“She is a big part in my book because she was one of the woman who not only supported me, but I learned so much from her. She supported me. She validated my work,” Soare said. “She told me, ‘This book is amazing because it will inspire so many people…’ If she said that the book is amazing, then I feel complete.…I’ve done something right.”
