| | Published April 4th, 2018
| Moraga businesswoman's venture focuses on mixing things up
| | | By Sophie Braccini |  | | Amy Schofield enjoys Moraga with her family. Photo provided |
Little suburbs populated by educated people have the striking ability to foster female entrepreneurs who draw from their previous professional experience, finding outlets for their creative energy at different stages of their lives by starting new businesses. Some wait for their children to be out of school, others like Amy Schofield invent something that they can manage while raising young children. Schofield's business, Mixify Beauty, offers a range of online kits to create beauty products: nail polish, lip-gloss and perfume. The mother of two daughters, ages 2 and 6, also created a blog in her spare time to help people discover her new hometown: Moraga.
Schofield was born in one continent, Australia, her husband in another, the Indian sub-continent, and they met in a third, Europe. How they ended up in Moraga is a long story, where jobs and schools had something to do with the final decision. The European encounter happened in London, where the future couple attended the same business school. Schofield's career developed in communication and procurement, until she centered her life around her two daughters. But her entrepreneurial spirit kept pushing her toward more business adventures.
The first was bridesmaids' dress rentals. She quickly tired of the business where she says some never return the dresses they were supposed to just rent and most of the work was about collecting money. But from that first endeavor came the idea of creating nail polish colors that would match the dresses. She played with the idea, and came out with Mixify's first product: a nail polish kit.
Schofield says that she was not a girly-girl growing up, but that for her, this kit is a way to express creativity, and have fun, by yourself or with a group of girlfriends. The kit contains eight colors: five basics - red, blue, yellow, white, black - and three "passion" colors based on individual selection, to be mixed to create any color imaginable. The kit includes five, 10 or 20 uncolored nail polish bottles with base either shiny regular or matte, a mixing tray, funnel, spoons and stirrers, mixing balls and instructions.
According to Schofield, the kits are popular for bachelorette parties, birthday parties and any girls' night out-type activity. She adds that her clients can be in elementary school - though needing supervision - up to any age.
The second product she started with the same artisan-make-it-yourself concept is a lip gloss, and the most recent is perfume. The new perfume kits were presented at the GBK's pre-Oscar celebrity lounge, and her website features celebrities' with the personified fragrance they created. The kit includes three options for the "head" note, three for the "heart" note, and three different bases. Schofield says that she does not consider herself a "nose," but that making perfume opens a new door to olfactory senses as well as an understanding of what makes the uniqueness of a fragrance.
Schofield did not forget to add a philanthropic side to her business. She donates to Near and Dear Fundraising, a group that serves California schools, and she also wants to be involved locally.
The proud mom adds that entrepreneurship is something that can be modeled. She did not start being an entrepreneur until her 30s, but her oldest daughter came to her last Christmas because she wanted to create her own line of products: Christmas lights that she assembles and now sells on Etsy. For more information, visit www.mixifybeauty.com.
Building interest for Moraga through a blog
As a relatively new resident of Moraga, and part of Viva Moraga, a group that wants to see more economic development downtown, Schofield wrote a blog called "10+ unique things to do in hidden Moraga, the San Francisco East Bay town that you've never heard of ... and it's closer than you think." The postings are online on playbuzz.com, just enter "Moraga" in the search at the top of the page. The 10+ things include Saint Mary's NCAA basketball team, the Moraga Art Gallery, Natasha Grasso's jewelry business, the ultimate disc golf parcours, Captains' Vineyard, and much more. She welcomes feedback and suggestions.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA