“I’ve always loved makeup,” said Chief Executive Officer of Pound Cake Camille Bell, KLN ’15 (she/her). Since graduating from Temple University with a degree in public relations with a minor in general business, Bell and her business partner, Jonathan Velazquez, KLN ’18 (he/him), have been hard at work launching their cosmetic company, Pound Cake.

In 2015, Bell was directed to Temple’s Blackstone LaunchPad by Chris Carey, who advised her while she served as Temple Student Government’s auditor general. Housed in the Office of the Vice President for Research, Blackstone LaunchPad supports students, faculty and alumni who are interested in starting a business. They provide customized coaching to help people create their own path at no cost to the entrepreneur.

At Blackstone LaunchPad, Bell met Program Director Julie Stapleton Carroll (she/her) who started working with her to develop a name and social media presence for her proposed cosmetic company idea. 

Bell came up with the vision for Pound Cake because she always loved makeup but wasn’t allowed to wear it in high school. Once she moved into White Hall her freshman year, Bell went right across the street to Rite Aid and bought as much makeup as she could.

However, there was a downside to the makeup she saw on the shelves.

“I was very disappointed in what was being offered for Black and brown folks, especially at the time,” Bell said. After speaking with her friends and finding that they felt the same way, many of them encouraged her to do something about it.

It is this entrepreneurial spirit that led to Pound Cake.

Stapleton Carroll quickly found a convention in New York for Bell to attend and network. Bell took her business cards but came home with little to show. At that convention and others after it, she was always told that she needed a prototype of the lipstick she wanted to produce. To help make this happen, Bell started entering competitions to win money to help fund her product.

Once Stapleton Carroll told Bell about Fox’s Innovative Idea Competition, Bell enlisted the help of Velazquez, a media studies and production student at the time, to help her with her pitch and presentation. Velazquez put together an animation for the pitch, and after seeing Bell present, felt a connection to her work and wanted to continue to be a part of her process.

After winning the global initiative award from the Innovative Idea Competition, Bell and Velazquez took their idea to more competitions. Before creating their prototype, they made it to the semifinals in the Hult Prize Competition and were awarded Fox’s Lori Hermelin Bush Seed Fund grant.

Bell’s time entering competitions has come full circle, as she is now a judge for the Innovative Idea Competition. “She started out needing our help and now she’s helping us,” Stapleton Carroll said.

To help fund their prototype, Bell and Velazquez launched an Indiegogo campaign. The road to creating their prototype was not easy, however. They went to several labs, one of which dropped them because they got a bigger client. Though this was discouraging, Bell and Velazquez persevered and finalized their liquid lipstick formula in 2021.

“It’s been a grind and hustle,” Bell said.

Once they had their prototype, Bell and Velazquez submitted their product to Allure and, out of the 10,000 products they received, Pound Cake’s lipstick was named one of 19 best lip products for 2021.

Bell and Velazquez also applied to Glossier’s Grant Initiative for Black Owned Beauty Businesses and became part of a cohort that gives them access to advising and funding to further develop their product.

In September 2021, the pair launched their website with five shades of their signature liquid lipstick for sale. They quickly had to go back to restocking, though, as they sold out their entire stock in just 48 hours! The site launched again in November 2021, this time with six shades of lipstick. Bell hopes their product will be sold in a major retailer like Sephora or Ulta one day, but Velazquez stresses the importance of still maintaining their own brand.

“The thing I’m really excited about on my side is making our brand seem large enough to stand independently from retailers,” Velazquez said. While Velazquez mainly focuses on branding and design, Bell mostly works with labs and develops partnerships.

Bell and Velazquez met when Bell was Velazquez’s Resident Life Peer Mentor in the Major Exploration Living Learning Community. “We were friends before Pound Cake even started and that hasn’t changed,” Velazquez said. “Camille is awesome as a CEO and as a person.”

Bell is grateful that Temple, Klein and Fox have all been so supportive of the Pound Cake story. Stapleton Carroll noted their impressive persistence in the face of setbacks and admires their high standards they have for their product. “I’m eager to see where they go from here,” she said.

Bell and Velazquez encourage others to explore Temple’s resources such as the Blackstone LaunchPad. Follow this link for more information.