Sustainable living has been ingrained in Pink Moon CEO and Founder Lin Chen since her pre-teen years. After working for game-changing sustainable beauty brands, she decided to venture on her own and launched a platform built on ideals of self-love, self-acceptance, inclusivity, and community. The Asian American brand founder recalls, “I love that we can leave a positive impact on the emotional health of our customers and charities we support. When we first launched Pink Moon, I had several customers directly message me to say that Pink Moon has changed the way they take care of themselves mentally and emotionally.” 

 

Since its founding, Pink Moon has been a proponent of holistic living. The NYC-based brand has also dedicated itself to supporting like-minded, female-founded labels. Under the Pink Moon platform, values of sustainability, philanthropy and empowerment are celebrated. Lin enthuses, “These values are key to creating a more conscious and empowering beauty space. My inspiration and mission behind Pink Moon is to first and foremost encourage genuine self-love because I myself have experienced the transformative benefits of taking the time to truly take care of myself.”

 

 

1. What keeps you busy these days?

 

A lot of exciting things: Planning my wedding (thankful for our wedding planner, who has pretty much finalized all the details), preparing for a new little furry family member that we will have in just two months, and Pink Moon. I just onboarded a new co-founder and COO, and we have a lot of exciting things in the works!

 

 

2. How did you come to find your current career or life’s work?

 

I discovered sustainable, cruelty-free beauty when I was a pre-teen and it's something that has been ingrained in my daily life since then – focusing on supporting brands that don't harm our wildlife or any living creature, communities, and planet. My professional foray into this industry was after college, where I worked as an intern for a natural, vegan cosmetics brand that's now mass retail. I dabbled a bit in tech and healthcare afterwards then found my way back into sustainable beauty working at a retailer and then in-house at an Italian organic skincare brand. After working in so many dimensions of sustainable beauty, I decided to venture out on my own and start Pink Moon. I wanted to create a company that's based on self-love and self-acceptance as well as inclusivity and community while also giving back to meaningful causes.

 



 

3. What is it about your work or career that you enjoy most?

 

Being able to make a positive impact on our customers' emotional health and the charities we've supported and currently support. When I first launched Pink Moon, I had several customers directly DM and email me to say that Pink Moon has changed the way they take care of themselves mentally and emotionally, and that our products have helped them feel good about themselves and their skin. 

 

 

 

4. For people who aspire for similar careers, what would be your advice?

 

Surround yourself with a support system! This includes family, friends, other founders, attorneys – essentially people on your side. Being an entrepreneur is no easy feat, but creating something of your own is incredibly rewarding. Having a network of people who are constantly cheering you on is so crucial.

 

 

 

5. What are the career milestones that inspire you to break the glass or mold?

 

Bootstrapping Pink Moon to a six-figure business within one year as a solo Asian American female founder has definitely been a career milestone and something I'm very proud of. My co-founder is also an Asian American woman, and we're very excited about what's to come for Pink Moon!

 

 

6. How do you balance work and family life? What are activities that enable you to bond with family?

 

I'm going to be honest: It is quite hard to balance work and family life as an entrepreneur! My fiancé also has a very demanding career, so our weekends are really our only quality time together. I know that our puppy will bring a lot of bonding activities for us during the week, though, which I'm really looking forward to! On the weekends, we typically cook and do something spontaneous and unplanned on Saturdays, which has been fun. It's winter now, so most weekends we stay inside and catch up on shows. During the summer, we spend most of our time in the Hamptons with his family and just chill out on the beach and enjoy life.

 

 

7. What is your self care indulgence? How do you treat yourself or reward yourself at the end of each day or long work week?

 

A glass of red wine or scotch at 5PM on Fridays. At night, I treat my skin to longer facial massages when washing my face and at the end with a gua sha facial massage.

 

 

8. What is everyday luxury for you? Kindly share an example. 

 

Time away from my computer is honestly an everyday luxury. Some days, I'm good about closing my laptop at 6PM. On others, I'm on my computer until 10PM or I come back to my computer at midnight because my mind has so many thoughts.

 

 

 

9. How would you describe your personal style? What are three your wardrobe essentials?

 

 

My style has really evolved over the past few years, and especially during the pandemic. Lately (winter), I opt for comfort and minimalism – loose gray frayed jeans, flat boots, cashmere dresses with tights, and ultra soft turtleneck tops. I typically wear more neutral colors like black, gray, and rose nudes because they essentially go with everything. I rarely wear patterned clothing anymore except  during the summer.

 

 

10. What comprises a good investment piece? Kindly cite examples of pieces in your current wardrobe.

 

 

Something that's timeless, elegant, and that you'd wear over the years. My current two pieces that I love and were good investments are the Cartier Tank watch with a black leather strap and Gucci cream colored loafers. Both go with practically everything, and I know I'll treasure them for years to come.

 

 

11. Why are pearls special to you?

 

 

Pearls are so elegant, versatile, and personally special to me because my mother has an affinity for pearls and has gifted me several pearl necklaces in the past decade. It'll be even more special because the earrings I selected to wear on my wedding day have dangling pearls, too.