Nathalie Nicole Smith is already a multimillionaire in her thirties. A multi-talented entrepreneur, Smith became the creator of Plush RX, a beauty and wellness store located inside Houston Galleria Mall, at 34. She also became an executive ambassador for Total Life Changes, the author of “Becoming a Brand,” and the founder of Women Who Boss, a 501(c)(3) organization that supports women in pursuing their true purpose in the face of challenges.
When the Silver Spring native was 12 years old, her life was completely upended when she and her mother had to move into her grandmother’s home due to her parent’s divorce. She developed an entrepreneurial drive after witnessing her mother labor endlessly to purchase a home.
Smith told Revolt, “Being in the house, I remember saying, ‘I just want to go. I want to just graduate from high school. I graduated at 17 years old and I was like, ‘I want to go to college. I don’t care what college at this point. I just want to go to college. I want to just be out of this house. I don’t want to be here anymore.’ That really birthed my entrepreneurship.”
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She added, “I would sell MetroCards, I would sell candy, I would sell books, I would sell school supplies—I just wanted money. I had great people but, again, they didn’t have enough money for me to be able to thrive.”
When she was a freshman at Howard University, her grandmother purchased her first vehicle, a Lexus AS300, which stoked Smith’s desire to keep a nice life for herself. She didn’t realize at the time that she was paving her own path into entrepreneurship. “I just knew it was, like, being a boss. I just wanted to be successful,” she elaborated.
Smith held a variety of jobs to support herself while she pursued her independence, including bartending, selling weaves, and even coaching some young people from Washington, DC. She also made money by providing bottle service, celebrity makeup, makeup at MAC Cosmetics, and doing hair.
By the time she left Howard’s campus, she was ready to take the next step and launch her brick-and-mortar business, Plush Beauty, in Washington, D.C., where she gained her first real experience as a businesswoman.
Those life lessons resulted in more resilience and more profitable business ventures. In 2015, Smith collaborated with Total Life Changes to promote their health and wellness products, swiftly earning six figures and the role of national director.
Smith declared, “I want women, especially across the world, to look at me and say, ‘It’s possible.’ I want men to look at me and say, ‘I want my daughter to be like her. I want my wife to be like her. I want my sister to be like her. I want to be her.’ I say that to say, ‘her’ takes care of herself. ‘Her’ takes care of her self-care. ‘Her’ takes care of her parents. ‘Her’ is a great mom. I want her, whatever ‘her’ is to that person, to be able to impact the world. So, that’s my why. I’m never gonna settle for just enough. If I settle, that’s going to impact the people that are watching me continue to set new standards and be able to break barriers for our culture, especially as a Black woman.”
