There’s a version of me I think about often.
She’s sitting at her desk as a cosmetic formulation chemist: deep in raw materials, lab notebooks, and product briefs, scrolling through industry news during a break. She’s just discovered Cosmoprof, MakeUpInNY, and In-Cosmetics.

Massive trade shows.

Global stages.

Rooms full of innovation.

And she’s thinking, I wish I could go to something like that for work.
At the time, I was doing what many bench chemists do best: turning concepts into viable, mass-market-ready products. Since 2014, formulation chemistry has taught me how to take an idea—sometimes messy, sometimes half-formed—and transform it into something stable, scalable, and real. I learned how to troubleshoot, refine, and protect the integrity of a formula while navigating timelines, budgets, and expectations.
But trade shows? That always felt out of reach.
As a bench chemist, those opportunities weren’t always part of the job. I watched from afar while others traveled, exhibited, and represented brands.

I never imagined that one day I wouldn’t just be attending these shows:

I’d be exhibiting at them.

With my own brand.

With my own story.
Yet here I am.

Today I wrapped up my second day as an exhibitor at Cosmoprof Miami, showcasing my brand, LotiBloom, in the Beauty Vanities section. Standing in this specialty space talking about my product, my ingredients, my journey I had one of those quiet, full-circle moments.
This wasn’t how I imagined it would happen.
But it happened.
Along the way, there were detours. Closed doors. Seasons that felt like pauses instead of progress. Wins that came wrapped in uncertainty. Losses that forced me to rethink everything I thought I knew about timing and success.
And still, this moment arrived.
Winning the Beauty Tank award at MakeUpInNY.

Exhibiting at Cosmoprof.

Building something that is fully mine. These weren’t accidents. They were the result of years of intention, curiosity, persistence, and trusting that the work I was doing (even when unseen) was leading somewhere.
This journey has reminded me of something important:
The thoughts and intentions you put into the universe do manifest—but often not in the way you imagine, and rarely on the timeline you expect.

I’m deeply grateful for this opportunity, for the conversations, the connections, and the doors that are opening right now. And I’m equally grateful for the doors that closed, because they made room for something more aligned.
If there’s one thing I’m holding close in this moment, it’s this:

Trust the timing of your life.
When one door closes, another truly does open.
Sometimes, it opens into a place you once only dreamed about from your desk.