Ruby Polanco
Honduran-American
President + Founder, Ruby Makeup Academy
Instagram: @makeupby_ruby
From humble beginnings, Honduran-born Ruby Polanco is no stranger to turning obstacles into triumphs. At age 12, Ruby and her family came to the U.S. and lived in a 300-square-feet, kitchen-less, one bedroom apartment in South Central, Los Angeles. By the time she was 17, she was a junior high school dropout with a baby boy on the way. And within the span of one year, she got married, moved to Las Vegas, divorced and returned to LA.
Back at square one, she started grinding. From going back to obtain her 8th grade certificate, to enrolling in night school to get her GED, she also found the time to work at McDonald’s. Starting off as a cashier, then working her way up to a management level position – proving to herself that she could aim for much higher in life.
Ruby would then tackle her imperfect English skills by enrolling in community college, then pushed all the way to obtaining her bachelor’s degree in business management from the University of Phoenix. Little did she know, life would pick-up pace once again in 2003. From starting a successful real estate company with her newfound business partner (turned life partner), to seeing it disappear when the housing market crashed, Ruby lost everything and went back to square one yet again.
But she always dreamed of filling an opportunity that was missing at the time – a cosmetic line catering to Latinas – so she launched Ruby Cometics in 2005 and started doing makeup at fashion shows and nightclubs. During the journey, she built her personal brand, became a sought-after makeup artist, and taught her clients’ beauty tips.
By 2011, she followed her heart and closed Ruby Cosmetics in order to focus on offering makeup classes – via the Ruby Makeup Academy. With lightning success, the company turned into a multimillion-dollar business and received the honor of becoming one of Inc. Magazine’s Top 500 Fastest Growing Companies in America in 2014.
Today, the academy boasts four locations in Southern California, has never been in the red, graduates more than one thousand students (a.k.a. Ruby Girls) each year, and is an astonishing $3 million per year business! Watch Ruby tell her amazing story below.