Growing up an Armenian-American millennial, I always felt pressure to de-Armenianize myself to fit the beauty standards I obsessed over in the early aughts. Eyebrows couldn’t be too thick, so I over-plucked mine into oblivion much to my mom’s chagrin. My hair was slightly wavy, so guess what I did? I sizzled it flat with a flat iron, which definitely damaged it. I often tried to hide my Armenian heritage by giving in to Western beauty standards, and the fact that my mom, grandmas, and aunts refused to follow suit shocked me. “Keep it natural,” they’d say in stark contrast to what my peers and I were doing.

As time went on and the red flags of early aughts beauty standards reared their heads, I noticed a change in the atmosphere—my naturally thick, fluffy eyebrows were suddenly “feathered” and in fashion. Stick-straight, flat-ironed hair was replaced with voluminous, “beachy” waves. No longer an impressionable teenager, I realized it was high time I embraced every inch of my Armenian beauty.

I’m vocal about how proud I am to be Armenian and part of a community that’s setting many of the beauty standards we see today. The Armenian community is riddled with beauty trendsetters, one of whom is Rima Minasyan, the co-founder of Patrick Ta Beauty. I connected with her to talk about some of the traditions we grew up with, how she found the motivation to become a beauty entrepreneur, and the secrets to her success and beauty routine.

Armenian women are leading some of the biggest beauty brands in the industry right now. What advice do you have for young Armenian girls who want to start a career in this field?