Meet Ling-Ling Nie

We recently connected with Ling-Ling Nie and have shared our conversation below.

Ling-Ling, thank you so much for making time for us. We’ve always admired your ability to take risks and so maybe we can kick things off with a discussion around how you developed your ability to take and bear risk?

Taking risks is necessary for growth, and I just feel that you should always be growing in life. Being stagnant is a little scary to me, and I think that concern has encouraged me to seek out new challenges whenever I can. Sometimes growth happens slowly and other times it’s at an accelerated pace, but taking calculated bets is how I’ve been able to learn and experience new things and how I’ve developed resilience and confidence over time. I don’t takes risks impulsively though. I do my research and I try to make sure any new venture is going to challenge me in a way that will propel me forward toward a particular goal or will help deepen my understanding of myself and the world around us.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I launched Tender Cosmetics in January 2025 after spending about three years developing unique cooling cosmetic formulas that would help others feel refreshed and revitalized throughout the day. I believe beauty should actually feel good and that’s a sensorial experience that is at the center of my brand and what makes it special.

Ice Shadow is my line of cream eyeshadows that currently comes in five wearable shades and is made from natural ingredients like lemon extract and lavender. I also developed Cooler Blush, line of cream blushes with similar cooling properties, and Cooler Highlighter, which not only cools your skin but creates a natural illumination. The highlighter is a product I use almost everyday because it provides a really healthy radiant glow no matter what else I’m wearing.

I love creating products that can add that little boost to your day and your confidence. Everyone deserves to feel great about themselves, and I hope Tender Cosmetics can put a little pep in your step and give you that extra spark.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Persistence, discipline, and curiosity are probably the three qualities that fueled my journey as an entrepreneur, especially early on. For me, the biggest shift in becoming my own boss and building Tender Cosmetics was realizing that nothing will happen unless I personally set the wheels in motion. Nobody else is telling me what to do or how or when to do it. I have to own every decision–right or wrong, and that does create a lot of pressure that can sometimes feel a little paralyzing, but it’s also quite liberating to be the architect of your business and the one flying the plane.

My advice for anyone early in their journey is to have a process of how you’re going to get from point A to point B. You’ll need to set directional goals and you’ll also need to set specific tasks toward that goal. You need to outline the very specific steps you need to take, what resources you’ll need to take those steps, and what sequence you need to execute those steps to get the optimal result. That’s a process that you can then go back and refine, revise, and modify based on the outcomes you’re seeing, and through that process you will naturally learn the importance of persistence, discipline, and curiosity.

As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?

It’s funny that even though I’m not really a sports fanatic, I draw an enormous amount of inspiration from the philosophies of the greatest coaches and their approach to high performance. “The Score Takes Care of Itself” by Bill Walsh is a book that personally helped me not only manage my anxiety and fear of failure but also helped me be a better leader to others by focusing on consistently executing your process and fundamentals rather than becoming overly focused on achieving a particular outcome. It’s that dedication to a system of high standards and communicating it to your team that will make success inevitable. I’ve found this approach to be highly effective in whatever I’m doing.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.tender-cosmetics.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tender.cosmetics/

Image Credits

Hannah Lozano Photography