Eye of the Beholder: Tori Prince Beauty

Learn more about Chicago native Victoria 'ToriBan' Prince and her journey from having low self esteem to discovering her side hustle and creating a luxury brand for women.

Victoria ‘ToriBan’ Prince was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. Growing up as the daughter of a model and even modeling herself, like many youth Tori dealt with self-esteem issues. Being tall, skinny, having acne, and wearing glasses caused her to be teased and have low self-esteem in her youth, but it also ignited a passion in Tori that would prove to be more than just curiosity.

“Because I was teased, I tried to create different personalities to try and mask that hurt," Tori says, “people are so dumb for stuff that you can’t control. So I would create concoctions and use it on my face to try and get rid of the acne.” Tori admits that she used berries that grew on the bushes outside of her house and even toothpaste for acne remedies, “I didn’t know what I was doing. But I knew that I wanted to be a dermatologist”.

“The best business decision I have made was betting on myself.”-ToriBan

There were many things that Tori was exposed to early in life while watching her mother who was a model transform and take on the runway. “I liked the behind the scenes. Being from the ghetto of Chicago, you’re not exposed to things. But I was fortunate to be exposed to things, I did a few things makeup, stylist, but you have other people putting their fears on you saying what or what not to do.” Tori went on to attend Northwestern University and she says that everyone wanted her to be a lawyer or a judge. She even considered careers in finance because she was good with numbers. Ultimately, she planted in a career in Human Resources, but always had her hand in the beauty industry and her side hustles. Tori opened two spas while still working a 9-5 because it was hard to walk away from her corporate job. "Once you leave, you'll be replaced. Working for someone else hinders you because you're safe. It's money guaranteed and as an entrepreneur there is no guarantee I will get a check in two weeks." But after being crushed in not receiving an advanced position in her HR role, right before COVID-19, Tori resigned from her job. “I haven’t looked back since.” Although she took the side-hustle path in entrepreneurship while working a 9-5, when asked what has been the best business decision she has made, Tori says, “Betting on myself”.

Victoria "ToriBan" Prince is a NCEA Certified Licensed Esthetician, Licensed Educator, International MUA, Author & Coach. She is the owner of Tori Prince Beauty, LLC.

Learn more about toriprincebeauty at https://toriprincebeauty.com/