Young Entrepreneur Madison Rooksby Turns a Dream into Reality

Rochester native Madison Rooksby, a freshman marketing major who has a minor in professional sales, took it upon herself to turn a dream into a reality. From an early age, Rooksby has envisioned being a business owner; coming from a multigenerational family-owned business. Her father succeeded her grandfather in owning Safe Passage International, offering the motivation and inspiration to create her own beauty brand.

Rooksby’s business, Madison Marie NY, officially launched in November 2020, selling lip gloss to customers between the ages of 4 to 75. The endeavor has been a family effort: Rooksby’s brother helped create her website; her sister helped design her logo; and her father has helped her develop the core strategy and operation of her business.

At the moment, Madison Marie NY offers six colors of lip gloss made from her own formulas. The variety of colors helped her expand her client base, as subtle shades and darker shades attract different customers.

“I have been trying to market the business in new ways. I created a website, an Instagram page, and have been handing out business cards as much as I can,” she said. “This has helped get my name out there more to the public and catch people's attention.”

Before the initial start-up of the business, Rooksby spent considerable time researching what goes into creating a business. She explored all of the legal aspects of creating and selling lip gloss and made sure everything was being done correctly.

Rooksby spent most of her time during the developmental process of creating her product researching lip gloss formulas and comparing it with products currently on the market, exploring the benefits and purpose of each product. Once she developed a written formula for her own product, she purchased the necessary ingredients for a trial run. She started with a TKB Lip Gloss Base to have a foundation for the texture of the lip gloss. The next steps entailed combining the rest of the ingredients.

Rooksby included octyldodecanol to enhance the texture of the lip gloss and ensure that the oils combined do not separate during the creation. She also uses phenonip, a preservative to make sure the product lasts as long as possible, and oil locking mica, a powder that provides the color to the lip gloss. Jojoba Seed Oil helps to naturally moisturize the lips instead of just coating the top of the skin, connective tissue, and muscle layer.

“This allows customers to have the immediate glossy look on their lips while also helping to heal dry, damaged, and chapped lips.”

Other ingredients serve to protect and condition the lips, and keep them firm and hydrated. Rooksby also added an oil that helps reduce redness and even offer a “plumping” effect. The last ingredient within Rooksby’s product is Vitamin E Oil, which works to hydrate, moisturize, and add a “glowing” effect to the lips.

After carefully measuring out the correct amount of each ingredient and combining the mixture, she tested it out for herself. After completing her trial runs, she created the lip gloss tubes and added final touches including labels to the product before launching her line to customers.

Rooksby would like to use her Fisher education to expand the business. She has big plans for the Madison Marie NY brand and hopes to have the opportunity to carry out those ideas in the future. She hopes that Madison Marie NY will become big enough that it can one day become her full-time job. For now, she is looking into expanding her product line beyond lip gloss.

“I would love to have my own store one day and be able to expand as far as I can go!” she said.

At Fisher, Rooksby is a member of the Fisher Entrepreneurship Association and plans to play a bigger role in the club soon.

Learn more about Madison Marie NY online or on Instagram (@madisonmarieny).

This article was written by Salvatore Saunders ’23, a marketing and communications intern in the School of Business.