As a co-founder and majority owner of Dynamic Blending, a contract cosmetic manufacturing company in Vineyard, Utah, Jordan Erskine tackles a wide range of tasks.
On a typical day, he visits the various departments, growing out the in-house marketing branch, troubleshooting a formula in the lab, or figuring out how to incorporate more robotics on the assembly line. Cosmetic Pressed Powder Machine
“I’m kind of all over the place,” says Erskine, a 2013 MBA graduate of Northeastern. “I still wear many hats.”
But many of the foundations that gave him the confidence to branch out and start his company in 2015 were put in place by Northeastern University.
Erskine completed the online MBA program during nights and weekends as he continued working at a manufacturing company that produced toothpaste. He also participated in the international trip with many colleagues from Boston in China. In addition, he met professors and students for a 10-day trip.
Erskine visited Boston for the first time during graduation.
“It was exactly what I was looking for in terms of an MBA program that I could do while working full-time and trying to propel my career,” Erskine says.
At the time, Utah universities only offered in-person or full-time MBA programs. After hearing about Northeastern through a family connection, it became his first school choice.
The courses allowed him to take a closer look at the entire process behind beauty, cosmetics and skincare, from research and development to cosmetic chemistry.
He is now part of the McCarthy Venture Mentor Network, a university-wide resource available to Northeastern students, faculty and alumni. The network aims to pair Northeastern entrepreneurs with high-quality, experienced mentors who can help address business challenges and make ventures more successful.
Erskine is one of nearly 400 mentors who volunteer to share their industry and entrepreneurship expertise, according to Wendy Eaton, the associate director of the network. The network serves about 150 to 200 ventures a year.
Last year, Erskine participated in a manufacturing panel discussion presented by the Venture Mentor Network online.
Within the industry, he’s been able to help a few graduates and staff from Northeastern start a beauty and cosmetics company. Recently, he talked to a Northeastern graduate working on a topical gel for the jaw. He helped him work through different state and federal regulations.
“I don’t necessarily look at myself as a mentor,” Erskine says. “It’s been a little bit of an adjustment. But I want to help people.”
Erskine and his former colleague from a different manufacturing company, Gavin Collier, started Dynamic Blending in his basement eight years ago.
Together they secured $175,000 in seed funding to start the company.
The duo was doing formulas for products in the basement as they figured out how to start manufacturing. The company eventually grew.
The company has a 6,000-square-foot research and development lab with cosmetic chemists and nine manufacturing lines. The company has even started installing robotics on the lines using AI technology in the manufacturing component.
The company has 65 employees but also hires temporary employees when necessary.
Erskine wants to be at the forefront of innovation in the cosmetic space. He plans on adding robotics to all nine of his manufacturing lines and is building a green chemistry Experience Center in the main headquarters. The lab will allow brands to visit to see the newest and greatest sustainable packaging with chemical-free formulations.
In terms of advice to students and young professionals entering the venture capital sphere, he says companies are tightening their reins.
“I still think that if you have the right product or idea or opportunity and you’re able to present it in a good way—I still think there are people out there who are looking to deploy capital and invest,” says Erskine. “It just might be harder to find.”
Cosmetic Powder Pressing Machine Beth Treffeisen is a Northeastern Global News reporter. Email her at b.treffeisen@northeastern.edu. Follow her on Twitter @beth_treffeisen.