Once an investment banker with a Master’s in Chemical Engineering, Ning Cheah is now the powerhouse founder behind TikTok cult favourite brand The Beauty Crop. Turning over eight figures, The Beauty Crop is now one of the UK’s fastest growing beauty brands, but it wouldn’t have been born in the first place without Ning ignoring the doubters.
In a TikTok video that went viral with over 830,000 views and 105,000 likes, Ning shared the unconventional personal story that sparked her business journey. “When I first told people I wanted to start a beauty brand, they said, ‘But you’re a chemical engineer working in investment banking?’” she recalls. “I didn’t fit the mould, and that’s exactly why I knew I had to do it.”
TikTok video by @ning_thebeautycrop
Ning started the business as a side hustle using her own savings, working 12-hour days, whilst also raising two children. “I worked in this way for 2 whole years” says Ning, “but I just knew it had to pay off.”
After over a decade in finance, the toll of long hours and high-pressure environments manifested physically for Ning. “I developed chronic cystic acne and my eczema flared up. The products available at the time were either organic and ineffective, or chemically aggressive and full of fragrance that irritated my skin,” Ning explains in another TikTok, now viewed over 50,000 times. “I knew there had to be a better way.”
Armed with her background in chemistry and a passion for clean beauty, Ning began formulating products that were performance-driven yet gentle, delivering colour cosmetics packed with nourishing ingredients, all at an affordable price point. Once she quit her job after two years to take the side hustle full time, the business took off on an upward trajectory. What once seemed like an impossible task of growing her side hustle eventually blossomed into The Beauty Crop, now a go-to destination for nutrient-rich, plant-based cosmetics that are as kind to the skin as they are high-performing.
But the road to success was far from smooth. “Entrepreneurship is not as glossy as it looks,” Ning admits. “Over 10 years, I’ve faced manufacturing issues, HR dilemmas, international trade disputes and I’ve even been taken to court. But I love what I do and I wouldn’t change it for the world. I wouldn’t trade being a role model to my children and providing people with affordable better-for-you beauty products for anything.”
