A beauty entrepreneur who was told she would never succeed has disclosed how she turned the tables when the very teacher who doubted her subsequently approached her seeking employment. Raneen Awad spent much of her youth fantasising about cosmetics, fashion and achieving celebrity status.
Education failed to captivate her, but Raneen harboured substantial aspirations from a young age. The 23-year-old said: “Even when I was in fifth grade, my teacher asked us what we wanted to become when we grew up. Other students were saying doctors, teachers and lawyers. “I said, ‘I’m going to be a model, and I’m going to be famous.’ Everyone laughed at me.”
However, one comment particularly resonated with her. Raneen, who commands over 264,000 followers on Instagram (@Raneenawad1), said: “I always remember a sixth-grade maths teacher asking me a question that I didn’t know the answer to. She told me I would never become anything useful in the future.”
Seven years on, circumstances had shifted dramatically. Raneen had cultivated a substantial social media presence and established her own cosmetics venture, RENO, reports the Mirror. Then an unexpected message appeared.
She said: “Years later, after I had become a business owner and had built a large audience on Instagram, that same teacher contacted me and asked whether she could become a representative and sell my products. It was a very full-circle moment for me. It reminded me that sometimes people who doubt you at the beginning have no idea what you are capable of becoming.”
During her childhood, Raneen’s family faced financial hardship. Her father, Zidan, 63, earned modest wages in the construction industry, while her mother Saira, 60, remained at home caring for their five children. Raneen, the youngest child, recalls her mother forgoing new clothing to ensure her children’s needs were met.
She said: “My mother would often go without buying clothes for herself so that she could buy clothes and other things for us. When I was a child, I didn’t fully understand what she was sacrificing for us. As I grew older, I realised how much my mother had sacrificed for her children.”
Her family’s financial circumstances partly motivated Raneen to begin working young, though she maintains her primary driver was chasing her ambitions. At 14, she joined a professional makeup course alongside students in their late 20s and 30s.
By 16, she’d begun modelling for a beauty salon after catching the eye of a makeup artist while preparing for her brother’s wedding. However, it was an unconventional career path that would ultimately finance her future enterprise – piercing.
At 18, she built a following by performing cheek piercings, which proved popular among young women seeking the look of dimples. Clients would queue at her parents’ residence, each paying 500 shekels (£110). She said: “I was welcoming girls into my parents’ home and working from a small room there. Eventually, I became so busy that there were days when five to fifteen girls would come to me.”
Raneen Awad spent much of her childhood in Israel dreaming about make-up, fashion and becoming famous (Image: Raneen Awad/Jam Press)
Identifying an opportunity in the marketplace, Raneen began offering piercing training and subsequently instructed approximately 80-100 young women. She put in approximately 100,000 shekels (£22,000) towards establishing the skincare enterprise RENO, which included regulatory approvals, production costs and initial infrastructure.
Raneen says she founded the business at around 17, with a lip-enhancing product emerging as its first major success. She operated the venture from her childhood bedroom, recording orders by hand and handling packaging herself, with assistance from her mum.
Her elder sister would transport her around for personal deliveries. Raneen said: “I started everything from my bedroom. I stored the products there, took the orders myself and packed everything from home. At the beginning, I didn’t have a delivery company or a team. I personally delivered the orders, and my sister would often drive me around.”
Already well known to many on Instagram, Raneen says buyers were thrilled at the possibility of meeting her when she brought their purchases. Her initial inventory of 500 lip-enhancing products was depleted within merely four days.
During her inaugural day of deliveries, Raneen generated $5,000 (£3,700) in revenue. She said: “Looking back, it’s crazy to think about how everything started from my bedroom.”
The teenager quickly found herself living a life vastly different from her upbringing. Raneen claims that within her first month of operating RENO, she generated sufficient income to purchase her first vehicle – a pink Mercedes valued at roughly 280,000 shekels (£62,000).
By that point, she had departed the family residence and secured a rental property with additional space for her expanding inventory. Twelve months later, she acquired a red Corvette costing around 560,000 shekels (£124,000).
Currently, she states RENO shifts roughly 3,000 products monthly and has diversified beyond the initial lip enhancer. Its portfolio now encompasses a brightening cream for face and body, skincare serums, an eye cream, and a facial soap.
Raneen has additionally accumulated approximately 264,000 Instagram followers. Now 23 and more than seven years into managing RENO, she has purchased two vehicles and experienced the financial independence she once thought impossible.
She said: “Financially, I now have a level of freedom that I could never have imagined when I was younger. I can walk into a restaurant and order whatever I want without constantly thinking about the price.
“If I want something like a Rolex, I can buy it without having to worry about whether I can afford it. But for me, the biggest difference isn’t really the cars, watches or material things. It’s the fact that I built this myself and that I’m now able to give my family things I once only dreamed about.”
Her achievements haven’t prevented Raneen from experimenting with her looks either. She has candidly shared details of having rhinoplasty and claims she underwent an unconventional treatment to alter her eye colour from black to blue.
Raneen explains she sought an alternative following years of wearing contact lenses, which left her eyes dry and sensitive. She said: “I honestly don’t know how I found the courage to do it, but I did.
“Today, I am very grateful for the decision I made, and I consider it one of the best procedures I have ever chosen for myself. I don’t regret any of the procedures I’ve chosen to have.”
Despite the vehicles, supporters and monetary achievements, Raneen maintains that being able to repay her mum for the sacrifices she made remains amongst her proudest accomplishments. She said: “I think 16-year-old Raneen would look at me and say, ‘You were always ambitious. You always had dreams that were bigger than your age.’
“Most importantly, I think she would be proud that I’m able to give back to my mum after everything she sacrificed for me. Knowing that I can now give my family things that my mum once struggled to provide is one of the things I’m most proud of. And if there is one thing I would tell my 16-year-old self, it would be this: this is only the beginning.”