ROSELAND, N.J., June 5, 2026 – In its continued series spotlighting this year’s Grit & Wisdom Award winners, ADP highlights Aer Cosmetics and owner Paige DeAngelo’s advice for fellow business owners on using customer feedback to act fast.
Small Business Spotlight: Aer Cosmetics
A business’ success depends on its ability to establish and maintain a positive relationship with its customers. For Aer Cosmetics founder Paige DeAngelo, the faith her customers showed in her innovative and eco-friendly beauty product got her through early packaging challenges that required a complete restart. Paige credits those early believers for being the driving force behind Aer Cosmetics’ success.
“I went months without a paycheck,” Paige recalls. “I kept going…because quitting would have meant abandoning the customers who had faith in this idea.” Her months of struggle marked a turning point as she spent more time engaging directly with her customers. “Continuous conversations led me to create and perfect a completely new mascara formula that solved a long-standing problem in beauty,” Paige explains.
Rather than spending the bulk of her time on marketing and operational matters, Paige focused on communicating directly with her customers through social media, sharing her story and her struggles. “That transparency rebuilt trust and changed the business,” she says, significantly increasing the business’ revenue and building a community of followers.
Paige notes another important factor in the company’s resilience was “building structure where there previously had been none.” Paige relied on systems like RUN Powered by ADP® to bring “consistency, accountability, and legitimacy to a business built under pressure.”
Paige adds, “the failures that nearly ended the business now define how I operate it. The grit that carried me through those early years now guides what’s next: meeting customer demand faster and scaling responsibly without sacrificing quality or values.”
For more small business stories and support, visit adp.com/gritandwisdom.
FAQs:
The awards highlight real examples of entrepreneurs navigating challenges such as cash flow pressure, operational disruption, leadership transitions, growth decisions and unexpected external events. Their stories offer practical lessons other business owners can apply as they strengthen their own operations.
Small businesses can build resilience by formalizing and documenting key processes, improving financial visibility, preparing for workforce and supplier disruptions, and creating systems that add structure and continuity to business processes. ADP’s Grit & Wisdom Award winners show how structure, adaptability and leadership can help businesses navigate challenges and drive growth.
ADP supports more than 900,000 small businesses with the workforce infrastructure that makes business possible. ADP’s HR and payroll solutions are designed to help businesses manage their most critical workforce functions with precision, compliance, and confidence.
