Our Story

I have always had a love for food and beauty. I think I was born with a french fry in my mouth, with lipstick and paint pumping out of my heart! As a child, all I did was draw, color, paint, sketch, origami, carve, ceramics, paper mache, sew, knit, and of course, watch Bob Ross! My biggest dream was to go to an art institute in San Francisco, but, the universe chose a different path for me.​

Instead, I got pregnant at seventeen. At the time, I had traditional Asian parents that I could not see eye to eye with and I ended up rebelling (although now we're super close thank goodness!). I knew I had to grow up fast, put my dreams aside, and aspired to create better dreams for my child. I chose to study healthcare instead to ensure stability for daughter. My journey to succeed in this career was long and challenging, especially as a young teen mom who was criticized heavily and judged that my life would likely be over. But, my aspirations came to fruition as all I could think about was better outcomes for myself and my daughter. I had an extremely phenomenal experience in healthcare for over 10 years, especially being able to care for and nurture cancer patients in the most intimate way possible. I kept going until the very end until I completed my doctorate degree, but still, the universe kept drawing me back to where my heart was, and that of course was art. The heart wants what it wants.

Throughout my healthcare career, I still did everything I could to make art. I took so many art classes on the side. I was cooking creative meals, sewing children's outfits and costumes, and of course creating make-up looks with my daughter! Still, I had a burning desire to pursue something in art professionally but I just didn’t know how it would come to be. At the same time, my daughter and I became very passionate about food and especially make-up! We just loved all the make-up colors, scents, textures, powders, liquids, brushes, and learning about shadows and light! Make-up and art was pouring out of my heart once again!

During summer of 2016, my daughter and I were watching a makeup tutorial. My daughter was laughing, talking about how the lipstick color on the guru's lips looked like hotdog!  She loved it so much that I wanted to buy her a hotdog lipstick! I asked her if she knew of one. We looked and there was nothing close to it, but she said that if there were, all her friends would buy it!  Literally, the idea of Gorjue came to me like a bolt of lightening! Why not make a cosmetics line that mimics colors and foods from around the world, including a New York Hotdog Lipstick! It made sense! There's not a day that you browse through your social media and don't see a post of mouthwatering food or a beautiful makeup look! Ideas of art were pumping and pumping out of my heart! 

I took the leap. I took a huge risk. I did everything to make this idea in to a reality. This dream was an even bigger challenge, more so than being a young mom. It took me two extremely grueling years to have everything come to fruition because I was still working full time in healthcare, taking care of two kids, and not to mention, right after I founded the company, my husband lost his job, so, I had to take on the business and work two other jobs! Everything you could imagine that went wrong did. But still, nothing could stop me from my beating “art” heart and somehow through the storm, my heart poured out tangible art. Here we are today sharing our art with you! It came around full circle. It was because of my beautiful daughter who dreamed of a hotdog lipstick, the hard journey of caring for her at a young age, and pursuing a grueling healthcare career, that my strength was built and prepared me for this greater challenge! Not only that, but my relationships with my cancer patients also taught me humility, deep gratitude, and to ALWAYS be kind and caring to everyone; these traits have molded and reflected the kind of authentic, positive brand that I truly stand for. I honestly don't think I could have succeeded in entrepreneurship without these lessons, as if I was seasoned prematurely on purpose, as if I was meant to have my daughter in order for my art dreams to come true.  

I share this story because we want this brand to stand for humbleness, hard work, authenticity, dreams, and most importantly, fierce, enigmatic passion. We want our followers to know that everything we do comes from the heart and we want to spread positivity and uplifting words of encouragement. The world needs more of that! Feel what your heart wants, believe what your dreams tell you, encourage positive actions, forgive often, and keep a strong focused mind to persevere to happiness and success, because whatever circumstances come your way, there may be a blessing in disguise.  We humbly thank you for your support and we hope you truly enjoy our art. 

Let your will in this life be the way to life.

Love,

Maesa Koeber

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