NEW YORK -- Thevaki Thambirajah '97 says she feels like a student again.

After years of interest in starting her own cosmetics company, Thambirajah took the leap in 2006. She found her target market, developed formulas, created distinctive packaging and design ideas, and began working to build a recognizable brand.

Her challenge now is building from a small, local business to a nationally known product.

"At this point, I need knowledge about how to get from this level to the next," she said while visiting campus during a recent speaking engagement to a class. "I'm trying to network and meet mentors who have gone through the startup phases, so I can learn some strategies and ways to get there."

Thambirajah, who was born of Sri Lankan parents, started her company, Thevi Cosmetics, because she found that traditional makeup lines lacked products for women with strong cultural traditions and influences, what she calls the "New Ethnic Market."

"Many of these light- to dark-skinned women of Asian, South Asian, Hispanic, Middle Eastern and Mediterranean descent enjoy makeup that's more colorful and intense than products available now," she said.

For them, color is an everyday look, not a trend. And for many of these women, their lives consist of mixing the traditions of culture and family with their modern lifestyle, she said.

An undergraduate business major, Thambirajah took several classes on entrepreneurship and was a co-founder of the Cornell Entrepreneur Organization (CEO) for undergraduates. She was also very active in the South Asian community organization and cultural events, was president of Sitara, a South Asian dance troupe, and was co-chair of the Student Assembly finance commission.

After graduation, she worked in banking, then -- wanting to follow through on her interest in cosmetics -- took positions with Revlon and Coty to gain industry experience.

"At the same time, I was always doing research and writing business plans for my own business," she said. "I was in planning mode for a while, but then I decided to just go for it."

So far, she has visited retailers to show off her products, which are sold on her Web site (http://www.thevicosmetics.com), and has received good reviews from makeup bloggers and Web sites.

Now she's at the point where she needs to raise additional capital to refine her formulations, making them even more relevant to women of different cultures. She also needs to make a bigger break into the retail world and build her customer base.

She's testing other distribution strategies to reach ethnic communities until she can obtain financing -- through direct sales, "makeup party"-style gatherings, wedding planning events and small ethnic boutique distribution within each ethnic community.

She's even contemplating taking another job to bring in some capital for her business, but she doesn't want to get distracted from her goal.

"This is really what I want to do," she said. "I'm passionate about it."

Kathy Hovis is a writer and editor with Entrepreneurship@Cornell. This article is adapted from eship magazine.