Meredith Cain, master formulating brains behind Terra Firma Cosmetics, defines the Pinup as “a woman who feels confidence with her body no matter what shape or what size she is, without being over sexual.” In short: “a woman who is confident.”

With an air of confidence, long legs, high cheekbones and deep blue eyes, being beautiful seems to come easy for Cain, a South Bend High School graduate. But she wasn’t always so self­assured. Moving from a city suburb to a small community as a young woman can change your life.

At age 17 she did just that. From Kirkland she moved to South Bend. The career in cosmetics came something as a fluke, but the support given to her during the initial years of Terra Firma helped form her confidence, something she hopes to pass along to others.

“The women [in the community] were extremely supportive of my business. I will never forget how huge an impact they made. They verified that Terra Firma was what I should be doing.”

Seeing an infomercial about loose mineral makeup, she took the bait, hoping to find a solution to putting chemicals on her skin, “I was raised knowing that whole foods are good for you and what you put on your skin goes into your body.”

After receiving the products in the mail, her expectations fell short, but her curiosity piqued. “I started doing mad research.” She found all­natural ingredients and mixed her own colors in her kitchen with a coffee grinder. “People started taking notice, and I would tell them, ‘Hey, I make my own foundation.’ They thought that was really cool. I started sharing it with my friends, then I made my own blush and my friends wanted to use it too. I got a really good response.” Now her company, Terra Firma makes over 500 beauty products.

Terra Firma has since moved to downtown Olympia and is an international business shipping to as far away as Afghanistan and London. Products can be found in over 20 retail locations.

“It’s really off the wall,” she says of how the Internet has launched her exposure. She appreciates the many years of local support and word of mouth that helped establish her business and as a thank you, even though Terra Firma now lives in Olympia, shipping to Grays Harbor and Pacific County is always free.