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Shop Essence Live Episode 20: Layo G and Jo'Nia Miller, LLC-
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00:00Hello, and welcome to episode 20 of Shop Essence Live. I'm so excited to be in the 20th episode.
00:09This is an initiative that we started way before the pandemic actually hit, but we pushed it
00:15through. And one of the vendors actually today was a part of our pilot episode. I can't wait
00:19for you guys to meet her. We have some amazing business owners that we're going to be talking
00:24to today. If this is your first time with us, you have just tuned in to Shop Essence Live.
00:29This is the shopping show where we highlight Black-owned business owners. Not only do you
00:34get to hear their stories, but you will get to shop. Very, very excited. So if you are tuning
00:41in on Facebook, you will be able to shop right where you are. You ain't got to go nowhere.
00:45You can either go to the shops tab, or as you put up the products, you may even see a little
00:50Facebook Live pop up with the products. We're so fancy over here, I know. If you're watching
00:56on Twitter or later at Essence.com, you can go to shop.essence.com to check out the products
01:01that we're going to be featuring today. Let's say hello to our ladies real quick, real quick.
01:06I got y'all on mute. I'll meet you. All right. So we have Joniah Miller. She is creator and
01:11owner of Joniah, and they have such cool products made for us celebrating our dopeness, as you
01:17see right here in the picture we're bringing up. So we'll talk to her in a little bit. And then
01:21we have Lyo Baramosi. I said that right, right? You know, I've been practicing. She's owner,
01:28she's president of Lyo-G. And when I tell you she's about to have us looking so fly in the
01:35office for our conference calls and all these Zoom calls that we just wanted for, it's going
01:41to be absolutely amazing. So I'm going to talk to Lyo first. So Joniah, I'm going to put
01:48you backstage. I'll talk to you in a little bit. Hey girl. Hey, how are you? I'm great.
01:57And I'm so, so excited to be finally talking to you. You were part of our pilot episode
02:02when we're actually in studio and you were one of our first, first business owners that
02:09we ever talked to. And your story is just so incredible. Why don't you tell the people
02:13a little bit about your journey, who you are and how you got to where you are?
02:20Absolutely. First of all, thank you so much for having me back. It was so exciting to be
02:24a part of the studio shoot as well. A little bit about myself. My name is Lyo Baramosi.
02:30I was born and raised in Nigeria. And, you know, my fashion story actually started off fast forward
02:38past Nigeria when I was actually an undergrad here in United States, University of Maryland.
02:45I developed a deep passion for fashion, not to be cliche. And I knew I wanted to have my
02:53own line, go to fashion school. But as a Nigerian, I have very strict Nigerian parents who are like,
03:00you're going to be a lawyer, doctor or engineer. So they're like, I don't care what you want to do
03:05with this fashion thing that you're doing, but just bring home a law degree. So I did the only
03:10thing that would make everybody happy. I went to fashion school and law school at the same time.
03:17Yeah, no big deal.
03:18The craziest three and a half years of my life.
03:23Wow.
03:23So you know what? I'm glad that my parents did push me to go to law school because it was all a
03:29part of my identity. And it really brought me to where I am today. Because the kind of woman that I
03:34designed for, I see myself reflected in, professional working women, lawyers, doctors,
03:40engineer, people like myself. And so, you know, I really came into the market that I was designing
03:46for when I was practicing law after I graduated law school. So that's a little summary.
03:54It's incredible. And I could go, I can ask you a million questions about how you even
03:59juggled going to law school, which by itself is not an easy thing to do, but you actually went
04:07to fashion school at the same time. I'd love to know, like, what was the first step, right? So
04:14you're in the office, right? And you want to, you had the thought to create a line for us to
04:19represent us and our flyness, but in the office, what was the first step to getting to here at
04:25Shop Essence? You know, so the first step to getting to Shop Essence, you know, I definitely,
04:29I started my line in 2014, knowing that, yes, I wanted to make pieces that the working women
04:37can wear that would take her from day to night. And that would just fit seamlessly into her wardrobe.
04:44So I started line 2014, been building the line up. And then when Shop Essence launched, I'm like,
04:50yes, this is a perfect platform for me. And one of my vendors, her name is Toby, actually really
04:56pushed me. She's like, apply for this. And I actually saw her. Hi, Toby. I saw her in the
05:01comment section. She's like, yes, apply for this. You'll be great. And I did. And it's just been
05:08amazing. I love how supportive Essence is of Black women, people like myself. Thank you so much for
05:16giving me the platform. I really, really appreciate it. It's been great.
05:20Well, thank you so much. And you're such an inspiration to so I'm already seeing in the
05:26comments like, wow, wow. So inspirational. So beautiful. Incredible. We got to get to these
05:32fashion. So so once again, you can shop if you're on Facebook, right where you are Facebook. So the
05:38shops tab, or you may see some pop ups. If you're on Essence.com or Twitter, you can go to
05:43shop.essence.com to shop these. I do see a question in here about how your business can
05:49participate. I'll tell you that at the end of the show. So watch to the end and I'll let
05:52you know. All right. So Laya, what do you have for us?
05:56So I would love to showcase this piece. It's in the picture that was first appearing at the
06:01beginning of the show. Yes, that. This is her belt tunnel jacket. You can see it can be worn
06:08in so many different ways. This is the jacket worn with a belt. And it's just really, really
06:14fly way to really jazz this outfit. I love it. And in the picture, it's worn without a belt.
06:21And I'm also wearing this in a gray color without a belt as well. So there's so many different
06:26ways you guys can just jazz this jacket up. And it takes you from day to night. It's flexible.
06:33It's chic. It's edgy, but it's still professional. And I just love just the added twist of having
06:41the belt go through those cleats. Yes. Yes.
06:44It's just like, you know, that's not, not everybody in the office is going to be
06:48looking at it like if you're wearing a Laya OG jacket, that is so, so fly. All right. And then
06:55we have some shots from our pilot episode, but we have a beautiful model here showing off
07:02this jacket as well. So you can kind of see, you can wear it with different belt combinations and
07:07everything like that. Pair it with your favorite belt. Absolutely love it. All right. What else do
07:12you have for us? So we have also another signature piece, our flared wide leg pants. They're amazing.
07:20They're so comfortable and they travel well because it's made of crepe material and it's like wrinkle
07:27resistance. And, um, you know, you can pair it with the flared, um, the, um, the belt tunnel jacket and
07:34it's great. It's one of my favorite pieces. And it's also in the picture, um, that we first started
07:39off with. We have this in various colors, hot pink. If you're that kind of, you know, girl that likes to
07:45jazz it up. We had a nice, um, toned down tan color, this really beautiful crimson color,
07:53so many different options, um, for you. And then what I love about these is like the pockets can
07:58actually go in so you can wear it, you know, you can simplify it down if you want. And so I,
08:05it's just one of my favorite pieces and it's so easy to wear. So versatile and you could probably
08:10mix and match it with so many different things. If you want to wear the jacket with it or some,
08:15you know, a cute little turtle neck on top. I see you girl. I see you. All right. What else do you
08:23have? So that was it. Those are the ones that I have today. We have some other pieces on shop
08:31essence as well and put in our asymmetry sweater top, which is one of my favorite, um, tops as well.
08:38Definitely hit up shop essence.com for all of our, yes, there you go.
08:42I love that. I love that. Wonderful. And I do want to remind the audience, this is a phenomenal
08:49woman. She's over here. This is a phenomenal woman over here, right? She went to law school,
08:55fashion school, has her own line. If you have any questions for her, it's not too late. I'll bring
09:00her back at the end of the show. You can ask any questions that you wish. Um, it could be about her
09:05journey or her products in particular. So make sure you do ask that Lyle. Thank you. You know,
09:12you're an incredible girl. Thank you so, so much. I'm going to bring you back for the positive word.
09:16Thank you. Thank you. All right. So once again, if you're just tuning in, this is the 20th episode
09:22of shop essence live. This is where every single Thursday at 3 PM, we highlight new black owned
09:28businesses, bringing you their incredible inspirational stories, but then we're also
09:33shopping together. And these are all amazing products to celebrate our dopeness. And speaking
09:38of dopeness, Hey, how are you? So I'm so excited to talk to you. You have so many goodies to show us
09:49before we get into that. You see, I had to get my, my curls out. Don't let anyone dull your curls.
09:58No, I love that. So before we get into the products, why don't you tell everyone about
10:06your journey and your story and how you got started in your business? Okay. Um, my name is
10:12Jonia Miller. Um, I'm the owner of Jonia Miller LLC. I, my start of my journey from the beginning is
10:21I'm visually impaired. I was born with, um, congenital cataracts. So I came into this world
10:26with no sight, but I don't know what it's not to have any sight at all. Um, I lost vision in my left
10:33eye when I was 13. So drawing has always been my God given gift and I believe my purpose. And
10:43my, I guess for me, art has always been my thing. And I wanted to inspire people to cut,
10:53to pursue their purpose. Cause I've been told no a lot. I've been told to my face, we're not going
10:58to hire you for jobs. You can't do this or you can't do that. And I always use that as fuel to
11:04my fires. Like you're not going to tell me what I can't do. I always use the, um, way to express
11:11myself through my art, creating different shirts, clothes, designs, whatever. I'm inspired by everything
11:20that I see or hear. So I create art in that way. Um, I created my business back in 2016.
11:28Just drawing, um, creating custom pieces for individuals. And people started asking me to
11:34do logos and a lot of people didn't have an idea what they wanted. So I would talk to them
11:40and get inspired by like, okay, I can see, I can see your logo inside my head, even though
11:45you, you can't visualize, like you, you don't know what you want, but I do visualize it. Yeah.
11:49So I use, I use that as a part of, um, just bringing people's my part of my story is bringing
11:56your vision to life, whatever creating what you bringing out your vision through, um, I
12:05started my website, I think two years ago. And the premise behind the website of my business
12:10is to want to inspire people to continue to pursue that purpose, whatever your shortcomings
12:17or things that stand in your way, don't let that stop you. Like, don't let that stand
12:22in your way. Just move through it around it, whatever you have to do, go through it. And
12:27to highlight all the different pieces as women that we are made up of, um, there's where
12:33entrepreneurs were, um, homemakers, whatever it is, whatever your pieces, that's who you are.
12:41And we're made up of many different pieces. Sometimes we outgrow those pieces. They don't
12:45fit anymore. And then we have to find a new piece. And then when we're, when all our pieces
12:50fit, we're a piece. Wow. So part of like, when I, through my art, I want people to see themselves
12:59and in my artwork to be inspired through my arts. Like if that's me, like her quote just
13:06resonated with me or that, just that picture, just like I make that face. So just whatever
13:12you might be feeling that day, I mean, and just to inspire someone, that's, that's what
13:19I want to do through my story, through my art is to inspire people to pursue that purpose,
13:24never to give up and never to stop.
13:25Listen, you're hitting us with a positive word too early. I mean, you are a living example
13:33of everything that you put into these quotes and everything like that. I absolutely love
13:38that. I see some questions popping up. I'm going to ask them in a little bit, but first
13:41I do want to, we got a lot of products to get to. So what do you want to show us first?
13:49Um, first since I have on, we have on the don't don't your curls t-shirt, just the t-shirt
13:55is there. And one is, is the print. I'm sorry. It's the don't don't your curls print. Also,
14:03um, I don't have the mug with me, but the mug is also on the shop, but, uh, some of my other
14:11people, another print that's on the shop is, um, sitting here on Wednesday. So this is one
14:19of my other prints that's on the shop as well. Um, and one of my favorites is my, um,
14:28thank God it's, um, finally Friday. So this is another one of my girls that's on the shop.
14:34One of my favorites. And you, you drew all of these? You did the artwork for all of these?
14:38Yes. This is part of, um, their towels. So this is part, this part of my, um, Zodiac collection.
14:55I don't know if you can see it. This is Taurus. So she's one of my girls. So you have this for
15:01all the Zodiacs on? Yes. My Zodiac collection. I do have, I need a Scorpio one. I'm going to the
15:07store up there. And yeah. And my visa, like I said, curls is on the website, but these are what
15:17the mugs look like. This is my coffee girls. So whether you're a Starbucks girl, wawa,
15:22on it, stare up there. So that's some of, some of my, some of my work. And I see you're drinking
15:31out of my don't don't you girl. Representing. And then we have a bunch of, you have some new
15:38products that are about to be available for the she's dope. Yes. That's going to be my new
15:44collection. That's just exclusively just beyond the essence marketplace. That'll display. I mean,
15:50that will be dropped. That'll drop on the 19th of this month. It'll include sweatshirts and t-shirts
15:57and bags and some other cool stuff. Those are some of the quotes that will be that you'll find,
16:05but you'll also find the art pieces that I'm currently working on now. So to go along
16:09with those dope statements. I love it. Look at this. So that means y'all got it. So we have a text
16:20code. If you guys want updates or discounts, you can text that number 2729071. So make sure that
16:30you're also following Darnia. So she will post when these products are available on shop essence. It's
16:36really, really amazing. I got to get this wet shirt. Really, really dope. Love, love, love it. Let's check
16:42out the comments. Let me bring in Leo really quickly. I did see a question for everybody before we get
16:49into our positive word. So Unique, hello. I hope I said your name right. How do you maintain
16:57authenticity when your field may seem to become more saturated? I think that's a really, really
17:03great question. And how do you guys remain authentic to yourselves? Like they said, when the field is kind
17:10of saturated? Like for me, no one can do what I do. There may be thousands of artists out there and
17:18designers and stuff, but nobody can do what I do. Like they might try and you can mimic it, but it
17:26won't be the same thing. Like I'm, I'm, I'm, I can't define the words.
17:34You already said it. That's why nobody can do what you do. Period.
17:40What about you, Lyle? How do you approach that?
17:43Yeah, no, absolutely. I think like Jania said, like your story is unique. There's something that's
17:49different about you from other people. So certainly don't try to look at what other, I tried it. I used
17:54to do it when I first started. Like what's that brand doing? What's that brand doing? Let me try
17:58doing it. Every time when I try to do what they're doing, it just comes out. So I'm like, you know
18:02what? I'm just going to stick to what works for me, what works for my customers and what works for
18:08like my story and, um, just do you. It's going to take a while. Sometimes things don't happen
18:14overnight, but just keep going. I love that. Um, we had another question. I'll ask this to the both
18:21of you. What's the size range? Like what sizes do both of your lines go up to? Jania, I'll start
18:28with you. Um, my shirts, my t-shirts start from an extra small to a 4X. Okay, perfect. And then
18:36what about you, Lyle? So we have an extra small to extra large and we have a new piece coming out
18:42that we're going to go up to XX large. Got it. All right. That was for Lexi. I'm sorry. No,
18:49that was for Tiffany. All right. Great. So let me just check the comments one more time. Once again,
18:55this is shop. That's this live. These are two amazing business women. We went through all of
19:00their products. If you're watching on Facebook, go to the shops tab and you can go and support and be
19:05looking flying. You got you covered, you know, in your lounge and lay it live. Got you covered in the
19:10office. Um, and making sure that you guys are fly and celebrating yourselves. Um, and be black. Like,
19:16I need a, I need a Sagittarius one. I need a Virgo one. You know where to go from there.
19:23Um, so why don't we, we're going to do a positive word right now. This is one of my favorite, um,
19:29moments in the show. And that is basically just leave everybody with some words of motivation,
19:35you guys. And you mentioned this before, Jonia as well. Like you've heard no before you've had
19:43setbacks before, but somehow you are still here. So what is it that keeps you going?
19:49Um, my positive is pursue, which is what sets your soul on fire.
19:54Hmm. This right here is what sets me on fire. Like I feel it every day. When I get up,
20:02I feel it when I sit behind my desk, I feel it right now talking to you guys. This is what sets
20:06me on fire. I know this is what I'm supposed to do. God told, God told me if I do my part,
20:12he will do his. And he continues to show up and show up for me every day. And I'm grateful.
20:19Yeah. I absolutely love that. Leo, what about you?
20:23Man. So that you're going to have setbacks, you're going to have down days, not only with the
20:28business, but professionally, you know, personally, I mean, this year is tough for a lot of people.
20:33Right.
20:34It's tough for me. I lost my father this year.
20:37I'm sorry to hear that.
20:38Thank you. I was supposed to be getting married this Saturday.
20:42I had to cancel for COVID.
20:44So it's been a tough year, but that all that said, you know, keep going. You're going to have dark days
20:52turn to God and, or, you know, any kind of spiritual being that you believe in and keep going fight
20:58through your dark days. It does get better.
21:00My goodness. I mean, you are both so inspirational and Lyle, just hearing all of that and just seeing,
21:08look at the light that is beaming off of this woman and you would never know. And that in itself
21:14is such an inspiration. You two are so beautiful and so talented. I really hope that everybody goes
21:22and supports them and supports their businesses. Before we go one at a time, you guys let us know
21:28how people can follow you and find you. Jonea, I'll start with you.
21:33My website is joneamiller.com. And also same thing for my social media. My Facebook business
21:43page is joneamillerillustrations and my IG is at joneamiller.
21:49Okay, perfect. And then Lyle, tell the people where they can follow you.
21:53Absolutely. The website is www.lyle-g.com. IG is Lyle underscore G underscore official. Same as
22:06on Facebook.
22:07Beautiful. So yes, you guys make sure that you go and then you follow these ladies,
22:13support them, follow their journeys. Thank you guys so much for being a part of Shop Essence Live.
22:19This is the 20th episode. It was so special. Thank you guys so, so much. I'll see you guys soon.
22:26All right. So as promised, I do see in the comments, a couple of people asking how their
22:32businesses can be involved in this show. This is not an exclusive club, right? A lot of people that
22:38we get that are featured on this show, they watch the show, they get this information I'm about to give
22:43you. And a couple of weeks later, they're talking to me. So I'll let you know right now,
22:47if you want your business featured, all you have to do is email us at shopessencepartnerships
22:53at essence.com. We are looking for new black owned businesses to feature. This is a weekly show
22:59every single week you see me at three o'clock on Thursday. So please do. If you have a business,
23:05make sure that you hit this up. If you know somebody that knows somebody that knows somebody,
23:09you know what I mean? Tag them on this post and make sure that they're hitting us up as well.
23:15We always love to support. I am Noni. You can follow me at Noni Picks as I try out these products
23:22and I'll take some pictures on them and let you guys know how I'm doing with them. Please do.
23:29And I'll be back next Thursday, right here on Facebook and Twitter live at 3pm. See you guys soon.
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