- 3 months ago
Shop ESSENCE Live: Kicky Mats and J. White Collection
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🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00hello it is thursday at 3 p.m and you know what time it is it is time for shop essence live
00:21this is essence's platform to give small business owners um access to new customers every single
00:28week and give you guys access to some of the most amazing products um that were made for us and by us
00:36and when i tell you i'm so excited about today's businesses i know i say that every week but it is
00:42true i'm so excited about our business women today let's say hi real quick so we have janelle of j white
00:51collection and she has some really incredible custom-made bags that we're going to get into
00:56and we also have ebony of kiki mats and when i tell you people are going to be entering your house
01:02like oh this is the place to be she has got us covered so she's going to show off her really
01:06amazing custom super black mats um when we talk to her so ebony i'm going to talk to you in a little
01:13bit we are going to start with janelle janelle how are you i'm fine thank you how are you
01:19i'm really great so i'm so inspired by your story um and just to remind everyone um if you're tuning
01:27in you can shop right here with us if you're on facebook you don't have to go anywhere you can go
01:31to the shops tab or you may see some pop-ups during the show shop these collections and if you're watching
01:37on twitter or essence.com you can go to shop.essence.com now janelle we have to hear about this story of yours
01:45like not only do you have such an amazing line and collection but you're a mom of four yes so it's
01:52just like i need to know this story myself like how how did you get here with j white collection
01:59tell us a little bit about your story well okay so j white collection it's a luxury brand that's
02:08inspired by women on the go so women like me who are on the go who are moms who have some who have
02:13children or a career or even you know a college student who's just on the move um but they also
02:19like um fashion as well as function so um i've been i've always wanted to do accessories design in
02:26particular um and like you said i do have four children so it's something that i've been wanting
02:31to do for years um but i've been you know gradually working my way to it because of the man the demands of
02:38motherhood and i'm an hr manager by trade okay so yes i went to school for business and um i've i work
02:46right now as an as an hr manager but i do have my own business as well um so for the for years i've
02:53been you know doing self-study i was going to take classes at fit and parsons so i was taking classes in
03:01design um as well as the business side of design i've done many many workshops um over the years
03:08and then um in 2017 i was like you know what i need to hurry up and do this if i don't do this now
03:13i'm never going to do it so my babies weren't infants anymore um so i was able to you know push push
03:20harder and so in 2017 i um you know did launch the business and i did the llc and the trademark um side of
03:28it in 2018 i spent that year doing a lot of research um because i you know i have my designs
03:35i have my sketches my drawings but i work with the manufacturer to actually bring them to fruition
03:41um so i was doing a lot of research to find the right manufacturer the right fit for me who can make
03:46the pieces um as per you know my specifications so that was 2018 and then in 2019 i launched
03:54that is so impressive and you said that you're also like in hr by trade so yes how do you find time to
04:05be a mama for then your hr by trade and then not only like this isn't like something that you're
04:11curating where you're just like picking pieces you're literally in the lab designing all of these
04:17products and getting them manufactured how do you juggle all of these things um it's not easy it's not
04:23easy but um i don't know i just do what i have to do like some people they ask me i get the same
04:28questions all the time and my response is i just do what i have to do so i know what i want to do i
04:33know i have to get it done so that might require me working late some nights um while the kids and
04:38my husband's in the bed i may you know be up a few hours working on my designs my sketches going
04:43through materials looking at the specifications um and you know maybe even some weekends but i don't
04:49know i'm just able to just try to find a balance to to do it all wow what an inspiration if you guys
04:56are watching at home and you have any questions for janelle make sure that you drop them in the
05:01comments oh we already got one speaking of which angie clark wants to know how did you find the
05:07right manufacturer i think that's a really great question um so yeah i would say it takes a lot of
05:14research so i mean i was looking for manufacturers online i was looking on instagram um following some
05:21manufacturers and seeing what manufacturers they follow or following some other brands and seeing
05:26what manufacturers that they follow um so yeah so looking online looking on social media now is a
05:32is a big help as well um making those phone calls sending those emails out you know asking them
05:38you know what they do um how sit asking them to send you some pictures of you know their work so
05:42you can see if it's of quality um i would say if once you do pick your i guess your top two before you
05:51send them your samples you get an nda non-exposure document um i'm putting you guys on right now yeah
06:02but it takes a lot of research it takes research yeah yeah well i see them going off in the comments like
06:07peeping the bags in the background why don't we show the people um your products and when i tell
06:13you these are quality they are quality so what do you have first for us janelle um so first i have
06:19the um kira satchel and my my bags are named after my daughter my daughters by the way and i love that
06:26so much so the kira satchel so like you can see i'm a stickler for quality high quality craftsmanship
06:34attention to details so this is very um well made um if you look inside um the stitching is
06:44good um the material is good it's durable um so it has the inside pockets as well as a zipper i've
06:58experienced you know having bags where the strap was too short or the inside pocket was not big enough
07:04to fit my cell phone and you know cell phones are getting bigger now so um i'm really into function
07:10and having bags that work for us um so that was something that i paid close attention to when i did
07:16design the specifications and the measurements for the bags so this one is made of leather and it has
07:21a um suede flap and you can carry it as a satchel and we also have a longer strap if you wanted to
07:29carry it over your shoulder that you can attach love it and i just love that it's such a classic
07:35design like imagine how many coats and outfits and things that things would actually go with in your
07:41closet so amazing all right what else do you have for us um so yeah so that's that kira satchel comes
07:48in the blue with the blue suede flap or the black so this is what the black looks like
07:53um i also have the oh yeah and it has the metal feet at the bottom if you wanted to sit your bag down
08:02so that you wouldn't mess at the bottom of your bag um the hardware um you know so i did try to find
08:09you know hardware the metal hardware and just you know good quality hardware zippers things like that
08:16um the alicia hobo this one is named after my daughter alicia who's eight years old um this one
08:27is a little bit more edgy but it still has a level of sophistication because i think alicia is my most edgy
08:33daughter so the edginess comes in with the grommets on the handbag yep on the shoulder um and people that
08:42have this bag they love it they say it's easy to fit everything in um they take it with them to
08:47work run errands things like that they even use it for the nights so all of these bags are easy for day and night
08:54um and it feels oh my gosh like the leather on it it feels so incredible the luxurious people thank you
09:04really great really great job love it and the last bag is the the weekender bag also called the alia tote
09:16or beach tote um some people use this as a beach bag and other people use it as a day-to-day bag to
09:23carry to and from work to carry books to carry their laptop things like that but this is also high quality
09:29material if you look at the attention to detail the stitching um yep and the inside of the bag is big
09:35enough to fit you know if you were taking it to the beach your beach towel your swimsuit your phone all
09:41the things you need i love how many pockets there are inside which and also a zipper pocket as well
09:49really great and then you have this in a few different colors right like there's the blue
09:55blue yep so it's the one and tan the natural color which you're holding up and the peacock blue
10:02and the coral love it love it so she's got something for everybody at shop essence so once again if you
10:14guys are watching i see the comments are going off if you guys are watching on facebook you don't even have
10:20to go anywhere if you're interested in her products you can go right over to the shop tab or you may be
10:24seeing some pop-ups um as we are looking at all of the bags these bags they are quality quality made
10:32she did all of her research to find the might or the right manufacturer and it looks like you found
10:37them because they're absolutely impeccably made so thank you so much um let me see if there's anything
10:44high quality bags spacious and stylish that's right d i see you in the comments um well thank you so much
10:52janelle guys it's not too late if you have any questions for janelle you can ask them i'll bring
10:56her back at the end of the show janelle such an inspiration showing us there's nothing that we
11:01cannot do if we just get it done right thank you so much all right so if you're just tuning in
11:08this is shop essence live every single thursday essence brings you new black owned businesses to
11:15highlight not only do you get to hear their stories but we get a chance to shop and we know that
11:20the holidays are coming up and you're going to be spending your money anyway so why not
11:26kill two birds with one stone get your really amazing one-of-a-kind products and then you're
11:30also supporting these amazing black female entrepreneurs so let's bring in ebony what's up
11:37ebony hey hey so i'm really excited to talk about kicking mats you're literally i hadn't even thought of
11:45this as like a business or someone else having a business like this you're like in a lane all
11:50amongst yourself um talk about kicking mats and how you came up with that idea okay so first i'm ebony
11:58i'm from houston texas and i started kicking mats honestly as a hobby i just made one i didn't expect
12:05it to become what it became and here we are i'm so proud of my baby like i literally didn't know where
12:15i was going with this and i don't know i'm just proud of it it's a doormat company we do custom
12:22doormats i give people a chance to like let their doormat do the talking i'm not a very talkative person
12:28so i like to express myself with like what i wear so like doormats were perfect for me so yeah so
12:36great so why don't you show us some of your doormats so people can really get the picture of how special
12:43and fun your doormats are sure i have one right here this is so also i try to not try i purposely cater
12:53to my own people because again there weren't many doormats out there that were for us like for
13:00example i have this one it says living my blessed life i love that you know like the living single
13:06fun we all have single it's a classic for us you know we love the nostalgia we love the nostalgia yes
13:15so that's so great um i try to offer where you can put what make it whatever color you want
13:22the background the words like literally you can customize your own map i also great this one
13:30this one is a new one that i have that's going to be coming soon to shop edmund it says this home
13:38runs on prayer j cole candles meditation and good vibes check energy before entering yeah let them know
13:46before they enter i love that these really great to spruce your home up but we all have
13:55those like really big personalities in our lives i would absolutely love this as a gift
14:01y'all have to check these out they're so so great do you have any more yeah i have one more to show you
14:07this is just a fun one everyone likes just good vibes in their home it just says you know oh my hair
14:15is all over sorry y'all okay we're live great it's not good luck okay let's say you know you know the vibe
14:26i literally know someone that says that all the time so now i have to order it for that person
14:31i love that that's the whole purpose just like expressing yourself and i also have paint and sip
14:38parties where instead of painting the canvas you can come and paint the mat oh that's such a good idea
14:44yeah listen you see how creative we are absolutely incredible um once again you guys can shop with us
14:52these are two really amazing businesses ebony of kiki mats let the what did you say let the mat do the talking
14:59before you enter exactly so people know what kind of vibes is in your home even before they enter
15:06and we love customizing things we love nostalgia so you're giving us everything all in one place
15:12which is so so great i'm gonna bring janelle in quickly all right so as we wrap up i see everybody
15:20is loving it so much support um how could i find out more info why don't you each tell us where people can
15:26follow you and your journeys um janelle i'll start with you um so you can find the bags on shopessence.com
15:35also you can follow me on my instagram page which is um j white collection i also have a page on
15:43facebook which is j white collection one um so you can follow me there and also have a website
15:49uh j white collection dot com so great and then ebony what about you you can also find my collection
15:58on shopinstance.com for go support also you can follow me on instagram or facebook at kiki mats that's
16:05k-i-c-k-y-m-a-t-s and i also have a website kiki mats.com i love it and just to remind everybody um yes you can
16:16support all of these products today on shop.essence.com don't forget the little dot in the middle
16:22um and they will be available there you can also see all the curated black owned businesses that we
16:27highlight on shop.essence.com and then if you're shopping here with us today on facebook we have
16:33all these products right here you don't have to go anywhere right on the facebook shops tab um you guys
16:39so incredible we know the holidays are coming up once again so make sure you go and support i saw
16:45somebody came in late and they're like i want to see the bags so you can go to the shops tab ma'am
16:50and go check out the bags they're all really great quality um and designed by janelle really really
16:57incredible and would just spruce up your outfit and everything and then ebony's got the doormats covered
17:05with some really really great things um so really really excited to introduce you guys to the shop
17:11essence live community so before we go we always end with a positive word and it's one of my favorite
17:20moments of the show actually inspired by our business owners because you guys are such an inspiration
17:25they're already already saying it in the comments um but what are some words of hope that you can give
17:31to anybody whether they're a small business owner or a mom or um anything that's kind of at the end of
17:37their rope and they're just like i need some words of encouragement what would you say to them janelle i
17:42will start with you um i would say um like there's a saying that um you that we need to train ourselves
17:53subconsciously to remember that anything that's happening in life whether it's good or bad is
17:59temporary um so if you are going through some rough times just remember that it is temporary um you know
18:07don't give up um keep pushing or do whatever it is that you need to do to to keep your head above
18:13water um but just you know stay resilient um uh stay try to stay positive even though it is rough
18:20and just um just just remember that it is temporary things will get better and um don't give up
18:26i love that ebony what about you i like that by the way don't stop like there are times you feel lonely
18:37like people don't get it like not even your audience make it sometimes but just stay focused
18:43on what you're focused on have a clear mindset a clear vision of what you want and just go for it
18:48on days when you need a break take a break but on days when you can go hard go as hard as you can go
18:52yeah wow and i think that is so important on days you need a break take a break that's a
18:59word right there in itself so thank you ladies so so much just reminding everybody make sure you're
19:06going to the shops tab on facebook or go to shop.essence.com follow these ladies they're
19:11probably going to be adding more products as you know we go along and you want to continue to support
19:17and support the journeys um stick around because i'm about to tell you if you're a small business
19:22owner how you can be on shop essence live um but in the meantime thank you ladies so so much for
19:28being a part of this week's show i wish you guys much much success um and i need that uh check the
19:36vibes the vibes one i'm about to get that thank you guys so much all right so this is a community show
19:46thank you guys for tuning in every single week um and supporting our black owned businesses if you
19:52are watching and you have your own business or you know someone with their own business that would be
19:58really really great to sell on shop essence live make sure you tell them to go to shop essence
20:06partnerships at essence.com a lot of the vendors that we get on this show just email one week and then
20:13they're on the show in two weeks it's that simple so make sure that you tag them share this um and hit
20:20them up and tell them to hit us up and we would love to feature them so until next week on thursday
20:273 p.m i'll see you then shop essence live
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