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Join us as industry professionals drop major gems on building your business and being an entrepreneur.
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00:00:00hello everyone and welcome to the mcdonald's and essence making moves now entrepreneur bootcamp
00:00:12i'm the work and money editor for essence and host of unbossed podcast and joining me today
00:00:19is an amazing woman uh she is an actress a podcast and television show host a mother a wife and an
00:00:27all-around boss this woman has captured the hearts of the world by documenting her life on social media
00:00:33as one half of the black millennial married couple navigating raising three young children while
00:00:39expanding their careers in entertainment i'm so excited to have her here please welcome
00:00:44mrs kadeen ellis thank you thank you so much for having me i'm so excited yes i'm happy to be here
00:00:50and honored i don't know about you but i think it's amazing in general to have a platform like this
00:00:55where we can pour into each other we can bounce ideas off of each other i mean that's what it's
00:01:00all about there's still so much to be figured out so much to be done um but i think this is amazing
00:01:07way to start so shout out to essence and mcdonald's for doing this yes i'm excited to get into this
00:01:12boot camp so just to kind of give everyone a taste of what is in store uh of course we'll be chatting
00:01:19with a handful of inspiring young black women entrepreneurs about their individual journeys
00:01:25to success um something i know you know all about and uh some of the lessons that they've learned
00:01:31along the way um without further ado i'm gonna raise a mug ma'am
00:01:36oh let me let me hear it okay yeah cheers yes i love it i love it and let's get into
00:01:44our first conversation of the day i'm excited welcome everyone joining me for our very first
00:01:51boot camp conversation of the day is miss shantae lundy shantae is the founder and ceo of black girl
00:01:58sunscreen a sunscreen brand that's designed specifically for darker skin tones and she's here
00:02:04to talk about how she built her brand by betting on herself and just being an innovator all around
00:02:10thank you so much for joining me shantae to start uh tell me a little bit about how you were able to
00:02:15find success through innovation as an entrepreneur it started off with believing in myself and clearing out
00:02:23all voices and minutiae as i'd like to call it from from the outside um so whatever i'm telling
00:02:31myself whatever ideas i'm coming up with i go with them if it feels good then i do it if it doesn't
00:02:37work then it's just something that i tried and happened to to not work and and that's okay so you
00:02:45obtained your doctorate while still building your business first and foremost kudos that's amazing
00:02:51um but can you tell me how did you mentally balance staying on top of your studies
00:02:56but also coming up with new ways to grow your business um i don't have the exact answer
00:03:04even today um i still struggle with balance and um just identity separating my personal identity from
00:03:14my brand identity because it's it's all one um i work a lot and um when you are dedicated and passionate
00:03:24about something um there comes sacrifice so um when you are juggling or balancing or multitasking
00:03:33uh more than one thing so some things have have to go so i i can't say that i i have the answers but
00:03:41it was more it's more of what what do i see in the long run right right now i feel that i have good
00:03:49energy i have enough energy and i can do this now i don't know if i'll be able to do this in five or
00:03:5510 years but right now i have the bandwidth and the capacity to to do more than one things and that's how
00:04:02i did it in the past always just going going going i know you learned some things of course during the
00:04:08product development stage and you know while you were preparing to launch your product can you kind
00:04:13of tell me about some of the do's and some of the don'ts of that process because i know you got
00:04:19stories um okay so my my first do always do is follow your intuition if you feel like it looks good
00:04:27go with it right because everyone is going to have their own opinion and my second do is when it comes to
00:04:35grammar on packaging do have checks and balances and additional set of eyes right because you know
00:04:44what it's supposed to look at and you've probably seen it a thousand times but pass that on to someone
00:04:50that hasn't seen it because maybe you have one too many eyes in the word moisturizing or maybe you don't
00:04:56have enough eyes in the word moisturizing right so it's like a spell check on a paper yes when it comes to
00:05:04product design don't be in a rush have patience because it will it will come together um my favorite
00:05:14mantra is never get too high and never get too low you know because there you'll have some really good
00:05:21moments some some really high moments and then you'll have some some really low moments but the key
00:05:28is to stay even keel to keep composure because at the end of the day it is just business
00:05:33and tomorrow is a new day no two days are the same can you kind of tell me about a time after your
00:05:41product was launched where you trusted your instinct as a new entrepreneur and it paid off the whole the
00:05:49whole thing the whole concept of black girl sunscreen so in terms of after a product did i did i have
00:05:57second thoughts um after making it not really i feel like you know even the formulation being clean you
00:06:06know that was really progressive thinking and i had to push back on manufacturers to eliminate some of
00:06:12the top toxic ingredients because that's not how the sun care industry did it from from the beginning
00:06:18but we know we want we want black girl sunscreen to be as clean as possible so just feeling strong in
00:06:26my beliefs and again that having that confidence to say to say no that's not that's not what we're
00:06:31going to do here thank you thank you for that and thank you for your time and good luck i'm so excited for
00:06:37you and girl hi everyone my name is marissa fisher and i'm a proud second generation owner operator of
00:06:48four mcdonald's restaurants in southeast louisiana i'm so excited to be here on behalf of mcdonald's
00:06:55to welcome you to the first ever girls united making moves now virtual entrepreneurship boot camp
00:07:02through its black and positively golden movement mcdonald's is partnering up with essence girls
00:07:08united to empower the next generation of black leaders by giving them an opportunity to be mentored
00:07:15by industry pros we'll spotlight business leaders who will share their knowledge and provide on-the-spot
00:07:22coaching to turn young women's dreams into reality so what is black and positively golden it's a movement
00:07:31started by mcdonald's to empower the next generation of black leaders our goal is to elevate the heroes
00:07:39who are making a difference in communities across the country we'll deliver access to scholarships
00:07:45share vital empowering insider info and raise our collective voice by providing a megaphone for theirs
00:07:52through mcdonald's we're supporting the work of these brilliant young minds we're inspiring
00:07:59and motivating the communities and empowering generations to come but that's not all mcdonald's
00:08:06is sponsoring the inaugural girls united summit coming up on october 10 the summit includes conversations
00:08:12about technology student loans financing content creation transitioning into the workforce mentorship
00:08:21activism activism and community organizing wow that's a lot at the summit we'll provide new entrepreneurs
00:08:30with tools they need to further their dreams and fuel their futures by hosting a virtual business pitch competition
00:08:37awarding two deserving students with ten thousand dollar grants on behalf of mcdonald's i want to thank you
00:08:45for tuning in you'll hear some valuable insights from industry pros and witness young black entrepreneurs
00:08:52on their journey to build a better tomorrow thank you
00:08:56hi i am amani trice i'm the founder of smell the roses a luxury coconut wax candle company
00:09:08i graduated from spelman college went straight into consulting it was a very intense environment a lot of
00:09:15travel and i found that i didn't have a lot of time for myself i made it a mission to find something that
00:09:20really made me happy and with that it was to start learning how to make candles i always bought candles
00:09:27myself and i found that i was spending way too much money i really started to develop a love for that science
00:09:32and art of mixing the right scents together and just being able to have something that i created of my own
00:09:41once i got a little bit more comfortable making those candles my family and friends started to tell me
00:09:46hey you should like really try this and see how other people like it smell the roses candles inspires
00:09:52people to illuminate the bright side of their life so currently we have six different scents each of them
00:09:58are intriguing and they usually ingrain into whatever ambiance it is that you're trying to create for
00:10:06your space winning the making moves now pitch competition would allow me to boost up the inventory
00:10:13that i have and allow myself to pursue other opportunities in addition to also providing candles for
00:10:20my current customers i also would be able to have the option of bringing in a marketing advisor
00:10:28as a small business owner we wear a ton of different hats but i know where my strengths
00:10:32lie and that comes more so creating and crafting my candles and so i would love to be able to delegate
00:10:39that responsibility of marketing and increasing our brand awareness to someone whose strength that
00:10:43actually is and ultimately this would also put me on the path to owning my own studio for my candles
00:10:50i currently work out of my home and that's so great because you know i'm comfy whipping them up in the
00:10:55kitchen but um ultimately i would love to have a space that's dedicated to this that i can expand and
00:11:01grow upon one day all right so for this next session i am here with mcdonald's owner and operator
00:11:09marissa fisher hello marissa how are you hi marquis thank you for having me thanks for giving me the
00:11:15time to pick your brain so marissa um in your role um as an owner and an operator um at one of the most
00:11:23successful corporations in the world what are three things that you look for when deciding to partner
00:11:28or lend your support to a new entrepreneur so the three things really that i'm looking for uh with
00:11:35new entrepreneurs starting out is are they passionate are they motivated do they believe in the product
00:11:42do or the service or industry that they're going into um and then motivation because when you're
00:11:48an entrepreneur or a boss so to speak the buck really stops with you so you've got to be motivated
00:11:54and last is really integrity uh so you know if if someone is leaning on me to maybe give them support
00:12:02or advice i want to make sure that they're all in you know i want to make sure that they believe in what
00:12:08they're doing so uh you know those three things then i know you know they're they're moving in the right
00:12:13direction so let's kind of get into a more personal note because your family has been in this business
00:12:20and so successful at it for a few decades i want to know what are two key lessons about building
00:12:27generational wealth that you've learned during the course of your journey to success well the one thing
00:12:34that i have learned is that when you talk about generational wealth it's important to have a plan
00:12:40for number one my parents had a vision for us a plan that you know maybe i didn't understand uh
00:12:47when we were learning and training in the business and they and they started us from crew
00:12:52and worked us all the way up until you know i went through the management program i became a supervisor
00:12:58and then i went through mcdonald's program of uh of becoming a franchisee they were teaching us
00:13:04so many things of how to be a successful entrepreneur and they had a vision for us uh so
00:13:11it was about you know they weren't doing it for us as their children but one day so that we can pass
00:13:17this on to our children and our children's children and we could really see it in that legacy and that
00:13:22vision that they had for us and then two it was really about not riding my parents coattail you know
00:13:30my siblings and i being franchisees now and having been blessed with the foundation and obviously
00:13:37the plan that my parents laid out for us they've been successful in their own right so for us now
00:13:43it's about putting in the work and and really making sure that we show up and so that we can continue
00:13:50their legacy we can continue the generational wealth what do you feel are some unique challenges
00:13:54that millennial entrepreneurs face and maybe they were less present for entrepreneurs of previous
00:13:59generations i don't i don't know necessarily know if it's challenges but i do realize that now we're
00:14:07we're living in this digital world and so for new entrepreneurs i think it's about one uh learning how
00:14:15social media uh really plays a part in growing your business um i think the older generations or the
00:14:22generations before us i should say uh really marketed in a different way you know whether it was
00:14:27commercials or ads in a paper flyers now the new generation of uh or the next generation of
00:14:35entrepreneurs have to figure out how to move in this digital space and utilize social media to
00:14:41market and grow their business so marissa um can you dig into some of the ways that mcdonald's is
00:14:47continuing the work to increase opportunities for young black entrepreneurs through partnership
00:14:53absolutely um you can really take a look at even my situation mcdonald's has supported me with
00:15:01franchisee training uh throughout my career and and really made sure that as a black woman that i was
00:15:08successful in owning my own restaurants and then you look at the black and positively golden movement
00:15:14right now we're partnering with essence girls united virtual business entrepreneurship boot camp
00:15:21as well as a pitch competition and really it's about young business women getting information from
00:15:28industry pros to help them with their dreams of starting their own business and uh the second part of
00:15:36it is a pitch competition where mcdonald's is even giving away ten thousand dollar grants to two
00:15:43deserving young women that are going to be pitching their business ideas in front of a panel of judges
00:15:51and so that money they can then use to grow their businesses and then to even take it a step further
00:15:57marquita mcdonald's has partnered with the ywca for their women empowerment 360 program and again
00:16:04it goes back to women of color being able to get tools and resources so that they can then grow their
00:16:10business and um and continue their journey to being an entrepreneur so marissa um how can we find out
00:16:18more about the mcdonald's black and positively golden movement thanks marquita i'm glad you asked
00:16:25you can go to our instagram handle at we are golden we'd love to see you follow us and and really see
00:16:31what mcdonald's is doing in the black community um so many great things so many great stories that we're
00:16:37telling uh again at we are golden on instagram black and positively golden thank you so much it's been
00:16:44wonderful talking to you today thank you thank you
00:16:51joining me next is my lovely co-host miss kadeen ellis as we mentioned a little earlier kadeen is an
00:17:10actress she's a podcast host a television show host a wife a mother sis has receipts um and she's also
00:17:19captured uh the hearts of the world by documenting her life on social media as one half of the black
00:17:25millennial married couple navigating raising three young children while expanding their careers in
00:17:31entertainment today we'll be talking a little about creating a healthy work-life balance as an
00:17:36entrepreneur miss kadeen how are you hello i'm doing all right i'm doing all right my first question out
00:17:43the gate which is i mean what does a work-life balance really look like um in 2020 for a successful
00:17:50businesswoman mother and a wife no for sure you know the funny the whole game changer in that question
00:17:58is in 2020 because if you were to remove that from the question it can pretty much be kind of standard
00:18:06like here's what you do for work-life balance yes however with every curveball that we've been thrown
00:18:13in 2020 there's nothing normal about our situations right now so for me in 2020 i've done a lot of
00:18:23battle picking okay um as you know you know to pick your battles and say what's worth having to exert
00:18:29energy and what's not that for me has been very very key and very major because there's been so many
00:18:35times where i've had to really say okay is this something worth my attention right now in this moment or
00:18:40can this wait um being able to have the flexibility that i've had with my schedule and then being home
00:18:46with my children um one positive that has happened for me with work-life balance is that i was able to
00:18:53work from home and not be away from my children because a lot of my work involved traveling you know
00:18:58touring for the podcast um having to attend events out of state so now being able to have the work situation
00:19:05which is now virtual but then also having my children nearby it really allowed me the time
00:19:10to reconnect with them that's amazing that was probably the most rewarding thing for me um in
00:19:162020 so far when it comes to just working and mom that's being able to carve out some time for work
00:19:23but also being there for my children how does learning to say no affect your business and personal
00:19:29relationships um how do you handle that that's funny you ask because i feel like
00:19:36personally i've always been the people loser you know whatever whatever way i could i would say yes
00:19:43and then figure it out later that was always my thing it's like can you kadeen or are you able to
00:19:47and it's like sure yeah and then you're out yeah and i'm left to figure out well well shoot what was
00:19:53i really able to deliver on this and it took a couple times where i had to kind of fall short or you
00:19:58know not hold up my end of the bargain to then really feel like girl like you really need to
00:20:02reassess your workload you need to reassess if this is something that you can or can't do um so that
00:20:08was a learning curve for me was being able to say you know i may not be able to or kind of saying you
00:20:13know what let me check on that for you and see if it's something i can actually deliver or not people
00:20:18will do what you allow them to do listen say it again say it again they do what you allow them to do
00:20:28so you have to put your foot down sometimes and say you know what if it means putting up an auto
00:20:33reply and say today is a mental health day for me or today i won't be available for the next however
00:20:39many hours because you just want to disconnect that is super important for me so the power behind
00:20:45the word no in the nicest way possible super super important and there's nice nice but stern because
00:20:54i've learned that so tell me what would you say is the hardest lesson or the most difficult thing to
00:21:02accept once you commit to maintaining your work-life balance a couple things come to mind but i think the
00:21:10most difficult for me with work-life balance is sometimes the follow-through and the things like
00:21:17in my mind in my heart i want to get a thousand things done in that moment and i have spoken openly
00:21:23that i battle with putting things off procrastinating yeah that's just not effective for me anymore when it
00:21:30comes to my lifestyle um when it comes to work when it comes to family life because then things start to
00:21:36suffer and as much as i want to give 110 to every single area of my life me included it's just it's
00:21:44virtually impossible and it doesn't happen so i've learned to give myself grace and in it being a
00:21:50difficult thing to do to try to stay on track i try to give myself grace and say you know what kadeem
00:21:56focus on one thing at a time one task at a time so that things will get done as um you prioritize my
00:22:03final question for you because of course um you know i could go on and on and on but uh what are
00:22:10two key practices uh that young business women can start incorporating into their routines now to get
00:22:17on the road to achieving that healthier work-life balance you kind of touched on this earlier when
00:22:23you mentioned you know just the devices and creating boundaries but what are some other things that they
00:22:28can do we can do if i had to pick two main practices for young women to keep in mind as they build their
00:22:35businesses it's definitely going to be knowing your strengths and um scheduling and prioritizing for
00:22:41sure knowing when to outsource um that way the workload is lifted a little bit for you um you're able
00:22:47to really focus on the things that you know you can get done because they are your strong points
00:22:52and then saying you know what i may not know how to do tech for example or i may not know how to do
00:22:57social media so let me find someone who has a strength in that and then i can then delegate to
00:23:03them and then the other one would be um scheduling and making sure that um things are prioritized and
00:23:10you're getting things done um in a particular manner that makes sure that things are actually being done 100
00:23:15my name is carmen gooding and i am the owner of carmen's kitchen care an all-natural skincare line
00:23:22so natural you can eat it my senior year of undergrad at clark atlanta university i was working
00:23:30in a microbiology lab i was studying how bacteria grew on makeup brushes i was also studying solutions
00:23:38that could decrease the growth of bacteria on these makeup brushes and at this time i had this terrible
00:23:44bout of hormonal acne happening on the right side of my face and i decided well this is a natural
00:23:50solution i'm coming up with let me see if it will help with the bacteria on my face i was trying
00:23:55all these products and nothing was working so i figured like hey why don't i just try to use these
00:24:01products and they actually started to work and i started sending it to my friends and family
00:24:07and they liked it and then i started getting requests for all different type of skin situations such as
00:24:13acne eczema combination skin dry skin and then my mom was like well you should just sell it winning
00:24:21this competition would change my business like no other because you have to pay to play it takes a lot
00:24:29of money especially when you're trying to make that transition from hobby to business from trademarking to
00:24:37packaging to um the marketing budget because if people can't buy your product if they don't know
00:24:44that it exists also the relationships that will come from just participating i feel like will be
00:24:51a blessing i really do hope from this competition that someone out there sees this and they're like you
00:24:57know i want to mentor this girl so the visibility that i'm about to receive there's some entrepreneur who has
00:25:03did it and they've done it three times over they're going to become a part of my network and i'm
00:25:09excited for it in a way just by being in the competition i've already won something so i'm here for
00:25:15this session with the lovely jasmine love uh this woman is an actress an influencer and a creator hey girl
00:25:24how you doing and we're gonna for this session um it's the topic is about building your brand social media
00:25:33and entrepreneurship so let's dig right into it um when you're creating and building everything um i
00:25:41want to know is there a right or wrong time to put yourself and your business out there on social media
00:25:47especially like as an entrepreneur as a new entrepreneur there is never a right or wrong time
00:25:55i say the hardest part about doing it is doing it everything else is up to you there's never a right time
00:26:02in the life to do anything but when it comes to you putting your business out i feel like as soon
00:26:07as you come up with that business that you want to put out do it like i said the hardest part is
00:26:11actually doing it and most people feel like they're stopping themselves like oh i'll do it next week oh
00:26:16i'll do it next month next year no the hardest part is doing it just go for it do you think it's
00:26:22necessary to have a social media manager as an entrepreneur what's your what are your thoughts on that
00:26:27i say yes and no now the reason i say yes is because after a while you're going to want to
00:26:33build your own team it's great great team of people around you to help you grow as a brand
00:26:39i say no because at first so i started back in 2016 i didn't start a manager until 2018 i wanted to know
00:26:48how to build my business by myself first i didn't want to instantly hire a manager because i wanted to
00:26:55know what you know what i'm getting myself in i want to just put my whole business on someone else
00:26:59i wanted to learn my business so that's why i say yes and no eventually you want to give it off to
00:27:04your team lay back sit back and let them handle it because it is a lot of work let's talk a little
00:27:12bit about authenticity i think that's really important especially when speaking about social media and you
00:27:17know um starting a brand and um how do you maintain i guess an authentic relationship with
00:27:25your customers or followers but still practice self-care and how do you take care of yourself
00:27:32yeah so i put myself on a schedule a weekly schedule so on monday wednesday friday i do videos on
00:27:39my social media i respond back to my followers my supporters and that is my time to give to them
00:27:45them on the other days that's my self-care day that's the day where i sit back i don't i don't
00:27:51write i don't do videos i don't do anything except relax my mind because it can get really stressful
00:27:56especially when you're you know you have your own business it gets stressful so you want to give
00:28:00yourself those days to yourself as well as giving yourself to your brand and your supporters so i schedule
00:28:08have you ever dealt with any kind of burnout oh yeah all the time i i get uh writer's block all the
00:28:15time okay especially when i've been doing it for so many years it's like i've done every single video
00:28:20you could possibly think of work relationships i've tackled every subject so because you do get burnt
00:28:29out after a while but that's why i give my time to you know give myself time to relax let me get my mojo
00:28:36back and then i hit the ground running okay all right um so finally um i know i got you for a quick
00:28:46little session uh although i could kind of hang out here with you all day but i don't think they
00:28:51want me to do that um i want to know what what would you say is the best use of social media as an
00:28:58entrepreneur and also can you kind of talk about some of the maybe the worst practices that you've seen out
00:29:04there yes so the best part is you get yourself out there you're putting your brand out there for
00:29:11millions and millions of people to see and that is the most important slash best thing about social
00:29:16media it's fast it's essentially free and it's a great way to market now the worst part about it i would
00:29:25say is the same thing you're putting yourself out there you have to be ready for criticism you have to
00:29:31be ready for some negative you know now everybody's not going to be positive so you have to be ready
00:29:38and prepared for that and that that is the biggest part you have to be ready for criticism not everybody's
00:29:44going to think your product's great not everybody's going to think you're funny that's just how it works
00:29:49and that is the worst part about putting yourself out there with social media so clearly you have to
00:29:53have a thick skin and clearly you have a thick skin you have to have a thick skin yes yeah um well thank
00:30:01you thanks for letting me pick your brain for just a minute you know i got i can do about 20 more
00:30:06questions but like i said i don't think i can do that today thank you that was that was a pleasure so and
00:30:12also um where can everyone learn more about everything that you're going that you have going on social
00:30:17media handles ma'am yeah so you can check me out on instagram at lub underscore jjp um facebook youtube
00:30:25under jasmine love and it's love lub i also have a relationship channel with my fiancee
00:30:34love and swim which is really great and i also have a new movie coming out with bet her
00:30:40and that's october 17th caught like comment and subscribe so you guys check that out all right
00:30:45all right thank you so much thank you my name is maya kane and i am the co-founder and ceo of my
00:30:55my is a digital fashion marketplace that makes online shopping more intelligent inclusive and fun for
00:31:03women through our digital sizing and curation tools we allow women to shop best for their bodies
00:31:10in the absence of a fitting room i founded myve based on my experience in college i went to indiana
00:31:17university in bloomington indiana and at a very small mall and the options were very limited me my
00:31:24sister and my friends would exclusively shop online because of the limited options we quickly found that
00:31:31this was a dreadful experience we were buying multiple sizes of the same items hoping that they would
00:31:37fit we were making the trek off campus to make returns and honestly the lack of product reviews
00:31:44and site models that were never a good gauge of how an item would fit made this process extremely
00:31:50defensive and risky i asked myself and i co-founded this business with my twin sister and we began to
00:31:57explore what would a online clothing shopping experience look like when you take out the risk and you take out the
00:32:06defense my favorite part about being an entrepreneur is the learning from the time where i set the vision
00:32:14for my when i was in college to now being able to execute and build a mobile application there has been
00:32:21an abundance of learning through this whole process and i feel so blessed that i'm able to constantly
00:32:28learn iterate and build something that would improve the lives of women for the future winning the
00:32:35making moves now pitch competition would help our business get to the app store we have been
00:32:42developing our mobile application and we are so close these funds will help us not only make it to
00:32:49the app store but also fund some of our efforts in acquiring our first set of customers this is so
00:32:56exciting and we're so blessed to be in the running
00:32:58joining us today to help give you guys some feedback on your pitches
00:33:05is none other than actress singer and entrepreneur miss ryan destiny welcome ryan welcome ryan
00:33:15we're so excited excited to have you ryan and now for those of you who may not know give us the elevator
00:33:23speech version of your own journey to entrepreneurship as founder of your own record label yes so um like
00:33:32you said i'm a singer and an actress and being a singer you get signed into deals and that's kind
00:33:40of how like my whole journey started i was signed to a few different record labels and just because of my
00:33:47journey within just being in those contracts it made me you know inspired to just have more ownership of
00:33:57myself and luckily i got out of the record deals that i was in and not everyone can say that um but so
00:34:05then it just inspired me to want to start my own and it's been awesome so far it's definitely independent
00:34:13and hopefully in the future my plan is to you know collab with a bigger record label um so we can do
00:34:21joint things together so i love that no no that's really dope and also just i don't know like you've
00:34:29had you've had such a journey you know um and i think it's just it's been amazing to see you grow
00:34:35and evolve into the space and um yes i i kind of have to ask though i think um
00:34:43it's so important for these women to get advice from somebody who's been in the trenches and i just
00:34:51want to know like if you could offer two key points of advice to our rookie entrepreneurs as they prepare
00:34:58for this big you know pitch moment today what would it be um i think two things i would say i think first
00:35:06thing for sure you know when starting your own business i think some people can confuse it with you
00:35:11you thinking that you know you want to do things by yourself um but having a solid team and foundation
00:35:19i think is super super important when starting your own business you know you can't do anything alone
00:35:25by yourself but you know the cool thing about starting something on your own is you get to control
00:35:30it and build it how you see it and um what's strongest to you and how you just see the future
00:35:38of your business going and you can you know pick those people people that you trust and people that
00:35:43have the same vision and see things like you see them and can add to that and help you grow in so many
00:35:49ways as well and you're just bouncing back and forth off of each other and you know it's just important
00:35:55to have a really solid team so i'd say that forming a team is super super important and also just
00:36:01believing in yourself and it can sound so cliche at this point but believing in your own business and
00:36:09yourself is so so important because you'll have so many people that don't so many people that you come
00:36:14across and they won't see what you see they won't be your vision and it's just super important to you know
00:36:21be solid in that and strong in that and believe in yourself no matter what because all it takes is
00:36:26one person that believes in it to you know kick start something great so um those those two things
00:36:32i think are my two advice points no that's great that's great um and i i don't want to take over this i
00:36:39know it looks like kadeen might have some questions as well but no i one thing i just i i realized that
00:36:46ryan said that totally made sense um and it's something that i've told myself sometimes and
00:36:52i have to remind myself is that people may not always see your vision and usually if you tell
00:36:59somebody about a plan that you have or a dream and they're just like what like i don't think that's
00:37:06even possible then you're on the right track you are dreaming big and that you may have that vision
00:37:14that no one else can see and that's okay yeah that's okay sometimes you don't even you don't
00:37:18even want somebody to see that vision because then you just have that negative energy that just
00:37:23can deter you at times especially if things get a little bit difficult or you have an obstacle to
00:37:27overcome so if you tell somebody about a dream and they're just like i don't know
00:37:32that's right yeah yep so ryan i gotta ask you if you could um with everything that you've been
00:37:44through and um all the growth and the changes and tackling things as they come uh what would you
00:37:51tell your younger self what kind of advice would you really tell yourself to kind of unburden
00:37:57what you know is to come so to speak um that question is always so tough i just think that
00:38:06one of the main things i wish i could have told myself and just grasped more when i was younger is
00:38:12being patient having patience throughout this whole journey is super super important and you know things
00:38:20may not pan out how you planned them to but i'm someone that believes in you know god knowing your
00:38:30plan more than anyone else and you know don't question certain things that may happen that's just
00:38:37different from how you saw it um that doesn't mean you're failing it doesn't mean you're not going
00:38:42in the right direction it's just different and that's okay you know it's it's just a lot of things that
00:38:47happen that i think can um discourage you when i think it's just another step into the right
00:38:55direction and success um but patience is definitely one thing i wish i knew more of um when i was younger
00:39:03just because you know when you're younger you just want things to go super fast and just like that
00:39:09when that's true things take great things take um a long time you know and sometimes it takes a
00:39:17shorter amount of time for others but i think no matter what when you're dealing with a business and
00:39:23things where you want longevity within it um it's going to take time and that's okay and it's just a
00:39:31beautiful journey along the way no for sure that's that's amazing i mean with me something i had to learn
00:39:38um was being obedient to the process and it's hard because like you said you we're in a in an age
00:39:45where and i told you earlier marquita where it's just like instant gratification people want instant
00:39:48access everything has to be like now now now and one thing that i know i had to have a little talk
00:39:53with god about was like things ain't happening the way i expected to or in the timeline that you
00:39:57anticipate things will and sometimes we have these timelines in our head not even just with business but
00:40:03just with like i should be you know dating at this age and i should be married at this age and i want to
00:40:07have my first child at this age and it's like that whole timeline throw it away throw it away
00:40:13just be obedient to the process and be fearless in that because that's really ultimately the only way
00:40:21to bring those dreams to fruition is to just work for it and you're not going to see the benefits in
00:40:25the beginning but just knowing the long-term bigger effect is definitely definitely important yes i love
00:40:32that and also just you know the idea of just letting that list go that idea that you have to
00:40:37do things in a certain time frame at a certain point in your life and it's gonna go like this
00:40:42that path is winding it stops it veers off into different directions yeah and you just have to
00:40:49adapt you got to prepare and just you know stay positive and yes i love that so ryan um we don't have
00:40:57you for much longer but um i have to ask you um as we sign off uh what advice do you have just to the women
00:41:06for this competition um in terms of their journey that they're starting now and even just as they go
00:41:13forward um man i think that for women especially in business it can get really tricky as we all know
00:41:26and then being black women as well things just get very tricky and sometimes you know you can be in
00:41:34environments where you're not respected and you don't feel protected and i think that's one of the
00:41:40biggest things that i think even within this last year that i've just been realizing to just have
00:41:46you know integrity and pride and and just sticking up for myself in these rooms in these spaces um
00:41:53it's okay and you're not wrong and don't feel afraid that you'll lose an opportunity because
00:41:59of you know you sticking up for yourself and you speaking out about a problem that you think isn't
00:42:05right um i think that's just some things that i've been learning within the past few years and
00:42:10it's just really really important to continue that and speaking out about that because i think for a
00:42:16long time i was afraid to be in certain rooms with certain powerful people yeah and not say how i
00:42:24felt um so no matter what i think that you should always hold on to that hold on to what you believe
00:42:32and what you feel is right and um it won't affect you i promise it'll only benefit you in the long run and
00:42:39you'll feel so much better about it in the long run i promise great thank you for that that's all
00:42:46right well i mean you know where else can you even go i think um that's such an amazing it's
00:42:54a good point and it's definitely something that even i'm pulling you know and i'm not in the position
00:43:00that these women are in that are coming up next and i think um that's a really it's a good a good place
00:43:06to be so thank you so much i think you definitely have to know you have to know what what your
00:43:10non-negotiables are um and a lot of those non-negotiables it can expand from just um business
00:43:17point strategies it can also just be like you said integrity integrity and moral standards there's
00:43:23certain things that you just won't negotiate on or certain things that you won't you're not willing
00:43:27to compromise on and that's okay that's okay because like ryan said in the long run um i'm sure
00:43:33many people men and women alike in the industry that you're in or whatever industry it is that
00:43:37you're starting your business will gain a greater respect for you because they know where their space
00:43:41they stand you know it's sometimes those areas of gray and in those areas where people are unsure of
00:43:46how to to deal with you that confusion can start or you know things can kind of fall by the wayside
00:43:52and you kind of feel disrespected or you don't feel like you're welcome in the industry or whatever
00:43:56the case may be so just know what your non-negotiables are know what you're willing to compromise on or not
00:44:03okay guys now it's time to have a little fun throughout today's program we've been showing
00:44:24you short videos highlighting three phenomenal black young women entrepreneurs
00:44:30and their businesses right marquita yes i'm excited um to close things out today we're just
00:44:37so thrilled to now welcome these three amazing ladies to the boot camp for our final session
00:44:44pitching one-on-one yes um welcome i am marquita harris the work and money editor for essence and
00:44:51i'm so thrilled to be here with you guys and with my lovely co-host miss katina hello hi there ladies so
00:44:59nice to meet you my name is kadeen ellis i am an actress television host i have a podcast as well
00:45:05with my husband mom wife and everything in between so it's a pleasure to be here and a pleasure to meet
00:45:11you ladies for sure well i'm excited for this next for this next chapter of this whole event it's what
00:45:21we've been gearing up for um we had a surprise guest um i think you guys are going to be very excited
00:45:29about the surprise guests and um are we ready drum roll come on i want to see some energy
00:45:36boom boom hi miss ryan destiny yes yes okay it's so nice to virtually meet everyone
00:45:56this is so great i love it i love this energy i love i love these shocked faces and
00:46:02And so, ladies, we're going to get to the pitching round.
00:46:13And I want to get this energy up.
00:46:16Are you guys ready?
00:46:17Are we excited?
00:46:18I want to see some energy.
00:46:20Come on.
00:46:25It's been a crazy year.
00:46:26I think this is going to be really, really wonderful.
00:46:29And I'm just excited for you guys.
00:46:32For Ryan and Kadeen, do you guys have any words for these women before we launch into it?
00:46:39Well, I mean, I know me personally.
00:46:41I just want to say all of you are incredible.
00:46:44I just was behind backstage, but I heard everyone's introduction and what you guys do and your business.
00:46:52And it's just so inspiring to see.
00:46:54And I'm just proud of all of you.
00:46:58I know we just met, but it's just amazing to really see what you guys have done.
00:47:03And within this whole crazy time that we're in, too, and just continuing, what you do is amazing.
00:47:10So really happy for you guys and so happy to be here.
00:47:14For sure.
00:47:16I mean, the fact that you guys are here, you ladies are even here, the fact that you're here speaks volumes already.
00:47:22So good luck to you all.
00:47:25I mean, and just I'm excited to hear all the things having to do with your company.
00:47:31So I'm super proud of you as well.
00:47:32Definitely.
00:47:33All right, ladies.
00:47:35So let's let's go around and can you kind of just give us your elevator pitch, please?
00:47:41Who wants to start?
00:47:44I can start.
00:47:45Yes.
00:47:46OK.
00:47:47Hello, everyone.
00:47:48My name is Amani Trice, and I'm the founder of Ann Chandler at Smell the Roses.
00:47:54Smell the Roses is a luxury scented coconut wax candle company.
00:47:58Lighting one of our candles brings our customers a sense of peace, providing them an opportunity to focus on the joys of their life while escaping into the enhanced ambiance of their own space.
00:48:08Our 12 ounce candles are hand poured in Atlanta, Georgia, using a high quality coconut wax blend along with sustainably sourced wooden wicks.
00:48:16Unlike soy and paraffin wax candles, coconut wax burns cleaner and has little environmental impact.
00:48:23The 80 hour burn time allows customers to continuously amplify their spaces and their hearts through the power of one of our six captivating scents.
00:48:32With the relatively low cost of production, our profit margin is very attractive, bringing in $17 on average per candle.
00:48:40An influx in capital will allow us to increase production capabilities, such as an increased stock of inventory, create and grow a specialized team, and establish a dedicated workspace.
00:48:51Smell the Roses' commitment to superior quality and passion for uplifting spirits has enticed other brands as well.
00:48:57Collaborative efforts have emerged, have included emergence into the fitness and fashion industries.
00:49:04This diversity of services provides multiple streams of income within our company through retail and wholesale opportunities.
00:49:10In a nonstop world, Smell the Roses' goal is to create a space where one remembers to stop, relax, and take time for themselves.
00:49:18So, I mean, first of all, Amani, I wanted to say that your voice alone makes me feel so relaxed.
00:49:25It's like, are you the face of your product?
00:49:28Because I feel like you should be.
00:49:29Not only are you strikingly stunning, but your voice alone, the voiceover, I feel like, would just make, I'm like, whatever she's selling, I just want it.
00:49:38Because I felt automatically relaxed.
00:49:40Oh, great.
00:49:41Nice, nice pitch.
00:49:42Nice pitch.
00:49:43Yeah, that was great.
00:49:46I agree.
00:49:47It was so great.
00:49:49Like she said, it was like a soothing candle itself, that whole pitch.
00:49:54It was so well-spoken.
00:49:58And, yeah, I have nothing else to say.
00:50:02So, let's go to Maya.
00:50:09Ms. Maya.
00:50:10Yeah.
00:50:12Okay.
00:50:13You're up.
00:50:14Hi, everyone.
00:50:15My name is Maya Kane, and I'm the co-founder of Maya.
00:50:19Ladies, we have all felt the frustration of buying a clothing item online and it arriving not as expected.
00:50:25The lack of useful product reviews, site models not reflecting no bodies, and time-consuming product discovery make it hard for us to make a confident purchase.
00:50:34This leads to wasted time and money on returns, which this year is at a record high.
00:50:41But what if I told you there's an app that can take the risk out of online shopping?
00:50:45Meet Mive.
00:50:47Mive is a data-driven fashion marketplace that gives women the digital sizing and curation tools to personalize and optimize her shopping experience in the absence of a fitting room and have fun while doing so.
00:50:59Not only are we creating an unbeatable customer experience, we are providing a way for brands to thrive in this new normal post-COVID.
00:51:08We are establishing a new customer standard for e-commerce that not one brand can achieve alone.
00:51:14Since we're an e-commerce app that delivers hyper-personalization through our augmented reality measuring tape and proprietary machine learning algorithms, we are creating a frictionless shopping experience.
00:51:24Brands are searching for viable sales channels and ways to deepen their customer relationships.
00:51:31Mive provides us through our review-first community and in the confidence we provide women in making clothing purchases.
00:51:38Mive is able to stay lean and go fast and focus on new efficiencies without real estate, store labor, and labor concerns of our competitors.
00:51:46This allows us to scale quickly and increase our profitability.
00:51:50We make money from fashion brands by collecting 15% of each item sold on the platform and offer sponsored promotions and advanced analytics.
00:51:59We have completed 80% of our development and plan to launch Q1 of next year.
00:52:04So an investment in Mive is an investment in the inclusive and intelligent future for women's fashion.
00:52:12All right.
00:52:13Yes.
00:52:15Very nice.
00:52:17That was great.
00:52:18I can say that this app in particular, I just think it's awesome.
00:52:23Like this idea is great.
00:52:26And your pitch as well is just great, smooth.
00:52:29And yeah, it was perfect to me.
00:52:33Yeah.
00:52:34I definitely have more questions about that because trust me, as many packages that come to my doorstep, my husband can attest to it.
00:52:41The ones that he knows of, though, because I do hide some, or I send them down the block to the neighbors.
00:52:48But with all the packages I get for clothing, I do have that issue where things come and I'm like, this isn't quite what I was expecting.
00:52:55So I'm interested to hear more about it, Maya, for sure.
00:53:00Yes, I'm excited.
00:53:01I love this idea as someone who buys too many things online and ends up getting stuck with them because I don't want to send them back and this doesn't work out.
00:53:12So I think I'm very curious to know more about this as well.
00:53:15And I'm going to save some questions for in a little bit.
00:53:18All right.
00:53:19So last but certainly not least, Carmen, you're up.
00:53:25Hi, everyone.
00:53:27So I'm just going to start off with the question.
00:53:29When does your face wash expire?
00:53:33Do you know?
00:53:34I don't.
00:53:36Did you know that face wash does expire?
00:53:40I did, actually.
00:53:41I did not.
00:53:41I should know, but I did not.
00:53:44OK, my name is Carmen and I'm the founder of Carmen's Kitchen Care, a naturally derived skin care line birthed from my own personal experience with hormonal acne.
00:53:55Around my senior year of undergrad, I started to experience cystic acne on the right side of my face.
00:54:03While I was working in the lab, I decided, well, why don't I just research bacteria?
00:54:06Because that's what's causing acne.
00:54:08And while researching the bacteria, I decided to come up with a solution for my makeup brushes to kill the bacteria.
00:54:16It was all natural.
00:54:17I was so desperate.
00:54:19I was literally trying every and anything on my face.
00:54:23I was like, I'm just going to put this on my face.
00:54:24And it started to clear my skin up.
00:54:26I had a dual degree in biology and chemistry.
00:54:29So I got in the kitchen.
00:54:30I decided to formulate natural skin care products.
00:54:35And my mom encouraged me.
00:54:36She's like, why don't you sell them?
00:54:37So I started to sell them.
00:54:38And within my first week of selling, I had made $1,000.
00:54:41And I was like, oh, crap.
00:54:42OK.
00:54:42I have a business.
00:54:45And I went on trying to sell my products.
00:54:47But I didn't have a business foundation in place.
00:54:50I didn't have a business plan.
00:54:51It just happened.
00:54:53So I decided to take a step back, write a business plan, and do things correctly.
00:54:58I'm working with a manufacturer now.
00:55:01So the four main components to Carmen's Kitchen Care are education, skin education.
00:55:08So I asked you, ladies, when does your face wash expire?
00:55:12Some of you didn't know.
00:55:13Some of you didn't even know that expired.
00:55:14So one of the key things with Carmen's Kitchen Care is to empower people with information that's in everyday language that they can understand about skincare, about ingredients, about how it works, and how it will impact your skin through Carmen's list, which will be a list of it.
00:55:34It will be a search tool via the website that will break down the ingredients and language that you don't need a biology degree to understand.
00:55:43And the second component to the business is environment, environment, environment.
00:55:47A lot of skincare and beauty products are packaged in plastic, which goes into the ocean and hurts the environment.
00:55:54So with my manufacturer, I'm working on creating completely recyclable packaging from glass and also starting a bottle exchange program where people will receive a discount when they return their glass bottles for the company to recycle.
00:56:10Okay.
00:56:11Wow.
00:56:12Wow.
00:56:13Nice.
00:56:13Wow.
00:56:14Very, very nice.
00:56:16And also, ma'am, if I had access to that when I was in my teens as someone who struggled with acne and like the, you know, and learning certain things later in life that I wish I knew then, that would have been really amazing.
00:56:33So kudos.
00:56:34Good job, Carmen.
00:56:36I'm still struggling with like acne and breakouts and stuff.
00:56:41So I don't want to do some of this stuff myself.
00:56:43Trust me, it's a never-ending thing because you think you outgrow it in your teenage years and then you start having kids and then there's more hormones evolve and it's just like a never-ending cycle.
00:56:52So what I do love is the passion behind it.
00:56:55It was something that you had, a problem you had, Carmen, that you were solving or aiming to solve.
00:57:00And now you're, you've become, it's become lucrative for you, which is amazing.
00:57:03So nice pitch.
00:57:05Carmen, I see that.
00:57:07It was very like personable and I really love that about it as well.
00:57:10And I think with Amani and Carmen and being so, you know, vocal about using these natural ingredients is super, super important right now because I think as we go on as human beings and social media, we're learning more and more.
00:57:29So people aren't just buying anything nowadays and they're, you know, realizing more and more about things that are good for us that we've used in the past.
00:57:39So I just think that's super, super important.
00:57:41And you guys are doing a great job at that and continuing that.
00:57:45I think I'll just kind of generalize this question that I have, as far as like branding your company, what are like the creative processes that you guys have gone through with doing that?
00:58:00And have you even started that process?
00:58:02And, you know, what, what are your plans for that?
00:58:05The first thing I try to do is think of what's going to be genuine.
00:58:08One, I try not to shy away from saying like I'm creating products for people, but definitely I'm trying to create products with, you know, women of color in mind.
00:58:19So with that, when it comes to marketing and branding, I don't want it to seem like a PR, like it's for PR or anything like that.
00:58:27I want it to, I want it to be genuine.
00:58:29I want people to feel seen.
00:58:31And that's, even with the name Carmen Skip and Carey, you know, the kitchen was a staple of the black beauty experience, which is why I chose that name over, you know, over anything else.
00:58:40So I just try to think about what's genuine and what's really going to resonate with the black beauty experience.
00:58:46Because I feel like so many of our experiences, no matter where you live, your social economic background, there's so many times on Twitter, like I'll see a tweet and it's like, do we all grow up with the same blanket?
00:58:56We all grow up with the same grandma, so there's so, I just want it to be genuine and I want people to feel seen and thought of firsthand, not as an afterthought, not after the initial rollout and then more, you know, more tones come out.
00:59:09I want them to feel like this was created for them when they see it immediately.
00:59:15Awesome.
00:59:16I love that.
00:59:17Great.
00:59:17I love that.
00:59:19Yeah, so for my, we're actually gearing up to start our beta test with 2,000 users.
00:59:24And how we're, so really, we're trying to take on a unique marketing approach where we're putting like real women at the center.
00:59:32So we don't have a specific aesthetic, a specific type of woman.
00:59:36We want every woman to feel comfortable in their own skin.
00:59:39And basically, you are the priority for your shopping journey.
00:59:42So we are really just championing storytelling from individual women, whether you are a size 16, whether you are in a chair, whether you, you know, have broad shoulders, like every, we all have our very unique bodies.
00:59:59So just being able to celebrate that and on a, like a person by person basis in our marketing is what we're trying to do.
01:00:06So just really focusing on storytelling and it capture as many women's shopping journeys as possible to, to make those like relatability, like connections with different women is what, what we're working on right now.
01:00:20And then for smell the roses, um, kind of a catchphrase that I've, um, more so created or it is to illuminate the right side with that.
01:00:35It, the focus really is to make sure that while there are things going on in your life that you're not happy about, there's always something that you can be joyful about and grateful for.
01:00:44So smell the roses really has an emphasis on illuminating the bright side.
01:00:49And I've been working with different graphic designers as far as creating like an aesthetic that brings that to life as well as just looks aesthetically pleasing because candles go in your home.
01:01:00They go in your, in your office or wherever, but you always just wanted to look the prettiest that it possibly can.
01:01:06So as someone who's been in business now for almost eight months, I constantly am iterating on how my candles look.
01:01:14Um, making sure that it's portraying that illumination, the bright side of your life.
01:01:20So it's a process.
01:01:21I have fun doing it.
01:01:23I know my strengths.
01:01:23I know my weaknesses.
01:01:24So I brought on some people from different teams, um, to help me with that, but overall, it's great.
01:01:31Awesome.
01:01:32Well, I wish you three nothing but the best and the most success with your businesses.
01:01:40I'm so, so happy I got to meet you all, Maya.
01:01:43I'm going to need to download this app.
01:01:47And I'm going to need these candles.
01:01:50And I do, I seriously do want to support and hopefully I can get all of you guys' information, um, from everyone once I get off.
01:02:00But I just, I hope nothing but the best and, you know, expansion in your company.
01:02:05And I'm just super happy I got to do this and be here with you guys.
01:02:08So thank you so much.
01:02:11It was so nice meeting you.
01:02:14Thank you, Ryan.
01:02:16Thank you for being a part of this.
01:02:18So, um, let's kind of get back to it.
01:02:24Uh, my question for all three of you is, uh, you each have such an amazing concept and idea.
01:02:31And I feel like I relate to all of this and I, that never happens, but I have a candle burning in the corner and off camera.
01:02:40I, uh, literally just opened up something from, that I ordered, um, that does not fit and it's kind of not my style and I need to send that back.
01:02:49And of course, I'm always going to be dealing with this acne situation and wearing more makeup as a host in my career.
01:02:56So I have to ask you though, um, you're all entering into these industries that, um, they're in a way they're kind of saturated.
01:03:06So how are you distinguishing yourselves?
01:03:08Such a good question.
01:03:10I would just to piggyback on that, I was going to say, what, what makes your, um, your product unique?
01:03:16Like that's, that's the biggest thing.
01:03:17What, what's going to be different?
01:03:19I've actually spent a lot of time thinking about this because when you tell your parents, you want to go on to skincare, they're like, there's already a hundred and a hundred thousand skincare brands.
01:03:29But for Carmen's kitchen care, it doesn't stop at the actual products.
01:03:34So my business plan, there are three phases to how Carmen, how Carmen kitchen care rolls out.
01:03:40Step one are the actual products, um, the actual products.
01:03:45And that is unique because of that ingredient guide and not just ingredient guide, but a diet guide.
01:03:50I'm working with a dietician because skincare comes from within literally.
01:03:55So that component.
01:03:56And then also the skincare community, the beauty community can kind of be very exclusive as far as the language that's used and things like that.
01:04:05So making it accessible, making knowledge about taking the luxury out of skincare and making it a general practice, because if you have skin, you should be going, taking care of your skin.
01:04:17But step two, phase two is I want to come out with a subscription box for people to do DIY, uh, make DIY skincare products at home.
01:04:26So now there's an experience associated with Carmen's kitchen care.
01:04:31So if you're a person like me, where I'm not too crazy about making DIY products, I just, I just want to go into my bathroom and do my routine.
01:04:38But if you're a mom with a teenager, that's something I can do on Saturday.
01:04:42Y'all can make masks together and it has all the ingredients in there.
01:04:46Um, and I'll have a, I'm developing a YouTube so you can watch the YouTube.
01:04:51You can make it along with me.
01:04:51And now it's more than just skincare, because as I said before, the kitchen is a centerpiece of beauty in our community and community in our community.
01:04:59So much happens in the kitchen.
01:05:01So that is one way that I'm going to make Carmen's kitchen care stand out by creating it into an experience because it doesn't just stop at the product.
01:05:11So what makes my unique from others, like say like fashion marketplace, think of like a Nordstrom's or a Macy's and ASOS is how our approach to fit and how we're taking the fear out of it.
01:05:24From two measurements, we're able to capture 120 different measurement or 20 body measurements for each woman.
01:05:30So traditionally in fashion, we all feel like an energy or we're a side, like out of size 14, you know, whether you're a size four, a size 32, we all have like these labels thrown on us, but our bodies are so unique and we're a collection of many different data points.
01:05:47I'm a tech brain.
01:05:48So I like to think about things, um, that make us most unique.
01:05:52And I think about data.
01:05:53Um, so we take those 120 body measurements and we integrate that in your shopping experience, specifically with reviews.
01:06:00So say if I'm going to shop and I'm looking for a dress, they have an upcoming girls trip, want to find a cute dress.
01:06:07Um, if I'm searching for the dress, I have, I can leverage two views.
01:06:11I can, the item view.
01:06:12So that's the imagery given by the brand, or I can look at the model view where it pre-populates photos closest to your size and shape.
01:06:22So again, we're capturing 120 different body measurements is going to give us reviews closest to your shape, but you may be wondering like, how do we even capture all those?
01:06:31Yes.
01:06:32Yes.
01:06:32I'm like, is there, what kind of tech is involved in this?
01:06:35So, um, currently less than 1% of purchases for women's clothing are reviewed.
01:06:41My, we're going to, our aim is to move that to 95% because we actually incentivize our users to leave reviews.
01:06:47Okay.
01:06:48That will be a percent off dollar amount, free shipping.
01:06:52Um, you can aggregate points.
01:06:53Um, and also we, we create this, um, review first community.
01:06:57So say I purchased an item on live and I have not reviewed, reviewed it.
01:07:02It's been a month.
01:07:03Okay.
01:07:03At this point, you know, you're able to buy items on live, but you're not necessarily able to view reviews.
01:07:10Cause we want to encourage women to leave reviews for all the items that they purchase.
01:07:15Granted, we know gift giving.
01:07:16There's some other exceptions to the rules there.
01:07:18We want to create a community where we are helping other women and equipping like-bodied women with the information they need to make that confident purchase.
01:07:27Because I feel a lot more confident buying an item.
01:07:30If I see someone similar to my body type, I know Beyonce says, jump to get the jeans on.
01:07:37You feel more confident to hear that authentic voice of someone else who's, who's, um, who reviewed that item.
01:07:43So that's how we're creating, um, uh, taking the fear out of fit, um, and creating a culture of reviews, um, for women in fashion.
01:07:52Last but not least, saturation, um, was the initial question.
01:07:56So, um, how do you plan on dealing with that in your sector, Amani?
01:08:06Yeah, so we all love candles.
01:08:09There are a ton out there.
01:08:11Um, with Smell the Roses, it really is truly an experience when it arrives to your home.
01:08:17So within each package, you receive what we call a candle care card.
01:08:21I'm sure a lot of people aren't aware that there is a proper way to burn a candle.
01:08:25So we outline that for everyone.
01:08:27That way they know how to take care of their candle and their candle does last for that entire 80-hour burn time.
01:08:32Um, in addition to that education, uh, you also have the assurance that your, that your product is quality made.
01:08:41We use coconut wax.
01:08:43In addition to the coconut wax, we have a wooden wick, which burns cleaner than your cotton wick and your candles.
01:08:49And, and also it provides an auditory experience as well.
01:08:52I love when my candles are burning and there's a little bit of a flicker in the background.
01:08:56So it's creating more of an experience outside of just the delicious scents that come from them.
01:09:02Um, in addition to that, uh, we also, I personally like to experiment with a lot of different things.
01:09:08So one factor that we started off with, and I'm sure I'll figure out a way to bring it back into it.
01:09:16But for a while I was offering my customers the opportunity to choose what color vessel they wanted to have in order to match the aesthetics of their home.
01:09:24A lot of the times you'll receive a candle and you're like, Oh, I really love how this smells, but you may not necessarily like how it looks.
01:09:28So being able to have that opportunity to provide that kind of, um, customization factor to our candles.
01:09:36And then in addition to that, their hand forward, I make these candles myself.
01:09:41And one day I do hope to scale my business and be able to provide, um, a larger scale.
01:09:46But right now, each one of these candles is a product of like patience and love for myself.
01:09:50And then finally, um, post as COVID, we get a more firm grasp of the situation.
01:09:58Um, down the line, I'd love to start creating and, um, customizing scent tours around the world, um, and tie that into smell the roses in itself.
01:10:09The power of scent is so amazing.
01:10:12And being able to really determine how to fine tune your ability to smell different factors, um, and tying in my love of travel also, um, are just some of the ways that we're thinking about differentiating smell the roses in this oversaturated, um, industry.
01:10:31I think that's great, Amani, though.
01:10:33Like you're tapping into all the senses here.
01:10:35Like what struck a chord with me just now was you saying that the wood wick, how it has a bit of a flicker.
01:10:41You know, like a fireplace that we all want, like a wood, like, like I told my husband, I need a wood fireplace at some point in whatever house we get.
01:10:49So, you know, just knowing that it can tap into so many different scents, scents, and also the personalization factor is always big for me too.
01:10:56Um, I've, I've had the experience where my room is like, you know, great gold, silver, and like tan, but my candle is purple.
01:11:04You know what I mean?
01:11:04And this is like, ah, I'll let it burn in the corner, which is cool, but it doesn't quite go with the setup.
01:11:09Yeah.
01:11:11Or you get a candle holder to put it in and you disguise this in the whole product, you know?
01:11:17So something that, um, and to kind of piggyback off of Kadeen, I think, um, I love the wooden wick and you just, as someone who burns and loves burning candles and things all the time, I'm like, yes, everything is, you know, I'm excited.
01:11:29But I wonder, are you worried about, um, as you, you know, as you do expand your business and you scale about how will you be able to maintain all of those very intricate customizable features?
01:11:44Um, it sounds like, um, it sounds wonderful now, you know, because it's small and you're hand pouring them and there's, you know, if I'm ordering it from you, that sounds wonderful.
01:11:54I'm like, I know exactly where it came from, but I just wonder, are you worried about losing some of those features as you scale it?
01:12:01Cause it seems like it could be very possible.
01:12:03Yeah, absolutely.
01:12:04That is something that I do think about.
01:12:08I think what's important is that regardless of how large, um, I see smell the roses becoming, I have to remain focused and what it is that I'm trying to ultimately provide to the customer right now.
01:12:25I have a job outside of smell the roses, but if it does scale to the way that I want it to, that would be something that I'm focused on solely.
01:12:32And another reason why the pitch competition is so important is because having the capital in order to influx into your business allows you to have a specialized team and like the ability to work out these types of situations and these problems, people who are experts in that field and arena, I will not pretend to be one of them.
01:12:52I focus on my candles and create an experience that, um, I know personally, I would love in my home.
01:12:59So those are things that I think about, but as time progresses and as I'm able to experience and speak with other people who are more well-versed in the, um, in the nuances and the situations that come across with scaling your business, I think I'll leave it to them.
01:13:20Um, and I will definitely give my own, um, my own type of assurances that I want to make sure that my, my, that my quality of my product is always there and present.
01:13:34So thank you.
01:13:35That's great.
01:13:36Now, Amani, I think that you are off to the right start in that, um, if you remember Markita in our chat that we had earlier, one of the key, um, what was the question again?
01:13:47It was like one of the key practices that you thought about this.
01:13:50Yes.
01:13:51Yeah.
01:13:51One of the key practices as an entrepreneur.
01:13:54Was that a question?
01:13:55It was something I remember we, it rang familiar with me because we started talking about, um, you know, being like experts in certain areas, but also knowing when to get help.
01:14:05Knowing your strength.
01:14:06Yes.
01:14:06Your strengths and your weaknesses.
01:14:07Knowing your strengths and your weaknesses.
01:14:09I know.
01:14:09I think you're off to the, to the right start and you have the right idea in mind where, you know, okay, I may not know every single facet of the business.
01:14:18However, I have a passion.
01:14:20I know what I want.
01:14:21There's a certain level of authenticity that I want to remain.
01:14:24So once I have an investor or once I have a mentor, who's going to help me expand this, I know where I'm able to relinquish some of that, um, control or relinquish some of that decision-making process to someone who may be an expert in that particular field.
01:14:39So I think it's great that you're aware of that.
01:14:42Um, and I think that's a strength to have as an entrepreneur, especially in the beginning phases to know where your strengths are and where you may have to delegate or, you know, kind of outsource.
01:14:52So that's great.
01:14:53Major.
01:14:54And you, that, yes, you would know we had a good conversation about that earlier.
01:14:58That's a great, great, great feedback.
01:15:00Um, I do have, um, I guess a question for Carmen.
01:15:05Hey girl.
01:15:06Who went first?
01:15:09Have not forgotten about you.
01:15:11Um, so something that really resonated with me earlier was when you were discussing, um, you know, just taking the luxury out of skincare and kind of normalizing it, so to speak.
01:15:21So I guess I wondered, um, are you, some people are very attracted to kind of the luxury of skincare, if that makes sense.
01:15:31Um, I think it can be, um, it's self care.
01:15:34It's all of these things.
01:15:35And I just wonder, do you worry that if you take that element out, that it might be less appealing to that demographic that really looks to skincare as that self care luxurious moment of the day?
01:15:49Um, no, because they're not my target market.
01:15:52They can go buy other skincare brands.
01:15:54That's truly the experience that they, um, want to have, but that's the marketing and branding experience that they need to have to purchase a product.
01:16:03Like this product might not be for them, even though the packaging is very, very luxury looking.
01:16:09Um, so when I say I want to take the luxury out of skincare, like oftentimes people will ask me, like, how did you get your skin so clear?
01:16:15And I'm like, I use these products, but I also got facials every six weeks.
01:16:18And I'm like facials like that sometimes beyond the imagination.
01:16:23Like, what do you mean you're getting facials?
01:16:25So I want to normalize those behaviors.
01:16:27Cause the same way, like my boyfriend, he gets a haircut every week, no matter what's going on, he's going to get a haircut.
01:16:33He's going to get a haircut.
01:16:34That is going to be hair lines.
01:16:35I know.
01:16:36I know.
01:16:37He's going to get the beard.
01:16:38And I love a good hair line, so I'm not complaining.
01:16:40It's the makeup.
01:16:41It's the makeup for men.
01:16:42It's the makeup.
01:16:44I think all of us in our, in our daily routines, our beauty care routines, we have these things that are like non-negotiables.
01:16:51Like I know I'm not going to go without getting my eyebrows done.
01:16:53It's non-negotiable.
01:16:54If I had to spend my last $10, I'm going to get my eyebrows done.
01:16:58I feel like skin is so important.
01:17:00Skin should be one of those things.
01:17:01And it might not be a $200 facial.
01:17:03It might just be this $30 face wash, but it's your skin.
01:17:07People can see it.
01:17:07It's on your face.
01:17:08So I want to break down that sense of like, well, that's, you know, that that's for people with money to do, or that that's not for me to do.
01:17:17When I, when I'm saying, I want to take away the luxury from skincare, the packaging is still luxury.
01:17:21The marketing still gives that luxury aesthetic, but the way I'm talking about it, the way I'm presenting the information and educating my target demographic, it doesn't seem.
01:17:30I'm so far away from them.
01:17:32Okay.
01:17:33Got it.
01:17:34I love that.
01:17:35That was nailed it.
01:17:38No, Carmen.
01:17:38I want to say, Carmen, one of the great things that I loved about what you just said was that you, you know who your demographic is.
01:17:45Like, you're just like, I'm not worried about the people who are just like, they want the luxury, you know, jars of, you know, they come this big and they say, use a pea size, you know, of that moisturizer.
01:17:55But then the next thing you know, it's going to be like, you know, a thousand dollars for this and they're not going to be able to afford it.
01:18:01You know that that's not going to be your target demographic.
01:18:04And I think it's amazing that you know that and you're just like, I'm not going to pander to them.
01:18:07I'm going to go with my audience.
01:18:09Yes.
01:18:10Yeah.
01:18:10That's great.
01:18:11No, that was great.
01:18:12So I have, I think I kind of have everything I need.
01:18:18This could actually go on forever because I do have always have a lot of questions.
01:18:21But we got, I know, I know y'all got things to do, but I guess what I want to ask from each of you, if you could just briefly, unless Kadeen, unless you have some more questions, are you good?
01:18:36No, I mean, my only last question, just because this is the pitch competition in October, as you guys know, and you will gain in addition to the cash prize, but also mentorship.
01:18:47Just if you can tell us really quickly, each of you, how you feel like the mentorship will change the trajectory of your business and your endeavors, you know, real quick, maybe you can just give us a quick two, three sentences on that.
01:19:03Yeah, I can speak on that really quickly.
01:19:05Having that solid mentorship definitely will allow me to avoid a lot of the things that I've done so far that were frivolous or not necessary in order to grow my business.
01:19:22So having that guide from someone who's been there and who has that experience and that expertise in a successful business, I know will be tremendous for me because as a small business owner, this is my first business.
01:19:35A lot of what I'm doing is trial and error.
01:19:38And if I can avoid those errors, I'd love to do that.
01:19:41So a mentor of that capacity would be absolutely tremendous for Smell the Roses.
01:19:48So I'm like same sentiments as Amani.
01:19:54I think being able to have a mentor that can then introduce you to the steer you in the right direction with their network and all the amazing knowledge that they've gained can just be a huge resource.
01:20:07And it'll really help my journey as an entrepreneur because we know that, you know, it's kind of navigating the unknown.
01:20:14So any light on this path of entrepreneurship will be greatly appreciated.
01:20:20Right.
01:20:23It would be a game changer because one, it would lessen my learning curve.
01:20:29But also, what word do I want to use?
01:20:39It would lessen my learning curve, but also it would be great to learn from a woman.
01:20:45Well, I don't know.
01:20:45The mentor could be a man.
01:20:46You never know.
01:20:47But it would be great to learn from someone who has navigated business in this way.
01:20:56And, yeah, it would just be a game changer.
01:21:00No, I think that's, yeah, I get it.
01:21:02No, completely.
01:21:03And I think the great thing that all three of you already possess going into this, which is evident just from chatting with you guys in this short amount of time, is the passion that you have for your businesses.
01:21:15Everything is super well thought out.
01:21:17I mean, even just down to the elevator pitches, all of the details that you guys were able to give us in this short amount of time, I think is anything that's enticing for a mentor.
01:21:26Because, you know, if you want a mentor, I feel like a mentor in general is going to look for a mentee that is going to be super ambitious and super driven and knows what they want.
01:21:36That's usually half the battle.
01:21:37You don't want someone that you're going to have to pull along.
01:21:39So, seeing as though you ladies already possess that passion for your company and your products, I think that's just an amazing start.
01:21:47And I'm super, super proud of you.
01:21:48I've just met you in this short amount of time.
01:21:50And I wish I could give you a hug.
01:21:52I want to hug people again.
01:21:53Same, same, same, same, same, same.
01:21:55Driving me nuts.
01:21:56But in the meantime, good luck to you ladies.
01:22:00Thank you so much for chatting with me.
01:22:01It's been an absolute pleasure to hear about you guys' businesses and your passions.
01:22:06And I feel like I'm even more inspired to do my own damn thing.
01:22:10You know what I mean?
01:22:11It's great to just have these forums where we're able to just, you know, inspire each other.
01:22:16So, thank you for what you've poured into me today.
01:22:18Yes, I agree.
01:22:20And you just said all of it.
01:22:21I'm leaving this inspired and just so motivated.
01:22:24Whether that's just in my career, in my life, I think you guys are just so confident and just, you know, you nailed everything.
01:22:32And I love that.
01:22:33That's what I'm talking about.
01:22:34So, I'm excited for the future.
01:22:37Whatever happens, you guys, you know, you have it.
01:22:39And I think it's just a testament to your ambition and your passion.
01:22:46And I'm just excited.
01:22:47I'm excited.
01:22:49So, thank you.
01:22:50Thank you, ladies.
01:22:52All right.
01:22:54Good luck to you.
01:22:57So, Marquita, I don't know about you, but after hearing from these three amazing, inspiring, and aspiring entrepreneurs, I mean, out here reminding us again how Black young women across the country are taking the lead to create solutions to problems through the vein of entrepreneurship.
01:23:17Can I give an amen?
01:23:19Amen.
01:23:20I don't even know.
01:23:21Like, I'm kind of going back through things and moments in my head and just, I'm inspired.
01:23:26And I'm leaving with, you know, my cup is full.
01:23:28My cup is very full today.
01:23:30Hold on, hold on, hold on.
01:23:32Yes.
01:23:33I say my coffee is cold, cold now.
01:23:35However, the inspiration and the love that came from that session, my cup overflow with you.
01:23:42Listen, it is overflowing.
01:23:44But last but certainly, certainly not least, of course, we have to thank all of you guys, everyone out there for joining and just tuning in.
01:23:53Absolutely.
01:23:53You know, like, hanging out with us today, it's been a ride, and I think, I hope you're leaving inspired and just, you know, with your cups as full as we are.
01:24:04Before we go, just as a reminder, tune in to the official McDonald's Pitch Competition happening next month during our first ever Essence Girls United Virtual Summit.
01:24:15Very excited about that.
01:24:17Very excited.
01:24:18Very excited.
01:24:19First one, and also the Essence Girls United Virtual Summit is going down specifically on Saturday, October 10th, beginning at 6 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.
01:24:29Come support 10 young black women entrepreneurs as they each pitch their businesses for a chance to win thousands of dollars in funding.
01:24:37It's going to be very exciting and I'm sure a little intense, and you will definitely be entertained.
01:24:42For more information, check out Essence.com, and you'll find everything you need there.
01:24:49But on another note, ma'am, I'm so excited I got to hang out with you today.
01:24:55We had a good time.
01:24:57I'm totally full of your energy.
01:24:59I think it worked for us.
01:25:00Yes, we've had a day.
01:25:02We've been busy.
01:25:03We've had a whole day.
01:25:04It's been good.
01:25:06It's been good.
01:25:07Thank you for coming on.
01:25:08Yes, and I'm excited.
01:25:10See you at the pitch competition.
01:25:11See you, ma'am.
01:25:13All right.
01:25:13See you soon.
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