00:00My name is Jasmine Foster. I am the founder and CEO of Be Rooted. I'm from Indianapolis, Indiana,
00:08so Naptown, and I launched Be Rooted in June of 2020. So Be Rooted is an inclusively designed
00:14stationary and gifting brand. We started off with an assortment of journals and planners,
00:19really ensuring that we are showcasing different type of hair textures, hair types,
00:23body types, skin tone, just wanting to make sure that all women feel seen.
00:27You know, with having a background in beauty, I think a lot of people would have probably thought
00:32if I came out with a brand, that I would have came out with a black beauty brand, right? But my
00:36passion was really in the paper space, and I think that's the beautiful thing around being a black
00:41woman is that we aren't a monolith. We have so many interests. There's so many things that make us
00:45unique. And as I was building Be Rooted, I wanted to make sure that we were incorporating that into
00:49our mission. When you look at our journals, when you look at the designs that we create, we want to
00:53make sure that we're embodying everyone, that we're showing the different uniqueness of our culture
00:57within the designs that we create, within the verbiage that we use, so that black women, no
01:01matter where they come from, they can come to our brand and feel seen. But when I saw the products
01:06that were out there, I always felt just a little bit disconnected from the category. There was never
01:10any imagery that looked like me, and when they had sayings on it, it never felt like it was speaking
01:14to me. So after many years of waiting for someone to create a brand that really uplifted and celebrated
01:18women of color, I was like, you know what? Let me just do it. It's at the top of 2020. I had this
01:24idea to create Be Rooted, a brand that would uplift, celebrate women of color, and let them know that
01:28we see them, we hear them, and we love them. When I think about designing journals, I was always
01:34thinking about like different attitudes and mindsets of my consumer, and then how do we build a design
01:38kind of built around that mindset. Most of us have it in us to be an entrepreneur, but we're just
01:44waiting for someone else to tell us it's okay to do it, and this is your call to let you know that
01:48it's okay. If you want it, you have to get after it, and only you can give yourself that permission
01:53to do it. And I learned along those last two years on this journey that I can do anything.
01:58Being able to sit here and to talk to Essence and Target about my journey is just something that
02:04I couldn't even have dreamt for myself as a young girl. You know, walking down the aisles of Target
02:09and seeing all the amazing products in store, opening up my Essence magazine back in the day and seeing
02:14all my favorite celebrities in there. And the fact that both of those two brands think that myself,
02:20my story, my brand are worth the opportunity to share with their audiences is just so cool to me.
02:25Like, I'm just so thankful for this journey. We are just getting started. We have so much more on
02:31the road map for us, and I hope to continue to be able to bring y'all along on our story.
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