- 10 hours ago
Vontélle was founded in 2019 to satisfy the demand for better-fitting vibrant, fashion-forward eyewear. Each of their products and accessories is designed and handcrafted to pay homage to our African ancestry with traditional colors and patterns that channel our African, Caribbean, and Latin heritage. Their patterns use many textiles and designs from highly identifiable, recognizable and respected materials like mud cloth and kente cloth. These designs are tailored to empower humanity to see the world through a cultural and global lens.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00Hello, hello, and welcome to another episode of Shop Essence Live. I am your host, Noni,
00:05and this is a show where we, in partnership with New Voices Family, bring you two new
00:10Black-owned businesses to shop with us every single week. Every single week, we're closer
00:14and closer to the holidays. These are amazing gifts. They're amazing gifts for yourself.
00:20They're amazing gifts for the people in your life that you love. All these products are
00:24created with such beautiful intention. And if you are watching right now, and you were like,
00:30Noni, you don't usually wear glasses, but I am feeling what you got on right now.
00:34That is because I have been hooked up with Tracy Green. She is founder of Vontel Eyewear. Tracy,
00:42hello. Hello, Noni. So excited to go here. Oh my gosh, I am so excited to have you. And even in our
00:51prep call just now, you were putting me onto so much that I did not know about the proper fit of
00:57eyewear. Before we get into your incredible line, can you tell me about how you came up with this
01:03amazing brand? I lost a pair of glasses, Noni. And when I lost a pair of glasses, I went to look for a
01:10new pair. And all the glasses looked the same. And then most importantly, they were all too tight.
01:17I have kind of chubby cheeks and I will always have indentations on my cheeks or a line across
01:23my nose. And then I looked at my friends and they had the same problem. And I realized glasses are not
01:29made for us. So me and my business partner, I called my friend to complain, my best friend and
01:34co-founder, Nancy. And she booked a trip for us to go to Paris during fashion week. And I thought she
01:40was crazy. I was like, well, Nancy, Nancy booked the trip. She's like, we got to go. We got to check it out.
01:46And we went and we walked, you know, days. And they had over 37,000 people that reported that
01:54attended to this event. And no one looked like us. And we said, no, no wonder glasses hurt. No wonder
02:01they don't fit our faces because they're not made by us. We're not represented in the eyewear industry.
02:05And before you know it, we met manufacturers. We just kept trying and asking questions. And now you
02:11have a beautiful pair on your face. First of all, the designs are so just show-stopping.
02:19You would not be surprised that a fly black woman created these designs, first of all.
02:23But before we get into the individual looks, when you say proper fit and all of that, what are some
02:30of the features that you find on Vontel that you wouldn't across other eyewear brands?
02:35So we deconstructed the glasses. We purposely widened the bridge. So African-Americans,
02:42Hispanics, we have larger noses. And so do other ethnicities. So we widened the bridge for the nose.
02:50Then we made the temples, which is the arm, which we call the arm, much longer because the span from
02:54your eye to your ear, we have larger shaped heads. Our face constructs are all different. And then most
03:00importantly, we have high cheekbones. And if you could put your finger here, that means they're
03:06not resting on your cheeks. You won't have indentations on your cheeks. So our lenses are larger.
03:14I love that. So you take them off, faces still. You want to go somewhere without your glasses?
03:20You know, you don't need all, you ain't supposed to have a little goggle rings around your face,
03:23everybody. I thought that was just what it was, but it's because it wasn't a proper fit.
03:28Love, love, love that. Before we show the eyewear, because I don't want y'all getting at me
03:34when you're going to the Vontel website, she has a promo code. Can you let the people know
03:39what the promo code is, please? So this is our fourth year anniversary. Please use New Year
03:4420 for 20% off. We are giving everyone 20% off celebrating our fourth year in the business and
03:52industry and changing the game, being disruptors. Come on, disruptors. We love that.
03:58So make sure that you use that promo code. Everything that you check out, you get that
04:0320% off. Happy fourth anniversary, Tracy. Okay. So what is the first pair of glasses you want to show
04:10off? So let's start with the ones that you're wearing. Those are called our Sienna Peacocks.
04:16So they have a pattern, an Encarva print on the top. We wanted culture. We didn't want the glasses to
04:21look like everyone else's glasses. So we use our African prints. So we put those on the top and then you
04:27have a nice bright blue on the bottom and they just fit amazing on you. Oh my gosh. I just.
04:36And we customize lenses. So you could do blue light. You can make them sunglasses,
04:40whatever you want. You can put your prescription in them. We do readers, single vision,
04:44progressives, whatever you need. Vontel has got you. Oh, we love it. Okay. What's the next?
04:51Well, I'm wearing the Crescents. And we also did a couple of glasses inspired by our sororities and
04:58fraternities. So if you're a Sigma or a Zeta, you will love these blue and cream. We also have them
05:06in red and cream for our Deltas. Oh, come on now. HBCUs out there. She's representing for you guys.
05:16And with some pearls, they just look amazing. So good. So good. Okay. And what do you have?
05:24Because I know I gave you some others, but we started. Yes. Okay. So I'll just start holding
05:27the two. Yeah. Oh, I have those. Okay. Beautiful. When you're coming up with these different designs,
05:35how do you kind of decide? Oh, I love what to go with. Yes. So me and my business partner,
05:44we just basically put what we like and it's all about the shape and the fit again. So we want to
05:50make sure you have enough room for your nose so they don't fall off. You have an extra lip inside
05:55of the nose so that you won't have that indentation and they feel light on your face and they don't
06:02fall off. Yes. And then you can put your fingers there and it won't be on your cheeks. And then you want
06:09bright color. That red is just, and those are called fortitude. So our Deltas and my business
06:13partner is a Delta, Nancy. So that's another popular one for our Deltas.
06:19Come on, y'all. I look, this is life-changing. I will not let glasses touch my cheeks again,
06:26y'all. That's not the way you're supposed to be living out there. This is so great. Okay. So let
06:30me tell you that I'm just too excited. Okay. Next ones that I have, this is a beautiful pattern.
06:37Look at these. Yes. Yes. Oh my gosh. Look at this, y'all. Vontel Eyewear. This is Shop Essence Live
06:44if you're just tuning in. And she is hooking us up with these incredible eyeglasses. You can put blue
06:53light in them. You could put your reading prescription, your regular prescription, sunglasses.
06:58And look, it won't touch your face. So what are these? These are your star geezer square. Those
07:07are actually made for men and they come in the full pattern and the orange that you're wearing.
07:12They come in a blue denim and also in the black, which I put on as well for the guys who want to
07:18just go plain. But women, you know, we can rock them too. So, and again, these have a very long
07:24temple. So any of your brothers, your husbands, your uncles, your fathers who need glasses and,
07:29you know, they have a hard time finding glasses that go totally over their ear. These would be
07:33beautiful and they fit well. I love, wow. I knew I had a big head. So this is like,
07:42no, it's great. And for those people who get headaches and, you know, you get a headache
07:46if you wear your glasses for a long time, because if they're short and tight, you ever seen people
07:51with rubber bands behind their glasses? It's because they hurt and they're resting on their
07:55lymph node. There's a lymph node behind your ear. They don't tell you this, you know, when you buy
08:00glasses. So that's the reason why they hurt. And you can have a headache after a couple hours of
08:06wearing them. We see people take their glasses off all day and rub their eyes in their head
08:11because they're too tight. Young. Tracy is putting us onto the knowledge. And I would just assume maybe
08:18you need to change your prescription because you got a headache, but it's because of the fit of
08:22your glasses, y'all. If you have anybody in your life that complains about headaches and you see
08:26them constantly fidgeting with their glasses, this is their solution. So share this episode with them
08:32or give this to them as a gift. They will love you for the rest of their lives. Okay. This is the
08:37next one that I have. Oh my gosh. I am so obsessed. Look at this pattern. So what is this? Is this,
08:45is there a name for this particular pattern? That's the Moroccan teal. And again, we use like
08:50African, Latin. We looked at boutique patterns. And again, we added those to the glasses. And those
08:57are one of our famous peers because we got Queen Latifah in her show, the equalizer. She wears the
09:02burgundy ones. So they come in teal and burgundy. I fell on my couch when I saw her with them on.
09:09I bet. So you didn't even know you were just watching the show and you saw,
09:12ah! We knew that our people sent it to her, but we never know if they're going to wear it. And when
09:18she wore them on the show, I think I just, like I said, I fell apart. That is huge. And congratulations
09:26on that. Yeah. These are absolutely beautiful. And once again, makeup, cheekbones, everything intact
09:32under these. So good. Wear long eyelashes too. We always get that complaint. I wear my eyelashes.
09:38It brushes against the lenses because of the longer fit and the way we shape the glasses.
09:43Like I said, we reconstructed them. You could wear your eyelashes and it will not touch your
09:48lens. See y'all, we give you the most intentional products here at Shop Essence Live. Solving all the
09:55problems you didn't even know you had in your life, but they are problems. You should not be
09:59having to deal with your eyelashes rubbing against your lenses or rings around your eyes when you take
10:04your glasses off or your glasses not fitting behind your ear. So you do have the cutest.
10:10You sent me this license pair with Nickelodeon. You want to talk about that one?
10:15So we have been really lucky to be in the right places at the right time. And Nickelodeon asked us
10:21as the first black woman owned brand to have a licensing deal with Nickelodeon.
10:26Me and my, we started with two women who own this business. So this is the first time that you've
10:30worked with a women owned brand. And we started with Nickelodeon characters, um, SpongeBob,
10:36Baby Shark, Chuckies, and we just did glasses for the Paw Patrol movie. So we have rubble and we have
10:42sky. So if you have little kids, you can get sunglasses for them and you can put the prescription
10:47in them. Um, we tell parents get transitionalisms for your kids because if they wear them as sunglasses
10:53and once they go into school and it transitioned back to regular glasses, they'll keep them on and
10:58they'll wear them all day. Kids do not like to wear glasses, but if it's in their fun character
11:03and their sunglasses, they will wear them. Come on y'all. Once again, an incredible present
11:10by the way, or you don't have to wait. You don't have to wait because she has a promo code where you
11:15can go right now and shop, but these are so great and so cute. SpongeBob and let's just, and I love the
11:22design because it, it isn't like what you would expect. I feel like it's still a little sophisticated
11:27as well. So it's not super, super kiddish, but I love, look at this. It looks like SpongeBob.
11:33You got the sponge on the top. You know what you were looking for. You have his pants on the bottom
11:37and also his socks. It's just cool. It's just like, look how clever this is. Yes. I don't even know
11:44if I resonated when I first put him on. I was like, this is literally SpongeBob. Yes.
11:49Any little kid would know if they watched, when they watched the show, they run up to us
11:54and they're like, oh my God, those are his socks. Like the kids know it automatically. It's great.
11:59It's fun. And they wear them when we have them at the Nickelodeon resorts. So it's a big seller for
12:05the kids, especially if you go on vacation and in the summertime, you get the sunglasses.
12:11These are so, so cool. Okay, Tracy. So you're also a member of a New Voices family,
12:18which is an incredible organization. You guys make sure that you go and check them out.
12:22Can you tell us what it's been like for you to be a part of New Voices and what that's done for
12:27your business? It's amazing. The community is amazing. We are here with you. So that's the first
12:33best thing to be a part of New Voices, but we get a lot of advice, a lot of navigation, where to go,
12:41how to help new entrepreneurs like ourselves, where there's additional funding, where there's
12:46additional events where we can sell our products. So we are so happy to be part of the New Voices family.
12:52I can't even tell you how much they helped us so far. It's amazing. And you need it as a new
12:58entrepreneur. You don't know what you don't know. And if you don't know something and you can reach
13:04out to these resources who say, go here, do this, sign up here. I mean, it just takes all the hard work
13:11out. And that is important too, right? As we're trying to build our community and make sure we're
13:18promoting generational wealth. Sometimes it's just access to information. It's access to resources,
13:24access to community that is needed for us to have the same opportunities, especially in the space of
13:32entrepreneurship. So thank God for New Voices. If you guys are watching or you know someone and
13:37they're an entrepreneur, make sure you send them to newvoicesfamily.com for more information on how to
13:41join. It's free 99 and I could be talking to you too and highlighting your amazing products. Tracy,
13:48this is so great. And you are, and shout out to Nancy, your partner as well. That's like,
13:53we got to go to Paris. Like this is why I love black women and how we uphold each other and we
13:58create our own little community. So, so great. Vontel Eyewear. Once again, if you go to their website,
14:04you will get 20% off of your purchase. If you put in new year 20, these glasses were created with such
14:12love, such intention, making sure that it fits us. It's made for us. It's made by us, fitting our
14:19noses. Look, I tried on so many. I tried on so many, no creases, no nothing. Look at that.
14:25That's it.
14:25That's it. That's the test. Great to have you. I hope I see you at Essence Festival or some kind
14:33of event that we're having in the future. And good luck to you guys at Vontel Eyewear. Y'all
14:40check them out. Thank you so much. Thank you for having us. Absolutely. Thank you.
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