00:00Something that we have that's created for us by us gives us something that we can celebrate.
00:04We matter and so creating this space, this marketplace, all this collaboration is important
00:10for us right now. This is Founder to Founder where we sit down with the people in the arena with
00:16us.
00:16Founders fighting the good fight of entrepreneurship. The late nights, the burnout,
00:20the breakthroughs and the joy of building something our communities can see themselves in.
00:28Hello, my name is Grace Yeboah Ofori. I'm the Founder and CEO of True Face by Grace.
00:34As a Ghanaian woman, I'm very proud of my heritage, all the beautiful things in our culture,
00:40so I wanted to showcase that. It inspires others to step out of their shell, to also want to be
00:46their authentic self. Hi, my name is Shante Jenkins. I am the owner of Laura Vivian Leather.
00:53I create pieces that are of my culture, not only my culture, but how I'm feeling at that particular
00:59moment. I also took some sewing lessons from my grandmother, who the brand is partially deemed after.
01:07How does Something For Us By Us show up for you in your brand?
01:12I think representation matters. It legitimizes our work. You know, at this point in time where
01:20you're trying to erase us, you know, we matter. And so creating this space, this marketplace,
01:27all this collaboration is important for us right now, so that we will know who to support, what to
01:34support, what resources are available to us, for us, that we could tap into that will legitimize us again.
01:42I feel like, as a Black woman, you shouldn't shrink wherever you go. You should show up as your authentic
01:52self, add a little bit of culture to identify where you're from, and that makes you different from
01:59everybody else. So I think, I hope that my brand empowers women when they dress up to feel good about
02:08themselves. You know, so that's, that's, that's what I want to, I want to share the beauty of African
02:13culture and the authenticity of just being yourself.
02:19I share some of those sentiments as well. I want those who have the pieces, the statement pieces,
02:25especially to be their true authentic self and to celebrate who they are in their own, in their own skin.
02:34Yeah. So Grace, what's the lesson that you learned the hard way, but now as you're looking back on it,
02:40that you're thankful for? I used to do everything myself all the time because I felt like nobody can
02:48do it better than I could. So wearing so many hats and just doing a lot and, you know, not
02:57taking care
02:57of myself and stuff like that. But I could say that delegate and let other people help you,
03:02and that's how you scale. So Shante, to you, how do you navigate wearing multiple hats as a founder?
03:09Through prayer. That's the number one thing for me. I try to have a grounded prayer life
03:18and a very supportive family. Those two things really help me navigate all of the hats. And I
03:25would say the same for you, Grace. You know, we all do a lot of things. How do you stay
03:29grounded?
03:30So I prioritize and I learn new things every day. My family is very helpful.
03:40And I learned also that you also need self-care. Like, it's very important to not overdo it
03:51because nobody got a badge of honor for being burned out. So prioritize and do the best that
03:59you can. And then once you do the best that you can, you can say, I did that. Like, you
04:05just work
04:06hard and it will pay off. But also learn to take care of yourself as an owner, as a founder,
04:12because
04:13most of the time we don't. But prioritize what is important and just take it as you go.
04:20Sustainability of your business is also very important. The fact that your business is still
04:25here. That's also where I went. One thing that I learned was that community is very important
04:33to a brand. Community is everything. Once you have that community,
04:38that community will spread your brand to their family and represent you. So it's not just the
04:47technical aspects of running a business, but building those relationships that people truly believe
04:55in your story, your brand story. And that's what makes your brand scale. I believe that community is
05:04very, very important. So what is one misconception that you think people have about running a business?
05:09That is easy. That you're making lots and lots of money because you're making lots and lots of sales.
05:15But that is not true. You're making lots and lots of sales by you're paying sales taxes
05:20to different states. I mean, your accountant is charging you an arm and a leg for doing your
05:27bookkeeping for all of those sales that you're getting. It's just a lot that goes into running a
05:33a successful brand. So people just see the glamorous side of things, but they don't see
05:37that we have to do YouTube university to learn about our own acts. Even if you've hired agencies
05:44to run your ads, you have to understand what ROAS is and all of that. It's a lot of work.
05:49And I thought
05:50I was getting overworked at a nine to five. I'm working 24 hours even when I'm on vacation. I live
05:57with
05:57my computer. My computer is huge and I carry it everywhere. So it's not all glam. It's a lot
06:03of work, but satisfaction comes out of it when you're successful. When people recognize your
06:08worth and believe in your story and actually come up to you and saying, you're doing amazing.
06:13Like, I love this brand. That's where satisfaction comes from.
06:16But little do they know what goes on behind the scenes.
06:19And I think for me, it would be you get to set your own hours. Little do you know that
06:24I'm up
06:25until three o'clock in the morning trying to make things run smoothly or I'm not getting any sleep
06:29at all. Trying to make sure that the items I'm sourcing are here on time to make the product.
06:35So it's those little nuances, not really knowing what's going on behind the scenes. Oh, you set your
06:41own hours. I think I work, just like you said, I think I'm working more than I did on a
06:46eight hour job.
06:47But when you look at your brand and what you've accomplished, you feel so good, right?
06:52You feel like you've accomplished so much and you feel proud of yourself for all the hard work.
06:58So Grace, what does Supporting Black Owned truly look like to you beyond one purchase or two purchases?
07:07Like I said before, it's legitimacy, right? It's recognizing all the work that we're doing,
07:14that we are important and we're here. And as a collective, we stand together, you know? And when
07:21it's like a trickle effect, if we're recognized and people see our worth,
07:27you know, it's scaling, it's exposure, you know? So I think it's very important.
07:34And I can kind of see that as also building a cultural ecosystem for us beyond just the purchase,
07:41you know, building something that we could go to and purchase and have all in one place.
07:47Yep. Truly spreading the word that this bread is out there and this is what they do. And that's
07:52what we all do. That's what I do. There's enough to go around for all of us, you know? So
07:57I always
07:58say, just share and you'll be blessed. Almost like personal hype men for each other.
08:04Yeah. You know? Yeah. Pushing us forward and cheering us on. Yeah. Continuously. Yeah. And together
08:10we will succeed. You know, if we were to spend money, um, on us, like spend money with creatives
08:19in our space, we'll be successful. Like how other cultures or other ethnicities do, you know? I think
08:26it's very, very important. I do as well. So Shante, what does success look for you in the next chapter?
08:33Um, I think success looks like me using all of the resources that I have gotten over the last year
08:42and a half with, um, being with new voices, being with Essence and, you know, some of the universities
08:48that I've attended, um, for these courses, just putting all those resources together and really
08:54putting us out into the community. What does success look like for you? Well, success looks,
09:02well, I would say lots of money, but that's part of it. Um, but just, um, exposure, I mean, new
09:09voices
09:10and Essence and, um, we love it's, uh, the shop. I mean, it's amazing. I think it's such an amazing
09:18venture with so much resources. Success means that, um, having exposure beyond this, you know,
09:26um, helping each other succeed at the end. Um, having my store, um, like I just opened a store in
09:33Springfield, uh, first store, um, having it, um, open for collaborations, pop-ups with different
09:41vendors and just building a community around that. So Grace, if we were to collaborate, what would it
09:46look like? What do you think it would look like for us? Oh my God. It would be off the
09:49chain because
09:50I looked at your bags and they are me. Well, thank you. Thank you. They're bold. They're out there.
09:57They're sophisticated. And if you were to, we were to collaborate, I mean, it would be awesome.
10:05You know, accessories, jewelry, all statement pieces, right? Together in one space. And that's what
10:11people that love our products love. Accessory is the statement. You know what I mean? That should be.
10:16The statement. That is the statement. You know, the dress is just the plain canvas,
10:20but accessorize anybody could just wear anything, but you could take that one dress and just take
10:26it to a whole new level with accessorizing. And it looks different on everyone because nobody can be
10:32you. You know, you put your own authenticity into an outfit and make it your own. So you're like a
10:39walking trend, your bag, my jewelry, and be like, Oh my God, look at that.
10:43Yeah. And I, I think for us, as I was looking at this, looking at your, your pieces as well,
10:49uh, it would be a story. Yeah. Cultural storytelling. Yeah. That's how I look at it.
10:56It definitely would be. So you're welcome to come into my store in Springfield.
11:00Oh, I'm, I'm, I'm definitely coming back.
11:04We can definitely do that. Hello. So my name is Grace. The name of my brand is true face by
11:10grace.
11:11Our website is the same true face by grace.com or social media, tick tock, Facebook, Instagram,
11:18Pinterest. And you can also get our products that we love us shop. Enjoy. Thank you.
11:24This is Shate Jenkins. You can find me on social media under my handle, Laura Vivian leather.
11:30You can also find me on we love us dot shop.
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