00:00Embrace your customers, embrace your community, and just be there for them the same way that
00:04they always show up for you. I love that. This is Founder to Founder, where we sit down with
00:09the people in the arena with us. Founders fighting the good fight of entrepreneurship,
00:12the late nights, the burnout, the breakthroughs, and the joy of building something our communities
00:18can see themselves in. Hi, I'm Taylor Tankson, the co-founder of Tribe & Oak.
00:27I have really bad issues with sensitivities to candles. They give me headaches. They make me
00:32sneeze and cough. So it was kind of a project for me and my co-founder, now fiance. So we
00:37shared it
00:37with family and friends and they encouraged us to start the business. Hi, I'm Patrice Chappell,
00:42the co-founder and co-CEO of Melon Brand Skin. My son, when he was a lot younger, seven years
00:48old,
00:48I could not find any skincare products for him on the market. And it's very prevalent in our
00:52communities with eczema, psoriasis, dermatitis. That's what made us start our company.
00:58So many of us are first, right? Like we have to come here. We have to break the glass ceiling.
01:03We are taught like community first, right? You are lifting up as you climb and we haven't got our
01:08footing yet. Access to capital, mentorship, all of those things. And going forward, we lack because
01:13we are the first. We're really trying to figure it out and we don't know what we don't know. And
01:18we're
01:18looking to our peers around us to make sure that we are all sharing the information we have at the
01:23same time, trying to grow and scale at the rate that other businesses are. And we were lacking
01:28the funding. We're lacking the access to people, right? And the access to kind of those places.
01:34And to your point about being the first. So that's why I created this company with my son,
01:39Bron, is because I'm trying to start the generational wealth in our family. You know,
01:42that wasn't there before, you know, I came along. So that's something that I want to pass down and
01:46leave to him. And I think that more of us as black, especially women-owned founders,
01:50should be doing the same thing. Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, that's what community teaches us
01:54anyway, right? Yes. And I think like I want to talk about community because it's really,
01:58really important to us. Like I said, we're taught as black women, you lift as you climb. We're taught
02:03to be the best always, you know, stand up. So like how- And be strong all the time. Girl,
02:08girl, I'm tired just thinking about that. But yes. Yes. Like community kind of pushed us to start our
02:15business and community is seeing us through like, how has community shown up for you?
02:19So I would say that because we are a black-owned brand and our audience is black and brown people,
02:26they've really showed up for us, especially during this time where it has been very tumultuous
02:30and the economy is tanking. Everything is going wrong, especially with the current administration.
02:35People are still buying, even when they didn't have jobs, when they didn't have it,
02:39they still were pouring into our business. And we are so thankful for that.
02:42Yeah. We are actually in the process of starting an online community on a Circle app.
02:47And so that's something that I want to cultivate and give back to the community.
02:50It won't be any charge for people to join as a community member, but I think that's very
02:54important to keep near and dear to your business is to embrace your customers,
02:58embrace your community, and just be there for them the same way that they always show up for you.
03:02I love that. That's really exciting. I can't wait to sign up.
03:05Yes.
03:05Yeah.
03:07How has being on We Love Us impacted your brand and benefited you?
03:12Oh, it's been so exciting. So it just launched a few weeks ago, but just the platform to have our
03:17brand right. Tribe and Oak is an emerging brand as any brand is like trying to get through the
03:22mug and make sure that you have that visibility is a really hard task. So being able to be put
03:27on
03:27that platform with really some heavy hitters, I must say so myself, but being able to get that
03:31visibility and helping our brand grow and just be amplified, it gives us like, it gives our
03:36consumers, they trust us, right? It builds brand trust. And that's something that we didn't pay
03:41for. That's something that we just get for being on the platform. So I'm excited to see how much
03:45further it's all going to go, but just being able to get that visibility really, really helps us as
03:50an emerging brand.
03:51You know, getting the first order, that was the most exciting. And since being on this platform,
03:55we have received orders every single day.
03:57Oh, that's amazing.
03:59Thank you. Thank you. We're so excited. My son is excited.
04:01Even though he doesn't understand the magnitude of a lot of this, right? I mean, you know,
04:04being a part of, you know, Essence and having them to invite you in, it's just so,
04:09it's such a wonderful feeling. You know, I can't really put it to words. I'm kind of
04:12speechless and still trying to just process.
04:14We have some huge brands that I'm sure both of us look up to and, you know, if they started
04:19somewhere, we get to be in those seats, right? And that's because of opportunities like this.
04:23So yeah, it's an action, it's amplification and it's protection.
04:28I love it.
04:28Yeah. All right. So Patrice, we got to get in the muck. Okay.
04:32What is one misconception that people have when it comes to running a small business?
04:37That's a heavy question. And that's a good question too.
04:40I think the misconception is that there's more people behind the scenes doing everything when
04:45it's really just for, I can speak for myself, it's just me. It's me and my son. And I'm trying
04:50to be the co-CEO, the co-founder, all the things, and it can be stressful. And so making sure
04:56that
04:56we're getting these orders out on time, making sure that we're pouring love into
05:00every package and every email, every social media post, there's so much. And a lot of times we burn
05:07out. Oh yeah.
05:08And I think that people say, it takes a village and you have your community. We do, but it's so
05:13hard to ask for help. So a lot of times as founders, we want to ask for help, but we
05:18just
05:18don't because we feel like, oh, that's going to make me look weak or like I can't handle what I
05:22set out to
05:23do. And you have so many naysayers and some of those naysayers can be people that you love the
05:27most or people that think just stick to your corporate day job or, you know, there's other
05:32brands out there that can cover this. And there really isn't, you know, we're filling a gap in the
05:36market that other mainstream brands just aren't covering. And so we're here to stay, but it's a
05:40lot of work when you think about it. So what are the misconceptions that you feel people have?
05:45I mentioned me and my co-founder, we still work full time. So there is a kind of a
05:49one leg in, one leg out kind of ideal. We're trying to manage the business while still growing
05:55and we're trying to do it at a scalable pace, right? Because our day jobs are paying the bills
05:59to give us the freedom to be able to- And financing your business too.
06:02Exactly. And financing our business to give us the freedom to be able to build. So I don't have the
06:08full answer to that yet, but I will say I have had to come to the terms with, I can't
06:13do everything.
06:14I can't be everywhere. There are some sacrifices that I have to make daily as far as how my time
06:19is spent. You know, I get off of my day job and I come home, I'm answering emails for Tribe
06:25and Oak.
06:25You know, I am, you know, putting socials, like, what are we going to put on there? What about this
06:31caption? What do we have to ship today? Is there a wholesale order? Did you see that email? Kind of
06:36all
06:37of those things. It's like you're nine to five and then you're five to nine, it's your business.
06:39It's the business. So I think just letting go of knowing that I can't do it perfectly
06:44and being okay with just being able to do it all. I actually saw a video on TikTok about that.
06:49Like,
06:49we think that we have to do everything a hundred percent. You have a goal. If you don't meet the
06:53goal a hundred percent, you think you fail, but kind of shifting to thinking, the thinking to say,
06:58okay, if I was able to do 10% of what I came here to do, that's still successful, right?
07:02Because
07:03Lord willing, we have another day to try it again. So just letting go of the perfectionism and knowing that
07:08I can't be everywhere as much as I would love to be.
07:11So what does success look like for you in the next chapter? Especially since we're coming up on
07:162026 and 2025 was just, oh my gosh, it was hell. Right? Well, listen, I don't know if I hit
07:23them
07:24numbers, that power ball, because that could mean something else. But as I mentioned before, myself and
07:29my co-founder, we work full time. So success for us, it means being able to scale and take advantage
07:34of
07:34opportunities. Tribe and Oak is a luxury home essentials brand. Our packaging has been upgraded
07:41because of grant funding and things like you said. And we did that intentionally because we want to be
07:46on the shelves of Bloomingdale's and just really expanding our wholesale partnerships and getting into
07:50more retailers. So that, I think that will be our goal, some sustainable growth and scaling for the business.
07:57I love that. And everything you said for me, like for my son, like I feel
08:01that within the next, well, he's a freshman now in high school. So within this next four years of
08:06high school, I want us to get to a point where by the time he graduates, he can step into
08:09the CEO role
08:10full time. You know, we are running our business, you know, on a national level, national scale.
08:16We're in stores, like you said. Also, there's so much synergy between you and I or our brands,
08:20because we also did a rebrand on our packaging this year. And that was by way of, you know,
08:25getting grant funding like this year that we've gotten. So we're shelf ready, we're retail ready.
08:30So just being able to get into retailers, possibly like Macy's and different places that truly need
08:35us because there is a huge gap, you know, in the market. And then like, you know, we love us
08:39is
08:39bringing in these orders every day, you know, getting those orders coming in every day on our site as well.
08:45So just making sure that we're scaling responsibly, because I feel like that's very important.
08:50You don't want to move and grow too fast. Absolutely. But you know, there's so much potential with our
08:55brands. And I'm really just looking forward to everything that we have coming. Yes, it's so
08:59exciting. Come on to 2026. So I am Taylor Tangston, again, from Tribe and Oak. We are so happy to
09:07be
09:07here. You can find us at WeLoveUs.shop. You can find us at Tribe and Oak on all social medias,
09:13TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, all of the places. And you can find us at TribeandOakHome.com.
09:18So we can't wait to see you again. Thank you for having us at WeLoveUs.shop. And we are ready
09:22to work.
09:23It's Patricia Pell again. Thank you so much for tuning in and watching
09:27us here on this episode. You can find us on WeLoveUs.shop. Be sure to check us out. And again,
09:33thank you so much for tuning in.
