E5: Starting a Business After 40 with Wahne Tubman

[00:00:00] Hello and welcome to Shes Big Time Now, a podcast for women who are refusing to play small. My guest today is Wahne Tubman. She is the mastermind behind so-bomb sisters, a beauty and wellness company specializing

[00:00:16] in products and services to help you recharge your mind, your body, and your soul. One came to the US as a child but has always stayed connected to her librarian roots, even using the power of African oils, butters and herbs to create hand-cracted products.

[00:00:34] Her resilience and determination to cultivate a name for herself has gotten national attention and landed her in essence magazine. On the show she shares how she dealt with the nasiers. The strategy she used to build her confidence and overcome the fear of launching a business

[00:00:53] and how she carved out a niche for herself and the beauty and wellness industry. Let's get into the show. Hello everybody, I'm so excited to introduce you to this amazing woman today. Wahne Tubman, she is doing great things and as you heard, you know, how many people can

[00:01:37] actually say they launched a beauty brand and she has done that and you know what? She is joining us to give us all her golden nuggets. Welcome to the show. Thank you, Joy.

[00:01:48] Thank you so much for having us so it's a pleasure being here today and talking to you. Well I always, you know, the premise of this show is really to help people figure out what does it take to make a big?

[00:02:00] We see people like you and we think what is the secret? So I want to start with that first question. What is the secret? Do you believe behind why you've been so successful? I think my family, I have to attribute it to that.

[00:02:17] You know, their family gives you that confidence, that grounding, that sort of like you can do whatever you put your mind to and I came from a very loving home. And so I really feel like, you know, and in life I also believe that you go through cycles,

[00:02:36] right? So the same way you can go up, you can go down and if you don't have this sort of solid foundation when you go down, you can get lost. So I really want to attribute it to having, you know, my mother and my father, my

[00:02:51] sisters and this sort of, especially my mom who really instilled like the sense of family and the importance of that. So really your community helps you. Well, I love what you said about that. And I also want to dig a little bit deeper because confidence, there was something

[00:03:10] you said about how your family and even having the confidence to believe that you can do it. How important, you know, of course your family gave you that foundation. But how important was it for you to have that confidence knowing hey, I can do this.

[00:03:29] Yeah, very because I remember I tell this story about when I lived in Miami and I was with a very good friend of mine. I was living in Miami working for him and it just wasn't for Philly for me, right?

[00:03:44] Um, it was just the beginning of the industry of the internet and I wanted to be part of that and he, I was working on, helping him with his art auction business.

[00:03:58] And I was like, I want to go to graduate school and so I'm going to have I apply to NYU. And I got in. So I'm telling him, listen, I'm going to go to graduate school. I got into NYU and I want to go.

[00:04:09] And he was so upset. He told me how can you go? You're never going to make more than the money that you're making here with me, especially as a black woman. I treat you so well.

[00:04:21] And I was so shocked and taken aback by by him saying that to me, you know? I think if I didn't have the confidence to say like, you know, like what? Uh, I would have probably felt defeated and maybe even somewhat believed him.

[00:04:40] But for me it was like, are you joking? Like, I'll show you that I'm more than this $40,000 salary that he was paying me. I think it wasn't even that. But he was like, his promise was all, hey, you more money so that I think it was something

[00:04:57] like that. And I was like, no, I don't think so. I think I'm going to go to get my graduate degree. And it was having that confidence in myself that somebody that was a really good

[00:05:09] friend of mine that we were friends and hanging out all the time together would say something that that to me as if that was my only value was at that level. You know? So confidence was really important. And it didn't break me.

[00:05:24] It didn't, it didn't make me feel like, wow, like, maybe he's right. There was never a doubt in my mind that I'll show you. You know, it's like, okay, that's what you think. I'll show you.

[00:05:36] And you know what's interesting about that to me is it's so sad that sometimes it's the people around us who we have to protect our dreams and our visions and things like that from because for this person to say, what? Your black woman, what do you think?

[00:05:53] I'm giving you an opportunity and you can be something great. You think you can go to grad school and that after that, great things are going to happen for you. And so when you, when you think back to that story of that time, have you ever went

[00:06:07] back and talked to him? And he MC you now as this multi-six figure entrepreneur. I'm curious what he's saying these days. Well, I think he realized it wasn't really about me. It was about him. He didn't want to lose me as a friend or whatever. I'm not sure.

[00:06:27] And so it was more a way of manipulation tactic. I think that was for him to make me feel insecure. And so he did apologize, you know, he did apologize to me and made an effort to say that how sorry he was in terms of that.

[00:06:45] So I didn't really take it to heart because I didn't really, I didn't even receive it to be honest. Right? That's good. Yeah, I did it because I was just like, I in first of all, I was surprised that he

[00:06:56] even thought that way in terms of black women. Because he was not black but I just was so like really I thought we were like, I didn't think we saw each other in that way, right?

[00:07:11] So it was very surprising to me that he thought that way was actually very, it felt very foreign to me. So I didn't receive it. So it was just like, okay, whatever you're having a bad day and he did apologize for you know, for that.

[00:07:28] So it was a non-story. I wasn't looking to him for validation. I didn't need his validation. He wasn't paying my tuition to go to NYU. I mean, who's not going to get into a program in NYU and somebody says the only thing you should have said was great.

[00:07:47] When you're back, we'll be able to do more. You know what I mean? Right. But you know what I love that you said is that you didn't receive it. You didn't receive it.

[00:07:57] And I think that goes back to like you said that confidence mindset that your family and you know instilled in you over those years so that you didn't see you didn't have a limiting belief system.

[00:08:10] So that once somebody came and said something in contrary to what you saw for yourself, you were able to move forward. And you know, I think the question that is next is do you now? You went to NYU but that is just the beginning for you.

[00:08:27] You know, you went on to launch your own beauty brand. You sold bomb sisters to do this and go on and do this. Do you finally see yourself as big time? I know at that point you probably weren't looking it in that way.

[00:08:44] But now when you look at yourself, do you have the confidence to see yourself as big time? I have the confidence to see that I can make this business work. I feel like we are just beginning, right?

[00:08:56] And it's a process and that I'm on the right path in terms of my journey. There are times where you don't feel like this is there are times where you feel like one of my thought myself, this is so hard, this is whatever but there's never a day

[00:09:11] where I feel like I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing, right? I'm not on that path. I don't have a doubt in terms of like, I will, I am running my own beauty brand.

[00:09:23] I am putting something into the world that is not just a consumer, I'm a giver and I'm trying to share my journey with others and I feel like that for me is the success is

[00:09:35] the big time and then whatever comes is just sort of icing on the cake, right? But every day when I wake up and I put my best foot forward, some days we're going to have bad days, the package got lost.

[00:09:50] Right now I'm dealing with some shipments that got lost in Spain because we ship all over the world and I'm like, you know, the customer was really trying to give a gift to some

[00:10:01] friends and so we're dealing with that now but it's like okay how do we push forward? It's not the end of the world. There's a solution, you know? And so in that sense it's where I feel like that's how we win.

[00:10:15] If I have the positive mindset by knowing that every day you put your, you make progress right? And if you're making progress, that's my goal. A making progress and my, is the journey, your journey doesn't, your journey ends when you, when you no longer exist, right?

[00:10:36] So we will always be, we should always be striving for the, for the mountain, right? There's never, I don't, I mean like going to graduate school, I worked at Goldman Sachs. I couldn't have been like okay this is the end, but I wanted more, right? I wanted more.

[00:10:53] I worked for big brands. I wanted more and doing a beauty business when starting all over because my background was in tech, right? So I didn't know anything about marketing. I didn't know anything about formulating.

[00:11:07] I didn't know anything about how the things that I had to learn, but what I did learn was that I'm always a student, right? And so when I put my mind to something, I go out and try to make it happen from, and that's what I'm doing.

[00:11:26] So it's, I'm pursuing this dream and moving forward with it, which is so, you know, when you think about which is so interesting because you didn't like you said I didn't have the marketing. I didn't have any of that.

[00:11:38] So when you got ready to launch your beauty brand, what did you have? I know you had this, even like of course determination you said and I was a student to learn, but what did you have? Because I really want another woman to get this.

[00:11:52] Like you did not have it all together. You didn't have the pieces all together. It was a journey. Yeah, I did have, I did have years of experience in terms of working for big corporations. I did have a technology background so I could leverage that, right?

[00:12:10] I had come from working for beauty brand, other beauty brands and did know how to do e-commerce. I learned e-commerce and digital marketing. So I did have something. Obviously I was also educated, right? Something that I leaned on.

[00:12:29] And I also leaned on people that who I was my environment, the people who I was surrounded with, I was surrounding myself with a lot of entrepreneurs, right? And the people who were also making things happen.

[00:12:43] And one thing I learned about being an entrepreneur, not every, their entrepreneurs who are in running companies that they don't know anything in terms of about, let's say coding. You don't have to be a coder to own a software company, right?

[00:13:00] That's not even part of what an entrepreneur is. Entrepreneur is someone who knows how to put the right team together, right? If they don't have the skill finding the people that had it being resourceful and going out and getting the things that you need to make that happen.

[00:13:20] That working, being good to people because you never know who can help you when you need it, making connections. That's part of entrepreneurship. So if you are trying to start something, don't feel like, well I don't have the skill.

[00:13:37] Like I didn't know how to make products when I started. I started, I had a business partner. She was doing that and I would do the e-commerce and the digital marketing. Then that partnership fell apart and I then had to be the one who was also doing the

[00:13:53] manufacturing. But luckily for me, I had already started taking courses to learn for me, so that I just continued to do that. I sacrificed time in terms of, okay, I couldn't go to dinner every night or

[00:14:05] socialized since I had to buckle down and study to come up to speed, to be able to at least do X, Y and Z or get someone to help me do that, right?

[00:14:17] So you make sacrifices where you need to be able to get to where you're trying to go. But you're never going to have it all perfect, so don't let that stop you. Don't let that stop you.

[00:14:28] That is so good because and one of the things that I wanted to touch on that you said is surrounding yourself with other entrepreneurs, because I do believe there's a synergy. When you're around other people who are doing great things, it challenges you to level up. Yes.

[00:14:46] And so I think that was so good that you were able to surround yourself with people and say, I can do this. So you know a lot of people when I think what I love about your story as well is

[00:14:58] that you know, a lot of people think if I'm in my 20s and my 30s and I don't make it, that it's over for me. And I love that you said, I could have stopped.

[00:15:06] And I think a lot of people, we get to this place and we're like, I stopped or I'm stuck and they don't realize that you can be in your 50s and just be starting.

[00:15:16] So what do you say to people who have the mindset that if it didn't happen for me in my 20s or 30s, then maybe I've missed my opportunity? I would say that that's a limited mindset thinking, right?

[00:15:30] If there's something that you want to happen, you just have, I have faith. I'm a, you know, I've been leaving God and I believe that if he still gives me a breath and I still have my health and there's something that interests me and something

[00:15:44] that sparks my attention, I'm going to give it a try. And it doesn't mean it's always going to work out that way but as you're going down that path, you might even be inspired to split and go in a different direction, right? We're always evolving as human beings.

[00:16:01] We can never be static and still. And I think those people who try to say that I can only do this life is one thing you can guarantee you can be sure of is something's changed, right? We went through a global pandemic. Nobody expected that.

[00:16:16] We had to change. We had to adjust. We have to and so those of you, those of us that can be, you know, be, can embrace those changes and rearrange a plan. Those are the ones who are going to make it, right?

[00:16:32] But you're never going to have everything sort of perfect and you're always going to be evolving. That's what human, that's what it is. What means to be a human? Yeah, like you're constantly, like you said, you're constantly evolving.

[00:16:48] And you know, I want just to give people a perspective how old were you when you launch the beauty brand? I was over 40. Just put it like I'm telling you all exactly. But you were all like 40. I know it's interesting.

[00:17:05] I wasn't and I wasn't young, like now everybody's like all about use, right? It's like, you know, everybody's young, young, young and only everything. And it's like, but you know we're living a lot older, right?

[00:17:21] There are a lot of people who are just, I had, you know, I had a child that was raising him by myself. And so there was something that I just wasn't going to sacrifice that to do it.

[00:17:31] But now that he is older, he's out of the house, he's good, it's my turn, right? So it's like I could have chosen to give it up on on on on my dream of wanting to own a business or run a business.

[00:17:47] And maybe it won't even work out. I might get into the space and be like, you know what, I thought I would like to run a business, but it wasn't for me. And that's okay. I still have those seems the skill sets. I've never lost my skill sets.

[00:18:02] I'm always like I said learning new things and I can apply it to maybe a simpler challenge, right? Maybe the challenge of the business is whatever. But I'm not going to not try something because I'm too old.

[00:18:18] Although I tell you, you do think in your mind, you're like, well, you know, everything is so catered towards young, young, young. So am I being foolish to think that this could happen to me? There's a question in the back of your head.

[00:18:37] But I just keep putting my best foot forward and watch this space is what I say. That's all I can say. Watch this. Well, I love that because you said you're not going to tell us exactly. But you were in your 40s when you launched this.

[00:18:51] And so you said to yourself, you know what? I know everything may be geared towards younger people, but maybe this is foolish, but I've got to give it a try because I want to go back and kind of get more into your story.

[00:19:04] So you said you grew up, you know, your parents instilled in you confidence that you could do this. Did you always have an entrepreneurial bug? Did you always know you wanted to own a business? And that passion come from.

[00:19:19] I did know that, but I didn't have the confidence to do it, to be honest because I didn't grow up in a family that encouraged entrepreneurship. It was more about getting a job, you know, going to school, getting your education and going and getting a job.

[00:19:35] But I wasn't a corporate type in my mind, right? I always felt like not where I belonged, right? It was interesting, it was interesting. I could do the job, but it was, I always even at the different jobs that I have artists

[00:19:51] crafted out a space for myself that was different than the job that I was actually supposed to be doing. So I always was very creative and I know I would always have these little side hustles

[00:20:02] as they call it now, you know, where I would take like, I started a pillow business where I would go and have pillows made and then sell it in the craft fair in Chelsea. Because I lived in New York for a period of time, right?

[00:20:18] So I would always try to create that. I had, I started selling hand-made soap, right, that we would buy from distributors and then sell or jewelry. So yes, I always had the entrepreneurial bug.

[00:20:35] And as you know, where it came from, I just think it came from me being a creative person and liking to work with my hands and to create. And then wanting the validation of when, you know, like, unlike a job where you just get validated

[00:20:53] by maybe an annual review or they say, oh, you did a good job. As an entrepreneur, you get validated by people buying your product, right? So then when someone buys your product, you feel that's your validation.

[00:21:06] It's like, oh, I made, and the idea of putting something that didn't exist into the world, that also was exciting to me. So I feel like I really wanted to put something to be a service somehow, right? And so I feel like that's how I responded to entrepreneurship.

[00:21:24] I would, it allowed me to be creative but it did come to me where I was like, I want to be an entrepreneur because it wasn't something that my family encouraged. It was more like, you know, go be a lawyer, doctor.

[00:21:39] You know, sort of the very traditional type of careers but I was a creative person. I made my own, like, when I went to prom, I made my own dress. Like I really wanted to be in fashion.

[00:21:51] That was like, you know, one of my big passions was to be in fashion. Well, you know what's, what I'm thinking about is it's interesting because at the beginning, we were talking about how your parents gave you the confidence and you knew you could go

[00:22:07] to, you know, in why you and then you could rock it and you could get your graduate degree. But then when it came to the confidence to launch your business, that's something you had to work through.

[00:22:17] So how did you build your confidence in that area to say, I can do it. Did you do affirmations? Like, what, how did you get your mindset there when that wasn't something that was instilled in you in that particular area?

[00:22:31] And that was, so rounding myself with this network of people, right? It was modeling behavior, right, of people that I was, that was within my network. Because I saw people doing things that, and I was like, but they're not smarter than me. They're also scared.

[00:22:49] They're also taking risks. They're also not, you know, like 100% sure that this is going to work. But they, they're taking the risk. I can do it. In fact, it took me a very long time to even say, I'm an entrepreneur.

[00:23:05] Even when I did entrepreneurial type things, it was never that, I always had a job, right? So it was like, the entrepreneur was nothing. I took something, I took, like, I'm going to pursue this.

[00:23:21] It only came to me very late in my life where I said, you know what? I'm not, I don't work anymore. I only do this business. And I put that stake in the ground and said, this is what I want. And I'm going to go for that dream.

[00:23:38] So it came late, and it was a process. And it was really being in a space where others that I saw what they were doing. And I was like, I can do that too. And having that confidence came from surrounding myself with people who were

[00:23:56] like-minded in the things that I wanted. Wow, isn't that amazing when you think about it just simply putting yourself around other people and going, they're not smart of them. I mean, they could do it. They're scared. Why can't I?

[00:24:10] And that is one of the reasons even when I think about this podcast that's so important to me is because when exposure, I always have said that exposure changes perspective. When you are exposed to something, oftentimes it will change how you perceive something.

[00:24:26] And in your story, it's just that. Just being in that, you said, okay, I can do some type of entrepreneurial business. How did you uncover, though, that you would be in the beauty brand business? And not only beauty brand, you ended up developing soul-bomb sisters.

[00:24:45] You had, you started out with bath bombs and now you're doing steamers. And all of that can help you grow. How did you find oils? I mean, your website, I'm looking at I'm like, okay, I need to shop here. I need to shop here.

[00:24:56] I mean, you just saw many great things, luxury things that lead to self-care. But how did you come to that? Because you said you were over here, do a pillows. You know, you're doing pillows. You know, trying all these other things. How did you find that?

[00:25:12] And in life there's love, luck and faith, right? Sometimes it's just luck being in the right place at the right time. And seven, deputy, whatever, right? I was not planning to do this business. I wanted to do a business, I wasn't clear what it was.

[00:25:28] I wanted to do a product business. And my friend, she was making bath bombs. But I don't we do this together. And I was like, if I was going to do a business, it has to be something that I feel passionate about.

[00:25:40] So I didn't really know much because I didn't do bath bombs for my personal self. So I was like, I don't know if I would be able to stand behind this business just because it doesn't connect to me, right?

[00:25:51] Because like I told you, my passion was fashion, technology. I did a tech business that I did. So I didn't know but I spoke to my sister and she was like, oh, she loves baths.

[00:26:08] And she's like, for her, a bath is a way for her to reconnect and recharge. And that I could relate to because I love swimming. And that was swimming was a way that I could reconnect to myself. So the idea of self care was very important for me

[00:26:25] because it was a way to suit me for the challenges that I had within my life. Being a single parent wasn't very easy. Having a high, like, very stressful corporate job wasn't easy. And all of that. So I had to find ways to suit myself without natural ways.

[00:26:48] And so meditation was important for me and things like that. So when my sister told me how baths resonated with her, I was like, I can get behind that. And at that time, self care wasn't even such a big buzzword. It only really became such a big buzzword

[00:27:04] when after the pandemic and people realized that, you know, you can have all the money in the world. But if you don't have your health and you're just stressed because you're chasing money, it doesn't really matter, right? So you do have to take care of yourself, right?

[00:27:18] And especially as black women where I feel sometimes black women are meant to feel so strong. And you, you know, hold down the households and the children and do everything. And they don't sometimes want to stop and sort of take time for themselves. That wasn't important to me.

[00:27:35] And I wanted a way for them to be able to do self care. And so I wasn't really looking at it like a beauty brand. It just, it just happened that I do use body butters. I do use oils. I do enjoy a Romatherapy, right?

[00:27:53] And then this opportunity came across your path. Exactly. And this opportunity came across my path and I just went with it. So that's how, sometimes you're just at the right place at the right time. And then the universe puts the stuff together for you.

[00:28:11] So that's really how it started. You're never going to have a straight path. Don't look for that straight path. It's going to be crooked. Yeah, because you just talking to someone in your friends like, hey, you know, I make these bath bombs.

[00:28:23] They could be something you're like, huh, you talk to your sister. You realize there's something in it that resonates with you. And you say, I can move forward. So when you launch, what year did you launch? And did you start with one product?

[00:28:35] And how did you grow so quickly? Yeah, I started in 2018. We started with just bath bombs. And like I said, my friend was making manufacturing them. And she was doing it in Pennsylvania. I lived in New York and I was helping in terms of getting the sales.

[00:28:54] So we did, we did private label sales manufacturing for, you know, brands that are really big now. We did their bath bombs for them. And so I would be the one going out and getting the customers, getting the orders and stuff like that. I built the website.

[00:29:15] We doing the, and I would go to all the, um, uh, like essence festivals. We did, we did essence festival. We did a lot of these like sort of big shows. And um, it just sort of took off. And then 2020 came, like I said, my partner,

[00:29:33] she moved on to do her own thing. And then I had to like restart the business again in terms of like, okay, now, what am I going to do? You know, I don't know how to make these things. How am I going to make back?

[00:29:46] How am I going to continue this business? And the business, I had my job. And I had a teenage son that was like, I was preparing him to, you know, for college and he was playing basketball. So he was like a lot was going on for me, right?

[00:30:02] And so of course, I could have been like, well, I don't have anybody to make back. Thoughts. Let's quit. No. I said, okay, we will just start from the beginning. And then we started doing that. Like I learned how to do make the product.

[00:30:16] It took a lot of trial and error. It didn't always go pretty. Um, and at essence actually, my customers were asking me for shower steamers. They said, I don't do bath. I take showers. You have anything for that. And I didn't at the time.

[00:30:33] So then I said, well, let me learn what these shower steamers and now shower steamers are one of our biggest sellers. And it was actually my own recipe that came out of it, right? That is a way. I got to stop you there.

[00:30:44] Because you unpack a lot of go to nuggets there. Because first of all, you were trying, you know, you were creating these bath bombs under different labels. So you would give it to other companies. I want to make sure people understand that.

[00:30:57] And then you're thinking, hey, we realized we're onto this. We're starting to get sales. And then your business partner says, I'm out and you had this moment where you could have said, you know what? I don't know what I'm doing over here in the side.

[00:31:11] But you decided to move forward. And not only did you decide to move forward, you ended up creating your own brand. So how did you? So how did you go from? Which is so interesting to me.

[00:31:22] How did you go from, you know, creating these products to give to other companies, you're losing your business partner. And then you say, you know what? This is not it. I'm going to figure this thing out. And I'm going to launch our own brand.

[00:31:34] Now if that ain't big time, I don't know what is. But how did you do that? I just didn't want to fail. I just realized that if I stopped, I would fail. And if I, I had nothing to lose. You know, I had everything to gain, right?

[00:31:52] I had everything to gain and nothing to lose. So I just kept moving forward. And I still do every day. That's really that there's no, there's no secret sauce. It's just something in you that either decides like you're going to keep going when things don't work out.

[00:32:10] Or you're going to, I don't know, sit and cry. But even if you sit and cry, then the next thing you're going to have to make a decision is this how you want it to end? Is it ending? No.

[00:32:23] And again, because I'm in this environment with other people who are ambitious, want something, you know, something they say something and that triggers that right? Now we have so many opportunities to be motivated by podcasts, by, you know, just there's just so much now in data and information.

[00:32:46] And spent time there, spent time with God, spent time with yourself. Meditate, you'll see what is important to you. No, I know, no, what you said is so good. Like there's no secret formula, but you just made a decision. At that point, I'm not going to give up.

[00:33:01] And then you know, you end up launching as soul bombs, sisters, which I love the name. Thank you. And you end up going, you know, like you said, you're having order right now from Spain that you're dealing with, you know, all over the world.

[00:33:15] So when did you realize that you had finally kind of cracked the code that you were really on to something now? When I believe that I am going to make a living doing only this business, that was when for me everything just fell into place

[00:33:41] where I didn't feel like let me go back, let me go get a job because like I told you, even when I had my, my, my, sought my on software business, I was working. Right? So I never was just doing this entrepreneurship.

[00:33:55] I never even said I was an entrepreneur, right? I just, it just literally wasn't those words I used. Even though I was actually being an entrepreneur, right? But because it was just so like to me, it didn't seem that that's what that's who I was, right?

[00:34:11] It was almost like, that's not me, but it was me, right? So the minute I'm able to say I'm an entrepreneur and I have a business that was the time I realized that okay, we're going to be okay. We're going to be okay.

[00:34:27] And you're gonna be more than okay. Yeah. No, but I'm saying it in terms of like, because a lot of the battle you fight is with yourself. For me, that's what it was, right? I think you're like, when my friend told me I couldn't make anything.

[00:34:43] I told you, I didn't receive it because I didn't believe it, right? But if I believe something, that's the one I have to worry about, right? Because I have to make sure what I believe is something that's going to move me forward, not hold me back, right?

[00:34:58] So a lot of times we are a biggest blocker, right? And so we have to get out of our own way, not people getting in your way. You have to, I had to get out of my own way to get where I'm going.

[00:35:14] And when I listen to your story, you're talking about that. Because at the, when you first took over from your business partner, you were still working your other job. But to get to a place that you're like, hey,

[00:35:23] I now officially declare that I am an entrepreneur and I can do this. And how big has your brand grown to this point? You know, we're in 2023. And what do you think is next for you?

[00:35:44] Well, we are on, there are a lot of things in the pipeline right now, right? That I can't really speak about. But the brand is growing, right? We had to restructure so there was some setbacks in terms of that.

[00:36:01] But it's now sort of at the point where we're at a new step. And then it's just going to get better. So we're hope, you know, that's how you are in multiple countries. Are you selling kind of give us an idea of some, No, I can't.

[00:36:16] Oh, no, we only sell online, right? We only sell online. And the goal is to be able to sort of grow the e-commerce business. And then eventually get into retail stores, right? But I want you to also understand that I'm not just trying to be,

[00:36:36] I'm actually a manufacturer. They don't have a lot of black women manufacturing companies in the world's period, right? So it's not easy to be a manufacturer. It's a huge investment in terms of like, I want to make my own products.

[00:36:52] I don't want to use a lot of companies, a lot of beauty brands that you see out there. They have third party manufacturers that make their products for you. And then they just do the marketing and the selling. That's an approach, right?

[00:37:06] But I'm trying to do something a little bit different. I'm trying to be the manufacturer, right? And so therefore it's a little bit more resource intensive, a little bit more challenging to be able to do that. So it's not just like I just want to sell products.

[00:37:23] I want to have a huge warehouse where we make our own products. We ship it out if we're able to make for others we can, but that we're able to make products and have them sold globally. But right now we're just simply in the United States.

[00:37:41] We're only online and we sell only online. Well, I wouldn't say just online because if you've got people buying from you from Spain and you make another money girl that you were able to hit, quit your I'm sure pretty well paying job.

[00:37:55] And you are right now recording from your warehouse that pays a go on pretty good. Yes, they're going, they're going good. We're doing well. We're happy. Well that's good. So I want to leave people with some final golden nuggets from your story.

[00:38:13] When you look back, you know and you think about how far you've made it now and I see that you still have big dreams of what's next for you. Is there anything that you wish you had known that you know now, that you wish someone had told you?

[00:38:32] I wish I would have had the courage to start my journey of entrepreneurship earlier, right? Only because I'm so fulfilled in what I'm doing and I had a lot of struggles trying to fit into a place where I didn't belong, right?

[00:38:57] And so I feel like that and I couldn't figure out why isn't that I'm not happy here, right? Why is it that I'm not happy here? And now I know why, but I'm you know and I don't I'm not saying it in terms of

[00:39:14] regrets or stuff like that. But I feel like when there's something that's tugging at you, you know sort of spend time and explore that. And if that's and if it comes from a place of insecurity, try to work on that insecurity because that's really where your heart

[00:39:32] where you should be focused on in terms of that thing that's nugging at you, right? Don't ignore it, don't don't be afraid and also look for opportunities when when you can have that, right?

[00:39:47] I think that I didn't hear now today not because of all the other things that I didn't that I did before led me to this, right? I come with a lot of experience. I've done a lot of things and I bring all these experience

[00:40:06] into the current journey and life that life path that I'm on. So all of that is sort of important, but I the only thing that I would say that if I if I had spent more time with self care for me, you know, like self caring for myself,

[00:40:26] I would have come to this this probable stage or sooner rather than later. Oh, that's so good. It's like taking the time to really understand yourself and I love that you say that now you just feel like you're so happy and what you do and you could never

[00:40:46] make you out all those years why it didn't make sense why you didn't feel like settled but to be able to find that I think is so so key. And so my final question for you is what

[00:40:58] do you feel is the best piece of advice you've been given on this journey? I think the best piece of advice that I've been given is try to be kind. I think that's really what it is because life is about relationships, right?

[00:41:20] And even if your UPS driver comes and they probably had a really bad day and if you're really kind to them, you see the difference that you'll like how much you light up his day that he will

[00:41:35] always make sure you get your packages on time or whatever, right? And just the simplest things like that saying hi to the guy behind the counter. You know those are the people that the little guys

[00:41:53] that will help you when you least expect it. Those are the people that move businesses, right? Right and it's not always the guy who you think oh that is the big boss and the one that everybody

[00:42:07] is already like you know looking up to and paying difference to but the small guy, the guy who's in the garden or the guy who's picking up picking up the mail or delivering the mail or the guy

[00:42:21] that's sweeping the floor. I just feel like being small, being kind to like people will take you far. That's huge and I think that is so true because you never know and you said something in the

[00:42:37] beginning you said you know just as you come up you can also come down and the way you go up it may impact the way you come down or in that whole process and this has really been you know

[00:42:48] enlightening for me and you have really inspired me today because I want you go from someone who said you know what? I didn't know anything about this particular industry but I did it. I lost my business

[00:43:01] partner. I didn't give up. I rebranded and I came back with soul bomb sisters and guess what? I've continued to add new products and guess what? I'm going to be in retail store someday and guess what?

[00:43:14] I am an entrepreneur. Love it. Correct. Well, thank you so much for joining us and that's another episode of She's Big Time Now. What was your biggest aha moment from today show? For me it was the power

[00:43:31] of your network to build your confidence. I never even thought about it like that but when you surround yourself with people that are going places you may discover you find the courage within yourself to go after your big dreams. It's a good time to ask yourself,

[00:43:50] do I need to expand my circle? This definitely has me thinking. If you are inspired by the women you hear in my podcast please share this with a friend, subscribe to the show and leave a review.

[00:44:03] Your support will help more people find us. To learn more about our guess visit she's BigTimeNow.com. Thank you so much for listening.