WEBVTT - Built on Belief 0:00:00.520 --> 0:00:03.560 Calling all my sweeties to the forefront. I'm your host, 0:00:03.640 --> 0:00:06.480 christ Rna Hazel and this is the Keep It Positive 0:00:06.480 --> 0:00:12.319 Sweetish Show. Welcome to Keep it Positive, Sweety, the place 0:00:12.320 --> 0:00:15.880 where we heal, grow and learn together. Belief has a 0:00:15.880 --> 0:00:19.280 way of asking us to move before we have proof. 0:00:19.800 --> 0:00:23.640 Jalsa Seymour reminds us to always trust what God plays 0:00:23.640 --> 0:00:27.240 in your heart, building without a blueprint and believing so 0:00:27.400 --> 0:00:30.480 deeply in the vision that you move before the evidence 0:00:30.600 --> 0:00:33.920 ever arise. Today's guest has built one of the most 0:00:34.000 --> 0:00:38.800 recognizable women's wellness brands for her generation. Jalisa Seymour is 0:00:38.840 --> 0:00:42.760 the founder and CEO of salt Xo, a premium women's 0:00:42.800 --> 0:00:46.400 wellness brand that started with handing out samples while she 0:00:46.520 --> 0:00:49.160 was still a college student and has since grown into 0:00:49.200 --> 0:00:53.320 a nationally recognized company and thriving community. Her work has 0:00:53.320 --> 0:00:57.800 been featured in Forbes, Essence, Ink, Black Enterprise, and Vogue. 0:00:57.960 --> 0:01:00.720 You know, but what inspires me the most isn't just 0:01:00.800 --> 0:01:03.520 what she's built, it's how deeply she believed in it 0:01:03.560 --> 0:01:06.240 before the rest of the world did. Kids. Family, Please 0:01:06.280 --> 0:01:11.560 give a very warm welcome to the founder of salt Exo, Jlisa. Hi, Jalisa, 0:01:11.640 --> 0:01:12.240 how you doing. 0:01:12.400 --> 0:01:13.039 I feel good. 0:01:13.280 --> 0:01:14.280 You look beautiful. 0:01:14.400 --> 0:01:14.960 Thank you. 0:01:14.959 --> 0:01:17.000 You look good. You walked down side. Should have dressed, 0:01:17.000 --> 0:01:19.000 so I gotta. 0:01:18.840 --> 0:01:19.800 Put on a little dress now. 0:01:19.880 --> 0:01:21.840 No, you look beautiful. I love it. I love it 0:01:21.840 --> 0:01:23.600 and I actually have that in hot pink. So my 0:01:23.640 --> 0:01:27.880 girl has style. You have pieces. Thank you. So we 0:01:27.880 --> 0:01:30.720 were both just in London for Wimbledon. Was that your 0:01:30.720 --> 0:01:33.640 first time going? Yes? Mine too. That's a bucket list 0:01:33.640 --> 0:01:33.880 for me. 0:01:34.760 --> 0:01:37.160 It actually was my friend's bucket list, Ashley. 0:01:37.280 --> 0:01:37.440 Yes. 0:01:37.520 --> 0:01:41.039 She loves she loves tennis, she loves Paris, and she's like, 0:01:41.600 --> 0:01:43.840 let's go to Wimbledon and watch tennis. I'm like, girl, 0:01:43.920 --> 0:01:46.480 I don't I don't really care. She's like, no, let's go. 0:01:46.600 --> 0:01:50.000 It's an experience. I'm so happy that she asked me 0:01:50.040 --> 0:01:51.800 to come because I'm going back. 0:01:51.960 --> 0:01:54.680 Yes, same, Yeah, I'm going back right. That was doing 0:01:54.680 --> 0:01:57.360 the US Open and what was this July next month, 0:01:57.400 --> 0:01:59.280 So I'm excited about that. That'll be my second time 0:01:59.320 --> 0:02:01.800 going to you. So, but I picked up tennis during 0:02:01.840 --> 0:02:04.800 COVID when we had do like the social distancing, but 0:02:04.840 --> 0:02:06.600 I wanted to stay in shape, so that was something 0:02:06.640 --> 0:02:09.880 that I could do outside, not like because you're across 0:02:09.919 --> 0:02:11.600 the port from somebody else that you're playing with. So 0:02:11.639 --> 0:02:13.120 I was able to do that and just fell in 0:02:13.160 --> 0:02:13.799 love with the sport. 0:02:14.000 --> 0:02:15.640 Yeah, my son loves it. I got him a tennis 0:02:15.680 --> 0:02:17.359 rack for his for Christmas. 0:02:17.400 --> 0:02:20.000 We went once. That was the laugh of back. 0:02:20.680 --> 0:02:24.760 However, however, like I really enjoy it because it's just different. 0:02:24.800 --> 0:02:27.400 It's different from what I've seen growing up, So especially 0:02:27.440 --> 0:02:29.160 being a new environment, it's really important to me. 0:02:29.440 --> 0:02:32.400 I want to be in just different rooms. 0:02:32.040 --> 0:02:34.280 Same And we talked about like when we went there, 0:02:34.960 --> 0:02:36.359 it wasn't a lot of us. 0:02:36.440 --> 0:02:41.880 No us, yeah, literally, and it was hundreds of people there, thousands. 0:02:41.880 --> 0:02:44.520 It was like it was like I'm talk about swarms 0:02:44.520 --> 0:02:47.320 of people like you like you're just moving through like 0:02:47.639 --> 0:02:50.359 huge crowds. But it was not a lot of outstairs. 0:02:50.360 --> 0:02:53.000 So to be able to experience that was something that 0:02:53.040 --> 0:02:55.760 was beautiful to see. But definitely I want to expose 0:02:55.800 --> 0:02:57.639 more people to things like that. 0:02:57.720 --> 0:02:57.960 You know. 0:02:58.040 --> 0:03:00.000 I feel like a lot of stuff is kind of 0:03:00.200 --> 0:03:02.560 just been like for not for us, you know. Not. 0:03:02.680 --> 0:03:04.360 Tennis is one of those sports that like we're just 0:03:04.400 --> 0:03:05.320 not really getting. 0:03:05.080 --> 0:03:07.920 Into exactly, and I want to just like there is 0:03:08.000 --> 0:03:10.799 no limit to any space we can be in any 0:03:10.960 --> 0:03:14.160 kinds of conversations we should be having, like the even 0:03:14.360 --> 0:03:16.239 to the restaurants and the way that we travel. 0:03:16.280 --> 0:03:18.360 Like I went to Saint Barts a few months ago. 0:03:18.919 --> 0:03:22.240 I was the only one. I was like, what is 0:03:22.280 --> 0:03:22.680 going on? 0:03:22.720 --> 0:03:25.160 And I was I was kind of like overwhelmed because 0:03:25.200 --> 0:03:28.320 I've never been to a place where I was just 0:03:28.480 --> 0:03:31.120 so alone. But I'm like, you know, what we need 0:03:31.160 --> 0:03:32.680 to be in space is like this, like we need 0:03:32.720 --> 0:03:33.760 to sure, we need to be. 0:03:33.800 --> 0:03:34.240 On the yachts. 0:03:34.280 --> 0:03:37.760 We need to be traveling and living life, see the world, 0:03:37.840 --> 0:03:40.240 see the world different absolutely well. 0:03:40.280 --> 0:03:42.120 To get started, I want to play a game. We're 0:03:42.120 --> 0:03:44.560 gonna have a little spin off Wimbledon, and it's called 0:03:44.920 --> 0:03:46.800 match Points. So I'm going to give you a few 0:03:46.840 --> 0:03:51.040 scenarios about decisions that may come up that you have 0:03:51.080 --> 0:03:52.640 to make with business, and I want you to tell 0:03:52.640 --> 0:03:55.560 me your next move. Okay, okay, all right. So the 0:03:55.640 --> 0:03:58.280 first one is your biggest launch doesn't perform the way 0:03:58.320 --> 0:04:00.000 you expected. What's your next one? 0:04:00.440 --> 0:04:01.240 Relaunch it again? 0:04:01.360 --> 0:04:02.400 I know that five hundred. 0:04:02.400 --> 0:04:05.800 Please relaunch it again. 0:04:06.040 --> 0:04:09.080 Why because my customers may have not seen it or 0:04:09.120 --> 0:04:11.160 received it the way that I thought they would, Like, 0:04:11.400 --> 0:04:14.160 they don't they're not a part of the investment of 0:04:14.280 --> 0:04:17.560 what goes into it, the conversations that I'm having, my team, 0:04:17.640 --> 0:04:19.400 my chemists, like, they're not a part of that, so 0:04:19.440 --> 0:04:21.720 they're not as invested as I. Maybe, so I might 0:04:21.760 --> 0:04:23.400 deliver it one time and they might feel like, no, 0:04:23.720 --> 0:04:25.720 it didn't hit. So I'm going to redeliver it in 0:04:25.720 --> 0:04:27.919 the way that they can understand. And that's happened before. 0:04:28.040 --> 0:04:29.719 Like sometimes I think a launch is going to go 0:04:29.920 --> 0:04:32.480 so well and it doesn't go as well as I expect. 0:04:32.760 --> 0:04:35.400 It'll go well, but not to expect expectations that I 0:04:35.440 --> 0:04:37.760 may have. So I'm like, you know what, let me 0:04:37.920 --> 0:04:39.880 relaunch it and do it differently, put a twist on it. 0:04:40.080 --> 0:04:42.520 And most times when I do that, it goes well. 0:04:42.720 --> 0:04:44.440 If it doesn't work one time, I'm going to try 0:04:44.440 --> 0:04:45.560 again and again and again. 0:04:45.720 --> 0:04:48.799 Period. And that's why you were here, because you didn't 0:04:48.800 --> 0:04:52.039 give up. I love that Matt's point number two. A 0:04:52.120 --> 0:04:55.239 huge opportunity comes your way, but something about it doesn't 0:04:55.279 --> 0:04:57.280 feel right. What's your next move? 0:04:58.080 --> 0:04:58.720 Pray about it? 0:04:59.040 --> 0:05:01.640 Come on now first, yes, first thing period. 0:05:02.640 --> 0:05:05.359 I like to think that that inner voice is God's voice, 0:05:05.960 --> 0:05:09.760 especially when you have discernment. Yes, because I don't like 0:05:09.839 --> 0:05:12.920 to commit to anything without going to him first, especially 0:05:12.920 --> 0:05:15.320 when it comes to something that is going to impact lives. 0:05:15.880 --> 0:05:17.760 So I'm like, you know what, that's a big responsibility 0:05:17.839 --> 0:05:19.880 to make sure that I honor him and go to 0:05:19.920 --> 0:05:20.400 him first. 0:05:20.760 --> 0:05:21.720 So that's that's the first thing. 0:05:21.800 --> 0:05:24.599 Yeah, Yeah, I love that, all right. Match point three. 0:05:24.960 --> 0:05:28.000 A competitor launch is something that looks similar to yours. 0:05:28.680 --> 0:05:29.680 What's your next move? 0:05:30.320 --> 0:05:34.120 M I've had to make this move quite a few times. 0:05:35.080 --> 0:05:37.479 I stay on track and do what I do because 0:05:37.520 --> 0:05:39.720 it's very important for me to not think about what 0:05:39.760 --> 0:05:42.280 other people are doing. Of course, competitors are going to come, 0:05:42.680 --> 0:05:45.080 people that are going to mimic your brand. It's going 0:05:45.120 --> 0:05:47.640 to come, and some people might think of it as slattery. 0:05:48.160 --> 0:05:52.200 I don't, but some people do. However, I think that 0:05:52.240 --> 0:05:54.480 it's really important to understand that what God has. 0:05:54.440 --> 0:05:54.960 To be is for you. 0:05:55.160 --> 0:05:58.000 Yes, And the room that I'm in is my room, 0:05:58.560 --> 0:06:00.920 Like I'm not worried about what's on the next room, 0:06:01.360 --> 0:06:01.920 and He. 0:06:01.920 --> 0:06:04.799 Will make room for you. Yes, So I'm I'm okay. 0:06:04.920 --> 0:06:07.480 Like even if competitors may have like it's gonna happen, 0:06:07.760 --> 0:06:09.640 but I'm sure God always make room for us. 0:06:09.680 --> 0:06:12.159 Yep. Always. I love that I'm in the beauty space 0:06:12.160 --> 0:06:14.719 as well with hair. Congratulations. 0:06:16.000 --> 0:06:19.479 Then you do something in Times Square. 0:06:18.800 --> 0:06:22.200 Yes, yeah, I had there. I did like the unveiling. 0:06:22.520 --> 0:06:24.280 Our big launch was in New York Times Square. It 0:06:24.360 --> 0:06:25.360 was a ball. 0:06:25.800 --> 0:06:29.520 Launch in Times Square is incredible, a dream like right 0:06:29.560 --> 0:06:30.400 by the Red Stairs. 0:06:30.400 --> 0:06:33.040 It was crazy. Shout out to my team Weston and 0:06:33.080 --> 0:06:36.200 Shana and the team at RS Jeelorie, we love you. 0:06:36.960 --> 0:06:38.840 But yeah, to have people behind me that believe in 0:06:38.880 --> 0:06:41.680 me and will pull all the stops to make it 0:06:41.760 --> 0:06:45.560 the biggest and best that it can be menialized. So yeah, no, 0:06:45.600 --> 0:06:48.159 I'm excited about it. But people talk about the beauty 0:06:48.160 --> 0:06:51.880 space being so oversaturated, and I do believe. I feel 0:06:51.880 --> 0:06:54.280 like there's room for everybody. You know, and especially if 0:06:54.279 --> 0:06:57.159 you're doing it with excellence and your product has like 0:06:57.240 --> 0:06:59.520 a superpower like you something you're really hounting in on, 0:07:00.080 --> 0:07:02.520 I think that there is space for everyone. I mean, 0:07:03.320 --> 0:07:04.919 I just that's how I feel. But like you said, 0:07:05.000 --> 0:07:07.600 like your lane is your lane, your room is your room, 0:07:07.640 --> 0:07:08.760 and what's for you is for you. It's not going 0:07:08.800 --> 0:07:09.520 to pass you by. 0:07:09.760 --> 0:07:12.520 That's exactly how especially when because actually it can pass 0:07:12.560 --> 0:07:16.240 you by. If you don't act on it, you can 0:07:16.360 --> 0:07:18.120 kind of sit on those gifts. It will pass you by, 0:07:18.160 --> 0:07:20.840 and that I'll give to someone else will So if 0:07:20.840 --> 0:07:25.080 you're ready, yeah, But if you're ready and I stay ready, yeah, 0:07:25.080 --> 0:07:25.680 I know that's right. 0:07:25.720 --> 0:07:26.440 You got to stay ready. 0:07:26.480 --> 0:07:31.160 You do all right? Last one match point four. The 0:07:31.160 --> 0:07:34.160 thing that got you here won't get you where you're going. 0:07:34.400 --> 0:07:35.560 So what is your next move? 0:07:36.680 --> 0:07:43.000 M my next room. My next move is expansion. Expansion. 0:07:43.440 --> 0:07:46.120 I am taking so globally. 0:07:47.400 --> 0:07:49.520 It's amazing. Is that daunting? Like? 0:07:50.080 --> 0:07:50.720 Absolutely? 0:07:51.080 --> 0:07:54.920 Absolutely, from starting in my living room in my college 0:07:54.920 --> 0:07:59.120 dorm to thinking to take my brand globally. When my 0:07:59.280 --> 0:08:01.680 first idea was to just make one hundred thousand dollars 0:08:02.160 --> 0:08:05.000 in six years, six years, I said, in six years, 0:08:05.000 --> 0:08:07.440 I want to make one hundred thousand dollars and seven years. 0:08:08.480 --> 0:08:11.120 You were like like just the. 0:08:10.920 --> 0:08:13.160 Thoughts that I was having, and I was so excited 0:08:13.160 --> 0:08:15.880 because it seemed so far fetched for me. So now 0:08:15.960 --> 0:08:18.680 to be eight years in business, I'm thinking, let's take 0:08:18.720 --> 0:08:19.480 this thing global. 0:08:19.760 --> 0:08:22.760 Wow, that is incredible. I love that. Thank you for playing. 0:08:23.440 --> 0:08:23.840 That was good. 0:08:23.960 --> 0:08:24.560 That was a good one. 0:08:24.720 --> 0:08:27.400 Yes, great answer. Shout out Shelley. She always comes with 0:08:27.440 --> 0:08:32.680 the amazing game Shelley So Good. So you talk about 0:08:32.800 --> 0:08:35.880 starting your company in your college dorm room in the 0:08:35.880 --> 0:08:38.280 living room. Tell me about that, Like, where were you 0:08:38.360 --> 0:08:41.439 what sparked this idea? How did salt ex soo come 0:08:41.480 --> 0:08:42.760 to life from your dorm room? 0:08:43.200 --> 0:08:46.440 So I discovered Saltic Soul because I wanted to use 0:08:46.440 --> 0:08:47.640 a product that was going. 0:08:47.480 --> 0:08:50.520 To make me feel really good and feel. 0:08:50.200 --> 0:08:52.400 Confident in what I was using, because at the time, 0:08:52.440 --> 0:08:54.640 I was just using what was in the stores, and 0:08:54.679 --> 0:08:58.360 I realized that a lot of those products. 0:08:57.880 --> 0:08:59.680 Aren't really catered to the wellness. 0:08:59.679 --> 0:09:02.360 It's just cater to quick fix, get you in and 0:09:02.360 --> 0:09:04.199 out if it works for your works, and if it doesn't, 0:09:04.280 --> 0:09:06.720 so sorry, go to your OGGI n And I just 0:09:06.760 --> 0:09:08.720 wanted to be a little more intentional with what I 0:09:08.720 --> 0:09:10.839 put it in what I put in my products. So 0:09:11.080 --> 0:09:14.440 I started to research essential oils and the power of 0:09:14.480 --> 0:09:17.320 them and how they could heal the body. And I 0:09:17.400 --> 0:09:21.600 went to a essential oil store. I started making combos 0:09:21.640 --> 0:09:24.439 with it, and I started making samples and I gave 0:09:24.480 --> 0:09:26.720 them out to my roommates because I was living in 0:09:26.720 --> 0:09:29.520 a dorm at the time, and they were like, what 0:09:29.679 --> 0:09:32.600 did you put in this stuff, because it's very hard 0:09:32.600 --> 0:09:35.840 to trust someone giving you so to use on your 0:09:35.840 --> 0:09:39.120 intimate space. But they trusted me and they were like, 0:09:39.320 --> 0:09:41.520 I need you to sell this product, like I need 0:09:41.559 --> 0:09:42.080 you to make it. 0:09:42.120 --> 0:09:43.040 I need you to sell it. 0:09:43.600 --> 0:09:46.120 And just me wanting to do something for myself and 0:09:46.160 --> 0:09:48.680 deciding to share that with other women, which I knew 0:09:48.679 --> 0:09:52.000 would beneficial to them, that's what sprouted this entire idea. 0:09:52.240 --> 0:09:55.280 Wow, you talk about God whispered the recipes. 0:09:55.480 --> 0:09:58.520 Yeah, it's so funny because that's been like an iconic 0:09:58.559 --> 0:10:00.200 slogan that God whispered it me. 0:10:00.240 --> 0:10:03.920 But he did because I didn't have any background in 0:10:04.760 --> 0:10:07.280 you know, creating a recipe and things like that. So 0:10:07.559 --> 0:10:09.040 for me to be able to do this, it was 0:10:09.080 --> 0:10:10.480 only God. You know. 0:10:10.880 --> 0:10:13.559 Yeah, I love that And shout out to your roommates 0:10:13.559 --> 0:10:16.240 to say, a girl who believed in me. So what 0:10:16.320 --> 0:10:18.600 was the next step? I mean, saying that is one thing, 0:10:18.640 --> 0:10:20.720 within actually doing it is another. Yeah. 0:10:20.760 --> 0:10:23.640 So I gave it to them and we had a 0:10:23.640 --> 0:10:27.600 step show I think it was the Delta's and they 0:10:27.679 --> 0:10:31.080 were performing and I said, you know what, I know 0:10:31.120 --> 0:10:33.439 the girls are going to be sweating it up. They're 0:10:33.440 --> 0:10:36.000 going to be they're going to be going crazy, right, 0:10:36.720 --> 0:10:37.760 So I I plotted. 0:10:37.800 --> 0:10:40.520 I said, you know what, after this, I'm going to 0:10:40.640 --> 0:10:48.080 go no no, no, no shade, no shade. 0:10:51.600 --> 0:10:54.400 But I just know, like that's rigorous activity, you know, 0:10:54.880 --> 0:10:56.680 and you're going to want to freshen up after. 0:10:57.840 --> 0:11:00.000 I love this, You're gonna want to fresh up afterwards. 0:11:00.040 --> 0:11:01.600 So I was plotting in the crowd. 0:11:01.640 --> 0:11:03.960 I had a book bag and I packed about ten 0:11:04.000 --> 0:11:06.880 soaps with me and I started handing them out. I said, listen, 0:11:06.960 --> 0:11:08.440 this is all I need you to do. I'm going 0:11:08.480 --> 0:11:10.160 to give you my phone number. I'm going to give 0:11:10.160 --> 0:11:12.280 you this soap. I need you to use this soap tonight, 0:11:12.440 --> 0:11:14.040 and I need you to give me a review. And 0:11:14.120 --> 0:11:16.240 I promise you it's going to change the game for you. 0:11:16.559 --> 0:11:16.719 Right. 0:11:16.760 --> 0:11:17.440 They didn't know me. 0:11:17.600 --> 0:11:18.959 I'm a stranger, but. 0:11:18.920 --> 0:11:21.160 I was so compelling and the way I sold it, 0:11:21.480 --> 0:11:24.480 they're like all right. So that same day, I had 0:11:24.679 --> 0:11:27.719 every single person similar review via text, and I still 0:11:27.760 --> 0:11:30.959 have it in my phone till this day. Essays like 0:11:31.200 --> 0:11:33.920 I've been struggling with this for so long. I had 0:11:33.920 --> 0:11:36.320 to deal with it in private, like thank you so much, 0:11:36.360 --> 0:11:38.600 because now I have something that I could use and 0:11:38.640 --> 0:11:42.800 feel confident that was the start to The Soap Lady 0:11:42.800 --> 0:11:43.439 on Campus. 0:11:43.480 --> 0:11:47.200 The Soap Lady on Campus. I love that. So you 0:11:47.240 --> 0:11:51.600 are this newfound entrepreneur. What was it like growing your 0:11:51.640 --> 0:11:54.600 business at such a young age and where did you 0:11:54.600 --> 0:11:56.560 get that from? Did you have you come from a 0:11:56.559 --> 0:11:59.280 family with business acumen or was this something that you 0:11:59.320 --> 0:12:00.079 just figured out on you? 0:12:00.960 --> 0:12:02.480 Yeah, so a lot of it. I had to figure 0:12:02.520 --> 0:12:04.559 out my own with trial and error because. 0:12:04.520 --> 0:12:06.680 I've never had a mentor, I never had a coach 0:12:06.880 --> 0:12:10.000 or anything like that. I had to learn everything leadership, 0:12:10.240 --> 0:12:13.440 being a CEO, hiring, firing, I had to learn everything 0:12:13.440 --> 0:12:15.880 through trial and error because I don't know about you, 0:12:15.960 --> 0:12:18.560 but me, I didn't come from that. Like my mom 0:12:18.640 --> 0:12:22.880 was a radiologist, my grandfather was a teacher, my grandmother 0:12:22.920 --> 0:12:26.000 was a librarian. They were all really solid in careers. 0:12:26.240 --> 0:12:27.839 But I didn't have anyone to give me guidance on 0:12:27.920 --> 0:12:30.560 being an entrepreneur. So in the beginning, my family was 0:12:30.640 --> 0:12:33.320 kind of fearful. Like I was in college, like I 0:12:33.360 --> 0:12:35.079 was doing pretty well, They're like, you're not going to 0:12:35.120 --> 0:12:37.800 get a career. I'm like, y'all want to sell soap 0:12:38.200 --> 0:12:41.840 And they were like, why are you crazy? We spent 0:12:41.920 --> 0:12:43.280 all this money for you to go to college and 0:12:43.280 --> 0:12:47.160 you're walking out of here selling so but that faded 0:12:47.200 --> 0:12:49.800 really quickly because they believed in me so much, like 0:12:50.040 --> 0:12:52.280 they picked me, like if you could have just imagined 0:12:52.280 --> 0:12:54.520 a ladder, like they're pushing me up, like let's go. 0:12:55.160 --> 0:12:57.440 And I think that is a very pivotal part of 0:12:57.440 --> 0:12:59.440 my story because my family believed in me so much, 0:13:00.600 --> 0:13:04.079 and as soon as I started to have the passion 0:13:04.080 --> 0:13:07.200 the zeal to create, they just followed them all and 0:13:07.240 --> 0:13:09.200 they were like, let's go, Like whatever you need, let's 0:13:09.240 --> 0:13:12.600 do it. And I learned it through making mistakes, taking 0:13:12.640 --> 0:13:18.000 big financial losses, major financial risk, hiring people that weren't 0:13:18.000 --> 0:13:20.880 cut out for the job, but operating in desperation. 0:13:20.920 --> 0:13:22.320 I just needed to get it done. 0:13:22.640 --> 0:13:24.319 So a lot of that stuff came from trialing Era, 0:13:24.400 --> 0:13:26.360 and I'm just grateful to God that it happened early 0:13:26.400 --> 0:13:28.360 on instead of it happened in year eight. 0:13:28.360 --> 0:13:30.040 I'd rather all of my mistakes happened. 0:13:30.200 --> 0:13:32.880 You're one through three, come on, that's fine, you know, 0:13:32.960 --> 0:13:36.120 and more mistakes will happen as you grow. But those 0:13:36.720 --> 0:13:40.840 like those pillars in my business, I'm able to be 0:13:40.880 --> 0:13:42.959 strong in it now because I know how to maneuver 0:13:43.080 --> 0:13:43.520 much better. 0:13:44.120 --> 0:13:48.600 I love that. So let's talk about some of the losses. 0:13:48.640 --> 0:13:50.959 You talk about big losses, You talk about moments that 0:13:51.000 --> 0:13:53.800 were really hard for you. Take us through that journey 0:13:53.800 --> 0:13:55.080 of some of the things that you had to go through, 0:13:55.080 --> 0:13:56.920 because I want people to understand. They see you now, 0:13:56.960 --> 0:14:00.120 they see the products that are just selling out everywhere, 0:14:00.120 --> 0:14:03.400 doing amazing, not to go global, But like, what year 0:14:03.440 --> 0:14:05.680 one through three, what were some of the biggest lessons 0:14:05.720 --> 0:14:06.800 you learned during that time? 0:14:07.040 --> 0:14:10.520 Oh, my gosh, A really really big lesson I learned 0:14:10.559 --> 0:14:16.160 which almost destroyed my business. So it was Hurricane I 0:14:16.200 --> 0:14:17.880 don't know if it was Hurricane Wilma. 0:14:18.440 --> 0:14:18.720 It was. 0:14:18.760 --> 0:14:22.880 It was one hurricane that really took a major hit, 0:14:23.000 --> 0:14:25.600 especially in Florida. I'm from Miami if you didn't know, 0:14:25.640 --> 0:14:27.800 So we have hurricanes all the time. At the time, 0:14:27.840 --> 0:14:30.440 I was living in Orlando, and I was shipping products 0:14:30.480 --> 0:14:33.280 out of my garage and my living room, and so 0:14:33.360 --> 0:14:36.880 I had about twenty thousand orders that I was I 0:14:36.960 --> 0:14:41.720 made every single bar in my house, every single every 0:14:41.760 --> 0:14:44.720 single product was made in my house. Yes, every single 0:14:44.760 --> 0:14:47.360 product was about twenty thousand orders. I wish we you know, 0:14:47.440 --> 0:14:50.000 I wish we could just show the pictures. My living 0:14:50.040 --> 0:14:51.840 room flooded. I had my baby in my I have 0:14:51.920 --> 0:14:55.360 a guest. I I have my baby in his playpen, 0:14:55.800 --> 0:14:58.840 jumping around my team. My mom is on the computer, 0:14:58.920 --> 0:15:01.600 my brothers are wrapping up soaps. I mean, we have 0:15:01.680 --> 0:15:05.520 a whole operation going right. So we ship out the orders. 0:15:05.640 --> 0:15:07.360 The guy comes up, he picks it up, and we're 0:15:07.360 --> 0:15:09.760 shipping out in garbage bags because at that time we 0:15:09.800 --> 0:15:12.200 don't have any like of the totes, we don't have 0:15:12.240 --> 0:15:14.000 all those resources. He's like, she's put in a bag 0:15:14.240 --> 0:15:15.840 and he'll come and pick it up. So it was 0:15:15.840 --> 0:15:20.640 about twenty thousand orders. I'm not even exaggerating. So he 0:15:20.680 --> 0:15:24.840 takes it to the USPS and about I say, maybe 0:15:24.880 --> 0:15:27.000 a week or so after that, I get a few 0:15:27.040 --> 0:15:29.960 emails from irate customers saying, hey, where's my order? Like 0:15:30.000 --> 0:15:32.840 it's saying it's pending, but it's not going anywhere. So 0:15:32.920 --> 0:15:35.360 I told myself, I'm saying, well, we dropped them off 0:15:35.440 --> 0:15:37.840 a while ago, like you guys should have been received that. 0:15:40.160 --> 0:15:45.080 They never received any of the packages. Thousand orders got. 0:15:44.880 --> 0:15:49.920 Lost, twenty thousand orders, every single order, and I'm still 0:15:49.960 --> 0:15:52.040 not convinced that they got lost. I think somebody is 0:15:52.120 --> 0:15:55.000 up there bathing in life away listen right now. No 0:15:55.120 --> 0:15:55.960 still bathing. 0:15:56.440 --> 0:16:03.960 Boleg on the black market. Upset like no, no, could 0:16:04.000 --> 0:16:04.600 you imagine? 0:16:04.600 --> 0:16:07.160 I couldnot twenty thousand and that was I think that 0:16:07.240 --> 0:16:10.160 was your two of my business. So I took such 0:16:10.200 --> 0:16:14.720 a big financial hit, and thank you God for a 0:16:14.760 --> 0:16:15.320 praying mom. 0:16:15.400 --> 0:16:18.600 Like we have this. We have this group chat called the. 0:16:18.440 --> 0:16:23.400 Negotiators, and we negotiate, you know, and it's not we 0:16:23.400 --> 0:16:24.480 don't negotiate business. 0:16:24.480 --> 0:16:26.280 It's like we're negotiating. 0:16:26.360 --> 0:16:28.240 With God, like we're talking to God, like hey, God, 0:16:28.280 --> 0:16:30.160 like this is what we need, like intercede for us. 0:16:30.800 --> 0:16:33.760 So we had a long chat going on about this, 0:16:34.240 --> 0:16:36.480 and I recovered everything. Of course, I had to put 0:16:36.520 --> 0:16:39.000 it back into my business because I was saving, like 0:16:39.040 --> 0:16:41.880 I wasn't buying anything like I had an ultimate making 0:16:42.560 --> 0:16:44.960 six figures. But I still I preserve that because I 0:16:45.040 --> 0:16:47.320 understood that my business money wasn't to take care of 0:16:47.360 --> 0:16:49.720 my lifestyle. And I'm just happy I thought about that 0:16:49.800 --> 0:16:52.720 way beforehand. So I was able to remake the product 0:16:52.760 --> 0:16:55.320 and send it out again. But taking out taking a 0:16:55.360 --> 0:16:58.600 loss like that and being in a deficit as a 0:16:58.720 --> 0:17:02.280 fresh business, really it was a major hit. It took 0:17:02.320 --> 0:17:05.560 me a while to recover from it. But the way 0:17:05.600 --> 0:17:07.840 that I recovered from it, people were so happy that 0:17:07.880 --> 0:17:10.080 they were able to support and to see me come 0:17:10.119 --> 0:17:10.440 out of it. 0:17:10.640 --> 0:17:13.200 Yeah you know, So did you have to get online 0:17:13.359 --> 0:17:16.040 or like write to your customers and say so, I 0:17:16.080 --> 0:17:16.359 did it. 0:17:16.440 --> 0:17:20.560 I did an email blast for them, and I just communicated. 0:17:20.880 --> 0:17:23.000 My customers love when I communicate. They love to talk 0:17:23.040 --> 0:17:25.480 to them and tell them what's going on. And a 0:17:25.560 --> 0:17:28.960 lot of them, surprisingly were all so kind and open 0:17:29.000 --> 0:17:30.560 to it. They're like, yeah, girl, we love you, like 0:17:30.920 --> 0:17:32.800 we support you because they saw me growing up like 0:17:33.119 --> 0:17:35.800 I started in college. They're watching the journey in real time. 0:17:35.840 --> 0:17:39.880 They see Yeah, I'm not keeping that private from them 0:17:39.920 --> 0:17:41.960 like they see me. I think a lot of times 0:17:42.000 --> 0:17:46.200 when people want to preserve the beginning, the start stages 0:17:46.240 --> 0:17:49.240 because they don't think it looks aesthetically pleasing, those are 0:17:49.280 --> 0:17:52.880