We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Annastasia Kay. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Annastasia below.

Hi Annastasia, thanks for joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

A lot of things came out of the recent Covid 19 pandemic, but for me it was my business mindset and creativity. In 2020 there was nothing to do except sit at home and be alone with your thoughts, and as a result of this my sister and i came up with the idea to start our own business. Some might think this was the route i planned for but i promise you it is not. When we first organized we planned to create a jewelry business, we did our research, shortlisted and contacted vendors and finalized our plans. However God had different plans for us, with my sisters hair business becoming more demanding i was pushed to pursue this endeavor mainly on my own with her occasional input. At that time i was now becoming heavily interested in the beauty industry and therefore sprung the idea to create my own lip glosses, different colors, scents and tubes as a way of showcasing my creativity while doing something i loved. Personally i am someone who cant keep quiet, i must be doing something with my hands at every point in the day in order to avoid misery, this was a great trait for me to have as i began making scrunchies and later bonnets as a way of following the market and expanding my already established business. From the looks of it one would think this was an easy process but i was also a full time student now battling CXC examinations which were stress already in themselves. The formation of my business may have made me occasionally stressed but i would not trade this experience for the world. At this time everyone was now starting to experiment with the lip gloss concept therefore my idea was no longer unique but what set me apart from others was my presentation, well thought out combinations and my ability to engage with my followers to remind them that there is a real person behind the page and introduce myself and interact with them as a way of building lifelong connections and loyalty.
This idea got me most excited because i knew this journey would take me places ive never even dreamed of and bring out a new side of myself that had been dying to get out. I love the idea of beauty, self care and confidence and i believe that my products encourage all 3 of these things.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I got into the industry when i was 16 years old and have been working amazingly ever since. My business provides lip glosses, scrunchies, reversible satin bonnets in four available sizes, reusable lash strips and recently added satin pillowcases, all of which are available at retail or wholesale for those who also wish to start their own business or treat their current customers/clients. My ability to be consistent and my never ending creativity continue to surprise me and make me the proudest ever, my loyal customers both old and new who have continued to stick with me through it all and form genuine friendships as a result are the reason i keep going and expanding. The main thing i would love potential clients and followers to know about me is that when they support me, whether by ordering, sharing a post or even engaging with me on my page, they are never forgotten and their efforts never go unseen. Around special seasons such as christmas, valentines day or birthdays i try my absolute best to give back to them as much they have given to me whether it be a free product, discount code or something similar because i would not be where i am without them and want them to feel as appreciated as possible. Though my ideas may not be unique and i may not be the first on the market, my work speaks for itself. Every piece or product i construct is made with love and given with even more love.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Creating a business page can be seen as just a page to post products or services offered and hope that interested clients or customers would find you, but this is not the case. I built my audience through interactions, for example i hosted talk nights on my story where i was given a topic and allowed everyone to share their thoughts about it through polls etc, i hosted and participated in giveaways as well as also sharing work from other businesses who interacted with me. The instagram algorithm is constantly changing but something that works effortlessly for me is reels, not just making type of reel but engaging reels with trending sounds to help them be automatically boosted by instagram. This works for me because i know my audience, finding the interest of your audience can be done through trial and error, experiment with different video types and see which bring larger interactions.

Can you talk to us about manufacturing? How’d you figure it all out? We’d love to hear the story.

All my products are handmade by myself, did i always know how to make them ? absolutely not. At the start of my business YouTube became my best friend because i am a firm believer that anything can be learnt from that platform. I learnt the basics, did my own research and testing each products thoroughly before brining it to the market. I also allowed my mother and sister to product test for me as well as a way to gain other opinions and thoughts before finalization. Fortunately for me i am a visual learner so it was easy for my to grasp the concept and create my products without much error in my first run, however as my business grew i kept improving each product in small ways to maintain its quality.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://app.site123.com/?w=8414749
• Instagram: @cocoababecollection

Image Credits
Kendon holder – @kennyvisuals.bb – personal photo