We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jabria Milsap a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jabria, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

My little sister, Jahi McMath, passed away in 2018 and it has been extremely difficult to cope with. One day on a ride home I was missing her and was thinking about how I wanted to do something to honor her. Being that I’ve always loved make up and my sister loved lip gloss I decided to start my lip gloss line Bliss 444 Cosmetics LLC. I wanted her to be the face of my brand so I created a logo with her beautiful face and it took off from there.

Before my sister passed away her story was viral in the media worldwide. She has so many supporters and I knew they would love what I’ve created for her. Just knowing that even though she has passed her face is on every product all over the world made me excited for this business.

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 background and context?

I provide handmade vegan and cruelty free lip care products. My lip glosses are made with the finest natural oils that provide intense hydration without the sticky finish. I have over 16 different glosses all of which are scented and apart of 1 of my 3 collections.

I offer something for everyone I have clear glosses, color glosses, even lip oils and lip scrubs for those who do not normally wear gloss.

I would say what makes my gloss line unique is the variety I have. I create fun glosses that includes clay polymer pieces that go along with the theme and they all have unique scents. Another thing that sets me apart from others is we will create new glosses that will change with the season, holidays, etc. For example I released a beautiful summer collection of bright vibrant colors that will look great this summer. I also made a red white and blue “4th of Jahi” gloss (named after my sister) for Independence Day. My customers can always expect something new and fun from me year round.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

I would the most effective strategy for growing my clientele has been staying true to who I am on my platforms and while engaging with them professionally. This has been so important because I have such a big personality and people have been able to gravitate towards my content because I bring some excitement and passion to my business.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

A lesson I had to unlearn expecting perfection. I am a perfectionist and my biggest critic. When starting my business I found something wrong in everything I did. I could not be happy for my small milestones because it was never enough. I had to learn that running a business is not easy and there will be mistakes along the way. So now I still have high standards for my business but I leave room for growth, mistakes, and realistic expectations.

Contact Info:

• Website: BLISS444.COM
• Instagram: @bliss444cosmetics_
• Facebook: Bliss 444 Cosmetics LLC
• Other: Tik tok: Bliss444cosmetics