We were lucky to catch up with Aarean Wooten recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Aarean, thanks for joining us today. Parents can play a significant role in affecting how our lives and careers turn out – and so we think it’s important to look back and have conversations about what our parents did that affected us positive (or negatively) so that we can learn from the billions of experiences in each generation. What’s something you feel your parents did right that impacted you positively.

The concept of Bgirly was first an idea by my mother in 2007. She wanted to open a business focused on women’s empowerment, but at the time I was not interested as I wanted to focus on school and eventually a corporate career. However, after spending time in Seoul, South Korea in 2017, I fell in love with skincare which inspired the start of Bgirly. The origins of Korean beauty (K-Beauty) developed during the time of the Three Kingdoms where beauty culture became more prevalent. Physical appearance is considered a sign of respect and diligence in Korea. My mother and I worked hard to develop a formula that is lightweight, non-sticky and super moisturizing. Our formula is what makes us unique and working with my mother helped me to appreciate all that she’s taught me. Growing up my mother instilled confidence in me, always giving me positive affirmations and pushing me to try my best no matter the outcome. I learned how to be resourceful and hardworking from my father, who can fix and cook anything you ask him – he is a fast learner and has a very “can do” attitude. My parents taught me to be resilient, put God first and focus on family. I was raised right and because of my parents, I am a successful business owner and corporate American. I am always amazed by what I can accomplish because I believe in myself, but also because I have the most incredible parents guiding and supporting me!

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?

Bgirly Lipsauce is an empowerment-driven lipcare brand founded by Black women, committed to celebrating diversity and uniqueness. We worked hard to develop a formula that is lightweight, non-sticky and super moisturizing. Our special formula is what makes our product so desirable. Each product is handmade with a blend of oils to ensure the glosses remain non-sticky and smooth on the lips – the reason why we call it “lipsauce”. Diversity is at the core of what we do. Our applicator caters to those with larger lips and the non-stickiness of our formula allows those with sensory overload to still enjoy makeup. Personally, I am passionate about skincare and skin health. I spent time in Seoul, South Korea where I learned a lot about clean skincare and how physical appearance is a sign of respect for oneself. I continue to learn about ingredients and methods that keep the skin healthy. Lips are often forgotten when people do their skincare routines. Bgirly aims to promote confidence and diversity, while also encouraging our customers to educate themselves about their skin.

How’d you think through whether to sell directly on your own site or through a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc.

Bgirly products are available online at our website (bgirlylipsauce.com) and on Amazon. I think understanding your target customer and versatility from an ecommerce perspective is a good strategy. Our website gets most visits via our email campaigns and social media. However, on Amazon we are able to sell both inside and outside of the US and gain new customers through Amazon advertising. Through a typical website, you are having to use SEO and email campaigns to get visitors, but Amazon is more hands off once you understand how to optimize advertisements. Amazon does have a lot of good training videos, but it is a big time commitment to train yourself. I think it’s important to understand your category and audience, then cater to how your audience purchases products. Amazon may not be the best for all categories, but works for Bgirly.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

Managing teams is difficult as a business owner. I think we expect our employees to own and think about our business as owners, which they are not. The level of commitment and motivation from employees is sometimes a pain point from business owners. I’d encourage leaders to better understand their employees – why are they here, what do they want to gain from their experience, how do they like to be recognized. By understanding the motivation behind an employee, leaders can better lead. There is a common phrase “treat people how you want to be treated”, but I always say “treat people how they want to be treated”. It’s about catering to their needs, which can help with performance and morale.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://bgirlylipsauce.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bgirlyaf/
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/bgirlyaf
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aareanwooten
• Other: Tik Tok – https://www.tiktok.com/@bgirlylipsauce?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc

Image Credits
Brooke Green Photography & Tiffany Kowalski