Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Bria M. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Bria thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Are you happier as a business owner? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job?
Deciding to become a full-time entrepreneur was one of the best decisions I could have made in my life. After graduating from North Carolina A&T, I entered into a period of my life where I was essentially being planted. There are so many ups and downs in entrepreneurship that most people overlook, one of them being the fact that you HAVE to keep moving forward whether you get the results you desire or not. This applies to customers, sales, income, social media engagement, product releases, and everything else you could think of. My business was pretty consistent throughout my last semester of college, and it seemed like as SOON as I graduated, everything came to a halt.
My sales slowed down dramatically, my website traffic was decreasing, and I had no idea why or what I was supposed to do. This lasted for MONTHS. I questioned myself so many times during that period whether or not I had made the right decision by choosing to be self-employed versus being employed by someone else. At that point I had my degree, so the decision was ultimately up to me. I was constantly weighing my options: with a “regular” job, I wouldn’t have to worry about inconsistent sales or income, I’d know exactly how much I was going to get and when. With a “regular” job, I wouldn’t have to worry about advertising my products or trying to appeal to a specific audience, all I’d have to do was complete the work I was handed that day. With a “regular” job, life overall would be more predictable. I wouldn’t have to juggle large ups and downs at any given moment. It was starting to sound good, but then I remembered why I chose to be an entrepreneur in the first place. With a “regular” job, I’d have to be on someone else’s clock 5 out of every 7 days of the week. With a “regular” job, I’d have to follow the strict rules and regulations of that company, not being able to create or express myself as freely as I desire. With a “regular” job, I could make another company millions of dollars while they cap off my salary at a couple hundred thousand a year. With a “regular” job, I wouldn’t feel free.
After weighing my pros and cons, I realized that I was exactly where I was supposed to be. I made the right choice, and I KNOW that I made the right choice because I wake up every day excited to work on growing my business. I love what I do. I love the impact I make in other people’s lives through my products. I love the freedom I have to create and move as I please. I love that I can take a random Wednesday off to go for a hike without having to ask anyone else for permission. I love that I’m able to set myself up to make in a day what most people make in a few weeks. I love the autonomy that comes with being an entrepreneur, and I wouldn’t have wanted to be taken through my life journey any other way.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
BENE Beauty by Bri is the result of a 3 year long journey of discovery. In 2017, I realized, while surfing the internet, that a hair gel I had recently incorporated into my routine had caused me to develop eczema. I never had eczema before IN MY LIFE, not even as a child when its most common, so this really shook me up. I began to research the ingredients in that hair gel, as well as those in everything else I put on my body on a daily basis from body washes to lotions to perfumes, and all that I could find were ingredients with damaging side effects with consistent use. I began switching over to commercially available personal care products labeled as “natural”, only to be met with ineffectiveness or realizing that “natural” doesn’t actually mean everything in the product comes directly from nature. So I began to make my own products. I encouraged the people around me to start switching to cleaner products too, but no one knew where to start. I had been experiencing positive changes in my hair and skin from the products I’d been making for myself, so I decided to make them available for others to purchase.
BENE Beauty by Bri is a holistic body care brand that focuses on caring for one’s self through ALL means, from the inside AND out. We formulate, develop, and distribute truly natural and organic personal care products spanning from face washes to help those with recurring acne relieve their issues to beard and hair growth oils for those suffering from hair loss or thinning to bath and body sets for those wanting to increase their self care experience and self confidence without the fear of artificial fragrances and colors destroying their nervous systems, skin barriers, and fertility over time like popular bath and body company’s products tend to do (as stated per THEIR safety data sheets that 98% of people don’t take the time to read). We also address the role of diet in skin and body vitality per our informational E books highlighting different approaches to clearing up acne and other skin issues from the inside and how to eat healthier overall.
BENE is different from other body care brands in that, one, we address body care HOLISTICALLY as opposed to just externally via skin care products, and two, we bridge the gap between aesthetic body care and health-centered holistic body care. Every organic body care brand I’ve seen addresses only the health issues surrounding the integumentary system; none of them cater to those who long for aesthetic bath and body care sets like the kind offered at malls and spas. On the opposing end, every aesthetic bath and body care brand I’ve seen does not honor TRULY natural products, as they contain artificial fragrance oils, synthetic preservatives, and artificial colors to make the products look pretty and smell nice. BENE Beauty by Bri does BOTH; we provide the healing products for those with actual skin and body concerns AND the aesthetic, smell good products with no artificial colors, preservatives, or fragrances; essential oils ONLY.
I’m most proud of the fact that I am essentially starting this type of brand from scratch. As stated before, I have yet to see any other brands do what I’m doing as far as product duality. Because of this, I have nothing to go off of. I don’t have another brand I aspire to be like to look to for references or inspiration; its all coming from me. I’m building my brand from the ground up, and seeing it continue to grow and flourish is what makes me the most proud.
I want my potential customers to know that everything done at BENE Beauty by Bri is done from a place of care. This brand was not started nor does it currently operate simply off the concept of purely profiting, but genuinely striving to educate people and help them learn how to best take care of themselves the way nature intended for them to. I genuinely look, learn, research, experiment, experience, and create our products using my own passion and willpower to provide people with the highest quality body care AND the information needed to move forward in their health journeys. I want you to know that you’re in good hands.
How did you build your audience on social media?
I spent YEARS trying to find the right content to draw my target audience towards me. I tried making aesthetic page formats, using trending audios, recreating what I saw worked for others, all to no avail. I didn’t start to draw in my target audience on social media until I took a step back, did some evaluation, analyzed my metrics, observed competitors, and really paid attention to what people were looking for on social media: value. Once I started posting content that provided VALUE to my audience, they were drawn to me like a magnet. I ORGANICALLY gained over 7,000 followers in 4 months. Instead of JUST posting about my products, I started posting about different skin issues, their potential causes, AND how my products could help solve those problems. People want to LEARN. Anybody can just hop on social media and say buy my product buy my product buy my product, but what’s making people WANT it? What value does it provide? How much value do YOU provide as a brand that DOESN’T require money? I’m not saying to give away all the juice for free, but understand that people are going to stick around places that provide them value. My advice to those just starting to build your social media presence is to first, KNOW WHO YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE IS!! If you feel like your target audience is “everyone”, you need to head back to the drawing board! Second, research what your target audience is looking for. With me being a holistic body care brand, I go on Google and just type something like “why is my skin so” and see what pops up. This lets me know what people are searching for and therefore what topics I can talk about on my page’s content AND what new products I can develop to solve the issue. Third, make sure you KNOW what you’re talking about! Don’t EVER try to give others advice or information about something you have no experience or knowledge on! Master your craft! Study your topic or niche and establish your credibility to advise within that space! And last but definitely not least, DON’T GET CAUGHT UP IN NUMBERS!! Just because you posted something and it only got 2 likes doesn’t mean stop posting! Someone is ALWAYS watching! And you never know which post might become THAT post. I made my first viral video when I was laying in my bed exhausted from a detox I was doing. I didn’t have my hair done, no nice clothes on or anything. And that video ended up getting 300k views and gained me over 2,000 followers in ONE MONTH. Likes don’t equate to success.
Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?
The Rich Dad Channel on YouTube has shifted my mindset into a place that I didn’t even know it needed to be shifted in order to be successful as an entrepreneur. The Rich Dad Channel covers different topics all under the umbrella of financial literacy, but this one specific video presented me with an idea that changed my perspective so greatly that I honestly do not think I would have the growing business I have today if I hadn’t watched it. In the video. Robert Kiyosaki was breaking down the main differences between his “Rich Dad” and his “Poor Dad”, and one of the things he mentioned about his “Poor Dad” stuck with me; he said a lot of people either quit or decide not to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams because they so desperately crave a safety net. They want to KNOW everything. They want to know how much money they’re going to make every hour, they want to know when they have to come in to work, they want to know exactly what they’re going to be working on, they just want to KNOW. But when it comes to being a business owner, you practically don’t know anything. You have no idea how much money you’re going to make (if any) in an allotted period of time, you don’t know how many hours you may have to put in day to day in order to grow, you don’t know which direction you may have to pivot in in order to keep progressing, and many other things. But he mentioned that you HAVE to be okay with not having a safety net in order to truly thrive. The safety net is like a ceiling when growing a tall plant; yes, it’s predictable, but with a ceiling, how can your plant receive the sunlight it needs in order to grow? And even if it does end up receiving some sunlight from a nearby window, the plant can only grow as tall as the ceiling. Safety nets provide a sense of security, but if you cling to them too closely, they can end up being the very thing that boxes you into a place that you’ve become so comfortable or “safe” in, you can’t see how much it’s hindered your potential for growth. I highly recommend all entrepreneurs check out the Rich Dad Channel on YouTube.
Contact Info:
- Website: benebeautybybri.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/benebeautybybri/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmU4hX6tZ02mg_ilXEKKGmg