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

Alright, Jamila thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So, one thing many business owners consider is donating a percentage of sales or profits to an organization or cause. We’d love to hear your thoughts and the story behind how and why you chose the cause or organization you donate to.

It makes my heart happy to donate a percentage of the business sales to organizations. A couple of years ago, I was unhappy with myself for not doing more for the community but wasn’t quite sure how to go about it. In an effort to not sound crazy, I will keep the story short, but in a nutshell, I asked for a sign of where my services and/or money could be best served. I was/am someone who often has very vivid dreams about places and people, I’ve never visited nor met. In a particular dream, I dreamt of a woman who was in an abusive relationship. That dream scared me so much as it felt like I was there and feeling everything, she felt. I took this as a sign to look into an organization that deals with helping individuals in situations like this. The next morning, I searched diligently to find an organization to donate to and came across organizations like CAFY and RAINN that deals with helping survivors of crime, trauma and abuse.

However, I did not want my contributions to stop just there and included other non-profit organizations that deals with suicide prevention and caring for neglected animals. I know there are plenty of people out there doing much more than just donating, which often times feels like I’m not doing enough, but my hope is that these donations can be somewhat of help to their cause to bring peace, comfort and a knowing that someone cares.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Jamila, but affectionately known as Mila. I am true creative and believe I was a creative in a past life as well (haha). I experience true joy from working with my hands, most of the time, because being an artist/entrepreneur can be a pain in the you know what, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. My creative baby started in 2014 as a hobby creating semi-precious wrapped jewelry. Although extremely fun I had to make a business decision many years later to switch paths which later led to a business of home decor and aromatherapy products. One would think the business name is tied to me making bags, however, the business name is all about what’s in the bag.

My mottos at YellowBagDesigns, is to ‘Find Comfort at Home’ and ‘When Your Home Smells Good, You Feel Good!’.

My goal is to make being at home all the more enjoyable, because being outside is overrated (haha). Being a true homebody and enjoying time to myself, I wanted to create products that speak to finding that comfort for these types of individuals. Often times being in an inviting space with relaxing and/or fun scents can often change a person’s mood for the better. It is said that the two places we spend most of our time at is work and at home, so why not have products that help bring a little more comfort to these spaces.

So, what kind of products do I offer? Well, of course I have the smell good products on lock ranging from room/linen sprays, incense, reed diffusers and what the YBD family knows as the Issa Vibe Burning Oil. All of these scents are curated, packaged, labeled and made by me. I also create resin and/or cement home decor pieces such as my luxury-style trays, kitchen accessories, chess/checkers board games, domino sets, journals (because writing our thoughts down is important), to handmade soap, bath salts and body fragrance.

Pretty much every room in your home is taken care of because again, ‘Finding Comfort at Home’ is key. If you find yourself part of this ‘homebody’ tribe, then join the family online!

Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?

From sourcing the bottles, creating the labels, curating the scent blends, to working and creating new home decor pieces, I take pride in manufacturing my own products. Can it be tiring at times, absolutely, but seeing the vision come to life is an amazing feeling. I understand that being an entrepreneur and having a successfully business means having to one day scale and that means relinquishing some of the power to those who can do it better than I can.

In doing this task on my own, I have learned some things along the way. One, is that the time is money. So cliche, but so true. One thing I believe many new business owners and customers for that matter may not realize, is the time and effort put into sourcing the best suppliers. So much time is spent googling products and determining pricing to make sure everything is within budget and will yield a return. The other thing I’ve learned is that your vision may change and along with that, the presentation which can yield unexpected results such as a loss of money and/or a brand adjustment; however, knowing that the manufacturing is done in-house, will give you a greater sense of pride and control in how your vision is embraced.

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

Social media is monster all on its own and one that I haven’t quite mastered, and not sure if I ever will. When I first started out, I remember the day when my followers reached 100. I was on cloud nine. I think over the years, what I think the most valuable lesson learned is that my audience responds best when I’m being open, sharing my highs and lows with a sense of vulnerability. I constantly find myself wanting to share more of my personal/home life in order to establish relatability but find myself reverting back to not being as open in order to protect my privacy. Unfortunately, this is the age we are in- where everything and everyone is easily accessible which can be a gift and a curse.

Another valuable lesson I learned is that the number of followers mean absolutely nothing! You can have an account with 50K-100K followers, but engagement is super low. For those starting out, know that not ever follower will equate to a customer and that’s okay. Lean into those who truly engage with you as a creative, you as the person behind the brand and nurture those relationships. These are the people who believe in what you are doing and will support in the best way they can.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://YellowBagDesigns.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/yellowbagdesigns
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/yellowbagdesigns
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCT1yG-cWxDvSCoIfcH8cyUQ

Image Credits
Erin Martin