We recently connected with Janae Marie and have shared our conversation below.

Janae , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Any thoughts about whether to ask friends and family to support your business. What’s okay in your view?

Well, this one is definitely a tough topic to touch upon. It is sometimes hard to get family and friends on board about what you are doing. In the beginning, we want friends and family to support us. We seek their validation. But unfortunately , this just doesn’t happen always. There may be a few of the people we’re close to who support us, but it isn’t always.

I was told by a few friends that being an author would be foolish because to them I was a “nobody.” and no one would support me. I’ve published 5 books and I plan to write and publish 5 more books. I’ve been contacted by complete strangers who have told me that they loved reading my stories. I’ve even found repeat customers. That right there brings warmth to my heart.

Once I started Janae’s Closet Boutique Shop my online boutique store. I reached out to my friends again. I honestly don’t know why. But I did. I asked them for feedback. Not to buy anything but to simply provide me with honest feedback. Oh boy! This was a huge mistake! The girls I thought were my best friends actually ghosted me. Ha ha! Yes, I didn’t hear anything back from them. I tried to reach back out to them. I understand people are busy and get caught up with life. But once I did, everything went downhill with our friendship. It really bothered me for a while. I guess I was the “nobody” that should have stayed quiet in the background while they were the only ones who became successful because for a while that’s how things were. I learned a lot about true friends and how some people are only comfortable with you when they can look down on you. The moment you try to get better for yourself. the more people you begin to lose. It happens. But honestly, you only miss those who aren’t meant for you. More likely than not strangers will support you more than those closer to you.

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

My name is Janae Marie, I am an author. I’ve been writing since I was 13 years old. I started writing poetry. But by 16 I started writing stories. At age 25 I self-published my 1st book. 5 years later I published 4 more. I am still writing.. The titles I’ve written are, Flirting with Temptations, Daddy’s Home, Double Take, Besties & Sleeping with the Enemy. I enjoy writing the most about stories that impact people in the real world. Specifically, people of color. I like to entertain and educate people through literature.

I am also the owner of Janae’s Closet Boutique Shop. An online urban apparel brand that focuses on self-awareness, self-confidence, and self-esteem. I want my customers to know and understand how important it is to first love yourself. Which is why it’s our tagline. “FLY Urban Apparel” for your unique style. The FLY stands for first love yourself. It’s one thing to look good on the outside. But do you feel good about who you are on the inside. Most of our apparel is melanin inspired street wear apparel. Janae’s Closet offers apparel and accessories for both women and men.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson I had to unlearn was to wait for your time to come. Yes! That’s the worse piece of advice I’ve ever been given. You NEVER wait for your time to come. You go after it! No one is coming to save you. Life is short and the world is a dog eat dog eat world. You have to prove that you deserve things. If you continue to wait you will be waiting forever. Life is about going after what it is that YOU want. No one is ever going to hand you anything. Don’t be afraid to take chances either they will work out for you or they won’t. I don’t believe in taking L’s. Unless it means you learned from it.

We’d love to hear your thoughts about selling platforms like Amazon/Etsy vs selling on your own site.

I sale completely on my own site. I mean of course I use a platform like Shopify. But I have tried to do both my own website and Etsy. But it wasn’t as profitable as I thought it’d be. It cost me more in fees to run an Etsy store versus running my business within my own site. I prefer running my own site. As I am in more control of the appearance, customization, communication with my customers, checkout and there is also the backend of running a business. I may need to reach out to someone to assist with my business to better convenience my customers and I feel like I wouldn’t be able to get that from running on another platform.

Contact Info:

• Website: janaemariebooks.com / janaesclosetshop.com
• Instagram: @authorjanae_marie5 / janaesclosetshop
• Facebook: Author Janae Marie 4519 / janaesclosetshop
• Twitter: janaemarie5 / ClosetJanae

Image Credits
Nick Hunte (Photographer)