We were lucky to catch up with Jasara Ponton recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jasara, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Alright, so one thing we think people don’t talk about nearly enough is investments – either time or money. What’s one of the best or worst investments you’ve made and what did you learned from the experience?

First of all, this is a wonderful question! I have so many answers about making not so great investments in my business. One investment I made that truly sticks out to me at this very moment is with supplies. My favorite color is lavender however I bought a great deal of items that were purple. Initially when I was starting my business, I wanted all of my containers, jars, bottles, etc. to be purple so I purchased some, not a whole lot just some. They were more expensive than buying something clear or white; however, me being so headstrong and determined I had to have my favorite color represented with my containers. Acting on my decision I wasn’t taking into consideration labeling, which is extremely important when it comes to your customers being able to read the ingredients, product names, and having your business logo stand out and be noticed and recognized. So with that being said, my brother who is a tattoo artist, thought it would be a good idea to purchase a label machine for me. I was getting some much-needed help from my family & friends due to me being blind and not being able to create my own labels. That would be hilarious I think though LOL. Anywho, we did a test run with the new label machine and the new purple jars. I was so excited to use it to represent my products. THEN there was a HUGE issue! Since we’re not professional graphic designers or label makers, the labels didn’t match well with the colors & font we had chosen. I was devastated, but it wasn’t a great idea at all! A lot of the colors and fonts disappeared because of the color of the jars or it came across blurry and not appealing whatsoever. It was a huge waste of money with us repeatedly attempting to do test runs, different font sizes, different colors, etc. I learned a big lesson, and I definitely learned to keep the containers as simple, productive, and if at all appealing to me and my customer base as possible, as well as hire someone to make the labels. Hiring someone kept me from wasting lots of money on repurchasing specific labels that I needed. There’s always someone more effective, creative, precise, and better suited for a job that you may want to save some pennies on by doing it yourself. The knowledge I have gained from my publicist, well rounded friends, and family has truly been an asset and I know now that I don’t have to do everything in house. It’s better for me to receive external professional help to take that responsibility off my plate.

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

To give you some insight, I am a medically, retired disabled veteran. I lost my eyesight while I was enlisted in the Army. Throughout time & up until about four years ago, I went through many medical changes. Adapting to life and after some thought, I wanted to do something so I enrolled in massage therapy school and graduated with honors in 2007. After graduating I still felt I needed to do something else. When my nieces were born, I wanted to create my own skincare products. As a consumer, I always wanted to know what was in the name brand products. During my shopping trips, I would turn over different bottles, jars etc. to get someone to read me the ingredient list. I felt like I needed a chemistry degree which didn’t sit well with me. Due to my nieces suffering with skin issues, in 2020 I decided to take the leap of faith and help with their issues and satisfy my need for ingredients being used on my skin. With these goals in mind, I started educating myself as much as I possibly could with ingredients derived from plants, herbs, and especially natural butters, and fragrances. Being blind, I wanted to create skin care products that were quality, natural, beneficial, moisturizing and nurturing for the skin. I also wanted them to have a beautiful aroma with a luxurious feel without being overly complicated. It may seem like a huge task at hand however I found pure and natural quality ingredients for my skincare formulas. It’s the perfect combination that is simple and yet still stands out in the selections I have made for my products.

Being an entrepreneur with a slight disadvantage to others sets me apart because of my determination to give my amazing customer base products they can be proud of, and receive beautiful & consistent results from, as well as not being fearful of what they are putting onto their bodies. In my experience, I found when people are aware that I am a blind African-American woman who is a multiple entrepreneur, it’s definitely a topic of intrigue and discussion. So far I still haven’t found another blind entrepreneur in the skincare field, which would be a great sense of community and connection. I am extremely grateful, appreciative, and proud to let others know that I create skin care products that have a multitude of skin benefits which include evening skin tone, firming, plumping, helping with marks, redness, and/or irritation. Using my products will soften your skin and promote a beautiful, healthy glow.

As a creative person the majority of my life gives me pleasure, happiness, joy, and a sense of purpose knowing I am part of someone’s day that they have entrusted me with their well-being, health, hygiene, and safety. There’s a great deal to be said about having peace of mind you’re not doing initial external harm to your body by putting chemicals onto it first thing to start your day or to end your day.

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

In this day and age, keeping up with clients in my opinion is a lot easier than in the past. Social media has played a huge part in assuring you are actively present with your customer base. Through Facebook promos, Instagram reels/stories or through email blasts. Creating videos, special promotions, offers, and giveaways, gives your customer base and clients something to look forward to especially as a thank you for making purchases and referrals! It lets your client be aware of what’s up-and-coming and it also allows you to ask questions in real time as far as if it’s something they would like to see in the future.

Do you sell on your site, or do you use a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc?

The platform I have found that works wonders for me is Shopify! It has all the bells and whistles that I want and need to reach my customers, make changes, & expand on product lines. The platform is amazing for doing special promotions, discounts, and giveaways. I’ve used other platforms in the past, which were in my humble opinion, overly priced and different. They offered all the tools and options that I needed to do all the necessary things but the downside was I had to pay for those changes. With Shopify a lot of add-ons are built in and free which makes it easy for a small business to create an attractive e-commerce platform. Other platforms the prices often went up when the quality didn’t change or if they did make slight changes and additions to the platform, it was costly, and not as effective as Shopify.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://handsofjoi.net/
• Instagram: @ihands_of_joi

Image Credits

Delvin Shapiro