We were lucky to catch up with Jasmine Phinex recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Jasmine thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?
My name is Jasmine Phinex, an educator, wife, mother, and entrepreneur. I co-founded Serenity Nail Polish along with my husband James Phinex the summer of 2020. As we all faced the global pandemic of 2020, I was able to spend more time with my daughter, Serenity. I began to take notice of my three-year-old’s love for getting her nails painted. During a time of uncertainty and fear, I was confident that the time spent with my daughter as we painted each other’s nails were all priceless moments.
One moment that stood out to me the most was when my daughter asked one day, “Mommy, it’s no more nail polish? We need to go to the store.” Jokingly I replied, “Ok, Serenity, what store should we go to?” With confidence and her hand on her hip, my three-year-old daughter responded by saying, “Let’s go to Serenity Nail Polish store.”
What started as a moment shared between my daughter and I grew into an entire business plan. We want to create more priceless experiences with loved ones. Creativity and self-expression gives us all the confidence to be bold. At Serenity Nail Polish, YOU are the creator, YOU are the brave, and above all, YOU are Serenity!
Jasmine, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
Leave a little sparkle wherever you go. Jasmine Phinex, a Queens Native is enthusiastic about impacting the lives of those around her and making a difference within her community. She is a community leader, a social justice educator, wife of a veteran, and mother to her five-year-old daughter, her CO-CEO.
Jasmine often volunteers in her community to deliver food items, lead girl empowerment activities, or sits on panels to share her experience and expertise with others. Her greatest educational strengths include creating a positive classroom culture, implementing data driven instructional practices, family empowerment initiatives, and community engagement. Jasmine is determined to serve as the liaison to strengthen the home school connection.
During the pandemic, Jasmine was inspired by her daughter and along with her husband founded Serenity Nail Polish. They provide access to vegan nail polish which is safer, healthier, and chemical- free. The business also serves as a platform to inspire girls and women around the world.
Jasmine and her CO-CEO daughter Serenity has been featured in Black Wall Street, Stardom Magazine, Amsterdam News, and most recently appeared on the nationally syndicated Drew Barrymore talk show. Serenity Nail Polish is also sold in Wal- Mart and recently officially appeared at the 2022 Oscar’s award as a gift bag sponsor!
Jasmine’s goals are to continue to grow her family business, obtain additional funding, and diversify her business portfolio. She looks forward to establishing a nonprofit organization that empowers girls and women to be successful.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
11691 Far Rockaway. The place I grew up. A place where dreams were limited. I was meant to be a statistic. Dropout rates were high. Poverty through the rough. Families weren’t even making $50,000 a year collectively at the time. I would walk the streets of Far Rockaway and I could still see it as clear as day. Mott Avenue and Farrockaway in the ’90s. There was one block where you went to get your pizza from, two stores to buy your clothes and sneakers, one West Indian market, one beauty supply store, one nail salon, and one supermarket. You want to talk about options. Options? What’s that? You see options did not exist in this neighborhood. It’s either we had it or we didn’t. It’s either we did or we did without. A marginalized community excluded from mainstream social, economic & quality educational life. When I gave birth to my beautiful baby girl Serenity. I knew my life changed forever. I knew I wanted to create and do differently for my daughter. Every generation is supposed to get better.
Not only are we starting to create generational wealth through Serenity Nail Polish and other factors for her and leaving a legacy but we are also empowering and inspiring men, women, and children all around the world to do the same. My mother gave me the best she could And it is my ultimate responsibility to do the same thing for my child and for the children that I educate every single day as a teacher. Like the great Marianne Williamson said,” It is not in some of us, it is in ALL of us!”
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
Everyone wants to be an entrepreneur until one has to walk the walk. Entrepreneurship is not for the weak or faint of heart. It is for the hungry. When you are hungry for something in life, and it is your passion, you will do whatever it takes within reason to get there. The kind of hunger I speak of today wakes me up in the middle of the night. The drive gets me up early in the morning before the sun rises some days. The funny thing is, out of all the hats I wear, entrepreneurship is the labor that I do not mind because when you really want to do something, it will never feel like work, a day in your life. When I started my nail polish business, I had to be honest. I planned to take business classes, do some research and testing, find a good algorithm for my Instagram page, do a few events and pray that it would sell itself.
Within weeks of starting my business, I realized that that’s not true;this is part of what gets you there. I had to step outside of myself and my comfort zone and throw myself out there. Even on days I felt discouraged, I knew I had to promote my business because If I don’t who else will. I am a teacher, wife, mother, friend, business owner; the list goes on. So many people ask me how I do it. Most times, I respond and say I somehow do. Before I started my business, my day would begin around 5:30 am. When I started my business, I started waking up 2 hours earlier. I work a 12 hour shift outside of business and personal responsibilities daily. As a kindergarten teacher, where I am an educator, nurse, doctor, teacher, and counselor, at any point, my day can change and flow unexpectedly. There are weeks that I plan to commit to my business in the mornings, during one of my preps a day, and for 2 hours when I get home at night. When I get home at night, I still have to shower my baby girl, cook dinner, and be a wife to my husband. Definitely
not an easy task. Some days things got so hectic that I forgot to take care of myself.
As the months go by, you will launch into what works for your schedule and what will not, who supports you and who does not. Just know that it will be okay because what you will discover is; you will adapt to the changes even if it is uncomfortable while also tapping into the resilient part of who you are and what you want to accomplish. You will begin to see that mornings are for checking and packaging orders, lunch breaks are for responding to emails, and evenings are for sending messages and research. There will be days where something gets crossed off your list or even days of feeling burnt out and overwhelmed.During my journey, I became defeated and burnt out, feeling overwhelmed for many days. She said to me, ” it is okay to slow down but it is not okay to stop. It sounds simple but will not always feel that way when you are in it. That was the best advice I could have gotten on my journey. Make sure that you are encompassed by other entrepreneurs and have a team of people supporting you because we like to think/ believe we will never get tired but we all do. When we do, once you have your tribe, you will have those people in your corner cheering you on!
The road is long and the journey to reach some of the accomplishments you set out for yourself sometimes is even longer. Just know it is a process. Trust the process. Be willing to learn, grow, network, and build your team; ANYTHING is possible!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://serenitynailpolish.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/serenitynailpolish/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/serenitynailpolish
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=serenity+nail+polish
Image Credits
Photos Captured by Casey Neeb & Eyesight Studios