We recently connected with Jazimane Maryland and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Jazimane, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?
Let me tell you a story where I took a risk. Being a business owner is a hard job no lie especially if you do everything your self. When I say everything myself I’m the brains behind my business, I do the marketing, the posting, the ordering, the graphics and all. I want to build a team of course and have a assistant but I have a time finding like minded people like myself. The time I took a big risk was back in September 2021 I lost my job. How can you run a business when you not fully at the top and your job was funding your business? I did not know where to start but I planned ahead, The years I worked at my job I was able to stay ahead with products when i started my business back in 2020 for situations like this. I would buy extra inventory just incase something happen so I will never run out and I can fall back on my product to sale to help pay bills and get more inventory, I’m not going to lie it really help me until I was able to find something better. Finding a job is a job it self. From then, I did plenty of pop up shops and I was able to do a lot of makeup and even learn new tricks to better it. Losing my job was so depressing because the harder I worked the more I was envy, But, I took that energy and put it in my business. I’m a firm believer that you have to be careful what you pray for, which for me was to try working fully for myself and it happen and it humbled me to the fullest. During that time being off work I knew my worth, I knew I either wanted to work for a job that will help me fully fund my business until I got where I’m suppose to be one day. So right now I’m not ashamed to tell my story because at some point you have to start somewhere. I’m 2 years in of my business as of July 19,2022 and now i have great career job until I’m fully able to work for myself because this is not for the weak.
Jazimane, 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?
I’m a Plus Size Model. Where Beauty Meets Confidence in everything I do! My ultimate goal is to inspire curvy women to love themselves and their bodies exactly the way they are. Growing up I realized that people will always have something negative to say, from then on I decided to be myself and live out loud! With me it always started with selfies and pictures omg i was such a beauty queen. I was always the friend that wanted to make sure you feel and look beautiful everywhere we go. Modeling has been a huge self esteem boost for me and I hope to show you all how I do it, TheeJazzyWay! Over the years, I’ve traveled to different states and met amazing people in different industries throughout my modeling endeavors. I’ve worked with several organizations and have become Brand Ambassadors for those companies. I decided it was time to start my own, and from that idea formed Thee Jazzy Way. I always had a passion for lip gloss, lashes, plus size fashion and my new love makeup. YES! i am a self taught make up artist and I love every bit of it because I can bring out the natural beauty of people out. With all that being said I just simply wanted to start my own my beauty collection. No lie i had this vision since 9 years old! Now that I’m here I never in a million years would have thought I would have known to have all my favorite products. To say when i started my brand i just wanted to start with just lip-gloss why not do all things beauty. In 2015 I joined local Houston modeling groups and began being cast in fashion shows. My love for runway continued to grow the more shows I did, so I started attending casting calls and doing my own thing. I loved the idea that all eyes were on me, and people cheering me on. I love promoting brands and showing people around the world that even plus size bbw beauties like me can slay the runway!
Can you open up about how you funded your business?
How do i fund my business? Honestly i fund my business at the moment while working. I don’t get grants and stuff at the moment but hopefully in the future I do. Also i fund my business by doing makeup, I’ve gotten really good at it which is so amazing, because not only can i make others feel beautiful i can support my own dreams. I’ve taking on doing makeup for fashion shows and also weddings which is so much fun. When I first started my business I started with only 5,000 dollars of my savings and what i did was took a year to gather info on stuff i need and wanted for my business and went with it. When i first lunched i only was selling lashes and lip-gloss, now I have plenty makeup options and fashion.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
How did I build my audience on social media? To be honest you are your walking brand I make sure I promote my business everywhere I go, I make sure i wear my products since I’m a MUA, & since I’m model I make sure I rep my brand as well. When I launched my business I already had like 10k followers on Instagram and a big following on Facebook so I just promote it. Tiktok is another way as well.
Contact Info:
- Website: THEEJAZZYWAY.COM
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/theejazzyway?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theejazzyway
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/theejazzyway?s=21&t=m178TMTqTi-gxMfxvD_q4A
- Other: https://instagram.com/__shesgorgeous?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=