We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jetrice Gardner. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jetrice below.
Hi Jetrice, thanks for joining us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?
In mid 2019, my husband and I learned we were expecting our first child three weeks after I was laid off from my job. Not long after giving birth, we were concerned regarding the sensitives of her skin. In a six-month time period, my husband and I found ourselves in the doctor’s office and specialist’s office due to her skin conditions. I recall a time when my daughter had a terrible face rash that resembled several tiny bumps all over her cheeks, chin, and forehead (imagine the texture of a nestle crunch bar). In my opinion, health care professionals were too quick to minimize and/or dismiss my growing concerns regarding her skin sensitivities and too quick to prescribe steroids and other prescriptions that I felt may have been too harsh to use on our infant’s skin.
I am passionate about all things holistic and clean, so I had an idea to formulate an organic handmade cream using ingredients that serves as a natural alternative to the prescriptions and steroids. For two and a half years, I have been perfecting “Bella’s Original”. My husband noticed how nice Bella’s skin looked, so he began using her special cream for his eczema, peeling skin, face and beard. I began making larger batches since it became the “go to” for all of our skincare routines, and we began sharing the love with friends and family. As Bella got older, she began helping me mix, make and package her cream. What started as me making a healthier alternative for my daughter’s skin sensitivities has become our household staple for skincare, a new tradition, and a bond shared between mother and daughter. We are a family filled with love, lots of laughter, and lots of silliness. The name Cheeks 2 Socks came about after my husband noticed Bella would apply the cream after bath time wearing only her socks and it stuck.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Cheeks 2 Socks is more than a premium body creme, it is love and a bond shared between a mother and a daughter. C2S is whole body skin care cream with a purpose. We are focused on promoting healthy, natural skin. When you support C2S not only are you supporting a small business, but you are also supporting a local nonprofit organization, T.E.O.W., Inc | The Empowerment Of Women where we donate a percentage of our proceeds. You are also supporting our team of female affiliates who not only love our product, but stand for what we believe in.
Our product is nutrient rich, loaded with vitamins and antioxidants. We ethically source only premium and the purest ingredients for our body creme. Every jar of handcrafted creme is freshly made in small batches.
Benefits Of Our Premium Ingredients. Are:
Shields skin from pollution
Vitamins E & F provides intense moisture
Vitamin A helps with cellular turn over and collagen production
Fatty Acids
Phenol, same antioxidants found in green tea
Vitamins B,C,D helps with skin regeneration and revitalize appearance
Protects hair from drying
Helps control hair frizz
Scalp Conditioner helps seals moisture and reduce breakage
Helps reduce fine lines and wrinkles
Safe for men, women, children and pregnant women
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
C2S is the result of a two and a half year journey. This product was created upon knowledge, trial and plenty of errors. In spite of the trial and errors, Bella and I preservered. Anything worth having never comes easy. I have to remind myself that the work of my hands is not in vain and everything I touch will prosper in its own way. As with starting any business, you will face challenges, and you may experience doubt, fear, rejections, and/or concerns. Gentle words are a tree of life, so feeding your spirit positive thoughts are important.
Not only am I the co-owner of Cheeks 2 Socks with my daughter Bella, but I am also a stay-at-home wife and mother who works part-time from home. Everything is about juggling, patience, endurance, positivity, and finding the right balance. When we decided to bring Cheeks 2 Socks to market, we had a timeline and an expected launch date. We experienced delays that extended pass days and turned into months of delays of bringing this product to market. It took time to source ethically clean, and potent ingredients, which always caused a few push backs on achieving our targeted goals and deadlines. This journey has not been easy, but an educational one. I do not regret any challenges and/or obstacles we faced during this journey.
Can you open up about how you funded your business?
I used a small portion of my savings to start Cheeks 2 Socks. I learned that people will bet on everything without hesitation, and delay on betting on themselves. With every investment, there are risks and you have to be willing to take risks.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.cheeks2socks.com
- Instagram: Cheeks2Socks
- Linkedin: Cheeks 2 Socks
Image Credits
CJO Photography