We were lucky to catch up with Kamaria Warren recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Kamaria thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear the story of how you went from this being just an idea to making it into something real.

January 16, 2017 is our actual launch date but the idea actually started December 2016 as we relaxed during our off time from school in North Carolina at my mother’s house/Kamaria’s grandmother. In 2015, I (Shaunice/Kamaria’s mother) had a major surgery to remove a Desmoid tumor. It’s a rare yet dangerous tumor that grew in my abdomen. Due to the surgery, I missed spending Christmas with Kamaria and could barely walk for her birthday. Because of that, I wanted to do something special for her. We decided to host a party but could not agree on the theme. I wanted Doc McStuffins but Kamaria felt that as a 7 year old, she should have a Barbie theme. The thing was that the black character for Barbie was always the sidekick and my daughter is no sidekick. We went to Walmart, Target, Party City and Hobby Lobby in search for some party inspiration. We wanted a black girl with brown eyes and curly hair just like Kamaria. Unfortunately, there was not one character that looked like her. We decided to browse the internet and didn’t find too many options on Etsy so I found an illustrator to create a custom character for Kamaria. She loved it so much, so I shared it on Instagram. Unbeknownst to me, other parents had the same struggle. So much so that everyone messaged me asking how they could get the character. I initially laughed it off until Kamaria kept pushing me to design the invitations and sell the to other people. From there, I asked my mom for an investment of $100 to purchase printer paper and a printer. She obliged and I made an offer to Kamaria. Instead of spending money, why not take an investment and learn how to make money. She loved the idea because it solved a problem but it also would gift her the opportunity to make money everyday or each month, however sh wanted it.

With the initial investment, I designed one notepad and printed and glued it at home with Kamaria. We paid $29.99 for a Shopify site and set a goal to just cover the cost of the website.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Brown Girls’ Stationery is a home-based business and many of our products are designed and printed in-house. We use Shopify for our e-commerce platform and Faire for wholesale orders. As a mother/daughter duo, we diligently worked together to create Brown Girls’ Stationery LLC located in McDonough, Georgia. Kamaria believed that with her designs, she would be able to help all girls feel beautiful. There wasn’t one character or face that represented the brand because she truly wanted all girls to have something on shelves that looked like them. Her designs were always meant to empower brown girls to do and be whatever it was that made them happy. Our mission is to create products to celebrate the beauty and uniqueness of brown girls while providing positive representation. Brown Girls’ Stationery sells school supplies to include notebooks, notepads, backpacks, lunch boxes, umbrellas, etc. The brand also carries party supplies such as party plates, napkins, hats, toys, etc.

Our most proud moment would be being on the Today Show but also winning the BeyGood Foundation grant. We also were able to produce 1300 notebooks for Clayton County Public Schools summer STEM camps. Not only that but we supplied nurses and essential workers with snacks under what we are building as a new non-profit organization called #SnackWorthy

Does your business have multiple or supplementary revenue streams (like a ATM machine at a barbershop, etc)?

Yes, we are launching Mini CEO Academy to teach other kids about entrepreneurship while highlighting the importance of literacy and numeracy. This will be offered as an online curriculum for parents to purchase but for schools and other organizations to buy. Kamaria also owns Stylish Brown Girls- a vegan leather handbag line

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

At the most successful time of our lives, we had to pivot and take a break in our business to focus on our mental health. We lost my best friend and Kamaria’s god-mother. This is something that we still deal with today, so we may not post as much but we work in the background. As a mother, my first concern is Kamaria, so we take time off to focus on our own well-being but to also enjoy the life that God has given us. Looking back, I think we focused so much on making a profit and coming up with new ideas that we lost focus of our why. We started to solve a problem but we also started this business because we love working with each other. Taking a break was necessary for us to reset, realign with our goals and God but to also renew our relationship as mother and daughter.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.browngirlsstationery.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/browngirlsstationery
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/browngirlsstationery
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/browngirlsstationery
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/bgsstationery