We caught up with the brilliant and insightful KEYONDRA & KIMBERLY LOCKETT a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, KEYONDRA & KIMBERLY thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Almost all entrepreneurs have had to decide whether to start now or later? There are always pros and cons for waiting and so we’d love to hear what you think about your decision in retrospect. If you could go back in time, would you have started your business sooner, later or at the exact time you started?

We believe we started our business at just the right time. Keyondra and I aren’t new to business. We previously owned an eyewear brand that we had to dissolve because we didn’t know how to market and get customers and our website developer no longer had time to devote to making changes to the site. We had no clue how to make the changes we needed so we took a step back to revamp. During that time we learned about Shopify, which helped us have full control over our website management. In 2018, we did a soft launch of our business to test our new concept. We sent a text message out to over 100 family and friends, asking if they would purchase our signature sweatshirt. and only got 20 orders. We were a bit discouraged but in 2019 we introduced our graphics line, teased it on social media, and got great reviews! That’s when we decided to do our hard launch and get serious about learning how to market our brand. We were growing very well in business and were excited about our progress. The pandemic presented a challenge we didn’t think we were ready for but it was that year our business gained even more attention! Our customers shared our products on every post that asked for black owned businesses and that word of mouth really helped in a time we didn’t know if our virtual doors could remain open. Because our name was circulating in the algorithm, we garnered the attention of the multicultural buyer, at Target, and were blessed to be a part of Beyond Black, in 2022, putting us before hundreds of thousands of shoppers! Had we not started back in 2018, we wouldn’t have been prompted to hard launch in 2019, preparing us for the attention in 2020 that ultimately landed us our first major retailer, limited partnership! We thank God for prompting us to move when we did!

KEYONDRA & KIMBERLY , 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?

We are sisters, Keyondra and Kimberly Lockett. I’ve always wanted to pursue a career in fashion but also wanted to become a marriage and family therapist. I went to school and earned my masters degree in counseling and that is where I learned of statistics that made me feel black women were not appreciated, as I felt we should be, worldwide. Keyondra was working in ministry, focusing her efforts on women. After dissolving our first business, we realized this was our new niche, black women. We wanted to create a space for us to be celebrated. We believe charity starts at home. If you feel loved at home you can go out and feel like your most confident self. One day we went into a popular retailer and saw a gorgeous tee with a black woman on it. They had several other graphic tees with women but only one with a black woman and the sizes were very limited, going up to a large. We hoped we’d find something similar somewhere else, but had no success. So we decided we’d create what we didn’t see. Little did we know there was a whole community of women, and even men, who were looking for the same! We finally have apparel that luxuriously and accurately showcases blackness. One thing it proves is representation matters. People want to see themselves in what they invest in. We give our customers just that. We are so proud that we can remind people of how fearfully and wonderfully we have been made!

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

To fund our business, we turned to our mom (our third business partner) and our own personal finances. Our mother has always invested in our ventures and this one was no different!

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

The best way to keep in touch with our customers is through email and Instagram. We share our latest news and products to those subscribed to our newsletter, first, and then to our social media platforms. We believe brand loyalty is built in our customer service. We pride ourselves on responding promptly and with care. Even if it’s educating a customer on our policy, we do so with care.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.joliexnoire.com
• Instagram: Joliexnoireapparel
• Facebook: JoliexNoire
• Youtube: JolieNoire