We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kididia Rose a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Kididia, appreciate you joining us today. Looking back, do you think you started your business at the right time? Do you wish you had started sooner or later

I had the vision for J Sanay Wellness Retreat around 2015 after I became an esthetician. I didn’t start J Sanay until 2021. I’m a “things happen for a reason” type of person, so I normally don’t question the obstacles in my life. However, at this particular point in my life, I was struggling! I dreamed about J Sanay every day. I was a new esthetician who loved the industry. I just didn’t know much about business at all. My family didn’t have the type of money that allowed me to focus on entrepreneurship. So for the first few years, I just worked my 9-5. One thing to note about the spa industry is that there are many people who own these businesses but are not “Service” oriented people. You must possess a service mindset to be successful in this industry. A lot of spa owners are great in business but not so good in service. You would be surprised at the type of people running these businesses. Some of them are the kind that makes you say “I don’t want to even be associated with this person.” Unfortunately for me, I was constantly surrounded by those people. I knew that I had to do something about my work situation because their ways started to affect my job in ways I couldn’t imagine. I always say, “No one is just going to hand you what you deserve, you have to make that space for yourself!” So I know how to keep my focus and make the best of my situations but some things just couldn’t be avoided. The pull towards having my own business became even stronger. It was time for me to make a space for myself and for people like me. Even with this feeling and knowing we deserved better, I began my road to entrepreneurship at a snail’s pace. I knew it was time to leave my job but I was holding on to it so that I could ease my way in. I was scared. I didn’t feel prepared. I honestly felt that if I kept my head down, I’d avoid the negativity at work which would give me more time. I had a plan to save money and learn about business. Again, I just needed time. Then, everything you can think of started to happen. Things that a normal person probably wouldn’t take for a second. The funny thing is, me being the “glass half full” type of person, it still wasn’t enough for me to jump into working for myself. Things weren’t affecting me directly so I was comfortable with where I was, even though I physically saw the injustices towards others. I was for sure leaving but I just not now. Well, let’s just say that didn’t work at all. Eventually, I didn’t have a choice. I got fired! Now, I’ve been let go before. This time, there was absolutely no reason for it. I have revisited that moment in my head many, many times. What did I do? My performance was amazing. I went out of my way to be helpful. I always kept a positive attitude. Sold lots of product. Kept a low profile. Accepted things I shouldn’t have. The truth is, I didn’t do anything. I truly believe it was just time for me to move on and I wasn’t going to go willingly. So, at this point I’m forced to do something. I wasn’t ready to start J Sanay but I refused to be in a situation where someone had that much control over my livelihood again. I also wanted this for my fellow coworkers. They deserved better. J Sanay was my dream for several years but I didn’t actually birth the dream until my back was against the wall. I had no money. No plan. No idea of how this all worked. I avoided entrepreneurship for that very reason. I heard the stories of people saving thousands of dollars and writing business plans. I had none of this yet. The only thing that I had at this time was belief in myself that I was smart enough to figure it out. I can’t say I wish I would have taken that attitude on sooner. I still believe everything happens for a reason. I do; however, think I wasted too much time worrying about the details. Everything came together as it should have. I worked my butt off doing Instacart and Uber Eats as much as I needed to fund my business. Every day, I did a little more for my business. Eventually, all of those “little mores” added up to me having everything I needed to start. With God’s help, it happened. I now know all I needed, I had inside of me. Now, I don’t wait to do anything. If I could go back, I would exercise the same confidence I have now and would have started J Sanay 5 years earlier. I don’t blame the challenges. I needed them because if it weren’t for them, I’d probably still be dreaming about J Sanay Wellness Retreat.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I never really knew what I wanted to do with my life but I knew I was great at meeting people’s needs. I knew I was different because it was never something you had to ask me. Intuitively , I knew how to be there for people without them needing to ask or explain how. I would say it is a gift. I wanted to be an Esthetician because the industry allowed me to combine my gift of service with my love for science. After entering the industry, I discovered that this industry can be life changing. I have held people’s hands, wiped tears, watch babies grow. I run a business that service human beings. People who go through the same human experiences that I do. I have a team of people who also share the gift of service. So every single therapist is amazing. We love on our clients. We give them all we have, every single time. We give them the best products, the best service, the best therapist. Our boutique is for them. I can’t begin to tell you how many times I’ve gotten teary eyed watching that hard working momma on my table take a few deep breaths and fall asleep. Or that acne client who had struggled for years finally see results. This is what we do this for. I’m proud to say we have a team of big hearts and big skill. We truly embody what service is. Every service was carefully thought out to provide the best treatment to our client. We looked around the world to find things that were safe, effective and beneficial. Our boutique is the place you come to when you need a reset. When you need good vibes and great service. We know what this human experience is like. So we want to provide the space to feel safe, loved and heard.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

I funded my business through bootstrapping. I applied for loans and got denied. I also lost my job right at the beginning stages. So to make ends meet , I worked instacart and Uber eats. I sold things in Facebook market place and I even pawned things. Friends and family were not in a position to help me so if I wanted this to happen I had to do it myself.

Can you open up about a time when you had a really close call with the business?

There have been a few times where I didn’t have the funds to make payroll or a bill was due. Sometimes that meant I would start instacart at 7am and not get home until midnight. Sometimes that meant I had to ask my team for grace. I’m so fortunate to have a pretty amazing team on my side. I have always been very open about the state of the business. So they trust me. Not only that , they love and believe in the business just as much as I do. I would like to believe that is because they have a space to be the creatives that they are. They are loved on and taken care of just as the clients are. So even though I’ve had challenges, I have a staff that is supportive and believes in the business just as much as I do.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.jsanaywellnessretreat.com
• Instagram: Jsanaywellnessretreat
• Facebook: Jsanaywellnessretreat