We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful LaTasha Hyman. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with LaTasha below.

Alright, LaTasha thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start big picture – what are some of biggest trends you are seeing in your industry?

In the vending machine business, it’s becoming popular to have customized vending machines. When it comes to beauty vending machines, eyelashes are a big trend. While traditional vending machines have a trend in vending hot and spicy chips. For Lady T Vends Takis is our number one selling snack item. The Mane Diva lip-gloss is the top seller for our beauty vending machine. Although these are the current trends, I continue to look for popular items to sell in my vending machines that will continue to make my Lady T Vends successful.

LaTasha, 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?

Lady T Vends came about after helping a best friend of mine revamp her business. She started an online hair company and wanted to expand out to different things within beauty. We put our creative minds together and came up with a beauty box vending machine. It’s a mini beauty supply store within a vending machine. The goal was to supply the need of beauty essential to men and women; with the convenience of not having to travel to a beauty supply store. The vending machine was placed inside of a beauty salon. With God’s perfect timing I have been blessed with more vending machines and locations. I take pride in customizing the vending machines for our clients. Lady T Vends is not your average vending machine company, even though we have some traditional vending machines with food and drink items. The accessibility we offer our clients with vending is superior to competitors. I love hearing testimonies from my clients; when I come in to restock the vending machines. When you see a Lady T Vends vending machine, I want you to know you will be blessed with more than the items you just purchased. We love to bless each person with spiritual food as well. We randomly place bible scripture on each item in the vending machine.

Can you talk to us about how you funded your business?

I have always been a good steward over my finances. I was saving to start a business but initially didn’t have my heart sold on buying vending machines. I bought the company’s first vending machine with my credit card. Since I was launching with my own money, I thought it would be wise to have some capital put aside for the unexpected. Therefore, I used a credit card and left my cash in my account. This allowed me to have funds to keep the vending machine stock until I begin to see profit.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Yes, I had to pivot from the beauty vending to traditional snacks and drinks. When Lady T Vends first started, we had beauty products in our vending machine. It was located inside a salon suite. We had the right concept for the business but the wrong location and timing. The location had slow foot traffic due to the pandemic. The stylists moved to one-on-one sessions appointment only in the salon. The decrease in foot traffic and lack of time clients spent in the salon decreased sales for us drastically. It was no more impulse buying. So as for the company, I had to make changes quickly. I switch from beauty essentials in the vending machine to traditional snacks. Snacks made sales increased but not enough for the business. I eventually relocated the vending machine, which is placed inside of a school. Once the transition took place into the school, there was a major growth in sales. I thank God for leading me to this location. It’s truly a blessing to see how grateful the students and staff are to have the vending machine at their school. I’m excited in the direction Lady T Vends is heading. My business is growing and expanding with sales. It’s an honor to have each vending machine customized per client.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.themanedivacollection.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ladytvends
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Ladytvends