We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Margaret Jones-Paige a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Margaret thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

My inspiration for starting Bad Beez was to create something that made all women feel beautiful. I was inspired after struggling for years to find lip products that I felt looked good on me due to my darker skin complexion. The only brands that had colors for my complexion were like Imani, Fashion Fair & shoutout to Mac Cosmetics. At the time, no one was really solving this problem. I wanted something to make all women feel included. I knew it was worthwhile after years of testing and when I first started getting sales. The opportunity to impact so many women’s lives has meant the world to me. My family is also my inspiration. I love beauty, skincare, & fashion. For years, I had worked 50-60 hours a week and worked to get my degree’s. I wanted to create something that I loved that would allow me to spend more time with my family. I wanted to pass something down to my children.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My brand provides lip care products for busy women on the go. We have a lip gloss called Luxury Lip Gloss and a long wearing Matte Liquid Lipstick. Lip Gloss solves the problem of dry lips. It helps keep lips nourished, hydrated and moisturized. Matte Liquid Lipstick helps solve the problem of having to touch up your lipstick because of its high intensity pigment and staying power. They both solve the problem of finding your perfect color for your skin tone. I’m most proud of being all to serve women of all ethnicities and backgrounds. We love to make women feel beautiful and confident. We have built a community of women by simply just wanting the best for them. I have always had the ability to make others feel better about themselves. I am able to use this skillset in my business. I am able to be unapologetically me in all aspects of my business from marketing to product development.

Do you have multiple revenue streams – if so, can you talk to us about those streams and how your developed them?

Yes we have multiple sales channels such as wholesale, our website, online pop-up shops and we are new to the Etsy platform. I think it’s important to diversity as a brand owner if you want to reach certain revenue goals. I don’t believe in putting all of my eggs in one basket.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I had to learn that sometimes you have to let go of everything you once were or once knew to become who you were created to be. Life changes. Business changes quickly. I’ve had to make many changes to get the point that I’m at now. Some of those changes have meant cutting business ties, cutting personal ties, learning to do business a different way to get a different result. I’ve learned to be myself and do what I want to do. People are going to judge you either way. It’s okay to go in a different direction. I lost one of my manufacturers about a year ago. I thought it was the end of the world. It wasn’t. I found another one that was actually better regarding lead time and professionalism. I had to be willing to try again and give something new a chance.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://badbeez.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/beezbad
• Facebook: https://facebook.com//badbeez

Image Credits
Brittney Later Photography Kayla McPhearson Photography Chylanne Nicole Photography Theesmithington.com- Dionna Smith Theresa Pearson Photography Alaizia K. Gibbs