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

Myia, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Covid has brought about so many changes – has your business model changed?

If I could see into the future, I definitely would have put my dreams on pause for just a few more years later.

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

My brand “The Sweet Lashery” was launched November of 2019. My business was based on homemade cosmetics such as lip gloss, essential body oils, soap that specialized to help aid and soothe certain skin conditions, and eyelashes. All products were made with natural ingredients, and most importantly cruelty free. What made me go into this industry was simply the passion I had for the beauty industry. I have always had a niche for makeup, and making people feel like the best version of themselves. This was an idea to service anyone of any age. Adults with children could also purchase my products for their curious children to keep them out of their makeup! :)
I know what sets me apart from others is the drive and willingness on wanting to expand and not continuously provide the same products over and over. I always sit and think about what could I add next to the line once the products started to do well selling on their own. Often times selling one product, or just a few does really well for some companies, but I love the change in everyday life.
What I am most proud of throughout this journey is the amount of time and dedication I put into this all while working full time and being a full time single mother! This took over a year of planning, coming up with a business name, having it branded, down to the kind of products I would create, and very carefully choosing ingredients. After I got everything down on how I planned on doing this I came up with a plan. I spent the most time in the end working on my website and doing photoshoots of the products to have them presented in the most professional way to reflect me as a new business owner. This was a very long process, and very time consuming to hand make products that exceeded my expectations.
After I finally launched my brand in November of 2019, everything went WELL! Better than I had expected. Within my first month of the launching, I brought in a revenue of $1k, with no large following on social media sites. Some sales were even international! This made me feel like all of my hard work was worth it. After almost touching all 50 states in sales, 2020 came and this is when everything changed for me and my business..
Covid arises and a sudden sense of paranoia swept the nation. This caused a HUGE impact on my small business as well as many others! Being a in home business this definitely raised a flag for many people. Especially because there was no certain way to prove what did and did not transmit the infection. It was truly heartbreaking to watch my sales decline and eventually come to a halt. I was uncertain on if I should continue to push the product and convince people to continue buying without them worrying about contracting covid from one simple purchase. I tried adding new items to the site that were not homemade to see if this would help hold the business over and nothing. Just like that, it felt like all of my hard work had been a waste of time, energy, and money. I tried speaking with other small business owners to see how they were holding up and it seemed as if we were all in the same boat. To some covid was beneficial, and to others like myself it was not. I finally decided to make the call and just close down the business. I explained this to my followers on my business account. While they were very understanding they were very sad to see me go. As the year went on I got continuous messages on when the store would re-open. While giving it some thought I decided to give it a try. After a few months of being re-open and no products made a sale I decided to just close and take this time to rebrand for a greater comeback. This was very hard to do, but I am not losing faith in myself nor my business I put so much effort into pulling together.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

How I built my audience of social media was hashtags, and sharing on my personal account! There are new hashtags being made and growing usage daily. You have to use the hashtags that best fit whatever service you are promoting on your platforms. You have to be mindful on which ones you are selecting, try not to use ones that have millions of people using them already. Your post may get lost in the process! It’s all about algorithm nowadays. Another thing that helped me has been, paying for promotion in my business page. Pay to have your post boosted! This will bring in new viewers to your page and website! Another great thing to remember is DO NOT compare yourself to other business pages, even if you are doing the same thing! This will cause you to start doubting yourself and hard work you are already putting in!

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

How I funded my business was by SAVING. This can be so hard especially for us single mothers. I started to price how much everything would cost me, and started saving for everything I needed. I had a journal with everything I needed written down and how much of that I would need to buy. Whenever I got paid I would take care of bills first and then buy one thing at a time, and cross it out on my journal. After a while of doing this I had everything I basically needed, which I could then start focusing on creating the products. Any extra funds I had left over I used it to go towards my photoshoot, website, and name branding. This is why I gave myself a year or so to get everything I needed. I gave myself time to buy and test products on myself to make sure I myself approved before assuming anyone else would approve. This was very helpful to me because it definitely reflected my first month in sales, and how fast certain products went. I am thankful I took the time to research and test before rushing to get the business out there.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: TheSweetLashery

Image Credits
BreauxMoments