We recently connected with Rismia Johnson and have shared our conversation below.

Rismia, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

From an early age, I have always had an interest in entrepreneurship, my community and engaging with others to accomplish set goals. I come from a family where we utilized our gifts and talents to create multiple streams of income. I was raised by my grandmother. She taught me how creating small businesses provides services for others as well as affording me an opportunity to gain extra cash. She also taught me to be a leader not a follower and as a leader to be positive in my engagements with others. It’s important to treat people how you want to be treated. We all possess an ability to accomplish goals and it is good to do things collectively. Success in any realm is not singular. It involves a good exchange between multiple people to attain goals and/or missions.

I have a strong passion about seeing others win while being solid stockholders within the communities they love. I believe the youth are tomorrow’s promise and when we contribute to their success, it is interest on our investments for them. Entrepreneurship affords us an opportunity to provide services, build and give back to the communities we love. It helps mold others as generational wealth and success is built.

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

Years ago I had switched career occupations. It was a necessary switch for me. When I made the change in my career, I also knew it was important for me to tap into those innate gifts and talents in order to generate an additional stream of income. Now we all have these innate gifts but we must recognize the source from which they come. For me, I believe that God provides us the ability to be passionate about things, build on ideas bubbling within and allows those ideas and visions to manifest into what we display as success. During my switch in careers, I prayed to God and asked that if he would plant successful seeds within me that I promised to multiply them so that they too will benefit others. And so it was, I was provided everything from the vision, name, mission and resources to be successful. That seed in which I am referencing is my accessory line called Eloquent Essentials. It specializes in an array of both fashion and fine jewelry. This accessory line has afforded me the ability to work with many which includes celebrities, create an alternative source of income for others as consultants for the brand, sponsor youth events and seven years later launch EEYSP (Eloquent Essentials Youth Scholarship Program). EEYSP is the multiplication of an answered prayer through Eloquent Essentials. EEYSP Inc has awarded several young entrepreneurs and mentoring organizations that service the under-represented youth in our communities. As I mentioned before, success is not singular. It’s working together to build and support each other as well as the communities we love.

Another role I am happy about is my community involvement. I have lived in the Bedford Stuyvesant (Bed-Stuy) community for most of my life. I am truly Brooklynite and take great pride in saying I am from Brooklyn. I currently am the President of my block association. Although this position is not a paid position, it allows me to help continue to mold and shape the community in which I live and love. When you love someone or something, you make it a vested importance to ensure the changes are made. Being the voice of change and influence has its challenges at times but seeing the positive changes makes it all worth it. As I mentioned earlier, it’s important to be solid stockholders in your community. Serving as president of my block association brings joy when able to work with people in my community. We all want what’s best for our family, neighbors and environment we live in.

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

I started my accessory company Eloquent Essentials with $300. Initially, I purchased cheap stylish fashion jewelry that was trending and sold to close family and friends. I build relationships with stores so I could purchase wholesale at the lowest price possible. I then marketed my prices in a way that it was economically affordable. This system allowed me to price items in a way that the business, myself and independent consultants were able to make profit. Good customer service for the brand was key as well as the packaging. Eventually that $300 investment grew into thousands.

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

God has a way of planting your feet on the path in which it belongs. As I mentioned, I started my business with a small amount. It was also the good business relationships that I developed. Because I had established a good relationship with my business associations, they always kept me in mind when they were at larger networking venues. I remember one of my business associates was a vendor at a fine jewelry event and they extended the invitation for my business to attend. The event featured fine jewelry and access to distributors globally. In order to attend the event, one’s business must meet certain criteria. Because I structured my “small” business like corporate businesses, I had all the necessary documents. In business, it is important to be prayerful, prepare and never allow what may seem minimal (hence my $300) to deter you from being in bigger rooms filled with more. In my honesty, I was a little scared about attending the event because I didn’t know much about fine jewelry and gems. I initially said, I didn’t belong there but God always knows where to plant your feet. What I learned is that the room that seemed big was not at all. It was the opportunity to expand the brand that was. This is what I wanted and this is what eventually happened.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.eloquentessentials.com and www.eeysp.org
• Instagram: Eloquent Essentials and EEYSP
• Facebook: Eloquent Essentials and EEYSP