We caught up with the brilliant and insightful RONEKA (NIKKI) TURNER a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
RONEKA (NIKKI), thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?
Well, we are a black owned business. And the name “Kulture” means a lot. When I came up with the name “Kultured Essentials”, I thought about the different origins and their meanings. The African Origin means “Arts and customs of a given region, the Dominican origin means ” A Gift from God”, and the American Origin means “Beautiful, Loving, Unique Daughter.” And the Essential part came from providing the necessary items that men and women need. And the other part to Kultured Essentials is “Kultured Krack”. The Krack part came from the Hard Candy Fruit business,
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My customers refer to me as Nikki. I have always been creative and had the mindset to venture out on my own and become a business owner. I currently manage two successful businesses. Kultured Essentials opened up in 2020. We make Spinnanight Bags or “Heaux Bags”, we also sell Exotic Drinks, and prepare home cooked meals to sell. We make sure that our bags have everything that you need for that unexpected or expected overnight stay. It is our job to make sure that our customers are not only happy but satisfied. We try to maintain a rapport with all of our customers. With that we make sure that all of our customers have a one on one conversation to fully understand their needs and wants. Therefore, it will be no misunderstandings and everyone is on the same page. Sometimes we do run into issues. Maybe we don’t have an item available, etc. We try our best to accommodate the customer even if it means to throw something extra in. We definitely don’t give NO as an answer. I am very proud of how my business has grown. We now have added “Kultured Krack” which is a subsidiary of Kultured Essentials. Kultured Krack is a business that sells candied fruit. We offer different platters and packages.
How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?
When I first started my business, I wrote down a plan. And my plan consisted of every time I got paid on my Full-Time Job I set aside a certain amount. I did that for like 6 months straight. I worked overtime so that the money that I would sit to the side would not interfere with my bill money. During that 6-month timing, I researched the items that I wanted to buy, I bargained, I never bit off too much than I could handle. Once I reach the amount that I planned on investing, I purchased what I needed. And went from there.
Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?
Thank God!!! My business partners are my daughters’ N’Keiveia and Kei’Ann. They were there every step of the way. I taught them everything that they need to know about our products/service. This is too funny. One day we were attending a Pop Up Shop and I was busy helping a customer. There was another customer there waiting to be helped. I asked the customer could she wait for just a second and that I would be right with her. Well, Kei’Ann (my youngest daughter) began to get her IPAD out and gave the customer a full presentation of our business and what we had to offer. Teamwork makes the dream work!!!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://kultured-essentials.com/
- Instagram: Kultured.Essentials
- Facebook: Kultured Essentials
- Other: The Candied Fruit Business Instagram: Kultured.Krack Facebook: Kultured Krack Phone number: (469)300-9116