Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Shanaetta and Kristenna Julien. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Shanaetta and Kristenna, thanks for joining us today. How do you think about vacations as a business owner? Do you take them and if so, how? If you don’t, why not?
Yes, as many as possible! Our vacation destinations are linked to our product names as well. One of our main goals for J.I. Scents is to bring awareness to Caribbean luxury; as that is what we are. Many people will only travel to a select few Caribbean countries when there are 25 beautiful countries and over 700 islands to explore. All of which possess luxurious attractions. Not just for the rich and famous!
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
J.I. Scents is a family ran black (Haitian American) owned business! We are passionate about home fragrance and interior design. Our vision is to create a Caribbean luxury experience that is affordable for everyone, and we achieve this through our stress-free approach to custom projects or home decor products. We go beyond the traditional experience of shopping, creating a welcoming environment that fosters relationships between us and our clients while offering fine quality products not found anywhere else. The team at J.I. Scents will work closely with you to help bring your vision to life.
Everything we do is unique and you won’t see it anywhere else. We take time in choosing our vessels, scents, scent names and marketing. If we are going to represent our heritage, we want to make it beautiful. That is one of the main compliments that we receive; that our products are so beautiful!
We are proud of a few things: First, starting a business with our own funds, research and time. All the while still working our full time jobs. Secondly, being asked to sell our candles in a local business and on a black-owned business platform. Lastly, branching out from selling candles to doing party favors for baby/bridal showers, weddings, etc. This entire experience has been such a blessing!
Any fun sales or marketing stories?
Our favorite marketing memory has to be when we first launched J.I. Scents.
Opening a business at during a pandemic is truly nerve-racking. Especially a home fragrance business, in which customers would want to smell the product before purchasing. Therefore, we had to think of something BIG! Something that would make a statement and let our following know we were serious.
So….We hired an actress to make a breaking news commercial to introduce our brand. It was short and sweet but it absolutely broke the internet in our small county. We still receive compliments about that promo to this day about it.
This commercial set the tone for what our customers would expect from us. Uniqueness at its core. Within our opening week, we sold out of our aroma diffusers.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
Our biggest story of resilience happened during our first year of business. As you know, we are a two women show! Shanaetta become ill in July of 2021 and we had already planned a big promotion shoot, pop-up and collection launch right before. We worked diligently to make sure we could get everything together before our busy schedule ahead. Mind you, we still weren’t aware of the severity of her condition.
I’m a mood in my nude was a collaboration with our cousins and went off without a hitch! The first week of August we had an ice cream social pop-up to for our new collection launch and we sold out of our inventory. Another success! We were on cloud 9 to say the least!
Then 7 days later, Shanaetta had emergency surgery that was debilitating. We knew we needed to take a step back from the business for her to heal. Always a team effort; we continued to nurture her back to health. While on bedrest, Shanaetta was still working diligently on our new products and collections. Thinking of ‘whats next’.
If that’s not resilience, I don’t know what is! :)
We bounced back and made sure to continue promoting our business.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://julieninteriors.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/julieninteriors/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JulienInteriorsINC/
Image Credits
FV Photos