We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Shanita Williams a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Shanita thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. One deeply underappreciated facet of entrepreneurship is the kind of crazy stuff we have to deal with as business owners. Sometimes it’s crazy positive sometimes it’s crazy negative, but crazy experiences unite entrepreneurs regardless of industry. Can you share a crazy story with our readers?

The craziest thing that has happened to me in regard to my business is both my parents switching from expensive $100 creams and quick fix products to using mine! When I first introduced them to my products they supported me out of love and yet were truly skeptical as to whether or not my natural skincare would match up to their bougie brands. Still, they humored me and tried them. OMG once my Mamacita used the Facial Lather and saw her pores were smaller and less visible she freaked! This ultimately lead to her trying the rest of my skincare line and she was in love! She made my Dad start a new skincare routine as well and they have experienced results even their expensive products had not produced. Their skin was noticeably plumped, brighter and stubborn lines and sagging were reversed. They are now loyal customers for life! Oh and I do have receipts!😎

Shanita, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Shanita “Amazing” Williams and I am a 53 year old Skincare Formulator and CEO of Ajabu Kabisa Skin. I’ve always been a creative; good with DIY, crafting and a writer of poetry and short stories but never fully committed time to any one gift. I never realized how much I was in to nature until the courtyard of my apartment was being renovated and a huge aloe vera plant was uprooted and headed for the trash. I remembered how my grandma spoke about this healing plant and kept one in the front yard for our frequent cuts and scrapes. I immediately asked a worker to give me the leaves and went to YouTube to find out how to extract the gel. With trial and error I figured out how to incorporate the gel into shea butter and the first natural skincare product was born; body butter! It was such a hit with my son and cleared his face of razor bumps and blemishes that I wondered what other natural products I could concoct. After years of research and formulation faux pas I now have a skincare system called The Beauty Quad which is made up of four key products: Cleanser, scrub, oil and moisturizer. I also have an under eye treatment, hyaluronic acid serum and body oils. You should also know they are all gender neutral and can be enjoyed by all. Recently, I debuted my newest skincare line, The Rose Collection which features several rose infused ingredients but smells of sugar and spice and everything nice! I am very dedicated to providing natural products that work and I’ve spent thousands of hours researching ingredients such as botanicals, oils, extracts, etc. that blend seamlessly and provide exceptional efficacy. I also chose ingredients that were versatile and could be used and tailored to the needs of all skin types. Anything I put my name on I want done extraordinary and I am so proud to be able to provide products that are chemical free and reverse damage naturally! It is an honor and my mission to create products that treat skin issues, change the way you see yourself, build confidence and prevent premature aging without damaging your skin. It is definitely the best feeling to know my products deliver! I’m dedicated, I love what I do and this journey has been truly amazing.

Alright – let’s talk about marketing or sales – do you have any fun stories about a risk you’ve taken or something else exciting on the sales and marketing side?

My favorite story is a recent one. Back in February I decided to invest some money I had received unexpectedly and host my first solo event to highlight my brand and bring awareness to it’s existence. Being that I am very introverted, this was truly a feat, however, I know in order to grow my business more networking is needed and crucial to the survival of my brand. Needless to say, being in front of a room full of people pitching my product and it’s benefits had me shaking in my boots! I have been to numerous events as a vendor but this was a solo venture! I took 3 months to prep and plan, advertise and send invites. I hired and Event Coordinator as well as an Esthetician to do facials using my skincare line. Talk about risky business! I was super nervous about her critique of my products but I’m all in at this point! On May 13th, the day before Mother’s Day, I hosted The Fresh Face Event, a spa themed day of Amazing to celebrate Mothers and women in general. A week before the event I sent reminders to all who RSVP’d and paid in advance only to have several cancel! With this being graduation time, many could not attend. Not to mention unexpected occurrences and Mother’s Day celebration changes. I started to panic thinking I wouldn’t come anywhere near making my money back, let alone a profit. Fast forward to the event, it was absolutely amazing, my guest were in awe and I sold out of all my original skincare and had quite a few customers pay for product that wasn’t even made yet! My Esthetician gave a 10/10 review and was amazed at the versatility and immediate results my guests experienced. All my hard work and money spent was not in vain and I am now planning a second one at the request of my loyal and new customers.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

When the virus hit in 2020, I thought that was the end of Ajabu Kabisa Skin. My business is home-based and the fear of being infected was rampid. In this line of business, sanitizing and sterilizing everything is crucial and yet, people were leary of purchasing home-based goods. Although I knew my procedure was flawless, I couldn’t blame them. Production came to a halt. Fortunately I had an abundance of product pre packaged and my loyal customers depleted my remaining inventory and purchased directly from the website. Once that was gone, I had to find other ways to stay afloat during this time. I started crafting wine bottles into blinged out works of art and added a faux cork adorned with lights to create mood lighting and night lights and went back to work temporarily. The rest is history. I’m still here!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ajabukabisaskin.com
• Instagram: ajabukabisa17
• Facebook: Shanita Williams
• Linkedin: AJABU KABISA SKIN

Image Credits
Shanita “Amazing” Williams Dominique McCarty