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

Hi Shontris, thanks for joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

As a kid I grew up in a lower class home. My mom was working as janitor and my dad was a warehouse worker. At the time neither one of my parents had a degree or education beyond high school. Those times were really hard especially for my parents. There were times were we had no food or cable. I vividly remember my mom taking me to dollar general for clothes for picture day at school. Eventually, when I was about 10-11 years old my mother went back to school to get her associates in business. She absorbed all the knowledge that she learned from being a janitor and opened her own cleaning business. My life literally changed completely. My mom inspired me from a young age to be an entrepreneur. It’s literally in my blood. Even in grade school I would sell phone cases and snacks to my classmates. I always knew that I wanted to be my own boss. Fast forward to college, I majored in Psychology and the goal was to become a licensed therapist. Although I wanted to be a licensed therapist I knew that I wanted to own my own practice. My freshman year of college (2019) I joined Alpha Kappa Psi Professional Business Fraternity, Incorporated. This organization gave me the knowledge, skill and confidence I needed to create my own business which at the time was named Lash Excellence. I began from selling from my dorm no website, no instagram just word to mouth. Eventually, I knew I wanted to take my business more serious so I rebranded got a logo made, created my own website, business cards and social media profiles.I also expanded beyond lashes and began to sell phone cases, purses, waistbands and more. I named it The Melanin Collection Co. my business was inspired by my mom being a resilientblack woman and my pride for my culture. I wanted to create a brand that showed other black girls that it’s possible to be a boss and look/feel good while being one. Since then my business has grown tremendously and I have had the privilege of traveling to many different cities to promote my brand. Now I am building my second business venture as an Esthetician specializes in Makeup, Facials and Waxing in the Murfreesboro/ Nashville area. What can I say? I’m a business woman at heart.

Shontris, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Shontris Mason. I am a twenty-two year old from Memphis, TN. I have a bachelor’s degree in Psychology with professional studies in mental health services and Spanish. Additionally, I am a newly esthetician and Aveda Graduate. I got into my business through being inspired by my mom and really researching e-commerce. We are an accessory business that sells lashes, waist beads, purses and much more. We help customers embrace their beauty, feel confident in their looks as well as help compliment each customers outfits with our products. I am most proud of the message of my business. We want young black women and any woman to know it doesn’t matter where you come from you are fully capable of being your own boss. We also want everyone to know that our main focus is to ensure that each customer loves what they see in the mirror.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

I started my business when I was 18, a freshman in college. As an 18 year old I had no job, little money (except from scholarships) and my car was in my hometown so I bought my first batch of inventory with Christmas/Birthday money. In 2020 in the midst of COVID, I was back in my hometown due to my college being closed. I began to work at Walmart and I also received a refund check from school and a stimulus check. I used this money to purchase my website, inventory, business cards and paid for an at home photo shoot.

How’d you think through whether to sell directly on your own site or through a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc.

I currently use shopify as my platform. I think Shopify has many pros because it’s just as easy to navigate as Amazon and other competitors but it is able to be customized and designed how you will like. I also like that you can create your own sales such as buy one get one free or coupon codes. I think another pro is when you have your own domain customers know exactly where to find you as oppose to amazon you have to search to find the business you are looking for.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.themelanincollectionco.com
• Instagram: @themelanincollectionco
• Other: TikTok: @themelanincollectionco.com

Image Credits
@dpledgerphotography