We were lucky to catch up with Stacey J. recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Stacey thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

When I look back on my life, as far as I can remember, I realize that most of the things I’ve done has consisted of helping people. It is something about finding solutions that excites me! I love hearing people talk about their dreams and with this information I would feel compelled to assist and find resources that could help execute them. From my event planning company, lifestyle management company, my women’s organization, my radio show and now my skincare line and project management company, my main purpose is always to find solutions. As an adult I realize that when we give to others it activates the areas of the brain associated with pleasure and social connection. I learned that my altruistic behavior releases endorphins in the brain and boosts happiness for myself as well as the people I help and I love being happy! Another thing I learned is this behavior of helping people can stem from trauma from your childhood as well. Sometimes when a child lacks in certain areas of their childhood, as an adult we shield ourselves by pouring into others as we wanted as a child. Now that I’m armed with all this information, it still hasn’t wavered me from my mission which is to still help people. However, it has helped me to understand why.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

So who is Stacey J.? Personally, I am a woman that is on a constant journey of improving my life in a meaningful way. I love sharing my knowledge and experiences to inspire others to kick start their own journey of living authentic in every capacity of life. Professionally, I am an serial entrepreneur who uses my superpowers of positivity, business prowess, and passion for self-care to support overwhelmed people in making lifestyle changes to improve their mental health, increase confidence, and create long-term joy both personally and professionally.

When I graduated high school, like many, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do. I knew college wasn’t for me. Plus, I had my first son at the age of 20. That quickly accelerated me into the job force and I became an Executive Assistant to several Fortune 500 companies. During my time working in corporate, I always knew in my heart that it wasn’t the place for me. My gift of creativity was so powerful that it eventually lead me to starting my own business and since then I’ve done several businesses and I’ve never looked back.

In 2020, after I ended a toxic relationship and covid hit, I knew it was the perfect time to take a deep dive to heal and understand myself and the choices I was making. I needed to understand why and how I lost myself which dimmed my light and my appearance. Understandably, covid was hard on everyone but for me, it was the perfect opportunity for self discovery and that year propelled me into my rebirth and new beginning.

Feeling stronger and better than ever, 2021 looked promising with my new lease on life. I officially reopened SJG Project Management, where I help entrepreneurs, businesses and celebrities manage their personal and professional life. This was also the year that I was turning the big 50. People started complimenting me on my glow both internal and external and I knew that it was from the work I had done with pouring back into myself. Now I’ve always had a big personality and great skin but a bad situation can take that all away. Although I’ve always been into taking care of my skin, as we start to age the first thing to show that is our skin. We all want to look younger longer, so, as I was approaching my 50th milestone which can be both scary and exciting, I decided to start my own skincare line that empowers aging women with products and knowledge on nourishing and protecting their skin.

Everyone especially women want to look good and I believe that aging is a fact of life but looking your age is not! So I wanted a skincare line that would help maintain the integrity of the skin longer. Skin Life products range from body oils, and face serums and restoring creams that can help with the skin deficiencies that maturing woman face. I started out with our best-selling anti-aging set which is compiled of 6 products for your morning and night routine. We have our Hibiscus facial soap, Sea moss mist spray, our face vitamins filled with Vitamin C & E, and our day cream. Our nighttime set includes our anti-aging serum and night cream to helps with the human growth hormone which plays an important role in cell repair while you sleep.

Since then I have added additional products for the body and the line will continue to grow and expand. There are a lot of great skincare companies out there and we believe Skin Life is one of them. Skin Life Skincare is committed to customer satisfaction and our mission is to continue to build a brand of quality products that help maturing women feel more comfortable with aging.

We teach customers and followers not only about our skincare products, but also the other factors that can harm our skin like hormonal imbalances, diet, stress, lack of hydration, environmental issues and more! We want to inspire women in totality, mind, body and skin and to remind them that every day they can feel confident and beautiful. Looking good and feeling good goes hand in hand. So I’m not just pushing products I’m pushing for women to love themselves no matter what. Our entire body is covered in skin, and it also plays a major role in our confidence as well. You know what they say, “when you look good, you feel good” and that includes our skin. My goal is to help people gracefully age and appreciate themselves in the process.

How did you build your audience on social media?

When it comes to marketing your business one of the best ways is on the internet. I built my following organically and slowly. I didn’t want to get caught up in buying fake followers just to make my page look good but rather a grass-roots approach that allows real people to see your consistency and decide if you’re their cup of tea. The power of social media is that it allows you to interact with people from all over the world and it empowers dialogue and gives consumers unique opportunities to engage with you and your brand.

I didn’t and still don’t have big budgets for social media managers etc. but instead I invested time in learning how to do some things myself. I’m a visual person so I knew how I wanted to represent myself and my business, so I shadowed and followed others that shared tips and tools to help with this process. One thing is for sure, you should never get complacent with where you are but be a continual student of learning to enhance your craft. I learned how to use Photoshop, canva (I love canva), inshot and other software apps that can help you to achieve your goals without having to hire someone. Now the goal is to have a team at some point because I believe it’s a blessing to be able to employ others, but you have to start where you are and grow to where you want to be.

My advice is never buy fake followers. You don’t want to base your business off of inauthenticity. Follow and research others that are teaching about social media marketing, aesthetics, and how to engage your followers. There’s a plethora of information out there and a lot of it is free but don’t be afraid to invest in your business because this is your baby. Continue to be your authentic self, share about your journey, how you got started, the struggles, the wins and connect with others you trust to collaborate.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

I love to read! I’ve read some amazing books that have helped me both personally and in my journey of entrepreneurship. Some of those books are Emotional Intelligence, What to say when you talk to yourself, Setting Boundaries, Finding Peace, How Successful People Think, The Secret and the list goes on. If you don’t like reading books you can use Audible and listen while you’re in the car. There are also a few apps that I’ve also found very useful like Headway and Growth Day. I also like to listen to several people on YouTube like Sudhguru, Abraham Hicks, Marie Forleo amongst others.

Again as I said, there’s tons and tons of information out there that you can definitely learn from. Investing the time is key. As you can see there’s a nice variety of things I listen to and read because the mind is very powerful, so how you think, unresolved past trauma and other factors can sometimes either hurt or help your business. You want to make sure you’re not self sabotaging yourself due to something internal and can be fixed. I know first hand how important it is to get to the root of the things that could be holding you back.

So if you already have a business or just starting one, always take time out to deal with your personal self on a daily basis. Unresolved trauma interferes with your creativity by disconnecting you from your authenticity, vulnerability, trust, passion, and playfulness. The legacy of trauma steals your sense of agency, curiosity, exploration, and commitment to invest yourself into your pursuits. Trauma invades and disrupts your emotional creative space and all these things are needed when striving for a successful business.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.skinlife.me
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itsskinlife
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/itsskinlife
• Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/therealstaceyj
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@itsskinlife

Image Credits
Photo credits Girard Hale Timeless Imaging Atl Image consultant Cherise B Stylist Ryan Christopher