We recently connected with Tameka Jones and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Tameka thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.
In 2002 I was managing a high end cosmetic company when we as employees were told that the store was going to close due to Covid-19. Although I was nervous about being out of work for an unknown period of time, I was a bit relieved because my work environment was becoming more and more toxic for me due to some racially motivated situations that were not being addressed. I found myself furloughed, at home, isolated and fighting anxiety day after day. Also during this time my income grew 2x’s the amount of my average work paychecks which also for me caused some alarm. Then in May of 2021 my daughter and I went to visit my parents in South Minneapolis. My daughter left to get ice cream and called me to tell me that she witnesses a man getting arrested and “it didn’t look good” she said. We later found out that the man was George Floyd. The death of George Floyd brought an extreme amount of trauma, stress, tension and anxiety to me, my community and the world on top of the trauma of Covid.
My anxiety was through the roof and one day I decided that I had to take my life into my own hands, I have to find a passion to focus on instead of what was happening around me and I then decided to take all of my saving, stop receiving unemployment and start a business that would help all people feel beautiful in the midst of ashes. I started my plant based, gluten and cruelty free lipstick line called Lip Esteem.
I bet on myself and I went from working in my home, to farmers markets. I took two cohorts during Covid and 5 months into launching, I was featured on an Daytime Emmy Nominated television series called, The Small Business Revolution. I now have a storefront right in the neighborhood that I grew up in. I took a risk, I took my shot and I’m still growing.
Tameka, 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?
I fell in love with cosmetics and beauty one summer while visiting my grandmother in California. Grandma had the most beautiful vanity in her bathroom that was filled with all kinds of hair products, beauty creams and cosmetics. I would go into her bathroom, play her gospel tapes and have a good time discovering what was in each drawer. Ever since then, I have been playing in makeup for fun and now as a profession. In 2002, my daughter Kamani Nevaeh passed away at 3 days old. Once the grieving eased up, I decided that life was too short to not do what I enjoyed and so I applied for Aesthetics (the study of skin care and makeup). I have worked for and freelanced for many high end brands. But I knew that eventually I would want my own brand so I am proud that after 20 years, I founded Lip Esteem. At Lip Esteem we offer makeovers, makeup lessons, eye lash applications. We also have an art gallery where local artist can display and sell their work from our location. We have recently added an advanced skin care esthetician who rents out a room at our beauty bar. We are set apart because we are a clean, plant based line who gives personal 1 on 1 attention to every customer. Therefore their lipstick looks will be customized. We want women to leave Lip Esteem feeling better than when they came into the store.
Lip Esteem is not just a cosmetic line but we are also a social enterprise. We hire young people from our community to intern here and we also open our space to any groups of students who want to shadow us and learn about entrepreneurship. We just had a group of Marketing students from NYU assess our website and social media for a group project. That always makes my heart happy.
I also want people to know that we are a quality brand that prides itsself on being long- wearing and moisturizing for true bosses that are too busy to keep reapplying their lip looks. I also pride myself in providing shades for all skin tones from porceline to the richest ebony shades. We are truly trying to bring the world together one tube at a time.
Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?
For Lip Esteem, the most effective way to grow our clientele thus far is of course word of mouth but it is also getting out of the store and attending pop ups, fair and any other networking event we can find that doesn’t go against our brand standards. We are not (yet) a huge cosmetic company so its really important to go to where the people are instead of expecting the people to always come to you.
If you have multiple revenue streams in your business, would you mind opening up about what those streams are and how they fit together?
Lip Esteem is sold in a hybrid of ways, We sell in our brick and morter store, E-Commerce, Pop up shops and also we sell wholesale. Wholesale is awesome because we can be in multiple places at once. We have displays ready for any new business that wants to carry our brand, We are currently in beauty shops, local restaurants and other retailers. This year we want to expand outside of Minnesota where we are located. We believe all 50 states and other countries should have the opportunity to have Lip Esteem
Contact Info:
- Website: www.lipesteem.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lip_esteem/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LipEsteemllc
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lip-esteem/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/LipEsteem
- Youtube: @lipesteemllcandfacesbytame2849
Image Credits
Roosevelt Mansfield