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

Tasha, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

I started Luvthemama in January 2020 out of the need for a tangible item that would feel like a “gift” sent to moms each month as a reminder to pamper, spoil and love themselves. After discovering the shockingly high rates of maternal death amongst black women in America, I became passionate about bringing awareness for the need for better maternal healthcare in our country. Our mission is to highlight the importance of self-care in motherhood in order to improve maternal and post-partum care for mothers all over the world.

Tasha, 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?

Tasha Dixon is a wellness and self-care advocate, wife of almost 16 years, and homeschooling mom of three amazing, incredible, extraordinary children, ages 10, 6, and 4. Tasha started Luvthemama in January 2020 out of the need for a tangible item that would feel like a “gift” sent to moms each month as a reminder to pamper, spoil and love themselves. After speaking with a friend and business mentor, Luvthemama was born! Luvthemama is a self-care subscription box for moms in every stage of motherhood. Each Mama Box includes feminine care, organic tea, organic healthy snacks, bath and body items, and so much more! Tasha prides herself in being an advocate for better maternal health, especially within the black community, and regularly shares tips and best practices for self-care in motherhood. In her (not so) free time, Tasha leads a homeschool co-op in North Las Vegas and is actively involved in her local homeschool playgroup as a co-founder and admin. Due to her busy lifestyle, Tasha makes it a point to practice what she preaches in the form of setting boundaries with her time, energy, and mental health needs.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

When I first started Luvthemama, I had zero capital. I used my personal money to meet with a friend and business mentor to develop a business plan and receive tips on getting started. Then I used as many free resources as I could to learn how to start a subscription box business. I spent hours on YouTube, doing what I affectionately call “YouTube University” and then I looked up other subscription box companies and took note of what I liked, didn’t like, wanted to improve, change or modify for my own business. I took advantage of a free trial for Shopify and downloaded stock images for my page. I stepped out on faith and launched my business on January 2nd, 2020 with zero inventory and zero dollars to my business. I just offered a “Pre-Launch Sale” where one could pre-order their subscription box at a special price and have it ship the following month. I received 13 preorders from family and friends! My husband gave me $100 to invest in my business and I used that to buy my box inserts and shipping supplies. I didn’t make any profit up front; all money was reinvested back into the business to build up future orders. So basically my personal money, my husband’s investment and preorders are what gave me the initial capital to get started!

Do you have any stories of times when you almost missed payroll or any other near death experiences for your business?

Wow, there have many close calls in terms of paying operating costs and meeting deadlines for payments on many things. Sometimes the funds weren’t there and things would be late to get paid or not paid at all while I waited for the money to come in. I eventually decided that business credit would be the best resource for me until I am in the profit generating stage consistently. I used business credit to secure materials, marketing, cover operating costs, etc so that I am more free to focus on the day to day operations such as social media management, order fulfillment, etc. I had to unlearn that credit isn’t bad if used wisely and responsibly.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.luvthemama.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/luvthemama
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/luvthemama
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/luvthemama
• Other: www.tiktok.com/@luvthemama

Image Credits
Photo credit: @joeybrownphotos located in Las Vegas, NV