Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to TeNari Bene’t Parker. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, TeNari Bene’t thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.
Hi, my name is TeNari Bene’t. I’m currently a full time college student, and working part time to help fund my business. I started my business in February of 2022. . I turned my hobby into a business. I would make different body creams and sugar scrubs to tend to my sensitive skin. Some brands in stores that I would buy would irritate my skin. So, I started making my own sugar scrubs to exfoliate and add to my personal self-care routine. Before becoming committed to starting a business for body care I made sure to research various skin types and learn what helps to heal the certain types. I researched the many butters, essential oils, plants , and etc before I actually created my first product to share with you all. Yes, tons of trials and errors, I successfully created “The Imperial Body”, a clean ,vegan, and cruelty-free handmade body care business to enhance your skin/body/self-care routine.When I think of my business , I think of how far I’ve come just at the age of 18. Turning my hobby into a business and actually not giving up at the first sign of trouble is what makes me even prouder. I have two other business that provides services but The Imperial Body will always be my business that I have a passion for. When formulating the products , I gain a sense of excitement. It amazes me everyday that a hobby such as body care making for my personal use , gets shared with others to help upgrade their self-care routines.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I gained the idea of starting a body and skincare business from my hobby of making scrubs for myself. Having sensitive skin is not the best when trying to buy in store products to care for your skin. The many dyes and chemicals in certain products would break me out and leave my skin feeling unhealthy. My alternative was to make my own scrubs and oils with natural ingredients to help me obtain the healthy glowing skin I’ve always wanted. Now that I’ve successfully turned my hobby into a business , I pride myself on using vegan and cruelty free ingredients. Caring for your skin should be second nature. With my determination and passion that I have for business to continue to grow. I want to encourage woman and girls to understand the importance of self care. Although, I may be funding a dream out of my pocket right now. I believe with just the dream, The Imperial Body can be a successful community for women to indulge in self care products while adding to our confidence. I understand what it’s like to have low self esteem and not think you’re worthy or loved enough. The Imperial Body changed that for me. My passion for making sugar scrubs to cater to my sensitive skin turned into a business idea that helps other woman not only cater to their skincare needs but also to their confidence . As we provide skincare , body care , we also share the importance of loving ones self. Self care starts with you , but we provide the products to help you upgrade the entire routine.
We’d love to hear your thoughts about selling platforms like Amazon/Etsy vs selling on your own site.
Yes, I sell my products mainly online. Sometimes I may attend pop-up shops. I like the interaction with potential customers at pop-up events rather than selling online. Customers are able to smell and sample products and determine in person if it’s something they will buy , rather than just looking at the pictures on the site. I must say selling in person has been a great experience so far . As I offered deals and incentives , I provided great customer service and provided benefits of how the use of our products could upgrade their overall self care routine. In person selling helps to invite more woman into The Imperial Body community. Although, selling online is a great alternative to selling in person as well. Sometimes my introverted side may kick in and I don’t always want to engage face to face. Observing the site to see whats selling and what not helps me to determine what my audience may or may not like. This helps me to create a stronger marketing plan to implement and track inventory needed.
Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?
All of our products our handmade and made in small portions. This ensure that we don’t lose any benefits from our ingredients and don’t over produce products. At first , I started making my own sugar scrubs based on natural oils and plants that would help to hydrate my skin. Some of which are called : Aloe Vera, Shea Butter , Organic Sugar , Vitamin E , and Grape seed oil. I look at the benefits of each ingredient and then determined how each would help me to obtain the healthy glowing skin I wanted. Research along with trial and error played a big role in formulating products for The Imperial Body.
Contact Info:
- Website: theimperialbody.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theimperialbody_/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theimperialbody?paipv=0&eav=AfYN9L4PU_kUMdRonHZJ_lbEpCmsLBwFEEEXt-x8OZJyu_F1jy4ZX1u36LP-rF167HU&_rdr
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/theimperialbody?s=21
- Other: https://linkpop.com/the-imperial-body