REAL LIFE ROSIE

http://www.mycrowningjewel.com/

What inspires you? I am really passionate about finding innovative ways to provide teens with practical education.  My first venture is a youth organization that I started called Boxxout. While launching Boxxout I was always thinking of a way to help generate youth jobs and provide funding for my non-profit by creating a product that meets a need in the marketplace.  When I grew tired of the worn headscarves and “tired” bonnets I had to protect my hair at night, and realized other women were unhappy with their options as well, the vision for My Crowning Jewel was born.

Do you have a favorite quote? “There’s a hero in you waiting to happen.” ~ Ledisi

What are the most pressing issues facing women today? I believe some of us relinquish our power and undermine our influence in both personal and professional settings in order to stay in the game or relationship. I think it’s best that we align ourselves with partners, friends, and companies that are not intimidated by our confidence, talents, and intelligence.

What are the biggest keys to your success? My definition of success is being courageous enough to pursue your dreams and visions. I would not be able to strive for such success without the support of my family and friends, faith, an open heart, and an open mind.

What are the biggest keys to the advancement or success of women? Loving ourselves, striving to be our best selves, and not apologizing for it.

Where did the inspiration for your business come from? I wrap my hair at night to preserve the style and protect my hair from breakage. While visiting my aunt one weekend I had on a hideous bonnet that didn’t even stay on while I slept.  I remember telling my aunt that women are too awesome to have to settle for such unattractive options.  She designed a prototype and after a few changes that prototype is now what we call Night Jewels.

Not too long after developing the prototype we met women who were breast cancer survivors who said they would sleep in baseball caps while undergoing chemotherapy to keep their head warm at night. They were really excited about our Jewels!

We truly believe women deserve greatness.  We do so much for our families and for society; we deserve to have products that allow us to celebrate our beauty and feel good about ourselves; whether we wrap our hair to protect our hair from breakage, to adorn our crowns following hair loss, or just to mask a bad hair day, we still can look fabulous!

Where is your product sold (if applicable)? Our head wrap “Jewels” are sold primarily on our website.  However, we participate in various women-centered events as vendors so we get a chance to meet new “Queendom Members” in person!

What advice do you have for a woman who is considering starting a business? It’s important to surround yourself with other women entrepreneurs with whom you can celebrate successes and serve as a sounding board or peer mentor in challenging times.  Trials are inevitable along any entrepreneurial journey, so cultivating a community in which every member is genuinely committed to each other’s success is very helpful.  When identifying possible members, choose wisely!

What are the biggest hurdles you’ve faced in starting or growing your business? How did you overcome these? There are many hurdles in the start-up process. We had an interesting situation where a major shipping service lost our patterns in the mail, never to find them. Thankfully our Chief Designer and my business partner, Luisa Chapman (my aunt) was able to work her magic and re-create the patterns.  Their losing our patterns held up our production start date, but at the end of the day we had to assess, adjust, address the issue, then keep it moving.