FULL INTERVIEW: Charis ‘Sassy’ Jones On Selling Her Car To Join Marketplace After Hearing Radio Ad + More

Charis ‘Sassy’ Jones On Selling Her Car To Join Marketplace After Hearing Radio Ad + More 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
What's up? Its way up at Angela.

Speaker 2 (00:05):
Ye, and I am so excited to have this sunshine
in the room with me today. Sharisee Jones aka Miss
Sassy Jones. And you know her clothing and makeup and
you can see the accessories line which I have on
right now, and the makeup I have on, the Boss lipstick.
But Jarize Jones is here. You are the founder of
Sassy Jones. And I first, well, the reason why this

(00:28):
even came about. I was interviewing Tabitha Brown on her
book tour and I loved her outfit so much.

Speaker 1 (00:35):
And she was like, oh, this is Sassy Jones. Let
me send you the information.

Speaker 2 (00:38):
And I was like okay, And then I looked it
up and I saw so many amazing things and I
was like, how have I not been purchasing this, you know,
prior to this. So I just want to put that
out there. Thank you so much to Tabitha Brown for
putting me on.

Speaker 3 (00:50):
Yeah, legit, thank you so much to Tabitha Brown as well. Yeah,
and like the crazy thing, Angela, like how that even
came to be? She obviously wore the right outfit on
the right night because we sent her so many things
just like the celebrity world, you have no idea what
they're gonna pick, right, you know what I mean, Like
they can show up in anything, and obviously she picked
the right thing, which made this connection. So I'm so

(01:13):
grateful and.

Speaker 1 (01:13):
When I was like, we got to get this.

Speaker 2 (01:15):
But you're from Richmond, Virginia, yes, and you also went
to Hampton, so you're a real Virginia person.

Speaker 3 (01:20):
Yet legit like I went to Hampton, I did not graduate,
but they do claim me, okay as the shit they
definitely claim me. But yes, attended Hampton University proudly.

Speaker 1 (01:30):
Now why didn't you graduate?

Speaker 3 (01:32):
Because I actually left school my sophomore year to go
take a job in sales, okay, and like learn how
to talk to people, learn how to build relationships. That
was like my first commission job. I was selling furniture,
So I like chuck the deuces to Hampy University to
like go out get my own townhouse and get a
job and like start my own adult life. I felt

(01:54):
like I was an amazing time in college.

Speaker 1 (01:56):
You were a teenager then, and I.

Speaker 3 (01:58):
Went to Hampton when I was fifteen. What yeah, yeah,
So I was out of there very quickly. Had my
mom co signed for an apartment. About what's seventeen?

Speaker 2 (02:07):
That is so grown? I can't even when I was seventeen.
I think I was a freshman in college. When I
was seventeen, I was nowhere near ready for that. Where
did that come from? That independence?

Speaker 3 (02:18):
And that's a great question. I get that question a lot.
I think I was born with it, honestly, Like I
had really really strong women that I grew up with,
Like my grandmother, she was an entrepreneur. She was she
was a cleaning lady. She cleaned all like the big
movie theaters, and like she had her own contracts. So
I saw that. And my mom's a hustler, right like

(02:39):
my mother. She we're sixteen years apart, and so like
a product of a teenage pregnancy, but she like made
it through. She hustled. So I got a lot of
that grit from them and then just made up my
own sauce, you know, like really made it into my
own things.

Speaker 1 (02:55):
I love that.

Speaker 2 (02:56):
That is an amazing story because sometimes people can be
very judgmental about having kids at a young age. But
I will say a lot of my really good friends,
my friend Ingrid who started this wine company, I best
wine she's a teenage mom and she started her own
company and you know, has been working ever since.

Speaker 1 (03:11):
But I feel like there is a sense of.

Speaker 2 (03:15):
Kind of I don't even know what the right word is,
but when we talk about independence and grit and determination
that can be instilled in you, that's a real thing.

Speaker 3 (03:24):
Yeah, And I think it comes by just necessity, you
know what I mean, Like when you're fifteen and sixteen
getting put out of your house, like having nowhere to go,
needing to find a way to make it. You find
a way to make it because the boats have all
been burned, there are no plan bs, so like the
only way is forward.

Speaker 1 (03:42):
You know, that's okay.

Speaker 2 (03:43):
We're gonna get to now the clothing line and how
this all started, because what's amazing to me is that
you've pivoted several different times to figure out a better
way to do things, because sometimes something doesn't work the
way we intend it. I think most times businesses don't
work the way that you anticipated. You have a whole
plan and idea, which is nothing wrong with that. You

(04:04):
should have a plan and you should have an idea,
but also really be willing to be flexible. So you
started Sassy Jones in twenty thirteen. Correct, yep, you're right,
all right. So twenty thirteen, and I remember reading about
how you sold your car.

Speaker 3 (04:15):
Yeah you had thirteen hundred bucks.

Speaker 2 (04:17):
Yeah, and you had twin boys, very young at the time.

Speaker 3 (04:21):
Yeah, four months when I jump started the brand.

Speaker 2 (04:24):
Okay, So then talk to me about how you started
the brand and initially what your concept was.

Speaker 3 (04:30):
Well, initially I wanted it to be like an MOLM,
like you could buy and sell jury and like have
reps to sell it for you. Okay, But when I
figured I was an entrepreneur, I was working my corporate
gig like and I sold everything from like banking products, insurance,
food to restaurants, all of it. So like marketing and sales,
it's in my blood. And I always feel like you're

(04:50):
going to have a transferable skill from your past, yes,
that you're going to take with you into the next
leg of your journey. And so took a little bit
of secret sauce from all the corporations that I worked for.
And I was in the car one day driving a Geico,
Like my commute was like an hour and a half
and I heard this radio commercial and it was like, hey,
you can come and set up your table at this
trade show and like pay this entry fee. And it

(05:13):
was like this this Transformation expo something like Circle of Sisters, okay, right,
And so I was like, well what would I do.
I don't have a business, Like if I were to
show up, how would I show up? So the will
started to turn and I was like, ah, fashion, it's
in my blood just watching the woman you know that
I grew up with, and how my grandmother would enter
her room, how she wore her brooches and her furs

(05:34):
and all of that. Like I grew up around that,
you know, like that glamour. So it was just I
guess it was just natural. But I was like, but
I'm broke. That's the problem, right, like this out right,
like I ain't got I ain't got no money. So
I decided to stick with accessories in the beginning because
it's low cost of entry. It's one size fits all.

(05:54):
And at that time I wasn't designing. I would just
I would buy a wholesale right right, And so I
didn't have any money to do the show. So I
sold the car like for thirteen hundred bucks.

Speaker 1 (06:04):
Wild, because that's really betting on yourself.

Speaker 3 (06:07):
Yeah, and you have to as an entrepreneur. Like my husband,
he had no concept of proof. He wasn't gonna like
fund this, you know. So I'm like, if it's your dream,
you gotta make it your own.

Speaker 1 (06:19):
What did he say when you did that?

Speaker 3 (06:20):
He thought it was crazy tale.

Speaker 1 (06:22):
That's not every what he loved about you too. At
the same time, it is it's exactly what he's attracted to.

Speaker 3 (06:26):
Right.

Speaker 1 (06:27):
I was like, she's crazy, but let's go.

Speaker 3 (06:29):
Wouldn't have it any other way. His attracted crazy. But
I got the money, bought inventory, and paid the eight
hundred dollars for the show. And then so on that
day I was like, okay, I was so afraid because
there were all these other like well known establishments, brands,
jewelry brands already there like or got me owl back then,

(06:52):
all the names right, and I'm little brown girl knees
Bucklin setting up my table as best I could. I
wanted to try to look at corporate is I could
with the funds that I had, right, And so then
all the people started to come in and I'm like,
hang on a second, I'm good at this.

Speaker 1 (07:09):
Wait a second, was that your sales background? You think?

Speaker 3 (07:11):
Yes, okay, totally right, and people would just walk by
and be like, oh, that's not for me, Like us
women sometimes say right. I think we have a way
sometimes of counting ourselves out. And I wondered what that meant.
I heard that like, oh I can't pull that off.
That's not for me. This necklace is too sparkly to
wear that close to my face. And I'm like, what

(07:32):
does that mean? Psychologically? Like inside our minds? What is
that negative self talk? What does that sound like? Why
am I continuing to hear this loop over and over
and over? And so I was like, if dad nope
and they will walk, I will go out in the
aisle and get them like, nope, come here, try this on.
Yeah you are, and handed them the mirror and then

(07:54):
like we will all hype them up, like you look
so amazing? What would you wear with d right? I
had my girlfriends with me. I can't pay that.

Speaker 1 (08:00):
Who was there with you that was helping you hype
people up?

Speaker 3 (08:02):
It was my best friend to this day. She is
our marketing director. I did not pay her and my
other tua right you take them and she was happy
with it. Right, And she's always worked from that place
of love. If you will and so I had some
other girlfriends with me, but I learned so much about

(08:24):
my journey on that day. I learned that A, I
made way more in the one day than I did
on my two week paycheck at work, and I was like,
check if something to this right, Like I have a
proof of concept that this deserves some more of my energy.
And then the second thing is I found my ministry,
like legit, helping women see themselves just a little bit differently.

(08:45):
And my conduit is just style and fashion, but for me,
it is a ministry and it happens to be profitable.

Speaker 2 (08:52):
What do you think about hearing that radio commercial and
then that was kind.

Speaker 1 (08:57):
Of what was the catalyst for you to do what
you did?

Speaker 2 (08:59):
You think that was like a calling at that moment,
because sometimes we hear something and we shut out that voice.
But you heard something and you actually followed that voice.

Speaker 3 (09:08):
Angela. I never thought about it that way, like legit, Yeah,
I don't know if I didn't hear that on that day,
that I wouldn't have taken the turn that I took.
That's serendipitous, honestly, that's yeah, you're right. I never thought about.

Speaker 2 (09:23):
It that way, And I want to encourage people to
listen to the radio. Listen to the radio and.

Speaker 1 (09:28):
Follow right, right, right right.

Speaker 3 (09:32):
And you got to be to hear it because I
could have been jabbing on the phone. I could have
been talking on the phone, I could have been listening anything, right.
But it seeked and it melted, and I actually took
action from it, because.

Speaker 2 (09:44):
You know how many times we hear things that were like, man,
I should No, I can't do that, girl, And you
could have been like, I can't do that, but instead
you sold your car and me went and bought the
wholesale items.

Speaker 1 (09:54):
Then you got your best friend to come out and work.

Speaker 2 (09:57):
Yep, and you did it and did it, and I
always feel like that's the first step. A lot of
times we tuck ourselves out of things that could really
be beneficial to us, but we're so scared. You know,
fear can stop you from doing a lot of things.
But you, for some reason that particular day, you know,
heard that and went for it. So you know, kudos
to you for that. Now, the way the business started,

(10:17):
then you ended up saying, okay, let's do e commerce. Now,
talk to me about making the decision to go from
doing things like that and actually going and selling in
stored to saying I need to do e commerce.

Speaker 3 (10:30):
Listen, Entrepreneurship and being a business owner is all about
pivoting rights and you have to be able. You were
talking about the signs. I feel like there are signs everywhere,
but you have to be still insensitive enough to be
able to receive and interpret what they mean. Right. And
so I did the whole trade show circuit for what
a year and a half while I had the babies.

(10:51):
And it was one day I was driving home from
Florida and I about ran off the road. It was
like three am in the morning. Exhausted, it's dead, like
being a new mom to twins at that. I never
recommend that ever, but that's how bad I wanted it, right,
And so I was like I was. I called my husband,

(11:12):
I said, I gotta do something else, Like I'm not
making any money, I'm broke, I'm reading I could kill
myself just from like you know, just exhausting all of
my energy. And so I said, what can I do
to still not have to go back to my traditional
job but still like work in this vein So those
same shelves that I used to set up at the

(11:33):
trade shows I set it up in my kitchen and
I took my phone and I started to live stream.
And on my first live stream, I had twelve or
thirteen people, and I made six hundred dollars okay, And
that was pure profit.

Speaker 2 (11:46):
By the way, that is a great as far as
people like interacting. That's amazing to have twelve or thirteen
people and make money okay, right.

Speaker 3 (11:52):
In that conversion rate was spectacular and I'm like, YO,
tell people six hundred there is something to this, so
I can tell you to do it. And it started
to party, sparkle, party, there you go. It started to
build a following around it, and that's how I sort
of pivoted to digital.

Speaker 2 (12:07):
And you know, part of the brand it is it
is you, yeah, absolutely, and seeing who you are as
a person behind the brand that is you know, that
is that does attract people like when they see the authenticity.
Because there's certain brands that we don't know who makes
that clothing line, we don't know who makes that jewelry,
we don't know who's behind it. But when it's somebody
that we can connect to, it's a whole different ball game.

(12:30):
And wanting to spend our money there and know like
I like her a lot. Let me you know, I
want to I like her stuff and I want to
buy something, right.

Speaker 3 (12:37):
And I think it makes a difference because people buy people,
you know, it's not you don't buy things, you buy
you invest into relationships. Right. And also, let me just
I can speak from this place because I've been around
the block. And let me just tell you something to
all business owners who are out there listening, who are
afraid to a step in front of your brand, like
you want to be behind the scenes, you want to

(12:59):
be like in twenty twenty four, we have to know
who you are, right, We have to have a connection.
We have to have a relationship with him in order
for it to scale. Can you do it without it? Sure?

Speaker 1 (13:09):
Right?

Speaker 3 (13:09):
No, that's you know what I'm saying. But like, you
will get so much further if people can understand your why,
If people can understand who you are, they can tell
stories and share stories about the product that they've invested in. Right.
People want to become smarter with interacting with you. And
so that's what I feel that we do, especially at
when we were doing Sparkle Party. The other thing is

(13:31):
I actually delegated my being the face of the brand
away and failed miserably.

Speaker 1 (13:38):
Oh really, that's interesting, Okay, explain.

Speaker 3 (13:40):
That because I was in scale, right, Like covid we
grew over twelve thousand percent in three years, right, it's insane.

Speaker 1 (13:49):
That was I mean the timing for that too was.

Speaker 2 (13:52):
I mean not that Covid was a great time or anything,
but business wise, for the entrepreneurs that could be flexible,
that were online, that already had that following, that was
an amazing situation financially.

Speaker 3 (14:03):
Absolutely, like it just put a megaphone to what we
were already doing, you know, And I feel like we
got kind of like blown out of a cannonball, if
you will, during COVID, and we grew super super super fast.
The thing was growing that rapidly. For everybody who's trying
to be overnight success. When you go that fast, things break, right,
you miss lessons because you were speeding down the highway.

(14:24):
So one of the lessons that I missed scaling. I
started to get a team. You know, It's like, okay,
we got forty people, forty four time people working here now, right,
Like this is amazing. It's a lot, it is, right, Yeah,
Entrepreneurship was my first anything in management I never managed
anyone right, it had no leadership experience, but I'm learning
it on the job while trying to build this brand, right,

(14:47):
And so I said, oh, well when you scale, you
have to delegate, right girl. I delegated my genius. And
so I had people that were like I was like, no,
you go do it, you go be the I'll teach
you how to do because I thought that's what I
was supposed to do, and then quickly learn like, oh no.

Speaker 1 (15:07):
We're not fires, but girls like you know.

Speaker 2 (15:11):
So that's a hard balance though, right because they always
say work smarter, not harder, and have people around you
that work with you that could be smarter than you
and certain things. But that's also hard to find because
I think sometimes when it's your brand and you care
so much and you have that anticipation that other people
will too, a lot of times they will feel you
if you expect that they're going to care about your

(15:32):
brand as much as you do, and usually people don't,
you know, just to be all the way honest, and
I'm not saying that they should. The way that I've
always worked is whenever I work somewhere, I'm always going
like a thousand percent. But a lot of people aren't
like that, Like, if I agree to do a job,
I will go above and beyond to make sure I
do that job.

Speaker 1 (15:51):
But some people are like, this is a job.

Speaker 2 (15:53):
I'm getting my salary, I'm doing what I'm supposed to
do and not more than that. And then a lot
of times when you do try to delegate that authority,
you know, you end up having to come back and
do it again, and then you're like, this just wasted
so much time.

Speaker 3 (16:05):
Yeah, you're right, and even like building a team like
that was terrified. Oh my gosh. You know, but I
think as entrepreneurs you got to put yourself in groups,
like I didn't have the luxury of finishing school, right,
and so it's just like finding people who are walking
along the same journey so that you can learn from them.

Speaker 1 (16:22):
Didn't your mom work for you for a minute, girl?

Speaker 3 (16:24):
Yeah, she was the shortest tenure employee.

Speaker 1 (16:26):
Talk to me about that.

Speaker 2 (16:27):
But that was like, because family and working with family,
and that's your mom.

Speaker 3 (16:32):
Yeah, you know, and I didn't. Actually, it's all intertwined.
So I work with my best friend, I work with
my husband he's the president, and my mother and there's
all kind of family up in it. Girl, pray for
me and assessory prayer.

Speaker 1 (16:44):
Okay.

Speaker 3 (16:45):
So yeah, girl, So she started let me, I don't
even know. Okay, this is like, girl, you brought us
a trauma child.

Speaker 1 (16:58):
Okay.

Speaker 3 (16:59):
So I always counted it pride to like retire her, right,
Like that was like the joy, Like that's the dream, right,
And so I was like, mom, she had a background
of sales too. I was like, we need a VP
to help us push push push, right. She was like, okay,
she left. That was a first. That was the first
liked redleg. Okay, it was too easy. It was way

(17:20):
too easy. She had worked for her job for like
she could almost retire, and she was just she was
gonna walk off. And I was like, okay, great, great.

Speaker 1 (17:27):
Okay, you're coming in the mouth.

Speaker 3 (17:29):
She was like, I ain't coming in. I'm over here
with Sassy Jones. And then I started to see some
of what I dealt with as a child show up
in the business. So like, you know, black mama's got
a reckless mouth, especially those of a certain generation, right,
And it's like, Ma, you can't these aren't your little

(17:50):
cousins and step children. These are my.

Speaker 1 (17:53):
Crazy right, you know?

Speaker 3 (17:56):
And and if we do, I have to reprimand I
have to correct that.

Speaker 2 (18:00):
Because that also could be a reason if somebody chose
to at that time that they could be like the workplace,
you know, issues with how I'm being spoken to?

Speaker 1 (18:09):
You never know, yes, okay.

Speaker 3 (18:11):
Yeah, And that was my concern. That was my fear,
right and it also like the nepotism like or favoritism.
I can't let you behave this way when I would
let no one else behave this way. I can't, you know,
So child I brought her in. It was a glass
conference room. I never forget it. I had the HR
lady there and I was like, you're the mediator, right,

(18:33):
just so you can take notes and whatnot? Okay, I
said Lisa, because I can't say ma, right, I said Lisa,
and that that was the first thing right there, right,
And so I was like, we're getting some complaints about
how you're speaking to people. It's like, I really don't
want to eat. This is such an uncomfortable conversation for

(18:54):
me to even have, but I have to have it,
so like what can we what can we do? And
she I don't know what it was that she was
going through or what it was that I may have
said that set her completely off. She gathered her things
and left and walked out, and later I learned that
she felt humiliated. She felt belittled because, yeah, the hr

(19:17):
person in the environment. She was like, you could have
talked to me separately, which I could have. Retrospectively, I
think we both could have very much done things differently.

Speaker 2 (19:25):
But you know, the lines of blurred because if it
was an employee only, that's what you would have done.
And so it's really hard to say what's the right
thing to do in that situation because you're trying to
run this as a business and treat her in that
business space like an employee. But at the same time
she's looking at it like, you're my child, why would you.

Speaker 1 (19:44):
Involve You know, that's a tough one.

Speaker 2 (19:48):
It was, Oh, I didn't even know what I would
have recommended to do in that position.

Speaker 3 (19:51):
I did the best I could do, and it took
me out, Like so she walked out right when she
did that, it triggered my childhood abandonment issues, right because
this is like mom walking out again. And really the
only reason I like, after a lot of therapy, I
realized I had her there is so that she could
see me, see me, see me, see me right, and

(20:12):
I'm like, okay, I'll bring it closer so you can
see me. My intentions were wrong from the jump, from
the jump right, because I was seeking something from her
that I was trying to get in a roundabout way,
and instead of just communicating what my issues were, I
was trying to heal them professionally. And so girls, she
left and she turned her stuff in, and I was like,

(20:34):
and then the next day she was like, I was
just kidding. I was like, I kept this. The next
day we already had arrangements for me to drop my
twins off because I was headed off to a conference,
and she was like, okay, well i'll be there at
so soodamor. I was like, what are you talking about.

Speaker 2 (20:54):
You were like, you turned all your stuff in, and
you also probably were like a little relieved.

Speaker 3 (21:00):
No. I was really hurt, but.

Speaker 1 (21:02):
Not because it didn't feel like it was working though.

Speaker 3 (21:06):
No, No, but I wanted it to. I'm like that
kind of delirious, hopeful kind of person.

Speaker 2 (21:12):
I really wanted that you would have that conversation and
be able to move on.

Speaker 3 (21:15):
Ice cream and really, you know, like I thought it
would be amazing, But there was so much crap up
underneath that interaction that had to be unpacked, which is
the reason she responded how she did, the reason I
emoted the way that I did. And so yeah, my
mom was the shortest tenured employee ever. She went on

(21:35):
to become an entrepreneur, which she should be, right, And.

Speaker 2 (21:40):
Working with family is so girl, so high. So I mean,
let's take it to your husband, Kean R. Yes, So
talk about working.

Speaker 1 (21:48):
With Kean your husband.

Speaker 3 (21:49):
Girl, Okay, if you can do this, Angela, do anything,
because you can be the president of the kit States.
Because it is so difficult. Okay, it is incredibly I'm
gonna give you the realty. Like, listen, any entrepreneur who's listening,
or business owner or who runs a generational or family
business understands the dynamic right because it never turns off.

(22:16):
What else, Oh, the challenges that arise at work we
bring home and then it that marriage right, because how
can you not write before we say good morning? Sometimes
he'll ask me a question about something on the data
or like something shop of fire or whatever you know,
And so it is a constant pulling, like constant realignment.

Speaker 1 (22:36):
Or like the one good thing is you know, he's
always got your back.

Speaker 3 (22:39):
And here's the pro if you can figure that out,
if you can like work through that. I trust him
like nobody's business, right. He is my built in best friend.
The loyalty is insane. The place that he makes decisions
from I know it's coming from a place of love.
He works just as hard, if not harder than I do, right,

(23:00):
and the support. You can't put a price tag on that, Yeah,
you know.

Speaker 2 (23:04):
And it's just that again, that's a balance though, because
in business there's always gonna be things you disagree on,
or maybe a time when you're not in.

Speaker 1 (23:11):
The mood for it, you're trying to shut it off
and you can't.

Speaker 3 (23:14):
Yeah, yeah, it's that way exactly. But you know what
the rule for us is, this is us like we
don't try to stay in no kind of boundary because
it's stressful to try to stay in that boundary versus
just letting it flow and be what it is. And
so we talk business at the dinner table now on
date night, right and in the morning, and the sooner
that I became okay with that, things got easier, okay,

(23:35):
instead of me trying to perfect it.

Speaker 1 (23:38):
What did your therapists say about that.

Speaker 3 (23:40):
Okay, my therapist thinks that it's all my fault, right, yeah, right,
I'm like, it's him. He's like, no, it's how you
process and it's how you like frame it, right. So
I have a trust issue. And every time he says
things and I'm like, you don't know what you're talking about.

(24:01):
I would challenge him, right, and he's like, well, why
the hell you got me over here? If you going
to challenge everything that I say? Okay, And I'm like,
and I have to constantly zip myself up and throw
that out, that narrative out because there is not factual,
It has no basis, there's no evidence of it at all.
It's all made up. And it's crazy how when leadership

(24:24):
and when you become someone in the world are like
a more responsibility that the things in your childhood show.

Speaker 1 (24:31):
Up right right, absolutely.

Speaker 3 (24:33):
Crazy and you're like, what is this? And then you
got to go back and work on it, you know?

Speaker 2 (24:38):
So, but I mean, you've been working on it amazingly.
And I want to talk about also furthering your knowledge
and education when it comes to business, because I think
that's something important for entrepreneurs. So you can't just run
the business. Now you have to figure out how do
I continue to scale and level up? You know, So
let's talk about certain things that you've done and fellowships, yes,

(24:59):
that you've gotten that have helped you with your business.

Speaker 3 (25:01):
Absolutely. So the first and foremost is the ten Conferences.
If there's any conference that you see that is in
your industry, pay the money, figure out how to get
the money, put on a credit card, and go. I
remember the first conference that I attended was TSP. It's
run by a wonderful entrepreneur by the name of Lamar Tyler,
and he specializes in digital brands, right, And so I
was like, I've never seen anything like this. And it's black,

(25:22):
it's black, and he black, right, And so I went there.
I saw Mike mccallowitz, the author of Profit First Speak,
and I cried, like legit. I was like, I didn't
know that these resources were available for me. So go
set yourself free, learn things at the conferences. Also join masterminds, right,
and so if there's any cohort or other businesses that

(25:45):
are doing what you're doing, or even in different industries, join.
I think a lot of times will kind of ourselves
out and be like, oh, I can't learn nothing from
them Dan in construction or Dan restaurant. You can. And
actually that's the best kind of learning from people who
are not in your industry, right, And so there's that. Also,
a really good recommendation to any kind of business owner

(26:06):
is a Tory Birch Foundation. Yep, yeah, amazing. She accepts
fifty entrepreneurs through her nonprofit every single year. And let
me tell you how good this is. To this day.
I can talk to her staff.

Speaker 1 (26:18):
Wow, that's amazing.

Speaker 3 (26:19):
It's called office hours, okay, And so like her global
head of human resources talking to to try to figure
out how we build this next part of our business
and who I need to hire. She gets on the
phone with me for like thirty minutes and like, I
take notes like a mad woman. It's amazing.

Speaker 2 (26:35):
Yeah, I'm just glad you said that, because people always
need to hear like specific resources, you know, and just
to hear the things that you've done to get you
to the journey where you where.

Speaker 1 (26:44):
You are right now.

Speaker 2 (26:45):
And let's talk about some of when you realize how
successful this business was about to be, because there's always
that point where you're like, wow, this is actually working
because it doesn't happen right away, and a lot of
times the money is getting in that SAIDs you're in
actually spending money.

Speaker 1 (27:02):
Yeah, you know, before you can even break even.

Speaker 2 (27:04):
When you get to that break even point, you're like, oh,
thank you JESUSN got to come out of my pocket. Right,
But so talk to me about when you realize I'm
actually about to make money.

Speaker 3 (27:15):
I think it was twenty eighteen, No, it was twenty seventeen.

Speaker 1 (27:19):
Okay, four years in, yeah, four years in.

Speaker 3 (27:23):
My husband I wanted him to leave Verizon and I
was like, I've gotten this thing kind of far. I
need your help. And he was like, hailton, no, no, no, no,
because he's super risk averse. He's like he's square right, Like,
I'm not coming off of my job to play in
some jewelry with you. And they're like, he's just not
you know. And then so because he's been had a

(27:44):
household and all of that, and he gave me three
goals to reach before he would even consider and I
reached those goals in six months, and I was like,
that was the first moment where I was like, this
is something if you put your pedal to the metal.

Speaker 1 (28:00):
Were the goals?

Speaker 3 (28:00):
So he wanted me to reach a million in sales.

Speaker 1 (28:03):
Okay.

Speaker 3 (28:03):
He wanted me to hire more people, five more people,
and like build out a shipping department because I was
still shipping orders myself.

Speaker 1 (28:09):
Wow.

Speaker 2 (28:10):
Yeah, and that's like the work smarter and not heard
it because that's a lot of work.

Speaker 3 (28:13):
It is.

Speaker 1 (28:14):
Dealing with that alone is a lot okay, and then.

Speaker 2 (28:17):
Turns yeah, but returns but things going to the wrong addresses.

Speaker 1 (28:22):
Yeah, Oh my gosh, this is getting stolen.

Speaker 3 (28:25):
Yes, right, it didn't show up on my doorstep, but
UPS said that it's there. Every got a picture.

Speaker 1 (28:30):
You're in the package, but you didn't get it, okay, right.

Speaker 3 (28:34):
And then he wanted me to just learn more about
leadership because he had management experience.

Speaker 1 (28:38):
Okay.

Speaker 3 (28:39):
So that's when I turned.

Speaker 1 (28:40):
Those are great And then you reached him and then
he was like uh right.

Speaker 3 (28:44):
He was like, women, I thought it would take you
years to do this, and I was like, no, I'm
serious about bringing you over and I'm serious about Sassy
Jones what to do. And that was the first moment
that I was like, girl, this is.

Speaker 1 (28:57):
Something that's dope.

Speaker 2 (28:58):
Now when you talk about your sons, right and your kids,
because you do have twins. Yes, sometimes as a mom
especially they were very young when you first started this,
women can feel guilty. People never ask men like, oh,
do you have kids? Do you have a family?

Speaker 1 (29:13):
How do you do it?

Speaker 2 (29:14):
But they do ask women that all of the time.
So talk to me about that balance because there are
a lot of people who are mothers who are trying
to be an entrepreneur who want to do that, but
they feel like restricted because of that.

Speaker 3 (29:27):
Yeah, for sure, and it doesn't go away. Can I
just tell you that it gets better and the more
like the older the kids get, I involved them on
what I'm doing, so they actually understand why mommy is
going to go do these things. But the feelings on
the inside of mommy still are there. So let me
just say that they're not as horrible as they used
to be, but they deaf those emotions definitely still do
still exist. The thing about the man woman balance. Okay,

(29:53):
I'm in this group called YPO, right, and have you
ever heard of it? No? So it stands for Young
President's Organization And like the I think the revenue minimum
is fifteen mil annually. Right, Okay, there's a lot of
men in it. There's hardly any there are women, but
it's like maybe twenty five percent women. We need more, right,
And so when I go to certain places or do

(30:15):
certain things, even outside of the group A, I noticed
how many men dominate CEO level, right, and entrepreneurship and
all of that. But if I'm alone, they don't ask
them where their wives are, but they asked me where
my husband is? Right right, They're not asking, well, who
is keeping the kids to the man? Never, they're asking me,

(30:36):
So whe're your kids, we're yours? You know what I mean.
And then just in the business world, I run into
that a lot, even with banking conversations and when we're
trying to do partnerships and things like that. If me
and Keon are in the room, they're looking at Keon.

Speaker 2 (30:55):
Right like speaking like you didn't start this and it's
not called sassy Jones.

Speaker 3 (30:59):
So they're talking to him, right, And I'm just like,
go ahead, bro, you know, like let me know what
you got a question?

Speaker 1 (31:05):
Does your husband notice that too? Or is that something
that he notices it and he hates it?

Speaker 3 (31:10):
Okay, yeah, he does notice it. And I had to
kind of like bring it to his attention because in
the beginning he was completely oblivious.

Speaker 2 (31:17):
Yeah, I do believe that sometimes guys are so and
it's not their fault that they don't notice that those
things are happening because where it's happening to us, and
so they're there and they're just having a conversation not
noticing because that happens to me. Like people will walk
in the room and this has happened to me, not
as much anymore, but when I was first starting out,
they will come in and shake everybody's hand and speak

(31:38):
to everyone. If I'm the only woman, sometimes people don't
even speak to you.

Speaker 3 (31:42):
Nope, they don't, you know, and so you just have
to fight a little harder, you know. But the feminine
energy is just so powerful and like that is a
superpower in and of itself, even in a room full
of men, and it's just like using that because that's
they don't have that right and you can stand oh
yeah yeah without like and.

Speaker 2 (32:02):
Then you also know you have the foundation to be
able to deliver and run it the way that you
need to. Absolutely, that's why it's important. And you do
have a brick and mortar right also in Richmond.

Speaker 3 (32:11):
We do. We have one. We're working on our second.

Speaker 2 (32:14):
Okay, because the brick and mortar is a whole other beast.

Speaker 3 (32:18):
It's so different kind of business.

Speaker 1 (32:20):
So when did you open that store?

Speaker 3 (32:22):
Okay, so back it up because I open one prematurely before.

Speaker 2 (32:26):
I like, Okay, strategy said that because sometimes people need
to understand timing as well.

Speaker 1 (32:31):
But go ahead.

Speaker 3 (32:32):
Yeah, timing is the biggest thing. Like in the beginning
we were talking about like knowing the signs and all
of that. I completely ignore the signs. So I opened
my first store twenty eighteen, right, and no, Strategy just
saw a little spot and was like, didn't do no
research about the location, didn't do nothing. I was like, Oh,

(32:52):
I can afford the rent. Let's go just out here, girl.
Covid came, Oh damn, Covid came. Ain't handle Strategy closed
it right, shut it down right, And I was like,
you know what, my gift was digital? My gift was
e Camm when I came off the road, off the
trade shows. It was to pivot to digital. Right, So
if you're gonna do something, make sure that you've researched

(33:14):
it incredibly well to the point where it's near im
possible to fail. Right, And so open that store, closed
it and then really built up what everyone knows Sassy
Jones to be at this phase of the juncture. And
then so in twenty twenty two, that's when we open
our grand re reopening of our flagship store in Richmond, Virginia.

Speaker 2 (33:34):
All right, And how did you know that that was
a time? Because brick and mortar, like you said, it's
a whole nother piece. I have a brick and mortar
from my coffee. Coffee uplifts people and that is really
dealing with like daily making sure employees are doing what
they're supposed to do.

Speaker 1 (33:48):
You don't want to.

Speaker 2 (33:49):
Get those bad reviews. You know what made you decide
to do that? And how is that different for people
who are listening that are maybe thinking like I want to,
you know, own a store and open up a store.

Speaker 3 (33:59):
Well, first you can, but just do you research. Right, So,
we had a lot of digital backing, like data to
say where we should open, and I wouldn't have been
able to get that data if we did not pivot
and invest in digital. How I did, right because we
could actually drill it down by zip code to see
what locations are performing the best based on who's already
shopping on mine, right, And so if they're doing well

(34:21):
in that city. There's something about the city they come
to that store. Yeah, they just need eliminade. Stand that's it, right,
And so we're following the data on the next few
buildouts of retail. So that's what we're doing. I can't
say when about October?

Speaker 1 (34:36):
Okay, all right, that sound yeah.

Speaker 3 (34:38):
It's right around the corner.

Speaker 1 (34:39):
I love that. Yes, yes, yes, yes, all right.

Speaker 2 (34:42):
Now let's get to where we are now with so
Tabitha and how you actually even ended up, you know,
hosting one of her bookstops on a tour, interviewing her.

Speaker 3 (34:53):
Yeah, so that was Tabitha put up a post that
she was going on a book tour and I was like,
geez us, this is amazing. How can we support it? Right?
I DMed her and she had already been a customer
and I didn't realize it because she was shopping under Aliens. Okay,
and my my marketing direct my best friend caught it.
She was like right, And so I was like, all right,

(35:16):
we're gonna slide in her DM. Y'all don't be afraid
to like d end people. They may not respond, but
this is how we got the opportunity. So I said
to Tabitha, let's dress you for the book tour and
she was like, she sent me back a voice note.
She was like, babe, she said, that's so sweet, but
we got we got other things, but you can still

(35:36):
send it. I was like, but I hear her yes,
ask me to say that right, right, So we sent it.
Didn't hear anything. They returned some stuff, sizes that she
couldn't fit. I didn't hear anything concrete until she was
going on Good Morning America the morning and I got
a text at six am and her logistics manager was like,

(35:59):
watch Good Morning in America this one.

Speaker 2 (36:00):
I was like, uh oh, what we got to do.

Speaker 3 (36:04):
So that's how it started. And then that's where it began.
She didn't ask me to host anything, right, and then
so she wore the things. I think she was like
two stops in maybe and I was like, god, I said,
I would be amazing to host Richmond. I don't know
who she has. And at that point she had already
had a host because there was only one show, so

(36:27):
I wouldn't even have had an opportunity. She had the dude,
it was done. I was like, God, I could really
do this and was it? Two days later I got
the phone call Wow asking me to host and they
were adding a second show in my city.

Speaker 1 (36:45):
That is amazing.

Speaker 3 (36:46):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (36:47):
When I tell you and I say this other time,
God be looking out for me. Yes, us, you know
it tastes good.

Speaker 2 (36:54):
Like every time you think things are sliding backwards, something
positive happens to keep you pushing forward.

Speaker 3 (36:59):
Right, And the work is to like actually see that
and not be so jaded in like all of the
shortcomings and all the trials and all the tribulations that
you can actually see positivity when it's right in front
of you, so you can continue to be encouraged.

Speaker 2 (37:13):
Now that brand has been self funded, right, Yeah, and
it's still self funded to this point. Yeah, have you
been thinking about getting funding?

Speaker 1 (37:21):
Like what are the plans for that?

Speaker 2 (37:22):
Because I also know how difficult it is from what
I have to do deal with now, and as you're
expanding into more locations, is that something that you're thinking about?

Speaker 3 (37:31):
Yeah? Absolutely, right now, it's like unnecessarily difficult, right, That's
that's what I say. And like all the people around
me are like you should you need it's time? Sure,
it's time, It's passed with time. Yeah, I'm like, no,
one hundred percent own, but I am considering and vetting
and like, I'm gonna start with the board of advisors

(37:53):
first to see how that goes. Because for me, I'm
not an entrepreneurship to like grow super rapidly, even though
we did, like I am, so if we are at
this revenue level for the rest of my life, I'm
actually okay because for me, it's about the enjoyment, the freedom,
the quality of life, and the impact from the women that.

Speaker 1 (38:10):
We serve because it's not just the products.

Speaker 2 (38:13):
No, it's also empowering and there's a story behind the products,
and there's something like I said, you know, I've been
a mess right now moving I put these earrings on
today and this bus lipstick. Immediately you just feel, you know,
a little better from doing what you have to do.
And then even seeing your outfit and you coming in here,
the bright colors, the patterns, it is something that I

(38:34):
feel like, looks amazing, Like when I see it, it
just instantly makes you feel like more tearful.

Speaker 3 (38:41):
Yeah, And that's the whole psychology behind it. You know.
It's like even on the days where you don't feel
like wearing color or you don't feel like put yourself
together do it anyway, because it does have a trickle
down effect, and like maybe around three o'clock you look
at yourself in the mirror, it's like, I'm glad I
did that. You know, you have the opportunity to reinspire yourself.
The other thing is when you look good, you tend

(39:01):
to feel good, you know, and then you tend to
do great things, you know. So it's just like it's
an art just to put put a little something. And
if you got on you.

Speaker 2 (39:09):
Outside and somebody's like, oh, I like your whatever, and
you're like.

Speaker 3 (39:13):
You know, like we counted as like form of self
expression in the form of self care, and like for me,
it's just what I'm feeling on the inside. I just
this is art, you know what I mean, Like the
colors and all, it's just art, right, yeah, all.

Speaker 2 (39:24):
Right, So yeah, so we were talking about, so you
are thinking about as you expand, it might be time
because funding your own business I'm going through it now too,
is not an easy thing to do, especially when you're
trying to expand and you're like, man.

Speaker 1 (39:36):
I got this to take care of this, to take
care of this.

Speaker 2 (39:39):
And it also allows you to have more of a
marketing budget, budget for other things and not have to
be so stressed about all of that.

Speaker 3 (39:46):
Right because imagine what I think about is imagine if
you could do all the things that you're doing right now,
but you're not stressed about the daily revenue right right because.

Speaker 2 (39:54):
Money is a stressor What made you decide to start
doing therapy?

Speaker 3 (39:59):
Oh my goodness, I noticed when did I start? I
noticed that things were showing up. Remember I was saying
things were showing up in my leadership that I was
like this, why isn't it okay that you share? Like
why do you have an issue delegating and like constantly
taking things back because they didn't do it? Why can't

(40:19):
you just train forward and empower that person to the
point where they get it? You know? Another part of
that is that also the anxiety being so afraid that
your cars will fall if you do give it to
that person they don't. It's like, I can't afford for
my cars to fall out, so I'm gonna have to
do it. And then you end up clinching and you
can't receive more because your hands are full because you've

(40:41):
clinched so much. And for me, it's like, Lord, I'm
just ready to release and be able to trust more
and be able to grow my team more and be
able to not worry so much. And so for me,
it was like I need some help with this, Like
help me I lay on account. It's not I'm fine

(41:03):
to do it, you know, I just try to get better.
It's like recognizing your issh owning it right.

Speaker 1 (41:10):
Absolutely.

Speaker 2 (41:12):
Man, Well you have had some amazing things happening for
you. You also have your foundation. And I was reading an
article also about how you actually built two education centers
and Kenya. So can you discuss that because I want
to make sure we talk about as and I feel
like this is important as you get to the point
where you're making money, because part of wanting to make
money is wanting to be able to help other people. Yeah,

(41:33):
you know, and you've done that, so can you talk
about that.

Speaker 3 (41:35):
Yeah, it's about impact, like you have to be making
a difference in someone's life in all the things that
you're doing. So I went on my fortieth to Kenya.
We went to Masamara and it was just a pleasureful vacation.
I was not expecting to do what I did. Right.
We visited this little school and the children there were
so amazing. They were learning some of the same things

(41:56):
that my boys were learning. But you could see that
there was a huge poverty gap, right, Like you could
just see it. And so I was talking to the
principal and I asked her. I was like, so, what
can we do, like what you need? She was like books,
And I was like no, but like, how can we
really make a big, big difference? And we went in

(42:16):
her office and she had this coffee book on her table,
and we hadn't come up with what we could do yet.
At this point, I was just still okay with sending
them school books, right, And then I go to flip
in this coffee book, this book, and I noticed that
all the people who who had contributed to that little
school were white, and there were and we were in Africa.

(42:36):
And I asked her and I was like, these this
is it. She was like yeah. I was like, well,
let's change that. Maybe we can build something together. Because
she was also telling me about how the girls are
starting to get like toxicity like infections from ministrual poverty
because they're cutting like shirt sleeves off dirty shirt sleeves

(42:56):
and using them as maxi pads, right, and so getting
all these infections, and so I'm like, well, and also
teenage pregnancy because they're housed together, right, And so I'm like, well,
can we maybe build something where the girls are separate
and then we could stock it with like feminine hygiene products.
And she was like sure, you.

Speaker 1 (43:18):
Know, she was like, let's take that happen right.

Speaker 3 (43:21):
Right, yeah, right, And then we figure out how to
do it and ended up doing it. And the goal
was only to build one, and we ended up building two.

Speaker 2 (43:31):
That's amazing because there's so many things that we take
for granted that you can go that's a life changing
trip for you.

Speaker 1 (43:37):
Yeah, you know.

Speaker 2 (43:37):
On your fortieth I always say like one of the
main things of wanting to be successful in business is
wanting to be able to help other people, and so
that is so dope. I just wanted people to see
everything that you've been doing. You came up here. I
know there's so much more to what you have going on,
but shop Sassy Jones, please make sure that you do it.
And is there anything we missed that when you want

(43:59):
to make sure, I mean, I know there's a lot,
but I mean.

Speaker 3 (44:01):
I think we hit on all the hot spots. Angela
and I just want to just recognize you and like
big you up for the work that you do because
like having me here as a woman on entrepreneur and
continually doing this Wednesday or whenever ends up airing, continually
giving others a platform to share their story you have.
You probably have no idea how many people you're blessing.

Speaker 1 (44:22):
No, I love it.

Speaker 2 (44:22):
And what I'm look and what I love to see
is when we have somebody up here and I only
have people up here who I think are amazing, right,
and you know, I want to see that return with
people going to shop Sassy Jones. You do amazing already,
but I want to even like see the impact that
that has because I know as an entrepreneur myself how
difficult it is. You know at certain times and people

(44:45):
automatically think, oh, she's got a brand, she's got this
going on, she's good, but you have a lot more
to do it and a lot of times there's you know,
down down period and yeah, so you know whatever is
Like the clothing is amazing, I'm gonna be wearing my
stuff too. So hopefully I'm waiting for a right time
to wear my outfit because I feel like it's so special.

Speaker 1 (45:07):
I don't want to just wear it to.

Speaker 3 (45:08):
Work when it'll hit you. Whenever it hits you, let it.

Speaker 1 (45:12):
But make sure you'll shop Sassy Jones.

Speaker 2 (45:14):
And the jewelry, when I tell you, is real statement pieces,
like you could wear one of the necklaces and just
wear like a wife beater and some jeans and it's
gonna make your whole outfit change.

Speaker 1 (45:25):
And I love things like that.

Speaker 3 (45:26):
The jewelry is the outfit.

Speaker 2 (45:27):
Yeah, yeah, exactly where you can just be playing here,
but you put that on and bow It's like, wow,
where did you get that? So I love that and
I love to have you up here. And I know
we're gonna end up doing some more things together in
the future.

Speaker 1 (45:39):
I already know.

Speaker 3 (45:39):
Yeah, I can feel it too.

Speaker 2 (45:41):
All right, Well, thank you guys so much. And again,
like she told you, listen to the radio and follow
that voice.

Speaker 1 (45:47):
I'm gonna use that Sassy Jones.

Speaker 2 (45:49):
Make sure you guys follow Charise Jones and so many
gems today.

Speaker 1 (45:53):
Definitely got to have you back, absolutely all right, It's
way up