People of Northwest Arkansas
The People of Northwest Arkansas is an award winning podcast celebrating the power of storytelling by providing a platform for individuals living in Northwest Arkansas to share their unique and inspiring life experiences. We believe that every person has a story worth telling, and through our podcast, we aim to amplify these voices through thoughtful interviews and engaging storytelling.
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People of Northwest Arkansas
From Corporate to Community: Jasmine Hudson’s Entrepreneurial Impact
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As co-founder of Jazzy Jae NWA, Black-Owned NWA and Black Paper Party, Jasmine Hudson's entrepreneurial spirit has consistently identified and filled gaps in the market. What makes Jasmine's story particularly fascinating is how she's leveraged business expertise from corporate America while staying true to her community's needs. Her ventures don't just solve problems; they create joy, connection, and representation where it's desperately needed. That is how she and her business partners landed a deal on Shark Tank!
Ready to be inspired by an entrepreneur who knows no barriers? Listen now and discover how sometimes the most meaningful businesses are built by simply asking, "Why not me?"
https://www.buzzsprout.com/2241892/support
Jasmine's path to Northwest Arkansas
Speaker 1Daniel , have you been watching Shark Tank lately ?
Speaker 2I have not watched it lately , but I have watched it before .
Speaker 1So it's one of my favorite shows and actually my kids are really into it now and it's funny because they're 7 and 11 , and they're like , you know , depending on who , depending on who's pitching , they're like what ? I can't believe they'd ask so much , or how has their company valued it ? You know , they're like learning valuations and things , and I love just watching their brains work with . You know , just getting a taste for business , yeah , terms and lingo . But and I always thought it was like to make it on that show , it's probably , I mean , you have to be picked to be on it . And so .
Speaker 1I think , whatever they pick , not only is it gotta be like a really interesting company entertaining , but I think just to get there and make a deal is like one of the coolest things ever .
Speaker 2I agree , I think I think I need to show my kids this , this show as well . I think they would find it really interesting and get them away from watching . You know mr beast who's buying macaroni and cheese at like a hundred thousand dollars a plate . So you know , we need to come back to reality a little bit and talk about what , what is real value in this world .
Speaker 2Well , I'm really excited because our guest today she has been on shark tank and so we have in the studio today jasmine hudson , and she has done so many amazing things here in northwest arkansas . I'm super excited to have her here . She is the co-founder of Jazzy J , which is a social media channel on Instagram . They're content creators . I met them back in like 2015 , 2016 , here in Bentonville and they were just going around showcasing just the different events , different things that were happening , people to be connected with . It was really fun to watch their Instagram following grow and just what they were doing and how much they were pouring into the community as well as she's the co-founder of Black-owned NWA Northwest Arkansas and the co-founder of Black Paper Party , which was featured on Shark Tank , and so she is a super bright personality . We're super excited to have her here in the studio . Oh , and she was also on HGTV Fixer , fabulous .
Speaker 1Oh yeah that's right .
Speaker 2Yes , which we had Jenny on the show . So there's a connection there and just seeing parts of her life in that show and then just all the connections and the things that she's doing here in Northwest Arkansas Welcome , jasmine , we're so excited .
Speaker 4Hello , super excited to be here today . Thank you so much for the invitation .
Speaker 2You're welcome . Well , we love to start the show off with our favorite question that we well , it's not really our favorite question , but it's our question . To kick things off is we ask people how did you end up in northwest arkansas ? What brought you here ?
Speaker 4cool . Yes , guess , guess what on earth would bring me to bentonville , arkansas . Does it rhyme with my mart ? Yes , exactly so . I was a student at Tennessee State University and Walmart actually recruits from a conference that I was attending called the Thurgood Marshall Leadership Institute . And what's funny about that is so the Thurgood Marshall Leadership Institute they take like the top whatever percent of the HBCUs historically black colleges and universities and they created the conference . Well , walmart had a reception room for the top of the top and somehow , some way , I didn't get invited and I was just like how ?
Speaker 4dare them this doesn't make any sense to me , so I'm just gonna , you know , go anyway . So I kind of just because my friend chica . She got invited and I was just like chica and I are in all of the same classes , so I'm just gonna like walk in with her and , when you like , keep your head up straight eyes focused . You're nice and pleasant . Maybe they won't say anything , so I walk in there immediately .
Speaker 4The organizer of the conference was just like Jasmine , we literally see you like you're not on the list . And I was just like you're not gonna make a scene in front of Walmart , are you ? And he was just like are you serious ? I'm just like yeah , so let me be in here . So he was just like well , why are you here ? And I'm just like I want to get a job . So he actually pulled an HR manager that was there off to the side and said Jasmine appears to really want a job with Walmart . And she was just like oh , okay , let's interview right now , pulled me into the hallway and started ripping off . You know , tell me about a time when and all of that stuff , of course I killed it , period . So then we got pulled out into Bentonville to do another series of interviews . Got through all of those and then got recruited , so been here since 2013 .
Speaker 4But yeah , I'm just like how dare you not invite me to that room ?
Speaker 1I love that energy I love that you have to .
Speaker 2I love , I love that women empowerment , just movement of like , yeah , put yourself in the room , get in that room because you belong in that room Literally , why not me ? Look at all you've done since then . I mean seriously .
Speaker 1Hey , don't take no for an answer . You're welcome .
Speaker 2And mic drop Period , but we're going to continue on because we want to hear more about your story . So let's start at . You got here , you're here in Northwest Arkansas and you're working for Walmart , and a couple years in , you decide to start Jazzy J , and so tell us a little bit about how that began that journey for you yeah , so Jazzy , j and WA , so I'm kind of the jazz and there's J , so Jaron Merchant , shout out to my best bud .
Speaker 4So we started the page together
Building Jazzy J and Black-Owned NWA
Speaker 4and essentially it was because we were always trying to find things to do in the area , and it got to the point where people kept asking us well , what are you guys doing this weekend ? To the extent that we just decided to make an Instagram page sharing the things that we're getting into and for a time , every single day , we will put everything there was to do that day in our stories . That was like a long time ago , but we became kind of just like known for ways to get plugged into the community . So that's really how we got started . It was just a chronicle of two black , single , millennial women trying to make their way through Northwest Arkansas and everything that comes with it .
Speaker 2Yes , yeah , west arkansas and everything that comes with it . Yes , yep , yeah . And then was that channel or that instagram . What launched you into black owned ?
Speaker 4yeah yeah , exactly . So what would happen ? There is that a lot of people that were moving into the area specifically of the black diaspora . They would ask us things like well , where are you getting your hair done ? Who's your you know , general practitioner ? Where do you go to church , like all of this stuff . And it became so frequent and so constant that we decided to create Black Owned NWA . So with Black Owned NWA , you can look in our highlights right now . It'll have a highlight for barbers , a highlight for churchesbers , a highlight for churches , a highlight for doctors and mental health professionals . There's a highlight for events and that we keep that one regularly updated . So that's how black owned nwa came about . Jazzy j and wa is more so , just general , engaging with the community at large . And then black owned nwa is about specifically the black experience that's so awesome .
Speaker 2I love that that exists here . I think that that there was a need clearly for it , for sure , and how have you seen that make a positive impact on this community ?
Speaker 4Oh my gosh . Ok , so a lot of ways . So one , it's just during our expo . So we started off with the Instagram page and then it grew into the physical space , which is our expo that we have at least once a year and we have over 65 vendors and about 2,500 guests that come . And , from an impact perspective , a lot of our vendors especially if they're product based excuse me , I know one was saying that she made a month worth of her revenue in four hours . So from an economical standpoint , there's that . And a lot of people found their chiropractor , their mental health professional , their all of that through the expos . And then what's interesting is that it's so funny Leading up to the expo , we always get a group of people that will email us and say do I have to be black to attend ?
Speaker 4No , like , like , first of all , your money's green , we want everyone to come , okay , but two , it's not , it's not just for that , it's about just exposing , you know , small business owners to the community , like any other market .
Speaker 4So one of the things that also really stands out are moms of either like multicultural kids or like those families that kind of adopt kids of the black diaspora , and they're trying to find ways to make sure their baby sees themselves in the community and it's really hard to do that when black people are five percent of the population . Right , so they come to these expos or they plug into the instagram page to make sure that you know , like , I may not know how to braid , so you find your hair braider and so your baby has , you know , super cute school pictures and doesn't come back , you know , with her bows like standing on top of her head . So we've gotten several people that have emailed us , dm'd us or come up to us directly through the expos just sharing how much the page has meant to them , how they've found community with each other and it's just been awesome ever since we started .
Speaker 2That is so awesome . I love that that exists here . I feel like it needs to exist in a lot of places . I have a friend out in California that just recently adopted two girls from Africa and she's like I need help and I was like you need to reach out .
Speaker 2I said reach out to people in your church , find out . And I was kind of giving her example of what you guys do here and I was like get connected and find out how to do their hair properly , how to engage in their lives in the ways that they need because of who they are and where they come from , and so it was really encouraging .
Speaker 4She was like , oh yeah , that's a really good idea and I was like everyone is so welcoming and it's it's so nuanced that I'm just like I don't want the baby to walk around with their hair looking crazy . So any way that I can help you know what I mean I'm here so yeah , for sure .
Speaker 2Yes , I think that's super important . How has that business impacted you personally ?
Speaker 4It's just really rewarding . So , like most nonprofits , you don't , you're not , you're not in it for the money . Yeah , right , there's no , there's no like real , like monetary gain . It's really for the community and the way it's impacted me is just through those testimonials from the community and ways that everyone has been able to plug in and find their sense of home and belonging in the region . So so long as they feel a little bit better about living in the area , I feel like I've done my job .
Speaker 2That's really awesome . I love that . I was kind of like resonating with that thinking , kind of like podcasting . We make no money , which is okay . We're not in it for making money , we're in it to you , you know . Give a platform to voices and people here .
Speaker 2That live in this community and I and I love that , that the response from people
Creating Black Paper Party
Speaker 2in our community is they get to learn about northwest arkansas through the lives of people that live here and it's it's been fun . So I'm I'm super excited that you're on your show and I've known you for a while and I , like you know , watch you from afar , sometimes have some good conversations with you , always like loving all your jewelry and your earrings and your style and your vibe .
Speaker 2So let's , let's kind of transition into making money so let's talk about what you know , like when you think back . Like what ? How did black paper party get its start and when did you realize it had the potential to become something big ?
Speaker 4Sure . So Black Paper Party started in 2020 . And essentially , the country , we , everyone knows what was going on in 2020 . So the country is locked down , shut in because of COVID , so starved for you know what I mean A human interaction . And then through the summer , there was just kind of a series , to be honest , of police killings . So the black , you know community is kind of reeling from all of that , in addition to not having a way to physically connect .
Speaker 4So we were just like , okay , how do we insert joy back into the community and how do we use our kind of like collective talents , almost like the Avengers or something , to pull something together ? So it's a kind of a brainchild between myself . So it's a kind of a brainchild between myself , madhya Willis , who's our CEO , and Jaron Merchant , our awesome co-founding team . So we decided that everyone loves Christmas and we were just like , well , so long as you celebrate , if you celebrate Christmas , you love Christmas . So it's this summer , so we have enough time between summer and christmas to develop something . And we were just like let's try wrapping paper and some ornaments . So we really just created a couple of of patterns .
Speaker 4So jay is an amazing illustrator . She's worked for the likes of disney , sesame street , pbs kids . So she created these wonderful characters that we call our Claus family and Madia put them in print and pattern and we put them live on Zazzle and it did really well on a print-on-demand site . So we were just like , oh , there's something here and all of us are ex Marmart . So we were just like we actually possess the skill sets to not have to do this on print on demand . We know how to source , we know how to go like actually buy products you know and fulfill them right . So the very next year we decided to do just that and we started exponentially growing ever since but that's cool .
Speaker 1You started on zazzle because I I'm a member . I love zazzle for like cards and usually they're like my photo , christmas card or whatever . But I have seen the section where you can buy from different like you know yeah that's so cool .
Speaker 2Yeah , yeah , that's how we got our start and I love that you're like use those skills that you learned in your job oh yeah , you're like build your business .
Speaker 1You're like I know how to do this .
Speaker 2Actually , yes , that's so funny . We were talking earlier before we started the episode of mill robbins , and I was actually just listening to an episode that she put out with jay shetty yesterday I was listening to her on the way here , like two days ago , yeah that's so funny and he was talking about the whole idea of using what you've learned you know if you were a teacher before , if you were a mom before like using those skills that you learn in those jobs to start pouring those into the things you love , and that's exactly what you did and I love exactly this feels
Speaker 1so full circle my brain right now . And you were taking those steps , even if it was for like a nonprofit . Yeah , the happenings , right Events , things happening , and then Black-owned . So boom , yeah , you're just like .
Speaker 4And then I mean to build off of that , like while I was at Walmart , of course , I mean I was a buyer but I also was engaged with the African-American Business Resource Group . So , ironically , I led events . You know what I mean . I planned Black History Month , I planned , you know , martin Luther King Jr Day , some associate engagement activities , so it directly spilled over into the community . So a lot of what I did at Walmart and the skill sets that I was able to develop , and I would say in a very , you know , kind of insulated and safe space , allowed me to then jump out on my own and do it in the community so I watched your pitch on Shark Tank and you guys you look calm , cool and collected and confident .
Speaker 1Yeah , and you just like nailed . You nailed the . You know the pitch and I was curious what that felt like on the inside . Yeah , did that feel different ? Were you nervous ? What's ?
Speaker 4so funny is that , and I hate . They need to sponsor this episode . Yeah , they should .
Speaker 4Yeah , you're just like we keep to walmart walmart and shantay seriously because the reason why we actually felt very comfortable up there outside of the boom mic , being like right above our heads , was it was really what we call at Walmart . It's called a walkthrough . So a walkthrough is when you stand in front of your EVP , svp , your boss , and you're giving your strategy , and then it turns into whoever else is in the meeting could be you . You know , 10 people plus they're firing off questions . So it's the really the exact same environment , but you don't have a boom mic .
Speaker 4You know what I mean and the camera crew , you know facing you yeah , no pressure right that was it , and then we also practiced ad nauseum it was literally we used to call it like stop dropping pitch , so like if someone's just walking , you're just like pitch , and then you just go right into it . And we started like even memorizing each other's lines because we're just like , if someone freezes , we gotta keep going . So we yeah , we practice the whole lot that's smart .
Speaker 2That is a nugget of information .
Speaker 1If you are listening to this , stop dropping pitch I love that so much well , and something I thought stop dropping pitch , go just kidding it does happen , because when I meet people in the community they'll be like well , what's it about ? There's my pitch . You have to know it's elevator pitch and you can only hold people . Well , nowadays , people's attention span , I don't know , because of tiktok yeah , two . Seconds and it's Two seconds . What did you say ?
Speaker 2It used to be like nine seconds and then seven , and it just kept getting smaller and smaller .
Speaker 1But a piece of information I found interesting in your pitch
Shark Tank pitch and business challenges
Speaker 1that you mentioned was you mentioned that the black community spends 15% more .
Speaker 2Christmas .
Speaker 1I was like , wow , that's interesting . And you're like , and here's all my products .
Speaker 4This is the data , uh-huh , yeah , and that's , I mean , that's the biggest thing , and we know that the sharks love is just being data led and driven to make it make sense , because also with our products it can be difficult to pitch it , because the barrier to entry is not super high .
Speaker 4It's not the latest technology that you would have to hire a team of coders to , like you know , figure out . It's really just it's illustrations , it's design , and while it's very , very cute , someone can come along . So we're just like why is it us ? Why is it important ? Why now ? And being able to convey that in the way that we did .
Speaker 1So is that kind of where the challenges come in for you guys is how to keep it ?
Speaker 4yeah yep , how to keep it fresh ? How to so ? One of the things that's unique about us is that , if you look at our designs every single year , we come out with at least four to five themes oh okay , brand new themes every single year . You normally do not see the exact same wrap year over year , unless the it's at a retailer , and they were just like .
Speaker 4We want this back yeah but normally it's a brand new look and feel every single year and that's how you stay relevant and that's where , kind of like , our secret sauce comes in , because we're so in tune with the black diaspora and community that we're able to pull upon not just the regular trends that's happening at , like fashion week or the pantone color of the year and all of that , but we're also able to undergird it with the actual black experience and nuance . And that's where we differentiate ourselves from our competition , because while they can take a santa and , you know , paint him brown , they don't know that there's a smirk that you know what I mean . Jay gives our characters that you're just like wait a minute , I know that smirk , that's my uncle's smirk . You know what I mean . So there's really slight tweaks . That makes it feel a lot more familiar and you're just like this is a black owned brand that galvanizes , kind of , our community around our , our company I like knowing that .
Speaker 2I think that's important and valuable because I have noticed in her illustrations that there is something .
Speaker 1It's unique .
Speaker 4Yeah , it's cool , though it's fun it's cute , yeah , and if you go into the market , so what's interesting is that a lot of our competition they remove the face entirely . So a lot of products that you will see that aren't you know , aren't black paper party , but they're still trying to be relevant to the black community . It'll just be almost either like a silhouette or it'll just be a face with literally no care .
Speaker 4No , no characterizations I know what you're talking , yeah yeah , and it'll just be very inspirational words and all that stuff , cute design , but they can't figure out the face , so they're just like we're going to erase it . You know what I mean . So while that's an aesthetic and some people really do like it , there's others that are just like those times when we get those emails where the little boy is holding up the stocking right next to his face and he's just like it looks like me and the mom had to take a picture and send it to us right next to his face and he's just like it looks like me and the mom like had to take a picture and send it to us .
Speaker 4So there's that piece that we really want to share and have our customers resonate with is actually being able to see themselves and not just like something that's themselves , ish , without a face , but literally looking into the eyes , looking into the smirk , looking into the like , the twink , snows a little bit , to see that that's them .
Speaker 2That's awesome . What part of you is represented in black paper party ?
Speaker 4but part of me . So I identify most with our character , aunt holly . So aunt holly is the single rich auntie we call her single all the way , ready to jingle all the way , ready to mingle all the way . She's the one who catches flights , not feelings . We love her . So she , she comes in town , she showers the kids with this is my sister too literally this is listen , aunt holly is that girl .
Speaker 4So she comes in town , she spends all the money on the gifts , gives all the the kids the sugar , and then she'll just , you know , fly off to wherever she's going . Yeah , cabo for for christmas . So that is aunt holly and I resonate with her deeply .
Speaker 1So that's how I feel , as though I manifest yeah I think you and my sister would be good friends , because that's how she's like .
Speaker 4Paris is my new personality now period I literally just got from mexico and you can't tell me nothing . I feel great , I'm sun-kissed and everything I love that's amazing .
Speaker 1I love that .
Speaker 2I love that I asked that question because I think it gives such a great insight .
Speaker 1Yeah , yeah , right , right , if you want to . Yeah , if you want to know , me .
Speaker 4We can . We can talk about Holly , we can talk about me .
Speaker 2All of that , all that for sure I love it so much what is one of your proudest moments , like we really did this when we broke seven figures .
Speaker 4Wow yeah that's a congratulations .
Speaker 4We it's hard and what's interesting is that when you come from walmart , you're used to talking really big numbers , right , so it was actually very difficult for us to deprogram and talk about like tens of thousands and like hundreds of thousands and we're just like we need the and it's actually it's cool in a sense that we're so used to talking such big numbers because we're not scared of big numbers . Yeah , so we have colleagues that are also entrepreneurs that are actually terrified to do , like , either big investments or make big bets because of the risk , right , and because we were so used to looking at . You know my I was 25 when I first started in merchandising at walmart and my pno was 250 million dollars wow you know what I mean .
Speaker 4Yeah , yeah so you know , a million . It's not a rounding error , just like I digress , but it's just like . At that point , from a percent to total perspective , it doesn't seem to be as much . So we immediately actually expected to hit seven figures very , very quickly , but it turned into a grind to get there . So we really appreciate the journey that that it took for us to get there and we appreciate it all the more . But that's why it was so such a proud moment for us when we hit it , because it was a slug to get there get there .
Speaker 4It really was , and I think there's a . I'll hold it for the one of the next questions . But yeah , we'll talk about the slug part for sure , because we should have hit it before then .
Speaker 2But oh , yeah , well , I mean , I think that that's really cool , coming from that background of walmart and having that experience like being able to see like I would imagine that that makes you better at your job at walmart , having gone through that experience oh yeah , oh , it's so funny .
Speaker 4I say this all the If something ever happens and I just so happen to have to go back into , you know , the merchandising world as a buyer , I'm going to be one .
Speaker 1Yes you are yes you are yes , you are yeah , can you , can you go ?
Speaker 2back into that and let us pitch to you .
Speaker 1Literally , and let us pitch to you literally like seriously and I'm just like , and for those listening , I'm just like bad as in good , I'm gonna be a good .
Speaker 4No , I yeah yeah , yeah , but I'm just oh my gosh , because there's so many things where , during everything from vendor setup to item setup to cash flow , to like all of the inner workings of just being a vendor or just being an entrepreneur that has a business in general , a lot of the questions that I would get asked as a buyer by my suppliers or challenges they would like pose to me . It all makes sense now and certain things I just honestly didn't understand and I was a younger buyer at the time too , so it probably would have come with more experience . But there were certain things I was just like but you just got to get it done . You're just like , actually it's quite literally not possible . And when some of my suppliers would say that I would , just you know , I'm thinking they're being difficult , or I think they're like it's not true and they're just kind of pushing back and it's because I'm young and I don't understand , I'm just like no , no , literally , that wasn't possible . What you were asking , that's not a .
Speaker 2Thing .
Speaker 4So , yeah , I feel like I would be . Oh , I would be so good , I know I would .
Speaker 2So basically you just need to hire Jasmine . No , I think you should do masterclass .
Speaker 4Yeah , that's what I was thinking . Actually , I'm in the process of someone here books them or some .
Speaker 1Our friend here records them for people . Really , brian with Go Rogue , because we had another guest , that's a photographer that was interested in doing masterclass because he just kept getting asked questions . And so Brian , our friend at Go Rogue , he records masterclass .
Speaker 4Listen , give me the contact information I'm always being asked about .
Speaker 1You know Well , you just sounded like I'm like okay , I'm learning , I know .
Speaker 2My wheels are turning . Masterclass is next .
Speaker 4My wheels are turning , too People would love to hear that off air , we're gonna talk for sure , there's so many learnings and I love it and another thing too what's so interesting about just going back to talking about the learnings ? That's what helps us , because we're convinced that one day we're going to just write a new york times just like bestseller right right , so we're not going through all of this for nothing , right ?
Speaker 4yes , so we're . We're going to write an amazing book one day , and that's actually how we get through a lot of our challenging times and adversity . So when something super crazy happens , we're just like oh , finally , okay , this is the page turner part of the book , because people don't really want to listen to all of the like successes and you're just like oh yeah blah , blah , blah , blah , blah .
Speaker 4Happy , happy , all of that , but they want to really go through . How did you get through it ? What was your mental state during that time ? You know , what resources did you pull upon to get through it ? So those are the really meaty parts . So we actually think of our challenges on like so how are we going to write this part ? So , okay , the next decision has to be like a really good decision , because that's like at least five pages of this book , yeah so , and we always get through it and always works out . But it helps us reframe versus get really bogged down and sad and discouraged by what's happening yeah or defeated by what's happening .
Speaker 4We're just like okay , cool . So we're in chapter five and it was like what was it two years ago ? Oh , it was about a six month period and that chapter is literally called listen to black women .
Speaker 4We're just like if you would just listen yeah , just listen like stop what you're doing because you don't have the answers . If you had the answers , you would have the business already . So listen and then , case by case , we wouldn't get listened to and then some crazy would happen . We're just like I told you so . So it's certain things like that . Um , but yeah , I don't know what this chapter is called . What was it two months ago ? The chapter ?
Speaker 1was really ah , please , please , actually name it . That , yeah , please name the chapter , that .
Speaker 4what is happening ? What's happening ? Oh my gosh , oh my , that's great .
Speaker 2This is kind of a good time to transition to like . My next question that I have for you is as a black woman entrepreneur in northwest Arkansas , what unique challenges and opportunities have you experienced ?
Speaker 4Let's see so In terms of challenges .
Speaker 4What's interesting is that our our service area is not necessarily northwest arkansas , because we do nationwide right so I would say one of the interesting challenges is that , since there isn't a big enough black population here , when , because we sell walmart right , we sell target , we sell a dollar general , family dollar . But because the population isn't here , our products are not local . So they're in walmart's but they're not in any of these local walmart . How interesting , they're in dollar general , but the closest dollar general . Oh my gosh , I forgot where I went , but it is like it's .
Speaker 1It's over by like neo show it's like oh wow , is that oklahoma or no , it's missouri okay and it's like some random city that I didn't even think like .
Speaker 4Why would our stuff be there versus the college ?
Speaker 4you know , dollar general right it's really , really interesting how , like our stuff isn't traded in the area . So as the owner you know what I mean co-owner of the business if I want to see my stuff in stores I have to drive to Little Rock , tulsa , like somewhere in Missouri . That I'm just like . You know , I really only go when the sun is up , you know things like that . So like that's one thing that I find interesting .
Speaker 4Yeah , but on the flip side , one of our very first investments Well , it was like a loan slash grant , it was both actually came from Startup Junkie through the Kiva program . So we had a zero percent interest loan that was also matched with a grant from the from Startup Junkie , and that was really our first kind of funding that came into the business outside of like friends and family . So really really great resources locally for businesses . I mean our , our council you know our legal representation is right down the street in rogers . What is it ? Novo studio down in rogers . He does a lot of our product photography , a ton of people that we I mean for a time we were working out of the ledger , working really closely with them on a few things so a lot of resources for entrepreneurs here .
Speaker 4And what's funny is that we're able to use those learnings to pull actually into Black owned NWA to share with other entrepreneurs that are here locally what is available . So it's very cyclical and kind of feeds into itself , because we are not just an organization that is here to , you know , feed the community , but we're actually using the resources that you know to leverage . We're not just a messenger , we're a user of it too .
Speaker 2Yeah , you're teaching them to fish 100% .
Speaker 4Yeah , yep , yep so and then also , what is it ? We bank out our vets . They're awesome up there , so yeah , like we're totally northwest arkansas yeah , I love it so much .
Speaker 1You talked about like a quote , like when you're going through the slug times . Can you share that or expand
Black Paper Party's unique value proposition
Speaker 1on what that meant , because I know you're talking about like chapters in your book ?
Speaker 4oh , the slug times , oh yeah , yeah . Well , I mean , there's been so many situations . We're kind of going through a lot of that now too , but in terms of like challenges , one was back when remember , oh gosh , it's probably two years or three years ago when all the ports were shut down yes so we had to figure out how to get our stuff , which we're so tiny , well , you know what I mean .
Speaker 4Compared to that , we have like no leverage to get our things through the supply chain . So we had to figure out what a madsen boat was and it's called . It's like a fast boat , but in order to do that you have to have money to pay for the madsen boat . So there was a time where we didn't even know if we were going to get our products for the holiday season . We had to come out of a lot of money where we didn't even know if we were going to get our products for the holiday season . We had to come out of a lot of money that we didn't know . You know where that was going to come from . Thank you our best . So we had that going on .
Speaker 4There was another year where one of our suppliers ghosted us . It was horrible . So this was the year we were actually supposed to hit seven figures but we couldn't because they literally ghosted . So they didn't ship half of the walmart order . They shipped none of macy's , they shipped none of cvs and they didn't ship our blackpaperpartycom order . It was we . It was a windfall of about 250 000 oh my gosh out the sky like they .
Speaker 4They literally just did not respond did they ever respond ? Never , ever to this day , we're still . We're looking for you . You know who you are , so I'm just like , if you're ever listening to this , yes , but no , seriously it was . It was terrible because you have this promise to your business partners it looks terrible and they're reaching out to you .
Speaker 4They're just like where's our stuff ? We're just like we literally don't know and we're trying to get them to respond . They're just like why ? What do you mean ? You're getting trying to get so-and-so to respond . I'm like they're literally not emailing , calling or we sent people to like their . Yeah , we sent people to their like whatever locations they had on record like public . Everything was like a shell . It wasn't actual locations . It was awful . It cost us one of our accounts actually that we're on the path to getting it back , but luckily we have some really great retail partners and we told them about what was going on . They realized it wasn't our fault . It was really bad , though , because now they've risked sales . They've risked their P&L .
Speaker 4They're not going to see the profit dollars that they were banking on .
Speaker 4So it was really embarrassing and it was really hard pill to swallow because it literally wasn't our fault , but we were accountable right so having to tuck your toe in between your legs and tell your business partners like it's not happening this year , and they're literally like what do you mean ? You should be shipping right now and we're just like we know you're not going to see it . We don't see it . So it was very , very difficult . But yeah , that's the whole slug of it all and at that time that's when we actually came up with the idea of reframing and thinking of everything as a book , because that was extremely defeating and we were just like we're not going to make it . It was , it was just so bad .
Speaker 4So we were just like , okay , if we were to write this up , this would actually be a really good chapter in a book . It would make an awesome viral , you know podcast , like yeah , episode , something like that . So that's how we kind of reframed it and we did get through it . We did end up hitting , you know , a million dollars . We have a whole new business partner . That's been fantastic . So we came out on the other side of it . But it was . It was hard .
Speaker 2Yeah , a little bit . What would that chapter be titled ?
Speaker 4We're going to get you , I'm going to find you . We're coming to get you . Yeah , one way or another , that's exactly what it is .
Speaker 1I'm going to seriously . So that's a real thing , that happens . I only worked in the supplier community like only six months . I dipped my toes , it wasn't for me , but I remember I worked in . I was a sales , like a sales executive or like an account man , right . So I worked with the buyers and we ordered like product packaging for food product and they ghosted us . Isn't that insane ? And it was around the same time . Yeah , I was working with when the port shut down and I learned like that they were short on these frames for like trucks with trucking so they like couldn't even get trucks made . And I was like they're like because of this frame I don't remember what it's called , but I was like how , what , why ?
Speaker 1am I worrying about this right now , but we had someone ghost us and so yeah , and then you have to pay to like airship or oh my gosh and it's crazy just to like make the deadline . So the pressures are like insane .
Speaker 4So I cannot imagine what you went through that's imagine being a tiny business , yeah , and having to tell macy's and walmart and these other places .
Speaker 2Think about it , these are ?
Speaker 4these are companies where you do not get paid , yet all of this is happening and you haven't gotten paid .
Speaker 1It's usually like a three or six months right , so net 30 , net 90 net 120 .
Speaker 4So you are making all these upfront investments and you're not getting paid for another it could be three , to you know , six months after you've shipped them to see the money . So to airship . Where is that money coming from ? Oh yeah , where is ? It huh , what so ?
Speaker 4now we gotta go get you know it's real , yeah or call friends and family or you know , I mean things like that to tie things over , and you never want to be in that position as a business and for us , since we're primarily christmas , we make all of our money in the back half of the year yeah so cash flow was all the way jacked up right , so now what we're doing is expanding oh nice birthdays , you know valentine's day easter mother's Day to smooth it out a bit , but especially as a very , very small business , any kind of unexpected expense like that to where you're air freighting in your goods ?
Speaker 1Oh yeah , and you already .
Speaker 4You didn't bake that into your margin . No , you could be at a loss depending upon how slim you're working . But yeah , not fun , not for the- .
Speaker 1Faint of heart , of heart , no resilience it takes resilience . It takes like sometimes you just like disassociate yeah , and sometimes you don't know until it happens to you , literally , but you guys made it and you made a deal . Did we talk about this ? Who you made a deal with ?
Speaker 4oh yeah barbara shout out to barbara on shark tank .
Speaker 1We had to deal with her she's my favorite , so it's like my favorite yeah yeah , yeah , she's self-made , very , very smart .
Speaker 1Yeah , really cool well yeah , we're impressed with everything you do and I and thank you for sharing those times in your business , because you know everyone . I feel like as a society , we try to like act like perfect , we've got everything figured out , but I really think that it makes you better the fact that you survived it and that now you're thriving and you've made a deal with barbara and , and then seven figures lots of things to celebrate . This is so great , so we want to wrap , but one I just want to ask one kind of like personal question , because you know , like , like it's it's .
Speaker 2it's fun to hear all your business adventures , but you are a very dynamic personality and so when you are not building and creating , how do you spend your time ? What do you like to do ? She's Aunt Holly , right ?
Speaker 1She is Aunt Holly . She's catching vibes in Mexico .
Speaker 4So one of the it's kind , kind of sad , but I actually really like to scroll on tiktok me too . Yeah , like I really do love it , and I , I mean , I listen to a ton of podcasts . I listen to mel robbins diary of a ceo
Work-life balance and NWA favorites
Speaker 4I love diary of a ceo yeah , I love going to walk at kohler .
Speaker 4It's really I call it like radical self-care because , especially being an entrepreneur , you can suffer a lot just from a health perspective . So I'm extremely serious about what I do outside of work to make sure that I'm filling up my cup so I can be present fully for all the things that I do . So , making sure I walk I'm not at Blake Street but I'm at the Bentonville Community Center and they're awesome over there and I love my classes . So making sure that I work out and I go get massages regularly . My mom's just like a massage . I was just like , yes , you don't understand , between my neck and my shoulders , like they create more space , literally like I need .
Speaker 4I need all of the things , yeah . So I mean , what is it ? Acupuncture down in rogers , like anything that I can possibly do ? I'm doing that . And then I have an awesome friend group . So going to the movies , karaoke also .
Speaker 4Have you heard of body doubling ? No , so body doubling is really great , especially for those I mean like you can have like official like adhd , or someone who's just like easily distracted . In general we call it buddy doubling and say you're at your house and you've had this pile of clothes for forever and it helps when you know that someone's coming over and you're just like I gotta knock these out . So I'll just like show up at a friend's house and sit with them and I'm probably either working or scrolling or watching tv and they're knocking out their clothes .
Speaker 4Or I know that I need to finish up a couple of things for work , but I literally can't stop like doing other things . So I'll sit at a coffee shop and a friend will body double . So she'll come and sit , she'll grab some coffee and we'll kind of chat while I'm just knocking some things out . So it's where I call it like passive friendship . We don't have to actively , you know , schedule dinner or lunch or anything like that . I could literally just sit on the couch and do my own thing , but I'm a presence and it helps you stay focused . Um , but yeah , it's called body doubling that's smart it's really smart .
Speaker 2So what's your favorite thing about northwest arkansas ?
Speaker 4oh , that's hard , okay . So , jazzy , j was founded on food , art and fun . So I would have to say I mean the amount of amazing chefs that we have here is almost not fair . Like I literally try my best not to tout about it like too much to everyone , because everyone's going to want to move here and I'm just like then it'll be hard for me to get on the list to get into these restaurants . So I'm just like I kind of want to gatekeep Northwest Arkansas , but that's also not fair to the world because everyone should be exposed to it . But I love the , the , I love the restaurants here and there's like a new one popping up , like every time .
Speaker 1I turn around now .
Speaker 4So absolutely love the food here and I can't wait to see where , like how many more like cuisines kind of get woven into the you know , the tapestry that is northwest arkansas yeah and then art . You know this place and art kind of go together . You know what I mean . So the fact that crystal bridges is doubling in size is amazing . All of the shows that are coming to the momentary , like what glorilla , stop , like I really saw that and I'm just like here northwest arkansas .
Speaker 4I'm like patty the bell . Okay , cool , you know , gladys knight , we love her too . And then they said I said , oh , she about to turn northwest ark Arkansas on his head . Y'all , I hope y'all ready for glory , but that , and then just the amount of it's free , like there's so many things yeah and access to like the art . A lot of the art here is just really free and accessible .
Speaker 4Yeah , so walking into 21c , walking into crystal bridges , walking into the momentary and just kind of meandering , and then a lot of the public art in terms of the murals and all of that , it's fantastic . And I say that a lot of that is my favorite and I would say it's like last on the list , but not because of like rank order , but the people you know what I mean . Everyone has been really welcoming , especially when it comes to the business and to what Black-owned NWA is . We were actually really nervous about launching it because we were just like is it going to be received ? Well , so people are just like how can I help ? What can we do ? How do we partner ? And that's been absolutely amazing . A lot of my friends , mentors , sponsors , all kinds of stuff have been people just from this area . So couldn't be more grateful .
Speaker 4And everyone keeps asking me . They're just like so when are you moving away ? You don't work for walmart anymore . I'm just like no , I like it here . You know what I mean , and my house is awesome . You can check it out on hgtv oh yeah , fabulous , I'm not moving until they kick me out , so yeah , I love it .
Speaker 1Well , share all your socials so our listeners can follow you sure , okay .
Speaker 4So with jazzy j nwa , literally instagram at jazzy j nwa , facebookcom , backslash jazzy j nwa black owned nwa . Same thing . So instagram black owned nwa , facebookcom , backslash black owned nwa . And we have a website black owned nwaorg . We are officially a 501c3 now , so super excited about that yay , and then black paper party , so blackpaperpartycom black paper party . You know , instagram black paper party , facebookcom backslash . So those , those are all the things .
Speaker 1Awesome . Well , thanks for coming in .
Speaker 2Thank you for having me , this was fun . It was really fun , thank you .
Speaker 1Hey , thanks so much for listening today . If you liked what you heard , please consider subscribing to the podcast so you never miss an episode . You can also follow us on Instagram at people of NWA . Thanks so much .
Speaker 3People of Northwest Arkansas with the two Daniels produced by me , brock Short of Brock Entertainment . Please rate , review and like us on any podcast platform where you listen . For more information about today's guests and the show , please check the show notes . Thanks for listening .