Women on the Rise! Interview Series - Kimaada Le Gendre
Please introduce yourself and tell us about your career/business. What is it called and what services/products do you offer?
My name is Kimaada Le Gendre and I am the CEO and owner of Naturebella Inc., which houses Yummy Love Tea and the Mini Vixens Brand.
Yummy Love Tea is a natural and indie tea company based in Queens, NY. We offer loose tea and tea bag options in black, green, chai and herbal blends. Recently, we also launched a delicious organic Hot Cocoa line as well.
The Mini Vixens Brand currently has a décor and accessories line for girls and young women of color.
Can you share with our reader how you choose this career/business?
As an avid tea drinker and a long time tea lover, Yummy Love Tea was born out of research, knowledge and the desire to know exactly what I was putting into my body. Before launching Yummy Love Tea, I was surprised to learn that some popular tea brands (that I used to love) were using bleached tea bags and were also including unnatural ingredients in their tea blends. Therefore, I started growing and buying my own herbs, plants and dried fruits and began making my own tea blends for my personal consumption. After positive feedback from several different sources regarding quality and taste, I decided to officially launch Yummy Love Tea.
The Mini Vixens Brand was inspired and created due to the lack of beautiful dolls and accessories that cater to young girls of color. Within the Mini Vixens Brand, we currently have 4 girls (mini vixens) who each have different backgrounds and stories, and they are all best friends. The Mini Vixens Book Series will be launching this summer which will give a voice to these stories and will further reinforce this idea of “self love” that I believe is vital for young girls.
What did you do before owning your own business and how did you make the transition?
Along with having my company, I am also a full-time history, environmental studies and drama teacher. I am an avid multi-tasker lol! However, because I am planning to take Naturebella Inc. to the next level in the next 6 months, I am planning on growing my team so that I can delegate some of my business tasks and duties.
What is your definition of success and what has been your greatest success?
Success to me is seeing a plan or a goal blossom into fruition. My greatest success (business-wise) is having repeat customers that truly love and believe in my brands.
What are some of the mistakes you have made with your career/business? What have you learned from these experiences? Share any advice you have with our readers.
One mistake that I recently made was sharing (in excitement) an idea with a potential collaborator. After canceled meetings (on their end), I decided place my idea on hold and to focus on the upcoming holiday season. Well call me surprised when I recently saw a promotion for an upcoming event that they are having with another tea brand...that was the same idea I pitched for our collaboration. It was a wonderful learning lesson for me, because it taught me that at the end of the day many people are just trying to get “ahead”. Ahead means different things to different people, and for me surrounding myself with genuine people that I can trust, trumps that.
Don't disclose business plans or business ideas until you have contracts signed!
How has networking helped you in your career/business?
Networking has been a blessing for my business. Especially networking on social media. In 2015 many of my successful collaborations and lucrative business moves came from people that I connected with on Instagram and Facebook. Networking is truly vital especially when you have a small business.
Do you have any business start-up advice for our readers that are starting/thinking of starting a business or entering in your field?
I launched Naturebella Inc. in 2013, however it was dormant for 2 years. It was not until May 2015 that I feel Naturebella truly came alive because I took time to develop marketing strategies and to perfect my products. In particular, the Yummy Love Tea brand has blossomed because I stopped working on an organic beauty line that I was also developing. It was just too much and too confusing to customers.
Therefore, by scaling back and narrowing my focus I was able to put energy, resources, finances and time into growing the Yummy Love Tea brand. That was a wonderful learning experience. My advice for anyone starting or thinking or starting a business is to start of small, and then grown. Don't bite off more than you can chew in the beginning.
How do you achieve work life balance?
Honestly, I have not mastered the work life balance yet. Having a full-time career and business leaves me little time for a social life. Naturebella Inc. is currently my husband! With that said, I am learning that although I love my business, I do need to make more time for fun activities like travel and spending time with my loved ones.
What’s next for you? 2016 is shaping up to be an epic year for Naturebella Inc.! This spring we are launching the Yummy Love Tea & Yoga Tour. This summer we are launching our bottled Yummy Love Iced Teas, just in time for festival, beach, and picnic weather.
We are also launching huge fund-raising efforts for our Yummy Love Tea Farm. Right now we source our ingredients locally and globally from organic farms and gardens. Our hope is to develop our own farm in which we grow all of the yummy ingredients that we use in our teas. Therefore, we have a huge Kickstarter Campaign and Fundraising Luau Party in the works to bring the Yummy Love Tea to life!
For the Mini Vixens Brand, we are focused on launching the first book (of the book series) and getting our décor and accessories items on the shelves of boutiques and stores across the country. After the book launch, a book tour will be in the works! Many of our customers have also asked us to turn the Mini Vixens into real dolls...so who knows!
Dream big...you are going to work hard for it anyway...may as well receive big results!
Please share a fun fact about yourself?
As an island girl (I am originally from Trinidad), I am obsessed with the beach, surfing, pineapples, palm trees and Hawaii.
Contact Kimaada on social media:
Web: www.yummylovetea.com
Web: www.minivixens.com
Instagram: YummyLoveTea
Instagram: Mini_Vixens_Decor
Thank you Kimaada for sharing your story and advice with our readers.
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