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In this episode, I sat down with Jamila Wright, co-founder of Brooklyn Tea, to trace the full story of how she and her husband Ali turned tea dates into a business. Jamila walked me through leaving a career in education, emptying her retirement savings, and fighting a two year trademark battle before they ever opened their first location.

We got into the real financial decisions behind building out that first shop, including an SBA loan that arrived late, putting up her own home as collateral, and the lesson she learned about the difference between being an investor and being an owner operator. Jamila also shared how a relationship with a fellow Brooklyn business owner led to their current Lewis Avenue location.

From there we picked up with how Brooklyn Tea’s verticals came together, the financial setbacks along the way including a six figure loan and a partnership that fell apart, and the moment she and Ali finally started paying themselves.

• Big opportunities often come from saying yes rather than a master plan, so be ready to rise to the moment when it arrives.
• Waiting on outside funding like an SBA loan can force you to dip into personal savings, so plan for delays before signing a lease or starting construction.
• Choosing between taking on debt or equity investors should depend on your long term goal, whether that is building a legacy brand or eventually selling it.
• Paying yourself is a milestone that often comes after years of sacrifice, so figuring out that number is part of building a sustainable business.

• (00:32) How Jamila and Ali went from dating over tea to business partners
• (08:12) The financial decisions behind opening the first Brooklyn Tea location
• (16:16) Why Jamila had to put up her Atlanta home as collateral for their SBA loan
• (19:38) Debt versus equity, and deciding what kind of business you want to build
• (24:13) The real lesson foot traffic taught them about their first location
• (29:45) How a relationship with Monique Greenwood led to their current Lewis Avenue location
• (37:33) Saying yes to wholesale and e-commerce almost by accident
• (47:39) Landing a licensing and franchising deal with an airport
• (52:12) The Saks Fifth Avenue partnership that fell apart
• (1:07:45) Paying themselves for the first time after two and a half years

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/13qDj08lBR4ymzGhXIKy8t

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/side-hustle-pro/id1126021323

Website: brooklyntea.com

Brooklyn Tea Instagram: @brooklyntea

Jamila's Instagram: @jamilawright21

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⭐ APPLY TO SHIFT: https://sidehustlepro.co/shift

In this episode, I sat down with longtime friends and business partners Cynthia Bailey and Dana Hill-Robinson to talk about how a friendship that started in a New York hair salon in the 1990s turned into a skincare brand thirty years later. Cynthia shares her path from an eighteen year old model moving to New York to a reality television mainstay, while Dana walks us through her years at Vogue and Harper's Bazaar and building the beauty subscription box Cocotique.

We dig into how they finally partnered on Glowissima, why they chose to launch with only two hero products, and how they source ingredients like manuka honey and kiwi seed oil from New Zealand. Cynthia also opens up about the businesses she has closed in the past and what those experiences taught her about knowing when to walk away.

Cynthia and Dana get candid about profitability timelines, the current shift in consumer spending, and why a huge social following does not automatically translate into sales. They close out with practical advice for women who want to start a business but are worried about money and failure.

• Launch lean: start with one or two hero products instead of a full line so you can prove the concept before scaling.
• Know when to fold: it is a business skill, not a failure, to walk away from a venture once it stops making financial sense.
• Vet every partnership: joint ventures work best when both sides have a track record and clearly defined roles from the start.
• Followers are not buyers: a large social following does not guarantee sales, so keep testing your messaging and your audience.

• (00:19) How Cynthia and Dana met at a New York hair salon in the 1990s
• (02:37) Cynthia's move from Alabama to New York at eighteen to model
• (04:08) The Essence cover that became Cynthia's big break
• (05:24) The move from modeling into reality television
• (10:26) Lessons from closing the Bailey Wine Cellar and the Bailey Room
• (14:44) Dana on pivoting Cocotique into a health and wellness hub
• (17:56) The formulation story and meaning behind the name Glowissima
• (19:14) Turning a thirty-year friendship into a business partnership
• (27:01) Sourcing manuka honey and kiwi seed oil from New Zealand
• (38:57) Digging deeper on marketing when the economy shifts

Watch this episode on YouTube and listen on all podcast platforms:

• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/side-hustle-pro/id1126021323
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/13qDj08lBR4ymzGhXIKy8t
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/sidehustlepro

Applications are now open for Shift, my 12-week coaching program designed to help experienced professionals package their expertise into a profitable offer, identify their first clients, and confidently launch their next chapter.

Learn more and apply at: https://sidehustlepro.co/shift

Cynthia Bailey: Instagram @CynthiaBailey

Dana Hill-Robinson: Instagram @DanaHillRobinson

Glowissima: Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok @Glowissima

Cocotique: Facebook @CocoTique, TikTok @CocoTiqueBeautyBox

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If this resonated with you, here are additional resources:

⭐ APPLY TO SHIFT: https://sidehustlepro.co/shift

In this episode, I sat down with Jotaka Eaddy, founder of Full Circle Strategies and Win With Black Women, for a conversation about power, purpose and resilience. We talked about her childhood in Johnsonville, South Carolina, a town of under 1,400 people that taught her the value of community long before she ever set foot in Washington, DC or Silicon Valley.

Jotaka walked me through her path from student activist against the death penalty to senior advisor at the NAACP to becoming the first Black employee at a fintech startup in Silicon Valley. She opened up about the layoff that nearly broke her and the Oprah Winfrey clip that helped her reframe it as redirection rather than failure.

We also talked about how Win With Black Women was born from a single late night email in 2020 that turned into a Zoom call with 44,000 women, and how that same community continues to organize today. Jotaka got vulnerable about losing her mother during the 2024 election season and what that grief has taught her about faith, resilience and asking for help.

• Your community can be your first investors. The people of Jotaka's hometown pooled money so she could attend a conference that changed the course of her life.
• A layoff is not always failure. It can be redirection toward something bigger than you could have planned for yourself.
• Movements are built in the quiet, consistent work that happens long before anyone is watching or celebrating.
• Black women hold real power at the ballot box and in daily acts of organizing, even while in survival mode.

• 02:01 - Growing up in Johnsonville, South Carolina
• 05:04 - The conference that changed her life
• 11:46 - Learning to lead by carrying the bag
• 15:17 - Making the leap into Silicon Valley
• 19:08 - Getting laid off and finding strength in an Oprah Winfrey clip
• 29:02 - The spark behind Win With Black Women
• 35:40 - The night 44,000 women joined the call
• 44:53 - How to show up when you are in survival mode
• 48:05 - Opening up about losing her mother

Watch this episode on YouTube and listen on all podcast platforms:

• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/side-hustle-pro/id1126021323
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/13qDj08lBR4ymzGhXIKy8t
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/sidehustlepro

Applications are now open for Shift, my 12-week coaching program designed to help experienced professionals package their expertise into a profitable offer, identify their first clients, and confidently launch their next chapter.

Learn more and apply at: https://sidehustlepro.co/shift

Jotaka Eaddy: Instagram: @JotakaEaddy

Win With Black Women: Instagram: @WinWithBlackWomen

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.