#Girlcrush - Chante Joanne
Tell us about yourself and your business!
About myself, well...I am 25 years old,I live in San Diego with my boyfriend who is my favorite person ever, I am the owner of Roses N Rosé (woot woot) and I love exploring!
What inspired you to start your own business?
I feel like I inspired myself to start my own business. That sounds silly but I have just always known exactly what I want. I never really wanted to work for anyone, I didn't like the idea of limitations or a cap on income but I knew I would have to work for people throughout my life to learn, gain experience and figure myself out but I always knew since I was a kid that I would own my own business, I just was never sure what it would be. I was always making my own stuff, even as a kid my best friend and I would mix together lotions and nail polishes to make our own, so I guess that's kind of where it started.
As I got older in High School I started researching what natural oils are good for your skin and what they do and if I mix this with that, what would happen, etc! So last year I was like...wait, I know how to make stuff, why don't I just package it and sell it? So I ordered some packaging, designed a label and sent it off to my friend who is a graphic designer and she helped me piece it all together and I launched two weeks later!
Is this your full time job?
This is actually not my full time job! So since launching my business was SO spontaneous, I was already working for a yacht company in San Diego. Every day that I came in, in my spare time I would just work on my website, or respond to emails or reach out to retailers, etc. Just about 3 months ago, my boss (who is the most supportive human ever) let me go part time to focus on my business. So I still work there 3 days a week, if you want to come buy a yacht let me know ;)
How do you structure your days?
I try to still give myself a weekend, so I give myself Sunday and Monday's off to spend time with my boyfriend, family, do stuff around the house, whatever.
Tuesdays, as soon as he leaves for work is when my day starts. I have my coffee and head into my work room to see what needs to be done, I usually end up blasting music (spice girls to be specific), sending orders out and making product.
Wednesdays I try to spend creating content or planning out my social media posts before going back into the office on Thursdays which I use as my days to respond to emails and work on the site and everything!
Where and how do you work best?
Omg, so for some reason I have the HARDEST time focusing on just one thing. I always have to have music on, a tv show playing or have a friend come over and help me. It's the weirdest thing, I just need some sort of background noise to get me pre-occupied I guess? Especially working from home is so difficult, I am always finding other things to do around the house, I have to literally lock myself in my work room and try to focus.
Are you currently running any promos/contests/giveaways that you would like our readers to know about?
I am not running anything at the moment, we just ended a big giveaway, BUUUUUT, I do try to do giveaways once a week, so you definitely want to stay tuned for that!
Where is your business based?
We are based out of San Diego California baby!
What were the first few steps you took to get your business up and running?
I wish I had a better answer for this one, but I honestly feel like I sort of just did everything at once. I think I first started with finding a distributor for my packaging, getting my label designed and starting to create content and build that social media up!
What has been the most effective way of raising awareness of your business and attracting new customers?
Oh I LOVE working with influencers, bloggers and doing giveaways with other brands. At the beginning I teamed up with brands that have decent-large followings for giveaways so their followers were seeing my product as well.
What have been your biggest challenges so far?
My biggest challenge so far I would say is learning to say no. When I first launched I was saying yes to so many things and bloggers who reached out that it became overwhelming on my end and I wasn't getting the feedback/content I was looking for.
How did you overcome these challenges?
Now that I have been able to realize how I want my brand to look and the audience I want to target, it has been so much easier to filter through and say yes to what I know will be worth it.
How do you keep motivated through tough times?
I love this question because I feel like so many people struggle with this and for me it doesn't seem like my biggest struggle. I feel like it almost comes natural to me. My idea of motivation, is just my vision. I know EXACTLY what I want. Not even in terms of materialistic items, but just the life I want to live. I want a nice house, I want to decorate however the F I want and I want to travel, I want to see things and eat all the food in the world.
How do you distinguish yourself from your competitors?
You know...everyone is different and unique in their own way. There's room to go around. I am not the first person to come out with body scrubs, let alone a coffee one you know?? I always ask people, do you wear the same brand of jeans every day or the same brand of shoes? Probably not..because you have a preference right? You may prefer Nike's for whatever reason and something else for an entirely different reason! That's how I look at things.
What do you wish you had known when you started your business?
Honestly...I don't think there is anything I wish I would have known, if I knew everything I didn't know before, I wouldn't have got this far. I appreciate the things I don't know cause that means there's room to learn and perfect.
Who are your biggest influences? Who do you admire most? Who or what inspired you to do what you’re doing now?
I love and admire so much Walt Disney, I feel like not many people actually know his story. He's AMAZING. Everyone should take the time to research how it all happened for him. Whenever I need an extra push or think things are going wrong, I always think of him and how he persevered through things so much harder than whatever I am going through at the time and how is name still lives it's fullest every day across the world!
What advice would you give to other entrepreneurs?
My advice to other entrepreneurs or anyone starting their business and I tell this to everyone, don't over think things and just go for it, there's nothing to loose. If you mess up, fix it. Learn, adapt and adjust! I feel like sooo many times people think of things that will go wrong or there's already someone doing that and to me that just means you don't care enough. Because if you think about something and it's not an automatic "EFF YEAH" response, then it's just not there.
What business tools/resources could you not work without?
Instagram and social media, right?? We are all in on that one. It has been everything to my business and the only reason it is where it is today. I guarantee you if I did not have the power of social media, I would still have a full time job right now.
