Today we’d like to introduce you to Kena Jessie-Rogers.
Kena, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I’ve always wanted to become an entrepreneur for as long as I could remember. I attended business school at Texas Woman’s University and achieved my Master in Business Administration (MBA) with the hopes of starting a business venue; however, because I had no idea of what type of business I wanted to start, I climbed the corporate ladder and became a Manager at a Fortune 500 Company.
In March of 2021, my high-earning corporate career path came to a screeching halt. I was terminated from my corporate position. The termination from my position made me realize that I didn’t want to remain in corporate America. It was at that time that the concept of Jessie’s Beauty Supply was envisioned.
I wanted to start a company where women would be celebrated. I used personal funds to start Jessie’s Beauty Supply. As a black woman with natural hair, I noticed that many stores in the area I live in did not stock a wide variety of beauty products for black women. Additionally, the few stores in the area that did stock products were not made by women of color, and wanted to fill that void.
Jessie’s Beauty Supply offers a wide range of beauty products for all women of all ethnicities and stocks products made by women of color and sources other unique products made by women of color. We also collaborate with local small vendors in the Houston area who create hair products/skincare/to showcase their brands and provide a marketplace for them to sell their products in an effort to support other businesses of color.
At Jessie’s Beauty Supply, we strive to not only sell beauty products to our customers, but our staff also has the knowledge and expertise needed to educate our customers on how to meet their personal beauty needs and embrace their natural beauty.
Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The beauty supply industry is a Korean-dominated industry, which has several barriers to entry for black-owned beauty supply store owners. The journey to opening Jessie’s Beauty Supply was difficult to get off the ground due to tactics used by suppliers that make it difficult for people of color, which includes higher pricing for non-Koreans.
However, I was able to secure accounts key hair and beauty accounts through business networking and opened our doors in August of 2022.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Jessie’s Beauty Supply offers a wide range of beauty products for all women of all ethnicities and stocks products made by women of color, and sources other unique products made by women of color. We reach out to local small businesses in the Houston area that create hair products/skincare/to showcase their brands and provide a marketplace for them to sell their products because I understand the importance of supporting other businesses of color.
We are located in the Spring area in the Grand Parkway II Marketplace Shopping Center. We are proud to be centrally located in a key area of Spring, which makes it a convenient shopping location for our target customers.
Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
Customers can shop with us at our storefront location, which is located at 6603 Spring Stuebner Rd, Ste 110, Spring, Texas 77389.
We are also on Facebook: www.facebook.com/jessieshairsupply and Instagram: www.instagram.com/jessieshairsupply.
We also offer online shopping at www.jessiesbeautysupply.com.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.jessiesbeautysupply.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/jessieshairsupply
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/jessieshairsupply
- Linkedin: linkedin.com/company/jessiesbeautysupply
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/jessies-beauty-supply-spring
