Today we’d like to introduce you to Jayla Wilson.
Jayla, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I am 22 years old. I am a mother of a handsome seven years old boy and the world’s best daughter to my parent Richelle Sherman and James Wilson. I was born and raised in Kansas City, MO. I’m the youngest sibling on both sides of my family, I have two brothers and two sisters I come from a huge family on both sides. My mom and dad were never married and separated around the time I was two years old, I have no real memory o them being together so it didn’t affect me much growing up. My mom and dad are really good friends I was able to see a healthy co-parenting dynamic both of my parents played a role in m raising as I grew into an adult. My childhood was just that childhood, I grew up in the home with my mom and brother we called ourselves the three stories because it was always just, my brother and I are really close, we are four years apart and growing up, we were the normal brother and sister duo I did my job as the most annoying little sister in the world always bothering him, getting him in trouble needless to say I was doing my job. My mom was a single mother of two and if you didn’t know her, you wouldn’t have known it was just her juggling our entire household, my mom is the hardest working woman I know she would work her fingers to the bone just to make sure my brother and I had all that we need and then some, there was never a time I went without what I needed, yes we struggled but my mother always made it happen and for a hat, I am grateful she is a huge role on why I am the woman I am today. My mom always wanted the best for us best schools, the best living area if she could provide it then she would. We moved around a lot growing up because my mom always wanted to keep us in a well-grounded area, she was a firm believer in “it’s not where you live it’s how you live” as we got older the where you live became more important than how. I attended Raytown South High school my earlier years and Graduated from Shawnee Mission Northwest High.
My high school years were interesting, I had moved the year before starting high school so it was awkward being at a new school, new people, new area. High school is a time of self-discovery, your learning who you truly are, who you want to be, and where your headed when these years are over, it a lot to think about at such a young age for me it was twice as hard not only was I going to be facing the reality of walking into a completely foreign setting nobody could’ve told me my life would change so drastically after walking through those doors. My freshman year I was so rebellious it was crazy my brother had been out of school and was living his life as an adult now my mom had started her new job at KU medical center at the time and she was always working I was basically taking care of myself and I had the freedom to do it. Needless to say, my rebelliousness caught up to me sooner than later. About five months into my sophomore year, I found out I was pregnant at this time, I was 15 years old. The realization that I was going to be a mother all while being a teenager was the hardest part of reality I had to grasp at the time. My mom is the hardest working woman I know, it would be times growing up I wouldn’t see my mom, maybe for an entire day into the next morning because she would be working, my brother and I grew up having everything we needed, we struggled but we never knew. The hardest part about knowing I was a mom now was telling my mom she was a single mother taking care o two kids that alone was hard considering our finical circumstances at the time. Me being 15 with a child would’ve added to that I felt I was becoming a burden on my mom. Our relationship changed drastically after I became a mom it was as I was no longer her little girl but in reality, I wasn’t I was now a mom. My mom helped me the best way she could when it came to raising my son, teaching me the basics of being a mother but there is no real book on parenting.
Fast forward three years, it’s 2018 my son is about three almost four at the time and I’m 18 going on 19. Sept. 24, 2018 was a day that changed my life forever, it changed how I looked at lie, how I treated people, and who I decided I was going to be. On that day, my mom was diagnosed with stage 3 Triple Negative Breast Cancer when my mom called me and told me I remember my heart feeling like it just stopped for 30 secs I didn’t know how to feel about it so I googled it happens to be the most aggressive form of cancer an stage 4 is hospice stage my mom was already at a three within a week I being diagnosed my mom began extensive aggressive treatment she started chemo almost imminently seeing my mom take on cancer head-on sparked something inside o me, my mom is very much like me or I’m like her down to earth, naturally goofy and always herself no matter what she never changed who she was if you know my mom then you know she’s a diva she loved her hair, nails and “bling-bling” as she would say. My mom’s treatment was so aggressive by her second chemo she had lost all of her hair. The day she lost her hair she called me at the time I was working at a call center as a customer service rep she sent me a picture and her hair had fallen out in patches our first instinct was to laugh and we laughed so hard we cried. Later that day, I told my mom it would be best to shave it off so I did just that I took clippers to her hair and shaved the rest off she was officially bald. To see my mom lose her hair was hard my mom kept her hair done, she didn’t do anything her hair was done she was slowly losing herself due to a sickness she had no control over. I became my mom’s full-time caregiver. Life is short and it can change in a blink of an eye by the grace of God my mom is now two years in remission and for that, I am humbled and blessed she is the strongest woman I know she went through cancer with so much grace and dignity never asking herself why me she took cancer head-on by the horns my mom even went back to work during her radiation I’ve never seen strength like that to be able to call her my mom is and always will be a blessing. In early 2020 I went back to work after being off for over a year with my mom. I started work at United States Postal Service a great job on paper I was 21 at the time living in my own place really getting a sense o freedom as an adult I was working six days a week 12 hour shifts no social lie beside my co-workers which happened to have been the best people I’ve met in a long time we were all around the same age wanting the same things, finical freedom and to live our best lie and we just knew this job would get us there it was good money or someone our age.
About two months into me working there, I was over it I had been slaving no sleep, no social life nothing my health was fading my mental health was declining rapidly my mom lie was no more my son was fending for himself because all I did was sleep that’s all I had time to do and at this time I was not getting paid due to a technical error in the system I was working with nothing to show I was behind on every bill I had but still working FED up was an understatement. A co-worker of mine who grew to be a close friend by the name of Ebony Green we would hang pout outside o work what seemed like everyday we became bestfriends so to speak, she’s not currently in my lie people grow apart some ae here for a season others or a lifetime thats lie, however we were at my home one day and we were just brainstorming anyway to make money and not work a job she goes “Jayla you should sell lashes” the idea was crazy to me at the time the most I knew about ;ashes was the length I had went through a period o postpartum depression around 16-17 I started a non-profit organization by the name o Grow and Glow(still active) a mentoring program for young mothers and young women who have experienced post partum depression, self esteem issues I created a 10 week program that allowed them to re-create themselves all back in love with whom they were, through my worst to help others I also helped myself get back to myself I would get up everyday and put on lashes and lip gloss it made me feel beautiful again slowly but surely I got back to knowing who Jayla was. “She who sees her future self creates her” – Grow and Glow, so as we sit and talk she goes on to say start a business I laughed it off at that moment but later on that evening, her voice kept pondering in my head so I started researching the lash business, lash vendors, etc. at the time I had $50 to my name no money a job and bills up to my neck I held onto that 50 bucks for what seemed like forever I searched or a vendor for weeks hours no sleep when found one that had the quality I was looking for I took that 50$ ordered 16 pairs of lashes and at that moment that is when Butterfly Effect Cosmetics was born.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
My journey as an entrepreneur has been nothing but lessons and every bit of worth. I can honestly say I’ve faced many obstacles as I’ve embarked on this journey all at a different point in my business. I believe in the business you will always face some challenges and obstacles it can be product delays, pushing back launch dates, or dealing with a customer/client there is no book on business either just tips and advice but every business direct and run differently. When I first started BEC, it was challenging even some days now are still very challenging I learn something new every single day in my business and in the world of business to speak. If I had o describe my biggest obstacle or my biggest challenge, I would have to say it’s me. I am and have been my biggest challenge, getting myself to be consistent was the hardest thing I had to learn how to do constantly is not as easy as most would make it seem you are literally pushing yourself daily its days where you aren’t mentally up to it and you have to push, yourself beyond your limits it comes with dedication and being dedicated for me was a challenge I was a person who was never consistent I just was always on to the next thing like if I started something was already bored with it and ready to start something else I’ve always been like that since I was a little girl. So getting up daily and creating content, promoting I created myself a promo schedule which I still follow where I had certain times I would post certain things noon I would post a reel 2-5 pm I would post video and page post content and that became my job marketing, business all day everyday anytime I was up I was working to get to that point for me was the hardest challenge in business and sometimes I still struggle to juggle business, home, mom life, and social life, but the difference now from then is its a habit it’s embedded in me. I first began my business is this is really my life, being a CEO doesn’t shut off you are a CEO 365 days a year 24 hours a day and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. It takes 21 days to form and break a habit challenge yourself to stay dedicated to something for 21 days and it will either make you or break you. My 21-day dedication made me.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Butterfly Effect Cosmetics?
Butterfly Effect Cosmetics is a Luxury Beauty and Cosmetic Wholesaler/Brand. Our products can be found in stores throughout Houston as well as Kansas City, MO. We specialize in selling high-quality false eyelashes, organic homemade body cares an extensive lip collection that features everyday nudes and lipsticks. What makes our brand and product so unique? I’m glad you ask; we are the ONLY black-owned lash vendor whom lashes can be found in nail salons throughout Kansas City we also are the only lash vendor whom lashes have been proven to last up to three months with proper care. We provide a luxury like feel to everyday beauty, everyone loves a bold and popping lip. Our luxury handpicked false eyelashes give off the boldness with a side of sweet and natural. Our luxury gloss is perfect for the everyday woman. We also provide hand-crafted sensational bodycare products that make every woman feel the luxury ash she applies it to her skin. Butterfly Effect Cosmetics was created to show woman everywhere that beauty is defined by the way you see it, the simple things in life bring us joy sometimes it comes in candles, sometimes it’s home decor in our case, it’s Lashes. We are excited to be announcing our lash tech supply collection that will be dropping this summer for all lash techs we will carry every supply needed for you to lash your clients the BEC luxury way. We are growing and expanding our business with that being said, we will be opening our first storefront in the Weishimer District Summer 2021. This will be a cosmetics store like no other featured our Butterfly Lash Tech Room (A gallery like style for all things lashes and luxury. We will expand all throughout the Houston area as well as other states. If you don’t have a Butterfly Effect Cosmetics in your area, stay tuned we are on our way!
Location: The Black Store Beauty Supply Store
8616 Cullen Blvd Houston TX 77051
Owner: Randy
How do you think about luck?
I was dating a guy a while back and he asked me do I believe luck plays a role in one’s success and I said no, I don’t believe in luck, I believe in hard work and faith. I still stand very firm on that statement. My grandfather is a deacon so growing up, church was embedded in me since birth as I got older. I found my own way and my own definition of spirituality that worked for me and my walk of life. When I first made up in my mind that I was going to start a business that I was going to sit down and really do this, I knew I needed an army to back me up and not an army of people but a spiritual army. I was embarking on a road where I couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. I knew I would need every ounce of faith to get me where I wanted to go. Faith is the things not seen and faith without work is dead. What does that mean? That simply means you have to believe in your vision and your goal so hard that it scares you, you have to tell yourself every day I can do this, I will do this and just do it. I remember being in my room at that time. I lived with my mom in a two-bedroom apartment and I was sharing a room with my seven years old son this was right before I decided I was going to move to Texas within a 5-month timeframe yes I was going to pack up with a child, no job and move 11 hours away to follow my dream. Crazy, yes impossible never. So I’m sitting in my room working and a sister in the business of mine by the name of Eugenia Doreen we met in middle school and reconnected in our adult years via business. She owns her own Women’s Entrepreneurial community by the name of Female Force she’s been a huge mentor figure in my life since I embarked on the journey of being an entrepreneur. She knew me when I started my non-profit, she always been a true sister in business I could count on and as you grow and elevate, you need people like her to keep you grounded. The text she sent me was a speech by Pastor Sarah T.D Jakes and as I look at this link, I opened up but didn’t have time to listen I had promised myself to listen to it later well I forgot per usual so days had passed by and I’m researching everything preparing for my move to Texas and I’m praying to God that he opens doors, let me know I’m on the right path, the path he set up for me and I get a reminder to my phone and it says “listen to a text sent from E” I go back and I open my message the title of the seminar says “Girl Get Up” and as I listen to this seminar something inside me literally says girl get up, get up and trust God, get up and move, get up and follow your dreams and don’t look back. When it comes to “luck” I don’t believe in it, I believe everything in your life is aligned specifically for you and when you learn yourself and learn who you are in whatever religion or spiritual walk you on everything starts to fall in place in the way it’s designed for you. I believe I’m on the right path God has shown me who he has called me to be and I’ve answered. I’m excited about my future, I’m blessed for the now and my best has yet to come everything I’ve been through has been for a reason nothing in your life happens by accident right down to the people you meet to embrace the journey be humble through the process and work harder than most believe until it scares you and girl just get up!
Contact Info:
- Email: butterflyecosetics@yahoo.com
- Website: www.butterflyecosmetics.com
- Instagram: _butterflyecosmetics
- Facebook: Butterfly Effect Cosmetics
