Imagine a world where entrepreneurship isn't just about numbers and strategy but also about flavor and scent. It's in this fascinating realm that we chat with the radiant Tamara Matthews, the powerhouse behind Lip Relish by Tam, a tantalizing brand of flavored lip glazes. A narrative that began with the push of a loving husband, and a successful launch, Tamara's entrepreneurial journey offers an abundance of invaluable insights for those nurturing their own dream ventures.
Tamara reveals how she infuses each lip glaze with delightful scents like pineapple while ensuring safety and suitability for all skin tones. She addresses the importance of stretching beyond personal boundaries - seeking support beyond friends and family and testing out her business offerings through effective beta-test models. As she navigates through the process, Tamara emphasizes the crucial role of brand loyalty and the impact of excellent customer service in building a successful business.
What sets Tamara's story apart is her loving and supportive family involved in her business journey. We journey through the power of social media, the importance of identifying your target audience, and the undeniable role of authenticity in entrepreneurship. All this while balancing the challenges and rewards of a family-involved business. So, tune in, as Tamara's journey is not just about creating a successful business but also about inspiring others to step out of their comfort zone and chase their dreams.
Welcome back to a brand new episode of Lets Just Talk About it podcast. I'm your host, chuck, and if you're here for the first time, this platform was created to give genuine people just like you an opportunity to share a portion of your life's journey. So, with that being said, I have returning guest Tamara Matthews on with me, where we have a great conversation about her new business venture and the process that it takes to see her business develop. So, if you're an aspiring entrepreneur, you don't want to miss this amazing episode. As a matter of fact, do me a favor go and grab your husband, your wife, your children, or even call a friend and gather around to listen to my conversation with Tamara on Lets Just Talk About it podcast. Hey, let's jump right in. Welcome back to let's Just Talk About it podcast. Today I'm excited to have Tamara Matthews back on with me from episode 24 called Whip Woman Need, but this time she's back to talk about her venture as an entrepreneur with her new lip gloss line, lip relish by Tam how you are doing today.
Tamara Matthews:I'm feeling great, chuck, and with an intro, thank you, thank you, I appreciate it, yes, so thank you for having me back on the show.
Chuck:Absolutely, tam. As always, I love to jump right into my interviews to have those genuine conversations with genuine people just like yourself, just to share a portion of your life journey. And so, like I said before, I wanted to talk about your lip gloss line that's out now and just talk a little bit about why did you decide to start your own business?
Tamara Matthews:Well, you know, honestly, chuck, it took me a while to get here because I was just kind of afraid of the unknown, the hard work that I would have to put into it. And so my husband has truly been the one pushing me all along, saying you know, you should do this. You should do this because I've always created my own lip balms at home and I would make lip balms for my coworkers. My husband would always say you know, slap a label on it, we can sell it. You know it's good. Wow, and I think you know part of that is just doubting yourself. You want to just stick within your bubble. But I finally got to a place where I was like you know what? Why not? I have so much to offer and I'm becoming more confident in what I'm offering, and so I said why not share this beyond my bubble? And so I started working towards lip relish, which I didn't know that's what I was going to call it at the time. But the more I researched and looked into it, I said you know what? I think this is what we're going to call it.
Chuck:So it came from him pushing you out of that comfort zone.
Tamara Matthews:Exactly Because nothing, nothing happens really in your comfort zone. You know what I'm saying Like if outside of that boundary of your comfort, and so that's what I was afraid of. But my husband, I'm telling you, I thank God for him, because he has truly been my biggest supporter throughout this whole journey. So you know, having a good support system is truly, truly vital when you're about to do something, because it's especially for me. I've never done anything like this before. This is all brand new, and so having a great support system has truly been motivational for me.
Chuck:Wow. Today is a lot of people you know wanting to be entrepreneurs and, like you said, it's okay to have that idea, but you need that support system to push you outside of your comfort zone. So, now that you're outside of your comfort zone, talk about your process of you know being consistent with it. Do you create it every day or do you? You know how does that work?
Tamara Matthews:Wow, that is a great question because you know I have my eight to five. Oh okay, you don't have to do this right. So my eight to five. But then when I come home, you know, once, once my family is fed, you know, sometimes dad will take over and he does dinner. It's like last night came home and I worked six hours. I didn't get the bed till midnight. So, being consistent, you don't work your business like it's a hobby. Once you decide you're going to move forward and it's a business, you have to be professional beyond, you know, just playing around with stuff, you know. So I made a commitment to myself that I would work this like a true business and no longer a hobby, something I would just do for family and friends. And part of that is being consistent and researching, learning what, what is the market doing, what's the color schemes, and and then coming back into my office and playing around with the cosmetic pigments and the mica powders and just kind of formulating things. It's very interesting and it's fun, you know, to get in here. I've always loved cosmetics. So I think, just being consistent with learning more and being really committed and being in tune with what you're doing, Wow, that's powerful.
Chuck:That was a loaded answer. I love that. No, that was good. That was good. What I heard was you work a nine to five. You get off of your your job and you come home, take care of your business, and then you go to work for your business. You do research, wow. So do you like cover the orders and all of that when you come home?
Tamara Matthews:Yes, my lovely husband, I got to give him a shout out because, he is my tech person, so my husband created my website, wwwliprelishbytamcom. He just created everything for me to wear. It's so easy for me to check my orders if there's a waitlist, because I'm a one woman show as far as making the product. Sometimes you know I'm going to sell out of a product and so there's a waitlist option.
Chuck:Have you ever sold?
Tamara Matthews:out. Yes, and there's a great story behind this, chuck. I got to tell you. So my launch item is called the Working Woman Lip Gloss, and this lip gloss came about because my friend, katrina, whom you know, had a women's event, and the women's event is called the Working Woman. And so I went to Trina and I basically said to her hey, I'm making lip gloss, I would love for my lip gloss to be a part of your swag bag. And she said yes, let's do it. And so my job at that point was to find a lip gloss that would represent the Working Woman. And so I researched and found micropowders, and I'm ordering things, and I came across this micropowder that was so beautiful, it was so multifaceted that I said this is the Working Woman. The Working Woman wears many hats, whether she chooses to or it's by necessity, and just like this powder. I'm looking at it, I see a brown, I see a burgundy, I see a sage green, I see a metallic color, but when you put it on, it all comes together and it's something beautiful, and that is the Working Woman. And so I made these glosses for her event and the feedback was just mind blowing. The women really chimed in. They let Trina know, they sent emails letting me know how they loved this lip gloss called the Working Woman, and so that one is my best seller.
Chuck:Wow, Okay, and making the lip gloss right. What is the outcome of a woman putting that on her lips? Does it make them feel confident? Yes, absolutely.
Tamara Matthews:Women okay, if you are a lover of lip gloss in general, you want a lip gloss that's going to moisturize and hydrate your lips. You don't want it to be sticky and you want it to have a little longevity. And so when you put this on whether you're running out to the ball field with your kids or you're going for a board meeting or even a night on the town, the gloss is like the finishing touch to your look. And so, yes, when you put it on, you can definitely see and feel the difference.
Chuck:I like that. You know the way you sound. You get excited and I like that. You know, and I think that should be the emotion of every entrepreneur. There's an excitement about what you're putting out that if you put mine on, it's going to stand out.
Tamara Matthews:Yes, yeah, that's what I'm hearing.
Chuck:Yeah.
Tamara Matthews:Yes.
Chuck:Wow, and the fun part about it is is the creative side. You know what I mean being able you started from scratch, you know and being able to put your own thing together is amazing.
Tamara Matthews:Yeah, because you've got to study your competitors, you know and see what they're doing, and I think it's just awesome. Right now I'm actually doing a study by Nona Jones called Killing Comparison, under the teaching of my friend Katrina, and I realized that it is that thing called comparison that kills dreams. It kills us from moving forward and doing things, because we're looking at other people doing what we aspire to do and we think, oh, you know, well, it's already done.
Chuck:It's already done.
Tamara Matthews:Yeah, yeah, I can't do it like they're doing it, but you are unique. No one's going to do it like you, because there's something in you that not another person on the earth has. You are unique. Add your twist to it and it's going to be yours. It's going to be unique to your brand. When people think of Lip Freilich by Tam, they're going to think about a flavored lip glaze, because I flavor each one with the flavoring oil, so as soon as you put it on your lips, you're going to smell a wonderful scent of pineapple. That's a new one I'm working on called Champagne Ice. You know, you put that on one and you can lick your lips and be confident that it's OK, because it's a flavoring oil. It's not, you know, something that's going to hurt you. Everything that I use is going to be cosmetic, safe for your lips, and so that's my thing. When you put mine on, you're going to get a beautiful color. Whether you are fair skin or you are the richest, deepest, darkest beauty on earth, my lip glosses will work with your skin tone because I make sure that they are transparent enough to wear. It's going to just give you a hint of that beautiful color and it's going to set off, whether you're wearing it alone or on top of an existing lipstick that you have. It's going to add a little bit to your look. It's going to top it off. And so I'm confident that, even though Rihanna has a lip gloss and you know, all these celebrities have different things going on I'm confident that when you get your hands on lip relish, you're going to say, OK, this is someone that I would want to be loyal to that brand because, ultimately, that is my goal as a business woman. I want brand loyalty. I want you to be on the lookout for what's coming from lip relish by Tam. Join the email list. You know I'm going to send you discounts and let you know if I'm out of stock, when I restock or when I'm launching something new. I want you to be a part of my community of women who love lip relish.
Chuck:Amazing. I love the way you talked about that comparison piece because that can damage a dream. When you look at somebody doing something you want to do, you know what I mean. That could be Absolutely. Yeah, that's a dream killer, you know.
Tamara Matthews:It is, yeah, it really is Comparing ourselves, mm-hmm. It will stop you in your tracks and make you not move forward in so many things, but we've got to be confident in what we have to offer. We have to offer.
Chuck:Yeah. So as an entrepreneur, you never know who's listening. What's one of the challenges that you face, even though you know you're putting your brand out? What's the challenges that come with being an entrepreneur If you haven't?
Tamara Matthews:Oh many. One of the main things would be you know, you tend to think that certain people are going to support you, People that you want or think you know they may not be a part of that community of people that will give you that support, and that could be a deterrent. You could feel like, oh wow, that's like a heartbreak right there. But you got to realize that no business is going to be built upon friends and family. You've got to go beyond that goal and reach people, beyond those people Because your friends will be there for you, because it's you, Not necessarily because it's a great product. And a perfect example of that is at work. We all decorated our rooms and we had this Christmas contest and one of my co-workers told all her friends vote for room two, that's my room. Well, later on she realized that the way they numbered the rooms, she was not in room two, but all of her friends voted for room two because she asked them to. And so that's a perfect example of people are going to support you, if they're going to support you, but not necessarily because your product is good or because it's worthy. So I would say to people get beyond the friends and family, start with them. They can be a good jump off point for you, but if you really want to sustain your business and grow your business, you've got to go beyond that bubble of friends Absolutely.
Chuck:Go beyond, go beyond.
Tamara Matthews:Yeah, go beyond them, because they'll support and love you. But, like I said in the process, on another point that I'd like to make sure is when you're starting to get your product out there, you've got to run some beta test, so to speak.
Chuck:Talk about that.
Tamara Matthews:Yeah, you want to get some critical people, ones that are very detail oriented, the ones that are judgmental people. I mean, though, you know you want people that aren't going to be your yes person. You want to give them your product and you want them to really evaluate it and let you know, and you want to go from the start of the process all the way through, and that's what my husband did. We got the website up, and we had people. We told them about the product. Go on there, look at the website place your order. That way, you're able to see how your operation is going to run Everything from the beginning to the end, from the ordering to me, getting it to the post office and so you need to have people on your side that will give you the honest truth, and there were some things that we needed to work out. Had we launched the product before doing this, there would have been a few glitches in our process. So you've got to run a beta test to kind of see what that process is going to look like for your consumer.
Chuck:So that's deep. I never really tried to understand doing a beta test. So beta test is when you, like you just said, you just put it out there to get some type of feedback so you can make your product better. Yes, yes.
Tamara Matthews:You want them to evaluate it, that's good. Looking at everything everything, the entire process, the lip gloss itself. It's going to go beyond just the product. You've got to look at how the whole business is operating Because, again, we want brand loyalty. We want you to come back, because we are going to provide you with not only a great product but great customer service and if there are problems, we want to be able to resolve them in a fashion that pleases the customer and you as a business person.
Chuck:I like that, so being excellent is powerful.
Tamara Matthews:Absolutely yes, yes.
Chuck:What's the favorite part of being an entrepreneur?
Tamara Matthews:I think, just feeling independent, being able to write out my plans and I have a whiteboard in my office and I just write everything out and just looking at it and seeing what I'm accomplishing, I love that. And then, of course, the feedback that you're getting from the consumer, those people when they call or say, hey, I got my package and I tried this and it is awesome, and my lip state moisturize all day and I wear a mask at work, I'm a nurse and whatever the testimonials are, it honestly makes me cry, and I'm about to cry now. Oh, my gosh. Ok, let me hold this again. No, no, no. Hold it together.
Chuck:No, no, oh my god, I love it. Don't let me know it's coming from your heart. You're doing it from the heart. Go ahead.
Tamara Matthews:I just it could be something as simple as lip gloss, and I would say to someone starting out in anything, there are so many things that you could do. Focus on one thing, bring your attention to that one thing and just pour yourself into that. And so cosmetics I've always loved cosmetics, but I said, you know what, I'm going to narrow this down and I'm going to start with the lips, and when time comes around for something more, then we will add more, but right now, let's focus on lip products, and I just want to expand that from gloss to lipstick, to lip oils, you know, and just build from there. And yeah, you don't have to take on all of it, just stay focused in one area and develop that thing to the point where you feel like, ok, I can now move on and add some more things.
Chuck:I like that. I like that Because sometimes we want success overnight and I think when you start something, you're going to evolve, You're going to grow. But you have to start with something and stick with that and you're going to grow and evolve. You know you're going to look back and be like wow, you know what I mean.
Tamara Matthews:Absolutely, absolutely, and it comes. And now we are talking with vendors for tubes. I have tubes coming in with my logo and I'm talking to you. Know what I mean? It's like, once you've done the humble beginnings, then you can start moving and adding on things and getting yes, getting equipment, things that are going to cost you a little bit, but in the end it's going to save you time, and that's something right now that I'm seeing. It's taking me more time to do because I don't have all the little things that will make life easier for me, but it's a learning curve and so I'm learning, doing it the harder way, so to speak, but it's OK because I'm building something. Yes, I'm building something and I'm seeing my husband really engaged and asking me what's your vision for this? And we're bouncing ideas off of each other, and even my teenage son. He's coming in and all of the flavoring oils that you all are smelling, they are approved by my teenage son Because he comes in.
Chuck:That's good baby and.
Tamara Matthews:I'll say put your nose on that. And I'll just give him a sample and I'm telling you he's spot on. Every time he comes in. I don't know what that is, but he'll say that's pineapple, that's apple pie, that's vanilla or whatever that is. And I'm like OK, do I need more of that? Do I need less of that? And he'll say let it sit for a little while, mom, and let me come back and smell it. And I'll do that. And I'm telling you he's like it's spot on. And when I smell it, he's right, I'm like OK. So I even have my teenage son engaged in this, because I'm just really so excited, I'm pulling them in. That's the excitement yeah, yeah, I'm loving it. I'm loving it and just seeing the outcome, it really brings tears to my eyes, because I had a conversation with God and I said if you are not my business partner, I don't want to do this.
Chuck:Say that one more time, please.
Tamara Matthews:I said to God if you are not going to be my business partner, I cannot do this. And so I prayed about it and I mean, obviously I feel like he's behind me 100% between God, my husband, my son. I just feel like I can do this. I can do this, I am doing it.
Chuck:You are doing it. Yeah, he gave you a good team. Yes, wow.
Tamara Matthews:Absolutely, absolutely yes.
Chuck:So let me ask you this Do you see yourself being that entrepreneur where you can say I could quit my day job? Is that your plan?
Tamara Matthews:Yes.
Chuck:Got you.
Tamara Matthews:Yes, I feel like, if I keep being consistent, applying myself. Yes, and a very powerful tool that I am having to be a quick study on is social media. Social media is going to help people with reaching those people that you probably would never have met just from a simple Instagram video or TikTok that I posted. I've had people all over the United States visit my website, and so social media I'm having to be a quick study on how to do these things, and the world is moving at a fast pace. I made a three minute video and my teenage son said mom, that's too long. You can't capture their attention in the first 30 to 60 seconds? Wow, he was like they're not going to watch it. Wow, and so I am learning to Narrow these videos down. Get to the point, fill the glass, say what I got to say and bam, that's it.
Chuck:So this is your, this is your teenage son, telling you 60 seconds, 30 seconds, wow, we don't get the attention, you lose Right.
Tamara Matthews:You're going to lose them or they're going to keep on doing something else. You got to grab them in 30 to 60 seconds, mom, and I'm like who does that? Like how can I do this? Like I'm trying to guess everything is quick, fast, right here, right now, all the information you need. I need to give it to you in this amount of time and boom, and that's it. And he is right, because even when I try to make a tick talk, I mean they give you a little bit more time. Yeah, it's like boom, bam, boom. You got to get in, get out, say what you got to say. And that's a whole new world for me, because, you know, I'm from the generation where they tell you express yourself, communicate. I have minutes, all the you know, but nowadays it's like wow, you got to be quick and fast. And if I could say another thing, to know your audience.
Chuck:Wow, talk about that.
Tamara Matthews:You have to know who your audience is and that's where your focus is going to be. Whether you're dealing with teenagers or young adults, whatever that age range is, that product is geared towards them. So you have to know what they want. What are they into? What kind of colors? Do they like the shimmer? Do they just want something plain? Do they want a neutral? You know, as far as the lip gloss goes, there's so much I can do, but again, I have to keep in mind what is my age group of consumers Like. Who am I your?
Chuck:audience.
Tamara Matthews:Really, mm. Hmm, who is my audience?
Chuck:Absolutely Amazing, amazing. Last question what advice would you give to somebody who's just starting out, who has this great idea, you know, but they just don't know what to do next? What advice would you give that person?
Tamara Matthews:I would say, of course you definitely want to research, learn that business, whatever the product is. If it already exists, learn how you can tweak it and make it better.
Chuck:That's a good idea.
Tamara Matthews:You know, because all too often we see it and we're like, okay, I'm just going to duplicate it. It's okay to model and duplicate things, but I think you can model, duplicate and then add the twist, the hook that makes it yours. You've got to do that. So I would say, write it out. Whatever the logo you see, sketch it, Play around with that, because there are variations of logos. Like you see Target, it's written out. Then any other time you actually see the bullseye target, you know that's Target. So play around with your logo, the variations you know. Think about the product. What's going to make yours better? What can you do to make people interested in it? How are you going to market this? Are you a social media person? If not, get a young person in your family to help you market and get it out there, because we already know that social media is going to drive your product to people that you probably will never come across. You know, and just think about your brand colors. Like, when people think of your product, what are they going to think of? How is that going to represent you? How is that going to benefit the community? Just think it all through and start working towards it little by little. You don't have to just jump out there. Bam, here it is. You know, and don't be afraid to make mistakes, because you're going to make tons of them, and you're going to make them. As you're in the midst of something, you're going to say, oh, that doesn't work, or I didn't do that, right, you know. So you got to start somewhere, and part of the starting process is actually making it known what your intentions are. It's easy to hide as long as no one knows what you're going to do, and then that makes it easy for you to back out. No one ever knew, so I don't have to admit failure.
Chuck:You know, that's a big one.
Tamara Matthews:You've got to be willing to fail in business, because even in your best decision making, things can happen.
Chuck:Yeah.
Tamara Matthews:You know I have a new driver. My son is driving now and I always say that don't go out there playing in the street. He knows that's mama's way of saying make good decisions. But even from a business standpoint, even your best decisions can end up in failure. So you cannot be afraid to fail, because it may happen and you may have invested. You know you're all, whether it was your time and your money, and you know your support system. You warn them completely out. You know you've got to be willing to take that risk because business is a risk Definitely small business, you know. So you've got to look at it, Look at the highs, Look at the lows. Be honest with yourself and if you can get a good support system around you, I say, do that, because they will be the push when you don't feel like doing it. You've worked your full time job and you come home and you walk in your room and you're like, okay, now I just don't feel like it today. But you've gone out there and you work that nine to five for someone else.
Chuck:You work that nine to five.
Tamara Matthews:Yes, You've got to put in the work and the time for you, your family, just like you did building someone else's empire.
Chuck:That's good. That's good.
Tamara Matthews:You can do that for yourself and your family and set a goal. It may seem unrealistic for me to say, oh, this is going to be my way out, but that's the goal and whether I reach it or not, that's still the goal. You got to be working towards something.
Chuck:Yeah.
Tamara Matthews:You know, that's the difference.
Chuck:I love that. Here's a good one too. Enjoy it while you do it. You know, enjoy that journey, the process of it, yeah.
Tamara Matthews:It's a beautiful thing. It is a beautiful thing when you can sit back and I'll come and sit in here and just look at what I've done. Like I'm right now testing some lip balms I made. Before I put them out there, I test them and have other people test them and I'm looking at them and I'm like, okay, this is beautiful because I would go into the Walgreens and buy a chapstick that I'm not satisfied with, you know, because I don't like a waxy chapstick. I like them buttery. Got you those things that motivate you if it motivates you, then go do it yourself and make it better. Whatever those things are that you're purchasing out there that you're not satisfied with, you can do it. You can make those things better. You just have to reach out and research and find the avenues that'll help you achieve it.
Chuck:Wow, I really enjoyed this conversation. You have really for real, I have, I have. And I know it's going to help somebody else, because there's a lot of, there's a lot of inspiring entrepreneurs out here today, you know, and there's a lot of ideas. But sometimes either we're not willing to put in the work or when we put in the work, we give up because the work becomes too hard. But you got to stay consistent, like you said, if you want to see, you know success or the outcome.
Tamara Matthews:Yes, yeah, absolutely.
Chuck:Absolutely. Put the time in, put the time in.
Tamara Matthews:We value everyone else and we give them time, but we don't do the same thing for ourselves.
Chuck:Yeah.
Tamara Matthews:We need to invest in ourselves and build our own futures.
Chuck:Wow.
Tamara Matthews:And try to leave, and try to leave something for our kids.
Chuck:Legacy, you know.
Tamara Matthews:Absolutely, yeah, absolutely.
Chuck:So do you have any social media? I know you do, but I want you to share your social media with the people.
Tamara Matthews:My social media platforms. You can follow me at lip relish by tam and then my website, wwwliprelishbytamcom. I have a YouTube. Guys go out there, subscribe to my YouTube. I don't have many subscribers yet, I'm still working that whole thing out. But my Facebook page, lip Relish by Tam, you know, go to the page, follow me, like the page, just kind of. And, most importantly, guys go to my website, be a part of. Subscribe to my email list, because that's where you're going to be able to get all the information. I'm not going to spam you, but I'll be able to let you know when I'm launching something, if I'm restocking something, and then discounts and referrals, I'll be able to let you all know that I appreciate you by providing discounts. So I am trying to build the email list, which is very important in terms of communicating with you all what's going on with lip relish by Tam.
Chuck:Wow, amazing conversation, amazing. I'm glad I had this conversation before you just go worldwide with this thing. I had the opportunity to have a conversation with you.
Tamara Matthews:I hear that prophetic word you just said.
Chuck:I had the opportunity to speak with this woman before. Absolutely yes. Thank you so much for being a part of let's Just Talk About it podcast again, and I hope this won't be the last time, because I really enjoyed the nuggets you dropped today as an entrepreneur.
Tamara Matthews:Thank you so much.
Chuck:No, thank you.
Tamara Matthews:I really appreciate you for inviting me on to the show and I pray something I say it will spark just a little bit of you know. Let's do it in someone who's been thinking about it Absolutely Motivate them.
Chuck:I love that man. Thank you so much again for being a part. Shout out to Mr Matthews and your son your support team man. That's amazing. I really appreciate it.
Tamara Matthews:Thank you so much, Chuck.
Chuck:All right, talk to you soon.
Tamara Matthews:All right, be blessed Wow.
Chuck:What an amazing conversation. Shout out to my friend, tamara, for having this dialogue with me. You know, one of the things that really stuck out to me about this conversation, amongst many other things, was Tamara's passion for embracing her authentic self and becoming an entrepreneur and confidently offering something that she loves and other women will love too, called lip relish by Tam. So shout out to you, tam, and your whole team, for becoming an entrepreneur your blueprint to follow. Thank you, as always. Thank you so much for tuning in to let's Just Talk About it podcast, and please check out my website. Just Google let's Just Talk About it podcastcom and then hit that subscribe button to receive all the new episodes every Friday. You can also find me on Facebook. Just type in Chuck LJTAI, which means let's Just Talk About it. So, as always, until next time, don't hold it in, but let's just talk about it. See you soon.