27-year-old Founder of Salt xo, Jhalesa Lewis started off with $67 a Facebook page and hand made soaps. Less than 4 years later, she has a warehouse, full staff and an 8-figure business.
The beauty care entrepreneur started off as a waitress. She was offered a middle school teacher job for only $33k a year and turned it down to step out on faith. A job that valued her at 5 figures wasn’t the value she saw for herself.
“I knew my value and decided to reject the offer and completely dedicate my time to create what’s now Salt.xo,” she said.
What started off as a few hundred dollars a week, generated $100k her first year in business. To date, the company has earned more than $16 million dollars in sales and over 160,000 Instagram supporters. Her best seller the Yoni Gel was inspired by her own personal experiences.
After showering, Lewis never felt completely fresh. She searched for a product that would give her a tingly and clean feeling. When she could find one, she created it. It was important for her to make something that had natural, handcrafted ingredients.
Lewis credits her son as her biggest motivator and her success to her own mother who raised 5 kids in a single-parent household. She said she’s extremely ambitious because of her mom and upbringing. Lewis explained her mother never made excuses and she stayed on top of her game.
“She worked hard for us. We never went hungry or without shelter. I know she struggled but that never affected us to the point where we were lacking,” said Lewis. “She made a way out of no way. God definitely showed his favor over our lives.”
In addition to managing an 8-figure business, Lewis balances the challenges of entrepreneurship with motherhood. She was pregnant during the peak of her business.
On top of being hormonal, fatigued and overwhelmed, her one-bedroom apartment had turned into a warehouse. Thankfully, her now fiancee took the lead on running her business so that she could focus on her pregnancy.
“My business challenge was in 2020 when we shipped off over 7,000 orders through USPS and nearly half of the orders were lost or stolen. I had to refund over $27,000 to irate customers who never received their package,” said Lewis.
At that moment I knew I’d never let that happen again. I felt so defeated because we made everything by hand and we lost so much money and inventory.
Salt.xo is continuing to grow and plans on being in major stores this year. When it’s all said and done she wants to be known for creating the best vaginal hygiene products the world has ever known.
For more on Salt.xo you can check out their website here: http://saltxo.com
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