Shaniqua Trotman knew early on that playing it safe wasn’t the best route to happiness. Though she was a trained cook and she loved cooking, she still felt unfulfilled.
“The hotel industry could be stressful at times,” Shaniqua said. “So I wanted something to keep me bubbly.”
It wasn’t just about finding something to lift her spirits; it was being true to her own nature, which for Shaniqua became increasingly important. Though she heeded the admonition of family members (“don’t leave sure for unsure”), it was becoming increasingly difficult to summon the passion she initially felt.
“I always had an entrepreneurial streak in me and I always wanted my own cooking business, when I started selling make-up,” she said smiling. “And I always knew that climbing the ladder as a chef in the kitchen would be difficult.”
But selling make-up wasn’t enough for Shaniqua. She actually started looking into making her own line of cosmetics. That was when she decided to launch Jolie lipsticks.
“I couldn’t find a name in English that I liked. I wanted something straightforward, catchy and pretty, and I couldn’t find a name in English that wasn’t taken or too tacky,” Shaniqua said. “I started looking in other languages, and I couldn’t find anything in French either. Then I looked up the word ‘pretty’ in French and I found ‘Jolie . . . Jolie lipsticks.” The name just stuck and her business was born.
Why did Shaniqua decide to focus on lipstick?
“You would find that for a good quality lipstick you would have to pay like $30 or more in Barbados,” she said. “I wanted to produce something that was of the same quality or even better and provide it to people at an affordable cost.”
“The hotel where I worked used to close every year for renovations, so I would be out of work for a period of time,” she said. “So that was when I decided to launch my business.”
Shaniqua decided to have her lipsticks made in a factory overseas and she’s very happy with her decision.
“Now I feel very proud and confident because my lipsticks can stand up to other products on the market,” she said, beaming. “I retail them here and I’ve been getting a lot of requests to sell them overseas, but I want to perfect them here first because this is my foundation.”
Shaniqua seems to be well on her way to that solid foundation because when she exhibited at the recent Girlfriends Expo, her products sold out.
“I think I underestimated how many people knew about the product,” she said. “I did not expect to sell out at the Expo at all. I knew that people were excited about the new colours, but to actually sell out is crazy.”
If Shaniqua needed proof that she was on the right track, she got it.
Even members of her family who were initially sceptical about her stepping away from the hotel business, are now some of her biggest supporters. That means a lot to Shaniqua, who is still basking in the glow of her success at the recent Expo.
“Now everyone is just proud and telling me how happy they are for me. It makes me feel powerful to know that I can set a goal or dreams for myself and actually go out and reach them,” she said. “Yes, I might feel powerful but most of the time it feels surreal. I can’t believe that I’m actually waking up and living my dream every single day.”
Shaniqua, who is a walking advertisement for her products, feels that she is truly living her best life now.
“It was challenging balancing both the cooking and make-up. I couldn’t give it my all,” she said. “I would always walk in the kitchen and people would look at me like ‘Where does she think she’s going?’ It used to be a challenge actually getting me to dress down to go in the kitchen. I would hear the chatter and see the side glares from the other female chefs.”
Now Shaniqua gets to dress up as much as she wants, and she is truly happy and fulfilled doing what she’s doing.
“I had a form teacher who would always tell us, ‘No matter what do, regardless of what it is, make sure you’re happy’,” Shaniqua said. “Cooking made me safe. But I learned that the real magic happens outside of your comfort zone.”