As the CEO and creative force behind Sassy Jones, a lifestyle and fashion brand valued at $80 million, Charis Jones has carved a unique niche in the global e-commerce. However, Jones' impact extends far beyond the fashion industry. She became the first black female entrepreneur to construct two girls' dormitories at a Kenyan education center.
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Charis Jones' mission is deeply personal. After selling her Mercedes Benz to finance her first trade show in 2015 while raising 5-month-old twin boys. She has grown Sassy Jones by an astonishing 12,000 percent over four years. It's reached a coveted peak spot of #24 on the prestigious INC 5000 list from the 3 times the brand has been listed.
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She developed a live-stream shopping strategy and built a pop-up shop display in her kitchen to style her products via livestream, naming it The Sparkle Party®. The Sparkle Party has become a platform for raising funds and awareness for these causes, attracting over 30,000 weekly viewers who are drawn to Jones' empowering message and style tips.
Her initiative in Kenya has allowed prepubescent young girls to live separately from the boys, while maturing into confident young women. Completed in 2023 in Maasai Mara, Kenya, the initiative ensures that young girls have a safe and supportive environment for their education. In addition to necessary personal wellness supplies to help ease the transition into womanhood and combat menstrual poverty.
Funding for these dormitories came from a percentage of every purchase with the brand, which goes toward supplies to aid in the epidemic of menstrual poverty and the success of school in Kenya. Her work exemplifies how entrepreneurship can be a force for good.
1. Charis, congratulations on your incredible achievement in Kenya. Can you share with us what inspired you to build dormitories for girls at the Kenyan education center?
So, I actually never was planning to build a dorm. The opportunity just fell in my lap and it was more of a heart string pool. So I was in Africa visiting the school in Masaimara and it was just a typical visit.
And so, there were these beautiful children very enamored with us and curious, but you could tell that there was a a few needs. One of the ones being when the children would attend school, they would get mauled by the animals in the safari and they had to find resources to build the fence around the school.
The other thing was the children specifically the girls, they were coming up with issues with teenage pregnancy and also getting a lot of toxicity and disease from experiencing menstrual poverty by not having proper sanitary supplies to be able to care for themselves. So, I was like, "Well, what can we do?"
The school representative was saying things like books or computers, and it just, it hit me. "What if we build some dormitories and assist with stocking the dormitories for supplies?"
And that should help to start with safety and shelter and separating the boys from the girls.
And she was like, yes! And so it's been an ongoing thing. The dormitories were done by the end of 2023 and we ended up building two instead of the initial plan of one.
And that's how it happened.
2. The issue of menstrual poverty is significant in many parts of the world. How does Sassy Jones contribute to addressing this issue through its sales, and what kind of supplies are you providing to aid young girls in Kenya?
So through the foundation, what we do through our sales each year, we offer a percentage over to this initiative and some other initiatives that we are a part of, but we'll offer a percentage such as a financial donation over to the dorm so that they can purchase their feminine supplies or clothing, barettes, lotions and whatever else they may need.
And so we've had one full cycle year to do it, which was at the end of 2023. And we're happy to do it. It'll be an ongoing thing along with our other initiatives.
3. Your brand has designed a collection inspired by your experiences with the tribes and children in Kenya. Could you tell us more about this collection and how it reflects those precious moments?
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So the collection was designed after I got home just because I wanted it to sort of hit me you know it takes creativity takes time.
One thing that I remember and that stuck with me even to this day is the phrase Pole-Pole (pronounced Poley Poley) which means in Swahili to "slow down." I was spending some time with their woman there. I just remember them being so happy and so beautiful and colorful and resourceful and it really left an impression on me.
So when I got home, I'm like, okay, I love the colors. I love the women. So we did a painting, right? And so that's what you see in our Mahali scarf. It's literally a painting of a picture that I took of the tribe's woman there.
Inspired by how strong and soft at the same time so we took some of those colorful elements and decorated silk blend scarves and also we did a few dresses and some palazzo pants just to really celebrate the heritage there.
4. "We sell confidence!" is a powerful statement. How do you ensure that this philosophy is embodied in every product and experience offered by Sassy Jones?
So confidence is actually, it's a habit. And we encourage you to practice that habit through audacity.
Our vehicle is inspiring you to do things that you never would have done before to help build the confidence. muscle. And so things like wearing bright colors, a lipstick that you maybe never have tried, or teaching you a new skill like tying a hand wrap or applying a lash, or different things like that that you can put into your toolkit.
And as it relates to you getting dressed, when you look good, you feel good and you tend to do good things. So you are armored with all of those tools that Sassy Jones gave you. just in exchange or doing business with us.
And so that particular practice has so many immense trickle -down effects into other areas of our customers' lives.
And they share how it has changed who they are just from interacting. And for us, and we design it from a place of confidence, we're thinking about how you can feel the best and how you can execute the best in your day, in your meeting, in your moming, in your caregiving, whatever it is that you're doing, how the pants should be able to flow on you, how they should feel, the fabrication of like how it should be moisture wicking so that you don't sweat and when you're menopausal, so you can remain confident. And I have to like, you know, and so we want to assist with all of those things.
We sell the audacity and the audacity turns into confidence.
5. You've experienced a steady rise in revenue growth over the last four years?
Yes, we have grown so fast! And the surprising thing is that we have grown organically, like we have run ads and things like that, and they operate as like a lift, but it is not our rise. And so what I attribute it to is community building, a spectacular product in a specific way. experience.
And I think if you can build those three things, then it just takes off. The other thing is that I am very connected with our audience. And so there's not a whole lot of businesses its hard to find a business owner involved with the day -to -day, you know, those things in our day and age with AI and all, it's very rare. And so keeping that close relationship has also helped us rise.
6. To what do you attribute this success, and how have you managed to maintain such a rapid pace of expansion?
Continuing to improve continuously the Kaizen method. And so it's true that the things that worked yesterday, don't work today and we're always like brainstorming.
Such as how to take more space up in the marketplace. And the other thing is that it's fun. That is also the other thing, building your team for people who are pioneers and who are hunters and who are always looking for new exciting ideas and disruptive ideas.
7. With over 30,000 weekly viewers, the Sparkle Party® has struck a chord. What do you think resonates most with your audience during these livestreams?
For Sparkle Party, I think what resonated the most is myself having the relationship and the memory of our customers, which allows us to stay top of mind.
Also I'm a designer and so I am very in -depth like very much knee deep in the creation of our products and every single decision of our products.
Nothing happens without me knowing. And so that level of knowledge I share with the customers and they become smarter. You know, we teach them things about design and silhouette and fabrication and all of that.
And so they're learning as well. And so it's a philosophy that we like to call edutainment where they're learning, but they're also being entertained by my personality.
I think that is the winning ticket, the relationship.
And then also, Sparkle Party sometimes has a very irresistible offer, you know, where you watch it and there's something like a free gift or a discount code or whatever have you that may expire in a limited amount of time.
And so they're learning as well. And so it's a philosophy that we like to call edutainment where they're learning, but they're also being entertained while watching.
So that, that, that impulse decision has to be made quickly about your purchase. And you feel good about your purchase So you don't mind purchasing and so I think that's why sparkle party was successful In the 5 ,000 reason 24,
8. Sassy Jones has been listed three times on the INC 5000 list, reaching #24. What are the 'secret sauce' that sets your brand apart from others in the industry?
We have decision -making audacity.
And what I mean by that is the fashion world in our industry operates on a fashion calendar. You know, you have a spring collection, you have a winter collection and you show and you do all of these things that you're "supposed to do" because you're in this industry and that's how you can become successful.
However, we have completely done it our own way and we release presently two new arrivals a week and two restocks a week.
Our customer is a collector. She continues to shop over and over again because she has a trust built in with the brand. We have a double philosophy in our design style.
So we are essentially with how frequently we release, we're considered fast fashion, but we have high fashion quality, you know, and so and also the price point, it's a very attainable, desirable. desirable price point you know it's like attainable luxury and so those are the things that you don't typically see every day especially from a 100% independent black-owned non -invested brand.
