Over the last two conversations,we've highlighted the importance of owning your story and walking with purpose. This week we delve even further focusing on the importance of walking intentionally. Sometimes we have the tendency to take life as it comes, but if we want to make true progress, it's important we're intentional about our lives. Our guest this week is an amazing example of this. From starting the platform BareskinTJ at a young age, to hosting events, she's definitely a force to be reckoned with.
Tsemaye is an aspiring aesthetician and currently studies Advertising, Public Relations and Branding in Mauritius. This week's conversation covers a whole host of topics from budgeting skincare to living with intention, you really don't want to miss it.
Rhieme: Hi Tsemaye, thank you for joining us today. Can you please tell us a bit about yourself?
Tsemaye: Hi, thank you so much for having me. My name is Tsemaye Jemide. I’m 20 and currently studying advertising, Public Relations and Branding in Mauritius.I’m the founder of BareskinTJ which is a self- care platform.
Rhieme: What's the vision of Bareskin TJ and how have you been able to stay consistent?
Tsemaye: I’m not going to lie, my vision has changed over time. As you grow and as time goes by your goals and things may change. Sometimes I may have plans for myself, but God has other plans for me. Right now my vision for BareskinTJ is to continue as a social media page that advocates for self-care and skincare. Then get an aesthetician certificate so I can do facials and own a spa.Then eventually have my own skincare brand. I’ll definitely say the skincare brand is a long-term goal. I'm excited thank you for your support, you’re one of the real ones.
Rhieme: Thank you for sharing.In terms of like posting content how have you been able to stay on top of it? Especially as you started at a time when there were few skincare pages.
Tsemaye: First of all, support from family and friends. I started of my page as a private one then my friends pushed me to make it public.I love taking care of myself and my whole holistic being, so I thought it would be amazing if everyone could have this much insight on taking care of themselves. So the page was just me sharing my experience and also advising people on certain things that I could give advice to. Regarding consistency, recently I haven't been as consistent because I've been so busy, but I know it's one of my priorities. So it’s just me aligning my priorities. I know this is something I really want for myself. The times where I feel like I’m not being as consistent as I should I just remember my why. Why did I create this page? Why am I doing this? That keeps me pushing.
Rhieme: Knowing your why is so important. A lot of people want to start without knowing why. Even with this blog, I haven't even been doing it for that long but there are times where negative thoughts come but I constantly move the focus from myself to how it’s been impacting people.
Rhieme: As someone who buys and repeats skincare products on a regular basis, how have you been able to budget and manage your finances?
Tsemaye: This is an interesting question. Obviously, a lot of people know skincare is expensive, it’s actually not easy. So, one thing I do is get stuff according to my needs. Okay, if I need a serum that’s going to target X, I look for the best one and I get that. Something else that helps is buying stuff in bulk. So, if I say I need to do a skincare haul and the product has different sizes, I buy the biggest one. So at least I know it’ll take a while before I’ll need another. Sometimes you may not have enough money for that haul but if you can add a little extra it’ll last longer. I think just buying stuff you need because it's so easy to get lost there are millions of products everywhere. You’ll be on Instagram stories and notice someone posted this review and we end up buying stuff we don’t need and we’re like yeah I wasted my money. So those two things really help with budgeting.
Rhieme: I really like what you said about buying in bulk. I just buy everything at once if I can, because that way if so many people are asking have you tried this product? My mind doesn't go there because I've already sorted it out. Also, on buying what you need, I remember when I started off with my skincare journey, I was buying all sorts, The Ordinary was my go to.
Tsemaye:Yeah, next minute you see your cart.
Rhieme: The worst part is it worsened my skin because I was just buying all sorts. I’ll definitely recommend seeing a dermatologist. Of course it's more expensive to see someone rather than just buying products but in the long run it saves you more money. Ever since I saw my dermatologist, it changed everything. First of she asked me to throw away all my products.So now my routine is very simple.
Tsemaye: Yes, it’s true because it’s so easy to become a hoarder with skincare and just keep in so many things. Your routine doesn't need to be 15 steps, the simpler, the better. I can have so many products but I’m just using 3 or 4 things targeting my main concerns.
Rhieme: Yeah, because you see people with massive skincare products but when you think about it, some people may be buying products for when one finishes not necessarily buying random stuff. It's just finding what works for you and of course buying what you need.
Rhieme: So you've hosted a couple of events and all of them have been really good. Can you please share any tips you will give someone who wants to host their own event?
Tsemaye: Okay, first of all, thank you. My God never flops. All my events have been successful thanks to God, honestly. With my first event, I have my cousin, Oritsema the founder of The Store House. She has experience in hosting events and she really helped me with my first physical event. I learned a lot from her. I was able to learn how to plan and budget effectively.I also consider miscellaneous expenses when I'm budgeting. You may have a certain budget for drinks, printing everything. But on the day, there may be certain things that you may need to spend money on. So how I budgeted for the event by accounting for everything. The things I could potentially get for free, I'll put down 0. Then things that we'll need to pay for I'll add money when I'm finding my resources. I shoved everything on google excel, that helps me a lot when I'm planning for events. I put everything down the prices, everything. Finding different options are very important. If you're having trouble finding locations think of the best location for your target audience.A place that's going to be accessible and stuff like that. For drinks you could get different options and consider the type of target audience, are they interested in soft drinks or smoothies? For my first event my cost was low thankfully because I got my venue for free and my uncle helped.
All the money I got from the event I put it back into Bareskin TJ. Two of my events were like a year apart but I still had all the money from my first event. I took some money out to buy skincare products so I could do reviews. But the rest I put it into my next event which was the zoom call in 2020 summer. I had actually put the money into an investment bank and I'm telling you a whole year went by and it increased by 2k naira, I was embarrassed. So with executing my first event, I was really shy. I wish I did more. With my second event, I did a lot of research and practising so I was articulating myself properly when it came to the real thing.
Something that happens to a lot of us, we come up with amazing ideas, we plan, but we don’t execute.So when you're planning try your best to just push yourself to actually go forward and execute it. It's so easy to get caught up in your head and ask what if doesn't go well. Like my last event I was like wow nobody's coming. All my friends were telling me they were busy, different times zones. But I was like don't let this get to you even if it's just one person that comes, you’re impacting someone. You just need to remember your why. With my event I don’t think about money, it’s not because of money. My main goal for Bareskin TJ is to advocate. Try and get people around you that genuinely support you and want the best for you because they could really help in keeping you accountable and helping you with the whole preparing and planning process. My cousin for example, all my events she’s really helped.
Rhieme: There's a lot you've said. Firstly, moving from idea to execution. Many people say they want to do different things but not a lot of people sit down and actually plan. I remember there was a summer where so many people were starting different things but I can’t count the number that were actually sustained. So, it’s important to sit down, plan and think long-term. Even though you mentioned you've been a bit inconsistent, I don't think you’ve ever disappeared for half a year, without an explanation. You’ve always filled people in which is really good. It’s just good to know you're still interested in what you're doing.
Another point you touched on is not depending on other people to execute. You mentioned how quite a number of people said they wouldn't be able to make it, but you still pushed and had your event and that's really good. One thing I've learnt is the closest people to you may not be able to show up and it may not be intentional. You shouldn’t say because someone isn’t going to be there, you wouldn’t put forward the vision you have within yourself. Imagine if you didn't have the event. That was definitely a highlight of my lockdown, I was so excited. A lot of people were very bored and everyday was monotonous. So to see someone who was actually looking for a way to make things more exciting for other people was amazing. Always remembering that one person is so important.
At the end of the day, if it's not helping at least one person is it really worth it? It's not about the quantity but rather quality. If one person comes and they listen throughout and incorporate what they learn into their lives, it’s more important than a large group of people barely paying attention or engaging. You also mentioned leaning on people around you and also the importance of being surrounded by the right people. There are some people that don't take action because of the people around them and that's one thing that I've learned. You have to be able to discern whether or not someone has your best interest at heart. Some people can be very negative. You can tell them something and all they can think of is all the worst possible thing that could happen.
Tsemaye: That happened to me a lot with my event. There was someone that was so close to me and the person was trying to feed me with so much negativity five minutes before the event. I was just like wow some people are actually out here to pull you down. But my God never flops so thank God the event was a success.
Rhieme: You were also grounded in your why. I’ve noticed it’s always people who aren’t doing anything that find it so easy to make these comments. When you're actually doing something, it's easier for you to appreciate the value of someone else's work. Even if you're not doing the exact same thing, you know it’s not that easy.
Rhieme: So I've also noticed that you've shown an interest in cryptocurrency and all of that. Where does this interest stem from?
Tsemaye: I got into it last year November. My brother was telling to put money into Ethereum so I did and noticed it was increasing. It’ so easy to get money and spend it but I’m so big on my future. I’ll love this money to multiply, I’m not here for a fleeting experience. Obviously,cryptocurrency is one way of investing. So, I got into that because I have plans for next year.It’s really fun. Right now, I'm not too focused on it because the market is quiet down like my portfolio is down like 50%. But I really believe in it so it's not something I'm worried about. Obviously, I had some plans for summer but by God's grace there’s always going to be another summer.
Rhieme:Thank you for sharing that. I love what you said about how it really has to do with preparing yourself for your future. I even forgot to mention how from the events you've hosted, you've put aside money. It just ties in with what you're saying now. You manage your finances with the future in mind. We’re still quite young, but it doesn't mean we can't start developing some good habits. At some point, you would like to have your own skincare line and it’s in line with moving from idea to execution. A lot of people can say, I want to have x or y but you have to actually sit down and ask, do I have the money for this? How am I going to get there? One major thing I've taken away is thinking of the end goal in mind and looking for how to invest. It doesn't have to be that much but at least putting something aside. Especially with your events it wouldn't be that easy if you didn’t have any money set aside to fund the next one.
Rhieme: Through your platform, you’ve shared different self- care spaces like spas etc. So how have you been able to budget and incorporate these practices into your lifestyle? I think sometimes we may feel pressured to go to certain places, but we’re not really thinking about how this person may have budgeted for it, so how do you navigate that?
Tsemaye: It goes back to finding different resources and actually trying to pinpoint which one is convenient for you at that point. With my sugar waxing post, I put different places and also the prices of them. I was able to find someone that was way cheaper and was going to come to my house rather than me going to The Henna place.It’s good to pamper yourself sometimes. If you have the money at that point, and you want to do something nice for yourself, you might as well. It’s all part of self -care. If you're able to prioritise or put aside some money and say it’s the end of the month I want to do this for myself it’s fine. It's okay to treat yourself!
Rhieme: Yeah, I love that. Especially finding the one that works for you.It's important you take care of yourself but it should be within your means.Sometimes we feel like self-care has to be very expensive. Or there’s this pressure to go to certain places because you see everyone going.It's just finding what works for you there’s no need to put pressure on yourself.
Tsemaye: Exactly it’s actually not by force.This weekend, my friend was saying I should go to my lash place with her and it’s over 20k naira and I have my lash place close to my house that’s like 12k naira. I said please, let me respect myself it’s actually not by force. You can actually find stuff within your means and be comfortable.
Rhieme: It’s very important especially within our age range. I think sometimes there's this pressure to do things a certain way. One reason I really like your page is because you show both sides of it. So obviously there's some products that will be more expensive than others, but you always give us that mix.
Rhieme: Do you have anything you'd like to say to anyone? Anything that’s on your mind or something you've learned recently?
Tsemaye: I’ll just like to say anxiety is a liar, post your content and do your thing. Imposter syndrome is also a liar. Just try to remember your why like you're doing what you do and just keep pushing. It's so easy to get caught up with society. Your mind is extremely powerful but you’re more powerful and you can do it. So just want to encourage anyone who's going through something mental health, acne, you're beautiful in and out regardless of anything. So yeah, please be strong, you can do it period.
Thank you for reading! How did you find this conversation? Has Tsemaye said anything that resonated with you? Share your thoughts in the comment section below! Before you leave, make sure you check out BareSkinTJ for amazing self-care tips, you wouldn't regret it.
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