I remember her working super hard for her
Jasmine Kelsey - I’ve always been a writer- literally since elementary. My initial decision to pursue missLady magazine was to pull women in on the right levels of life, in hopes to encourage, empower and educate. I’ve witness women in some tight situations. Inspiration is needed for everyone, especially black growing women. We now cater to the entire African American community throughout Central Arkansas. THIS YEAR, we had to switch the brand from missLady magazine to mL Community and Life
style
magazine. We didn’t roll with the women for too long when we realized that our
entire cultural community needs to be encouraged, empowered and educated. It’s
getting very serious for us and we will lose if don’t get it together.
JK - My biggest influence is the willpower of others. I love witnessing everyone working on their purpose, trying their best, surviving and making the best out of their dreams and situations. The fact that they’re WILLING to take these steps, do the impossible, focus and take that leap of faith is the reason that the magazine exists. Our slogan is “We ARE Because YOU Are” and that is so true in every word. It takes them to get our production flowing, from the sponsors to the features. I love that we need to find promising people and situations just to print another issue.
Now what takes the influence to an all
time zero is the low attention span that our community has. People can’t keep
up with anything in these days. I don’t mean keeping up with the fads and latest trends because we definitely have more followers than leaders. I mean
the knowledge to work together and take hold of the power within us. It always
about competition and who can do it better. Or the fact that they’re not
willing to try something new- like reading a local black owned magazine. We
have to focus on the real problem within our culture and that’s us! So many
people will jump on an issue because it’s in the news and gaining publicity but
the minute a distraction comes through, they forget what they were fighting for
and have no idea how far behind we are when it comes to building a culture. We
are selling ourselves short and the rest of the world is getting the best of
it. We need to wake up as a culture. This type of ignorance and neglect makes
we wonder if I’m targeting the right audience- black people. Thankfully, they
are still many great individuals out here that DO get it and work just as hard
as me to prove that we are capable of everything before us. We just need more!
JK - I’m not sure where my passion came from. Since elementary, I’ve been writing and hoping someone would feel some type of way after reading it. I love reading too. Using my imagination between every word and enjoying a good read always made me want more! I wrote a book in elementary (misplaced it unfortunately), join yearbook staff in jr. high, wrote on yearbook and published in the high school newspaper and wrote and led my college newspaper my senior year- Editor in Chief! I couldn’t help myself, I wanted my writings to be read by somebody and they were! It is definitely a passion that I can’t help but to display. I love telling a story about something or someone- and I do it well! I guess it’s a part of the purpose God has given to me. I’ll accept because I can’t recall a moment where I know how it started- it’s been apart of me for so long. And English was not a favorite subject for me but reading different types of writing really inspired my creativity.
SBM: What was the biggest struggle with developing your blog? What was the best part?
JK -The biggest struggle with missLady was
getting everyone else on board. Technology is taking over and conversations are
become smaller and shorter with everyone. READING is a very big issue as well
because it’s not the hottest topic for many like it is for me. People will
literally tell me that they don’t read. How dumb does that sound? Their lack of
attention is so disturbed that they’ll refuse to gain more knowledge,
information or focus of life SIMPLY BY READING. They are so quick to ask the
next person about what to do, where something is or who someone is before they
read about on their own. Kinda sickening to see people do this everyday on
social media and in public. It was said that if you want to keep something from
someone (particularly black people), to put it in a book.
Ok....so the best part about starting the
brand was my belief that it can work. I’m so glad I started this because I can
still deal with the best of the culture and show everyone else how amazing it
is. What’s even better is the fact that others are willing to accept us,
support us and work with us. This includes the team of individuals who get the
vision, the readers who love to be inspired and informed and the sponsors who
take the time to sow into our journey. I know that if I keep at it, more people
will come and we will grow bigger, better and higher.
JK - Journalism is so technical but that’s a
good thing. There are so many ways to pull someone in with words. It can be
with the first sentence or the first word. Writers can do so much to inspire
others but they can also offend, piss off and cause trouble because many people
will believe what they read or take it personal. But it has it’s positive
attributes- people depend on journalism to tell them something that they don’t
know. To keep them updated about everyone else and everything else. Its a great
necessity for the world to anticipate. I’m glad that our production is meant to
lead others in the correct direction. I’m proud that we have subscribers and
many readers that can’t wait to see what we have available for them to learn,
know or be empowered by.
SBM: How do you advertise your brand?
JK - We go everywhere. We are everywhere. We
collaborate with other businesses throughout Central Arkansas. We use social media a lot and we try out best to
connect with other media out here. This year, we plan to expand more in that
area so watch out, look and listen.
SBM: To what do you attribute your success?
JK - Consistency. We have to stay in the
whirlpool of news. We are the media. Being relevant is a big deal and it pays.
Service. It’s our job to serve our readers with worthy topics, great brands and
information to keep them in tuned of our local community and lifestyle. We love
to work for our sponsors too. They want to be a part of the fun and we have no
problem including them in our success. Communication, Leadership, Punctuality
and Involvement.
SBM: How do you handle life with so much negativity?
JK - I try my best to turn it around with
positivity. I want to live an easy, understanding and peaceful life. In the
beginning, I took negativity and let it control me. I believed that I wasn’t
worth the time, love and respect. If someone told me no, I felt like I was
losing. I’m so glad I grew out of that. With everything going on in the world,
I can keep a confused look on my face. I can get mad and rant, rave or rally
any negativity that comes my way but I don’t. Negativity is becoming something
that can cured with personal happiness. I mean finding the good in all
situations. Breathing easy and accepting
things for the better. Taking a “no” as something that could’ve been a
yes- because you took the initiative to ask. There no way negativity can ever
get in my way. It is available for those who don’t want what truly belongs to
them- Peace and Happiness.
SBM: If you had any advice for someone starting their own business, what would it be?
JK - Once you start, you can’t stop. That you
are closer to your dream with every step you take. No matter how big or how
small the task is, you are moving
forward. Success is a though-process. Just thinking of your next move is
success. Preparing your day is success. Making changes in your tone, approach
and lifestyle is success. You are on your way because you think you can get
there. And you will get there.
JK - JUST FOR YOU
