Behind the culinary delights and natural beauty products of Naturi Beauty is Shelley Chapman, a vibrant flexitarian and vegetarian entrepreneur who studied psychology at Spelman College and Harvard University.
In her high school days, Shelley created her own beauty products from natural ingredients that are not only cheaper than most mainstream products, but also contaminant-free. She started to share these products with her friends, who convinced her to start a business, which she did in 2004. In 2009, she added a cooking element to her business and began offering private culinary services.
By combining her passion for vegetarian cuisine and organic beauty products with her academic background in psychology, Shelley achieves her ultimate purpose: to help empower women through their femininity.
We recently chatted with Shelley Chapman, who generously shared her experiences around setting up and running a vegetarian business.
Vegan Mainstream (VM): What is the philosophy behind Naturi Beauty?
Shelley Chapman (SC): The Naturi Beauty philosophy is essentially to nurture, nourish and grow. When you think of nourishment, you think of food, what goes in your body and adding up the vitamins, minerals and all the good stuff. When you think of nurturing yourself, you think of taking care of yourself. It can be about getting enough rest, being in healthy relationships, being gentle with yourself, as well as using products that are going to nurture your skin and your body—not using anything that’s harsh.
Once you have that nurturing and nourishment in place, then the end result is nothing but growth. It’s not just physical growth, but the spiritual growth and elevation that comes from surrounding yourself in a nurturing and nourishing environment! So that’s what Naturi Beauty is: a company that promotes radiance through nurturing and nourishing, and that’s what I want all women—and men, too—to understand.
VM: Are most of your customers vegan? How do you make a special effort to reach out to non-vegans?
SC: Most of my customers are flexitarians as well! And the beautiful thing is that the community understands both. The issue I have is that sometimes people think veganism is boring – because they’re used to consuming food in a certain way. Naturi Beauty seeks to find out what kinds of food appeal to these people. If they like eating burgers, what is it about burgers that they like? How can I create something that is not too far from what their palates are accustomed to, but still introduce them to another approach to eating? What I do is to introduce veganism and break down the stereotypes.
VM: How important is your blog in getting your message out to your customers?
SC: I would say to any business owner that if you don’t have a blog, you should get one, especially small businesses! When I started my blog, my aim was only to share what I love—beauty products and dealing with food. Since I started it, so many people have come to the blog, they read, and now they understand. If I only had a website, people wouldn’t understand what Naturi Beauty is. So blogging is a way for me to basically get my message across, and also build trust. A blog is a great way to stay in touch with customers on a regular basis and build relationships so there is never any question about the ethics of your business. A blog is the platform to do it.
And the truth is, I love blogging. Because when you’re an entrepreneur, you spend so much time by yourself or in your office just creating. So, it’s a nice way to be able to interact.
VM: What were the difficulties that you faced in launching a successful vegetarian business?
SC: The biggest challenge that I faced, I’m gonna be honest, is myself at the beginning. Being able to transition from a 9-to-5 mindset to an entrepreneurial mindset takes some work. When you go to school, you’re trained, you get a job, and you get a paycheck every two weeks. When you transition, you start to realize that you can be successful, but it’s a different guarantee than a 9-to-5. The guarantee now is you’ll have to make a conscious and consistent effort to stay up with the trends, to market your business, to really identify your customers, to reach them and convert your relationships to sales. All you need is 1) the pure inspiration and drive; 2) the serious belief—the true and innate understanding—that this is for you; and 3) knowing that you can’t do it all by yourself and reaching out to your network.
VM: How do you feel about non-vegan businesses offering vegan products?
SC: I can’t say that it hurts the cause. What I will say is that now, you’re reaching out to a new market, you’re opening up people’s minds. If vegan businesses only cater to vegan customers, well then, how are you getting the message across? If you have a niche market, there’s nothing wrong with that. But if your purpose is to let the movement grow wide and reach the masses, then you’re going to have to go reach a different market.
VM: What is your advice to other vegan/vegetarian entrepreneurs?
SC: The biggest advice I’d give is to honor your passion and conviction for this. Being in business for yourself is not about being a millionaire or winning a popularity contest. Being in business for yourself is about being married to your passion. Your business is not this thing that you can put onto a shelf from 9 to 5 – you are literally working all the time!
The purpose is to share your gift and knowledge with the world, and to do it with honesty and integrity. And when the world understands it and benefits from it, then you get to benefit as well. The benefit is you can become wealthy, but it’s not the purpose. Just believe in yourself!
