 Hey everyone, I am Ken Ross here. I'm a business consultant that specializes in reducing costs for companies and here today I have a very special guest. Her name is Felice Nichols and she does melanin wrapping paper. How are you today? I'm good Ken. How are you? I'm good and awesome Time to be here in business and awesome businesses What what I like to highlight on my channel is one of the things that I really spend a lot of time doing is is finding Everything to discuss what their business is about and yours is no exception. But before we get into that, why don't you tell me a little bit about your background? Alright so like you said my name is Felice Nichols and so my background is actually in graphic design. I am a self taught graphic design artist. I've been doing graphic design since I was in middle school back in my space in Black Planet days. I'm not new to being a business owner. I have sold hair extensions. I've done network marketing so I've done business for a long time in my lifetime even though I'm only 32 years old but my current business venture is melanin wrapping paper and I'm really excited about this business because I feel like I finally found a way to turn my natural skill set into a tangible product. So what I do is I create wrapping paper and gift novelty items for people of color. Awesome and yes, definitely something that you can leverage your skills in graphic arts. Something I can see actually very much portrayed in the product that you offer. And you kind of mentioned to me when we first talked that you kind of started this by accident. Can you kind of give us the backstory on how this all started? Yeah, so this business, it wasn't intentional at all. So part of my personal growth journey is meditation. I meditate every day even if it's just 10 minutes, 5 minutes, 15 minutes. You know, I just try to give myself a moment of solitude before I get my day started. And so there was a time that I was meditating during my normal routine and something said make melanin wrapping paper. And so when I heard that I was like, okay, I'm going to do this. So I created a wrapping paper that was for Christmas. I created a black Santa Christmas theme wrapping paper. And when I put that product out there, I got so much support from people and it was at that moment that I realized, you know what, when something said make melanin wrapping paper, it didn't mean just do a one time project like this really has the potential to be an entire brand. So after I got the support for that one product, I took some steps back and said, you know, let's stop focusing on just doing this one Christmas thing. Let's make this turn into a business. Absolutely, absolutely. And I can see that kind of portrayed in your variety of different products right now. I did happen to go to your website and you offer a nice variety of different things. I really love the superhero card. I think it's something that's really great. I may have to purchase one right after this for my daughter because I really think that it's important to highlight that we can be superheroes. Right. So kind of tell me what your plans are your goals are for for the shop. Are you planning on doing an expanded line or are you trying to do some some partnerships licensing anything like that? I mean, just just help us understand kind of your goals. Yeah, so my goal is definitely to have wrapping paper for every occasion, you know, just like how you saw the superheroes that is great granny occasion anybody you know that's a superhero in your eyes I would love to do anniversaries you know things like that. And I've also just opened my gift shop so not only will I be creating wrapping papers but I'm also going to be creating physical products. The product that I just created is actually a yoga mat. And it features a black girl doing yoga on that so I will be creating actual items that people can buy, like water bottles, beach towels, decor for your home that is centered around the Afro centric lifestyle. Yes, and definitely can see that that same touch there that you want to bring some of your own personality and some of the products that you offer. So that is a really, really great thing that you get to do you get to really express yourself in the products that you offer. That's great. Tell me one of your favorite stories about this business so far, what would be something that you could like for us. My favorite thing honestly about the business is really just seeing my son watch what I'm doing. I have a four year old son and so he has watched my growth when I was doing other businesses he's seen what I was doing. And I honestly just love watching him watching me you know he knows oh is that wrapping paper mommy oh look at the super heroes oh they look like me and so it really just makes me proud as a parent as a mother as an entrepreneur to do something that I'm proud of and that my son is proud of you know I know that it makes him happy to see me doing these things and I hope that this will encourage him when he gets older to want to start his own business. Absolutely and I really appreciate that answer because that's exactly why I started a business that's why I really wanted to show my daughter something that I never really got the purpose of seeing is and that's being passionate about something so much that you're willing to bet on yourself right and that's what I see you're doing for your son is that he can see that. Like hey I see me in these products I see your passion for what it is you're doing and as he grows up he's going to want or can explore at least that as an option. I mean that's just amazing that's awesome so I want to talk about one thing I saw on your website really love this quote it says she wants to show the world that nothing is impossible and that true happiness and fulfillment does exist can you expand on that idea what do you mean by that. Yeah so you know it's honestly kind of crazy that my name is Felice because it does mean happy and my mom she before I was born she felt like I was a happy baby in the world and as an adult I feel like my main focus is finding what true happiness is in life. And as I've grown I've learned that happiness is created on the inside. And so a lot of people think that tangible things you know the items the cars that we drive where we live where we go what we do on the weekends is what makes us happy. And I really want to show people like there's so much more to what makes us happy and if we can find that true fulfillment that true peace inside. Then that is what reflects in your outer world. That is what gives us those things you know we have to have the peace within us in order to really get what it is that we want physically in this life and so I'm actually really excited about this business because it allows me to put a message out to people to show them what it means to just be happy what it means to celebrate other people what it means to you know show love to people that you wouldn't typically show love to and so that's that's really what it's all about to me is just trying to spread the message out to as many people as possible that we are put here to be happy we're not put here to struggle we're not put here to suffer if there's anything that you want to do no matter who doesn't believe in you. You can do that and I want to be the example through my life to show people that no matter what it is you want to do no matter how crazy it sounds if that's what you want to do do it if it makes you happy do that because that is where your true peace happiness and fulfillment really lies. Yes, definitely a celebration of sorts of that and so one last question here about your business in particular there's there doesn't seem to be a lot of folks that are doing specifically what you do right but there are competitors have you many of those competitors and what makes you really stand out from that. So I have seen a few small businesses online doing the same thing that I do but at the end of the day I create my own products you know I am a graphic designer and I feel like that alone gives me a edge against a lot of people because I can have endless creations I don't have to pay someone to you know create whatever it is I want if I have an idea. I can open up my laptop and create it but I mean at the end of the day we go in Walmart and there's 30 different kinds of bread and everybody you like wonderbred somebody else like great value bread you know like we all are doing the same thing but it's just you know what do you have to offer and so for me. It's not even really about the competition is just that I believe in my business I have confidence in myself, I shame I shamelessly promote my business I go hard at it, and I have big dreams so I really hope to see everybody succeed. But I feel like you know what sets me apart for one is definitely going to be my gift shop the items that I do offer that correlate with my wrapping paper, but at the end of the day, there's enough room for everybody to win. Yes, absolutely and I'm getting cold. No worries. I really do admire that because what it sounds like is that your passion and your desire is really wrapped up, so to speak, in what it is that you're doing, and that's that's amazing. And unlike other other people in other spaces they, they do have to depend on various different parts of this to to bring forth a passion for what they're doing and like you said they're going to be many, many competitors in this space, but it's really just a celebration of something that that I think for myself at least when I look at it is something I never had as a kid and I really do appreciate it. That's one of the reasons why I wanted to highlight such an exceptional business owner such as yourself. How can we find you want to make sure everybody knows how to make sure we can find you I'll put it in the description of this video as well, but go ahead and tell us. All right, so you can follow me on Instagram at melaninwrappingpaper Facebook is the same melanin wrapping paper, and you can visit my website online at melaninwrappingpaper.com. All right, that's melaninwrappingpaper.com. I really do appreciate you taking the time today to come to my channel and answer my questions and really just show the passion and desire that you have for what it is that you're doing I think. Yeah, I don't even know what to say I'm kind of speechless in some ways because it's like when I met you and what what you do for business I said I just can't I can't resist so thank you very much for your time. Thank you I really appreciate it.