SUTHERLAND GOES GLOBAL

Rosealee Sutherland (Left) and Deven Sutherland (Right)

Transforming oneself into a successful entrepreneur is not for the faint of heart, one must be brave enough to bring their inner visions to life, possessing the courage, stamina and the creative witts to make something from nothing or to see what no one else sees or understands in the market place then bring it to life. This week we highlight Devene Sutherland one whom we believe embodies all of the above.

Devene Sutherland; owner of "House of Deva Bandeau", Miss Sutherland wears many hats as a teacher, debate coach, dance coordinator, student and mother of two children. She started her business in 2014 designing and making hair accessories, she found success with her staple product, satin hair bonnets which is her best seller.

“The love I have for my hair first sparked my entrepreneurial dream which spawned House of Deva Bandeau. (HDB) consist of an array of custom made hair accessories. The greatest thing about HDB bonnets is that my customers get to customize their own accessories, choosing the style, color, and print they feel represents them best. Customer service is the most important thing to us ensuring that our customers are 100% satisfied in our aim to please".

Making the decision to start her own business along with her mother was not an easy task considering; she is a mother of two pursuing a masters degree. Miss Sutherland speaks of sleepless nights caring for her two young children while sewing, studying and more. The contemplation of giving up crossed her mind many times as she pushes forward hoping for a silver lining at the end of what was

HDB Product

becoming a dark tunnel, but with supportive parents that offered a simple gesture of helping, hands became the extra strength needed to accomplish her goals.

"I’ve had many instances in which I’ve wanted to throw in the towel, but God and family gave everything I needed to stay afloat. Through hard work I gained a customer base which is like family, my customers have supported me since day one they are playing a pivotal role in motivating me I've been blessed by getting new customers every day. The road to success is far from being easy. There are many ups and downs. I can remember just a year ago I announced on social media that HDB will be closing down and received an overwhelming amount of support from people around the world in support of me and my business. I also remember waking up the next morning to see more messages than I could read from people whom I have never met me. I was encouraged and inspired to go on. Believe this was the moment I realized the key to my success was. I created each piece with love and it came back to me when I truly needed it. Today (HDB) is stronger than ever my dreams come true"

Customers

With a new sense of devotion, she began creating new customer-inspired products sparking new social media followers and customers and now receives orders from Trinidad, England, and the United States. With this increase, she realized the power of the brand, she now has plans of expanding her brand creating physical locations by 2020, while shipping to more global destinations around the world.

This young entrepreneur has overcome many obstacles coming out on top creating that much-needed balance between work and family life to achieve her goals and aspirations. Miss Sutherland remembers these powerful word from her father who is also a businessman “The quality of your mind determines the quality of your life” stay focused.

12 YEAR OLD "GIRL BOSS"

Kheris Rogers likes sparkles. A lot. “I like anything with sparkles. Anything. Literally anything,” she tells CNBC Make It from her mother’s house in Los Angeles.

That’s not surprising. Rogers just turned 12 — she was 11 when speaking to CNBC Make It, an age when many girls gravitate toward sparkly things. It’s one way in which Rogers is a typical (soon-to-be), a seventh grader. In other ways, however, she is very different from other kids her age.

That’s because Rogers started her own fashion business when she was just 10 years old, and it’s thriving. Called Flexin’ In My Complexion, items of clothing in her line bear the namesake phrase, a call to encourage confidence and combat racism. Rogers was bullied for her dark skin as a child, so her older half-sister Taylor Pollard, now 23, posted a photo of Rogers on twitter with the hashtag ”#FlexinInHerComplexion,” an expression her grandmother,

Bettie Pollard used to encourage the sisters to feel beautiful. The tweet went viral and the clothing line was the sisters’ response. Since launching in April 2017, the business has brought in $191,000 in sales. It’s also gotten the attention of rapper Snoop Dogg; actress, producer and screenwriter Lena Waithe; Grammy Award-winning artist and producer Alicia Keys; actress Lupita Nyong’o; comedian and television host Steve Harvey and landed Rogers in a Nike ad campaign. Rogers also walked in Harlem Fashion Week in New York City in September 2017.  “This is a dream come true for anybody,” she said.

If you have a dream, you should just go for it. Just go running towards it.

Rogers, who with Pollard, runs the business out of their mother’s garage, shares this advice with CNBC Make It: “If you have a dream, you should just go for it. Just go running towards it .... Just always have to believe in your dreams.”

How do you do that? “If you want to be anything, just be it. You have the opportunity to do it. Just look into things, research about it and figure out what you really want to be so you can chase your dreams,” Rogers says.

Indeed, Rogers and her sister Pollard didn’t have much guidance in launching Flexin’ In My Complexion. Pollard had started another small business (Taylor Made Pastries), but other than that they just figured out themselves what they needed to do to launch their clothing line.

The sisters say they “were playing it by ear,” using the few resources they had to create a successful business. Their mom Erika, a social worker, gave them about $100 to start the company, remembers Pollard. Pollard, who studied art at the University of California Riverside (“I wanted to start something on my own and I knew that I could start that with creativity,” she says) just Google-searched “how to make a website” to set that up, she tells CNBC Make It.

When things took off, Rogers was a bit agog at her own success. “I was like, ‘Wow. I just started a clothing line at 10 years old!’”

But Pollard says the sisters didn’t launch Flexin’ In My Complexion to fatten their wallets.

“The goal wasn’t to make this much money ... it really was just to touch people,” says Pollard. “So for me, it was just more so about being able to touch other people and to be able to help people.” Launching the business has grown Rogers’ confidence from a “negative one” to “10 million,” she says. And she’s following her own advice about rushing after her dreams.

“When I get older, I know I want to be a fashion designer, a businesswoman, a dancer, an actress,” says Rogers. “Anything you can think of, I want to be it. Because I am always chasing my dreams. Anything I can be, I am going to go for it because if I have the opportunity right then and there, I am going to do it.”

Article by: CNBC Make It