Today we’d like to introduce you to India Harper.
Hi India, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I originally came from Wisconsin to attend Morgan State. My high school had a black student union (BSU) that raised money to visit as many HBCUs as possible. I knew it was expensive but who wants to stay in Wisconsin their entire life?!
After my first year at Morgan my mom and late stepfather called and told me that couldn’t help me financially anymore. I was then given two options: figure it out or come home. I decided to figure it out! I wanted to make money but also make people feel good! At the time I had a big curly fro so I wore headwraps a lot. And I thought why not sell wraps!
With whatever money I had left I ordered 12 yards of fabric after doing my research and thought of names. I somehow came up with Powerful Queens because it’s how I wanted women to feel when they wore my wraps. I also only ordered bright colors so that we as women can feel comfortable in bright colors. Once I received my fabric I measured and cut everything and headed to campus! I literally went around saying “you look like you wear wraps you wanna buy some??” And I told all 12 yards in 2 days for $10 a piece.
Soon enough I was vending at black-owned pop-up shops like Everyone’s Place and in people’s houses till late selling my head wraps. Many times, my best friends Brie & Savannah would come and help me as well so I wouldn’t be alone. Powerful Queens slowly turned into Powerful Queens & Kings when the men on campus wanted something for them. Of course, I ordered velvet durags ASAP for men and they sold!! I was happy I was young and paying for college, my food, and sometimes new clothes. I even added edge control brushes and lip gloss.
Once I graduated undergrad in 2018 and went back home for 6 months I got depressed and my business was slowing down due to me being so far away. Although I offered shipping many of my customers usually picked up their order. I began to rethink and reshape my business to who I was becoming. In February of 2019, I took away durag and most wraps and brung in herbal tea and sage. I wanted anyone in the community of color to have access to herbal tea for health and affordable spirituality tools. Every time I went to a store to get sage or wands it was so expensive. Or whenever I drank tea, it was so many ingredients I never heard of. It kinda made me upset.
Instead of yelling about it I came out with my own products. I made sure my teas only have 5 ingredients or less and my sage bundles are from $5-$15. Everyone deserves access to healthy tea and affordable tools to get in alignment. I also decided to get 200 RYT yoga certified to give affordable yoga to any community who needs it of any age.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It definitely has not been a smooth road! When I moved of course I lost some customers because of shipping cost. So, I went out and researched the best but also cheap shipping and landed on sendle! I started to sell sage when many people wasn’t or was still getting to learn about sage. Now there are multiple people who sell sage so it is a bit of competition when I vend. Most importantly there has been a protest with white sage and Native Americans. A lot of websites are selling white sage that’s not blessed or approved by tribes that basically invented sage. I try my best to make sure my wholesalers have permission from Native Americans or that I am personally buying sage from Native Americans tribes.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
My 9-5 is being a research assistant in drug abuse and or clinical trails. I have a B.S. in psychology from the Morgan State University! I’ve held positions at Morgan States rat lab, Johns Hopkins as a program coordinator, and other research institutes. But my dream job is to be a yoga teacher/midwife. I’ve been posting yoga videos for 3 years now, I have over 50. I’m known for selling head wraps! I’ve held and partnered with organizations on how to wrap your headwraps. And lastly, sage and teaching yoga to those who are interested. I’ve been invited to organizations on campuses, MOMCARES in Baltimore, and basketball camps to teach yoga and or sage benefits. I’m most proud of my articles on my yoga page especially from London, UK. I was invited by a black-owned media outlet in London to host an hour yoga session and it was amazing!
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
Advice: It’s ok if someone else is selling the same product it’s all about your audience and how you brand!
Always partner with other black businesses to connect and network across.
Get an LLC. When you really are sure about your business name
Pricing:
- $5
- $2.00
- 10.00
Contact Info:
- Email: inhar5@icloud.com
- Website: https://www.powerfulomni.com/
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/yogawithindie?utm_medium=copy_link
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/pwerfulomni?s=21
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCSQ65n47RC2Y0GfE9PzWNBw
- Other: https://instagram.com/powerful_omni?utm_medium=copy_link
