Black Women in Business
Nine-Year-Old Entrepreneur Gives New Meaning To Black Girl Magic With Spellbinding Bath Products
Jelani Jones is the owner of Lani Boo Bath
Jelani Jones, a nine-year-old entrepreneur of Fredericksburg, Virginia, is showing the world that you can never be too young to turn your vision into reality.
It all started with a fairly routine trip to her local farmers market. There, one of the vendors asked Jones if she’d be interested in taking a DIY bath products class. Jones thought it sounded fun and asked her mom to take her.
After the class, Jones had a light bulb moment.
“After we left my first class, I talked about a business and my mom asked what I would call my business and I said Lani Boo Bath,” said Jelani to the Atlanta Black Star.
The name Lani Boo Bath comes from a nickname her grandmother gave her: “Lani Boo.”
Jones’ mother said she thought nothing more of their conversation, but it wasn’t long before Jones asked her parents for some start-up funds. From there, she did what business consultants always tell you to do: she leveraged the power of social media.
Very quickly, people went from liking her posts to putting in orders.
For a while, Jones had a local customer base. As word-of-mouth spread, she found customers in her neighbors, in her family, and at her church. But it wasn’t long before Jones found herself shipping her products all over the country.
“The community has been amazing! People always say how proud they are of me and how I am inspiring them and how they are considering their children’s ideas more,” Jones said. “People in my community have reached out to buy from me because they know I am a young person and that means a lot to me.”
Though Jones runs a successful business, she does not let her grades slip. The Lani Boo Bath founder is straight A student and still, and somehow still makes time to enjoy being a carefree kid.
“Sometimes, I have self-care Sundays where I enjoy some of my bath bombs and soaps. I also love to hang out with my best friends Kyndal and Destinee, who also have businesses named D’s Tees and Kindles Kandles,” Jones said. “I play basketball during the season and I like to hang out with my family. I have a really big family.”
Jones said that she owes her business success to her supporters, especially her parents, and offered some advice for other young …