Today we’d like to introduce you to Sanita Barrett.
Hi Sanita, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I’ve always been a dreamer but never a go-getter, always the girl wishing and hoping for a change but never stepping out of my comfort zone to reach for the dreams I wanted. One day while at work with one of my best friends Kimberly Maggette, we were talking about how we wanted more out of life and that’s where my little flame got sparked and grew a little bigger.
At the time, Kim and I were both planning our weddings and started falling in love with the different little aspects of wedding setup/ planning so we came up with the idea to start our first together business Kreatively Styled – we offered planning services, matching shirts for the bride/groom and bridal party and custom wedding merchandise. As the business grew so did our roles with the business, Kimberly focused more on the merchandise side as I focused on the event planning / cakes and treats side of things, then the pandemic hit, everything seems to slow down, during this period I had a lot of time to think and reflect on my life. As I was thinking of my next steps, and who I wanted to be, I started to realize that I always seems to play it safe, do just enough to get by, complacent with where I was because I never thought I was special to have everything I kept dreaming about. I no longer wanted to be the person scared to follow her dreams so I created Brand 1991 – my online boutique and launched it on my birthday Sep 2021. I focused most of my energy into building my boutique, decorating/making cakes and treats whiles Kimberly focused on Kreatively Styled.
As the days went by during the pandemic, Kimberly and I decided to split our business Kreatively Styled and that’s how KS Treats/ Sanita the Baker was born. Now it’s around Jan 2022 I have two businesses that are up and down and I am finally starting to understand what it means to run a business and let me tell you it’s not only taking cute pictures and posting cute videos. I started researching business plans, how to grow a business, what the market was missing that my businesses could provide. I started learning different things the help myself grow in different areas of my businesses, I took cake classes and watched endless how-to videos – still do this currently. I learned about photography and how to take my own pictures, I taught myself how to do makeup and even how to build my own website because I wanted things a specific way but didn’t have the revenue to outsource.
Being the jack of all trades for two businesses as well as going thru the ups and downs of life, self-doubt and the fear of success caused me to burn out multiple times during the process of growing my businesses but one thing I did not do or will not do is stop working for my dreams or following the path God is laying for me.
Currently, I am still learning what it takes to be an owner of multiple businesses and to show up for myself. The more I show up for myself the more I make myself proud and I can’t wait to see what else is in stored for me. My businesses are currently still in the beginning stages but I have so much in-stored and can’t wait to share my growth and success with the people who love me.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I wish I can says it’s been a smooth road but there has had a few growing pains for each side of things.
When I started my online brand “Brand 1991” I started with no business plan just a love a fashion and putting together outfits. I picked brand 1991 as a business name because I wanted to created a fashion brand and I was born in the year 1991 (I know real unique lol) – after about a year or so of research, creating a business plan and stepping out on faith I rebranded brand 1991 into Inverted luxe – Casual glam clothing for the ever-evolving woman, mainly targeting women from the ages of 25- 45 who are finding their sense of fashion and style who need help with creating different outfits of course with the affordable luxury pieces that we provide.
When I started SanitaBaker, my how to decorate cake and treat side hustle/business I had no skills when it came to decorating or putting together a cake, pricing the cake or even knowing how to transport any of the items. I remember my first cake order was for a wedding cake, they had so much faith in me, my sister and I sat up all night trying to make the cake beautiful and it still came out so ugly. I was devastated and I could tell that they hated but that only made me want to get better. Work harder to provide better quality.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I have an online brand Inverted Luxe that specializes in provided casual glam clothing for the evolving individual and I teach people how to decorate treats and cakes via SanitaBaker on Instagram and youtube. I am most proud of is actually starting my businesses, sticking to them and showing up for myself on a daily basis even when it gets hard. I’m proud that I am self-funded so far and working on creating a legacy for my family. Everything sets me apart from others, I am the difference so the quality value and standards are kept at a high standard and hope to keep that growing to other levels.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
The fashion industry is ever-changing/recycling trends so I think there will be big shifts and changes. There’s been a push to make fashion more sustainable and I think in the next few years there will be more efficient use of the natural resource and I hope to build my brands around transparency and honesty providing quality over quantity.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.invertedluxe.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/inverted.luxe/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063808335434
- Youtube: youtube.com/sanitab
- Other: www.instagram.com/sanitabaker
