Today we’d like to introduce you to Brittany Traylor aka Sunbrown.
Brittany, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I moved to Georgia November 2017, relocated from Southern California. I always wanted to move to a new place for myself, and experience something new. I had no idea what Georgia would offer me, let alone being in a new environment and alone was scary, but exciting. A few years ago, I started singing for fun (nothing serious at all!). It became therapeutic for me to create short melodies and songs, record them, and store them in my voice memos. In 2015, I met my male best friend Antoine who does spoken word poetry, and I would send him melodies or he would ask me to sing some that he came up with. Again, thinking nothing of it, I continued freestyling and saving everything in my phone.
Fast forward to January 2018 and living in Georgia, I went into those old voice memos and typed out everything I made up. I called them “pieces”. Every other day from January 2018 to April 2018, I came home and typed 2-3 “pieces” on a Google Doc. It wasn’t until I started posting them on Instagram that people asked me “did you make this up?” or “you sound really good, keep it up”. STILL, I didn’t think anything of it. Later that month I submitted “a piece” to Local Wolves magazine and my piece was selected to be featured in their spring issue. Then I said to myself, “am I a writer, are these pieces actually poems?!”. My best friend confirmed this to be true.
June 2018, I attended a writer’s workshop and it absolutely changed my life. The one lesson that stuck with me was this: not everyone will like your work, but those people make room for the ones who will, do the thing because you love it”. And after this, I called myself a writer. Now I write poems every single day.
Poetry has taught me that being authentic is the only way I need to be. And boy has it led me to new realms. Not only have I self-published a short book of poems, but I am currently working on another one that I believe will be BIG. I create custom poems for people, frame them, and even type some of them on my typewriter.
But the lessons of authenticity also led me to creating an extension of myself and Sunbrown- which is Sunbrown Essentials. April 2020, I launched a facial serum called “Skin Glow”. This is something I have been curating for myself for a year and a half. It has helped me with my acne scarring and breakouts. Me being me, I posted a story on Instagram and said “here are the ingredients for you guys to make this awesome serum yourselves”. Then I asked, jokingly, “who would buy this if I made it?”, and went to sleep.
I woke up the next day to DM’s that read “I will!”. Everything after that unfolded and unraveled right before my eyes. Something I was already doing, something authentic and true to me, is now in various states, helping clear beautiful skin, and bring out the inner glow of women and men. I was handwriting all of the labels, all of the orders, all of the tracking numbers, etc. Then I said okay, let’s make this legit with official labels and content + benefits cards. June 2020 I then launched two facial/body scrubs that I had been making for myself as well. July 2020, I launched my Shopify store. And this is where we are now! Helping people’s skin, sharing poetry and writing custom pieces- all during a pandemic.
It still shocks me. Sunbrown is truly an umbrella of poetry, skincare, and whatever’s next to come.
Has it been a smooth road?
Yes it has been a smooth road, except for the moments I took detours because of doubt and not fully believing in myself during the process. Over the months I received a lot of support from strangers and friends who have purchased a skincare product or simply responded to a poetry post. Even down to people telling me things like “your products belong on a store shelf”, “you’re being very generous with your pricing, it’s worth so much”, or “your voice is needed, I love your tone when you read poetry”. I curate my skincare products and write poetry without any true expectation of what comes from them, because it’s what I enjoy doing, but it’s been difficult for me to believe in the “impossible”.
Like Sunbrown truly becoming a known business to many, increasing my prices without feeling shameful for them being “too expensive”, or continuing to read poems at poetry events – seems like a long shot. But it doesn’t have to be. The challenging part for me has been doing something I love and it becoming marketable and profitable at the same time. Because I am not a business professional, I was holding myself back from the belief that yes, Sunbrown can be and WILL be bigger than I’d ever imagine.
The struggle has been getting out of my own way. But every time I write a poem or prep a bottle/jar of product, I get reminded that this is something good, something special. I must be open to the continuance of it unraveling right before my eyes.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Sunbrown – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Sunbrown is a writer, poet, and curator of Sunbrown Essentials skincare embrace. I’m sure there’s more under the umbrella of Sunbrown (like my interest in becoming a certified doula), but I am creating a name for myself to truly say “do what you love and do it well”. Sunbrown stands for – a lover of the sun, in my brown skin. Whatever comes from loving the sun, being brown and being black, I accept.
I have called myself a poetry writer and storyteller since summer 2019. I write every day (or every other day).
I am most proud of the moment I decided to change my Instagram name back to Sunbrown. When I self-published my first book of poems in July 2019 and released it October 2019, I changed my name to Nora Siana. Nora was my maternal great-grandmother, whom I’ve never met, born and raised in Louisiana, hence Siana. She didn’t know how to read so during those few months of getting ready to release my book, I felt really connected to her and her story. So, I changed my Instagram name. I found myself explaining the reason for the change and tried to convince myself that it was a part of me and my poetry. But the name never made me feel the way Sunbrown does. So, the night of my book release, I changed my Instagram name back to Sunbrown.b and knew that it was my official name as a writer, author, and poet.
What sets me apart from others? That’s a great question and maybe the answer will be different one year from now but I would say, my heart. You know the type of people that care “too much”? Well that’s me to the 100th degree. I finally found a space that allows me to care however much I want to, with no judgment. I have a big heart for love, others love, and making people happy. But this hasn’t always worked in my favor, it’s a blessing but it’s also a little exhausting. I never had anywhere to store all of the love I had inside. I misplaced it in the hands of men, friends that weren’t truly friends, and in my desires to have a love story of my own. But once I started writing, I found a safe space for my love to be stored. I write for others, I write from a place of imagination and hope, or from past experiences. And yes, I share some of my poems on social media, but it’s still my safe space to love unconditionally. I don’t have to worry about a person loving me back when my words do. Sounds sad, but it’s actually the best feeling in the world. Even with my skincare products, I am safe. There’s love poured into every bottle, every jar, and I am safe to love what I do well. There is no such thing as too much.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I love that everything is close and connected. Atlanta is one big circle and offers everyone, no matter what they’re into, what they need and want.
I wish it stopped raining in the summertime, but Atlanta can’t control that!
Pricing:
- Sunbrown Essentials skincare embrace – $14 each item (facial serum, coffee scrub, sugar scrub)
- Custom poems – $35 each
- Typewriter bookings – starting at $75
Contact Info:
- Website: sunbrown-essentials-embrace.myshopify.com
- Phone: 951-376-7496
- Email: sunbrownb@gmail.com
- Instagram: sunbrown.b
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