We had the good fortune of connecting with Rochel Facey and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Rochel, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
Honestly my thought process for my business was pretty simple and easy. I’m a chocolate girl and a lot of the major make up brands prior to the release of Fenty weren’t inclusive on darker skin tones and so my goal was to come out with a cosmetics line that cater to chocolate girls and when I say chocolate it’s the many hues of melanin it could be a light skin girl to dark skin girl just catering to chocolate with no intent to offend any other race but they have been catered to for years through other brands that I could NEVER find my foundation shade from so the goal was to cater to us I do have products that can cater to more fair skin tones as well it’s just the main focus is to ensure that it does mainly to the different hues of melanin.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I launched my business, Chocolate Girl, LLC dba, Chocolate Girl Cosmetics & Chocolate Girl Apparel on March 30, 2018 after losing my job prior to the holidays of 2017 and then decided to invest all of my savings into launching this business. I paid for $750 for my website, $950 my photo shoot, models & their makeup but I had zero inventory when I launched. That was my first lesson. A website could’ve been done for cheaper & the photoshoot too. Either way the craziest thing of it all is that I’ again, had no inventory when I launched so I would order my apparel based on one when people would order it for me and that was simply a leap of faith that went successfully. I made $11k in my first year of business and learned a-lot to move forward with. I took an unfortunate break in 2019 for 2 years and relaunched my business on September 6th, 2021. During the break I lost my domain & my well established Instagram. I felt defeated but I knew I couldn’t give up. My friends came together giving me almost $700 to repurchase my domain but I had to start a new IG. When relaunching I decided to completely drop apparel although it was the main money maker because cosmetics was more my passion. I want the world to know sometimes that leap of faith is necessary! Do it! There’s only two things that can happen yet the risk is worth it. 2022 is the year Chocolate Girl Cosmetics gets the deserved recognition.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Anywhere food and alcohol resides is a good time. I’m honestly a homeboy I love the peace of my home a lot of times. But these new trendy tik toks definitely encourages me to want to explore the new things that Atlanta has to offer.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I firstly would like shoutout, the man above, all of this was already written out for me through him & I’m forever grateful & secondly I would to shout out Lydia Curry, The craziest thing is the other day I made my 2022 electronic vision board and posted it on my close friends because I didn’t want everyone to have insight on what I have planned for 2022 and Lydia wasn’t in my close friends to be able to see that and I had on there to be interviewed about my business. Within a few days I received an email about this interview and I was so shocked because again she never seen it so definitely a big shout out to her.

Website: www.shopchocolategirl.com

Instagram: shop.chocolategirl

Facebook: Chocolate Girl Cosmetics

Youtube: Chocolate Girl

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