After making moves in corporate America for more than 12 years, Jasmin Foster had a vision. Hers was to see images of multicultural women placed prominently on stationery but with a message. This entailed making diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) a part of her brand for BeRooted. However, the biggest feat was getting her stationery line in Target stores, making her the first black woman-owned stationery brand to accomplish this.
Her Humble Retail Beginnings
After graduating from Indiana University Bloomington with a bachelor’s in Business Marketing, she began a long working relationship with Target’s corporate offices. Foster did two internships before coming on board as a Senior Business Analyst for the apparel department. From there, she would go on to work for Amazon and General Mills before returning to Target as a Senior Buyer in the beauty department.
It was there she would spend several years navigating the aesthetic needs of Black and Brown women. Foster also learned how to work with the independent beauty brands that primarily serve this demographic. Before branching out on her own, she was the Head of Sales and Business Development for Urban Skin Rx, a multicultural skincare brand.
How the Pandemic Made Her Dream Come True
As a little girl, Foster was fascinated by stationery – particularly organizational planners, which she changes regularly. However, she was dismayed by the lack of diverse images on the covers of journals and notebooks she collected growing up. In early 2020, she took advantage of a much-needed break from Urban Skin Rx to see her vision come to light but she wanted to do more than pretty pictures.
Besides using vibrant imagery that told the stories from a woman’s perspective, she also wanted to include words of affirmation on her products. Foster felt this message was much needed in these times of uncertainty that mostly affect people of color and their families. This is also part of her DEI plan to defeat stereotypes often found in the media.
As for her secret to success, Foster says learning from past mistakes has enabled her to transition into the entrepreneurial world. Considering she didn’t know anyone who worked in the stationery industry, having tenacity paid off during a time when most businesses are downsizing. Although having a solid working history with Target may have helped, positivity is what aided her through rough periods.
