Up and down the Grand strand and through the Pee Dee entrepreneurs are starting up businesses with very few succeeding. However, out of a small building in Loris a 14-year-old girl, dealing with more than most of us could imagine is succeeding for three years running now.
“My daughter was actually three years ago calling herself dumb, stupid, and and idiot.” says Shatrina Thomas, mother to Jammy Girl, aka, Zori Thomas.
But now Zori feels good about herself. She says she’s smart, beautiful, and confident.
Making anything good enough to sell usually isn’t easy. Now imagine you’re running your own business as a 14-year-old, with a learning disability and severe anxiety. That’s Zori’s life, and she’s actually been doing this for three years.
“I bought a cupcake soap making kit from Michaels,” says Zori. “But my mom said I couldn’t sell them to my friends but I sold them anyway.”
“And she asked me, could she sell them and I said no because you don’t talk,” says Shatrina. “And I don’t want to be the mouth of your business. And she came to me about three weeks later and said I’m sold out. And I was like sold out of what? And she said my cupcakes.”
Zori is the founder of “Soap and Soothe by Jammy Girl”. She’s Jammy Girl because she likes to make her soaps in her studio in her pajamas.
Right now the only person working for her is her brother, but their future is going somewhere. As far as the smells these scrubs, soaps, and salts can slip along.
“My two best sellers are soaps are the ‘Father Figure’ and the ‘First Love’, says Zori. “And they also have buttermilk, glycerin, honey, and Calendula.”
The Thomas family isn’t your typical family, but today what is typical. Shatrina adopted both of her kids as a single mom, working full time.
“I adopted this young lady when she was five months old, and then I adopted my son when he was 11 months old. And I literally, my mom, literally thought I was crazy when I was going to adopt a second child, because I was single, I was working full time as a probation officer. I had a two year old, and I adopted my 11 month old son. But I was raised an only child, did not want to raise them as only children, and I wanted them to have each other. And now they’re best friends, even thought they fight all the time,” says Shatrina.
Lip balms, lotions, even bath bombs that glow in the dark. However, the therapeutic relief they give you is doing even more for Zori.
“I enjoy watching her progress,” says Shatrina. “From a kid who would not look anyone in the eye ever, would not talk to people ever, would basically hide herself in her clothing, whether it was wearing oversized clothing, wearing hoodies to cover her face to now being a confident girl. A lot of times at the farmer’s market I sit back and watch her. Or I walk away and watch her from a distance. And she can handle herself at her booth.”
Zori, or ‘Jammy girl’, has over 40 different products for sale right now. And if that’s not enough, they’re expanding to spa parties as well.
