Meet Jairia Kennedy
Let’s start with some details? Jairia, tell us about you and your business.
I am a 44-year-old Baltimore native who enjoys good seafood, family gatherings, and being happy. Which might sound simple however, it comes with heart ache, fear, and losses. I am a daughter of educators, who believes that your mind is the key to your future. Investing into value of education it allowed me to graduate in the top ten percent of my high school graduating class. I was accepted with earlier admission to the University of Maryland Eastern Shore which is a Historically Black College and Universities. Where I graduate with a B.A. in Sociology.
Education was a great tool and foundation for me to invest into entrepreneurship. I began this journey with my business of Silkbyjerry, which I believe is a gift from God. The business allowed me to complete beautiful silk flower arrangements for weddings, church events, birthday events and home renovation staging.
SilkbyJerry was a gateway to different avenues of entrepreneurs. Which It led me back into the modelling business of being a full-figure model. I recently had the honour to be the 2024 Host of Black History Fashion Show sponsor by African American Alliance of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. I have worked with different photographer which led to three magazine publications in Glitz, Flux and FlipSide magazine.
Now I am tying my passion and love of flowers, and fashion into a new adventure of being a paparazzi consultant. Where I can share the love of fashion with inexpensive jewerly to other amazing women. I am excited about this new chapter of my entrepreneurship journey because it will allow my brand that I am creating of positivity, beauty, love of self, and host of confidence to anyone who is willing to share.
What inspired your journey?
What has inspired and is behind this journey is my later mother Mary, and my late sister Marlo who were so creative. My sister could look at a room in your home, office space or any space you wanted to decorate/change and she just knew what furniture, the paint color, artwork, etc. that would fit perfectly. Now, my mother who was a schoolteacher could create a school cork board like no one business, had a gift for diy crafts and never left the house without earrings.
These two ladies enhance the beauty of creating within me, however, my father inspired the idea of owning your own business. I saw my father work a full-time teacher job within climbing the ranks of Baltimore City School System, while having a side business of renovating homes.
While bringing the creativity of my mother and sister and watching my father run his own business, gave me the understanding that I will go through some tough moments as an entrepreneur. I believe that I have been able to navigate these challenges, with a mindset that these challenges will create new opportunities to discover beauty, new partnership, and allow me to see what works and what does not work.
As a Black entrepreneur, how have your cultural background and experiences influenced your approach to entrepreneurship, and who/what is your source of inspiration?
Being a woman and a woman of color is a great honour, knowing that I have other role models who fought to be seen in the business world of entrepreneurship. I can bring all of the experiences and knowledge that I saw and taught from the women in my family. Giving me the opportunity to bring wonderful pieces of jewelry am selling not just beautiful women like me in different shades but bring joy to women.
My inspiration is being amongst other black women entrepreneurs who are creating generational wealth, making a stamp in the world of business, creating new tables for us to sit at and continue to show the strength of a women.
At Soigne’+Swank Magazine, we make it our business to highlight and promote positive, uplifting, and meaningful examples of black excellence. What does black excellence mean to you and what advice would you have for your younger self?
Black Excellence is the stepping stone to greatness to me. Coming from black excellence it has giving me the heart of seeing the beauty in the darkness, the hopeless, the unwanted, and knowing that I have a part to uplift people of all races, and creed to see their smile of confidence.
As far as advice, I want people to see and understand that sometimes you have to believe that life is just not this or that, however having reset moment allows you to see you. Entrepreneurship is not just about being your own boss which I have learn. It’s about for me that I can create a business and that will open up doors, and opportunities to progress towards greatness no matter what it might look like to other people.
What’s next for you and how can readers connect?
What’s next for this entrepreneur is to continue to work hard at my business platform of bring sassy, and confident to women. Allow my planform to keep creating a positive interaction with other business, within my local community, and continue to share this smile of confidence. Connect with me on IG @jairiak.
Lynnecia S. Eley is Founder & Managing Editor of Soigne’ + Swank Magazine. She is a career-driven entrepreneur, wife, and mother. Born and raised in Miami, Florida, she is an award-winning University Assistant Dean and Adjunct Professor committed to excellence, dedication, and caring for others. Known as the Confidence Doula, Lynnecia is a best-selling author and coach, a founder of Two Queens Media and Black & Ivy League, Inc. You can learn more about Lynnecia and her platforms at www.shecaninspire.com.
