Meet Jasemine Knowles | Owner of The Hydrated Hottie & Romance Author

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

Hi Jasemine, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
You aren’t going to grow unless you take risks. I’ve been living by that little statement for a few years now after reading a random article in a magazine while waiting at the dentist’s office. The headline read “Top 3 Things People Think About on Their Death Beds” and the number one thing was not accomplishing their goals out of fear or worry about what others would think about their choices.

It’s alarming to think how others’ opinions can truly halt you from experiencing life and taking that risk to achieve your heart’s desires or goals. I couldn’t imagine lying on my death bed, full of regrets, and thinking of all the should’ve, could’ve, would’ves.

From that moment on, I’ve been leading my life with reckless abandon. Anything I took interest in, anything I wanted to experience, I pursued it. I did it. If it failed, hey, at least I tried instead of playing it safe while the world passed me by.

Me taking a risk in launching my bath & body care business [The Hydrated Hottie] has proved to be my ideal of success. I’m living my dream life and I’m so happy I bet on myself instead of allowing others to project or my internal fears to stand in the way of me leading the life I wanted for myself.

Please tell us more about your work. We’d love to hear what sets you apart from others, what you are most proud of or excited about. How did you get to where you are today professionally. Was it easy? If not, how did you overcome the challenges? What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way. What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story?
Although I’m a business woman and own the Hydrated Hottie, a bath & body care store, I like to always think of myself and present myself to the world as a creative. Being a creative has led me to becoming a successful business woman. What sets me apart from others within the body care industry is that I’m a writer… a storyteller. I started out writing romance (I have a few books out and available on Amazon). My stories went beyond romance with a significant other. Sometimes, it was romancing oneself. Finding love within yourself.

Storytelling, to me, isn’t just about a narrative, it’s about meeting people where they are and designing experiences that help them reach their goals. And because I am a storyteller, I am able to create an experience for my customers when they use my products. The experience goes beyond using the product itself. It’s the affirmation cards I’ve carefully crafted to pour into and speak life into them. It’s the design of the product labels. It’s the curated “that girl” music playlist I’ve created that’s fitting to uplift their spirits and soothing for them to relax to while self-caring. Because I am a storyteller, I’m very intentional about how I want my customers to feel. The Hydrated Hottie brand produces an experience that boosts your “skinfidence”. It’s a brand that’s intentional about women living and loving the skin they’re in so much that they can’t help but flaunt it. Now that’s what we call a hottie!

Running a business is never easy or everybody would be doing it. It actually took me a while to learn how to utilize my writing gift and find a way to implement it into my business. I overcome my challenges by giving myself grace to learn from mistakes, go at my own pace, and to keep my eyes on my own plate — meaning, not comparing myself to other’s and their journeys.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
It’s Saturday and the first stop, Brunch at Lost and Found in Midtown! Their jerk lamb chops and beef short ribs are mouth-watering and finger-licking good! Next stop if our bellies aren’t too full is to hit up the Cullen Sculpture Museum for great fresh air and art! It’s such a unique art spot and a hidden gem. Even take a mini trip inside the Musuem of Fine arts to walk off the calories. Then we’d do a Third Ward Bicycle Tour while vibing to 90’s and afrobeats music! Afterward, we’d hit up Trez Art & Wine Bar for dinner and pre-game drinks before we finish our night clubbin’ it up at bar 2200!

Sunday, we’d brunch again at Kamp for the outdoor vibes, good music, and even better food! Next, we’d hop over to Love & Make in Rice Village to create our own personalized Houston candle souvenirs. Love & Make is a fun Black-owned candle-making workshop and a perfect place to chill and wine down a bit from the brunch turn-up. Then we’d make a quick stop at Crescent City for their beignets before we finish the night off at KISS houston with good vibes, drinks, and more jerk lamb chops!

Alright, so let’s jump right in! The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there a person, group, organization, book, etc. that you want to dedicate your shoutout to? Who else deserves a little credit and recognition in your story?  
When I tell people that I used to be an angry person, they can’t believe it. Mostly because today, I’m always smiling, I’m always positive, and supremely optimistic. But, I wasn’t always this way. I held a lot of grudges for things that happened to me in both my childhood and my adulthood. I didn’t realize how much that hate was eating me up and manifesting itself in how I presented myself to others. It wasn’t until an ex-boss of mine (I won’t say her name but shoutout to her) who had randomly handed me “The Game of Life for Women and How to Play It” book by Florence Scovel-Shinn, after saying I needed to “lighten up more”. LOL!
Sometimes, we don’t realize how we count ourselves out by thinking because we had a certain upbringing or experienced some kind of hardship that we aren’t deserving of good things. And, I’m a firm believer that if you’re constantly complaining, thinking negative, always saying “you can’t do something because of this or that”, you’re sending a signal to the universe to block your blessings.

When you monitor your thoughts, when you reframe your mind to find the positive during the dark times, when you counter each negative thought with something more optimistic, speak affirmations with conviction over your life, you’re calling the power back to yourself to create the life you desire. The Game of Life for Women and How to Play It is an empowerment book and essentially teaches you how to manifest through positive affirmations and rid yourself of negative self-talk, so shout out to that book as well! It changed my outlook on life!

Website: thehydratedhottie.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thehydratedhottie