From Poshmark to a pop-up, Jayda Cheaves embraces change and inclusivity
Jayda Cheaves has spent much of her life selling something.
As a teenager, the Atlanta entrepreneur resold clothing on Poshmark before reinvesting her earnings into a T-shirt business. Over the years, she expanded into hair extensions, beauty products and fashion, turning a series of side hustles into a portfolio of businesses that now includes her clothing brand Waydamin, Jayda Cheaves Beauty, a children’s clothing collection called Fidele and ownership in a personal care company, Girl Wipes.
Cheaves, 28, credits much of her success to knowing when to evolve. Whether it’s expanding her product offerings, embracing size inclusivity or reaching customers through social media, she says growth often requires getting comfortable with change.
Cheaves, who gained national recognition through the reality series “The Impact: Atlanta” and is also known to many fans through her past relationship with rapper Lil Baby, has built a personal brand that extends far beyond social media.
Much of her brand identity is based on her online presence, where she has more than 8 million followers on Instagram, 117,000 followers on TikTok and 405,000 subscribers on YouTube. Across these platforms, she posts vlogs, brand content, get-ready-with-me style videos and inspirational content.
Cheaves will launch a pop-up June 20-21 for Juneteenth weekend in New York City, where she will partner with Shopify selling products across all her brands to highlight her summer launch.
She sat down with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution to talk about size inclusivity, her favorite makeup product and the biggest challenge facing entrepreneurs like her.
Edited for length and clarity.
Tell me about your clothing brand Waydamin. What motivated you to start it?
I went from selling my reused clothes on Poshmark to then starting a T-shirt line with all that money I saved. It did so well, I started my clothing line, and from there, I moved to Atlanta and started selling hair (for extensions and braids). I got pregnant with my son and I just used all that time being pregnant, having him, took a year off to come up with a plan on how am I going to reinvent all of these businesses to start this clothing line. I launched (Waydamin) for my 23rd birthday.
Why was size inclusivity with your clothing brands important to you?
It was always important to just be all-inclusive because we all need clothes that fit, from being super petite to being plus size. I think that having a brand that caters to all is important and you don’t find it often with quality pieces.
How has your existing experience in the clothing industry helped you develop your kids clothing brand, Fidele?
It was super easy when it came to manufacturing because I had all the resources already. I love shopping for me and my son, so it was easy when it comes to making sure they fit the right way. It was mainly for just boys, and then, once I was doing the first drop, everybody was like, they were buying it for their daughters. So that’s when I started implementing girls clothing as well. I feel like I buy nice things so it’s easy for me to put that into anything I create.
Your beauty brand originally sold hair, so what took you into makeup?
I’ve always been a DIY girl so when it comes to makeup, nails, perfume, I was always into it. I didn’t have the right resources to execute it (when I was a teenager.) So, I met the right team to help me execute the vision and have quality products. They’re all made in the (U.S.), vegan, cruelty-free and FDA-approved.
What’s your favorite makeup product that Jayda Cheaves Beauty has?
It changes all the time, but right now, probably the Lip Lube. Because I am on this medication called Accutane, and it dries you out so much, so the lip lube helps me stay moisturized.
What can we expect with your upcoming pop-up?
I partnered with Shopify. They reached out to me, and it came right after I reached 200,000 orders for Waydamin.
I always do a really big summer drop, so the timing was perfect. We have a pop-up coming up Juneteenth weekend, and it was really important to do it that weekend because I am all for Black excellence, Black-owned businesses and Black entrepreneurship. It’s going to be “Jayda’s World,” so all of my businesses will be under that.
What does your day-to-day look like?
I have to go to the gym. If (I don’t), it‘s just gonna knock off my whole schedule. So, I take my son to school, I make sure I go to the gym, and I just lock in. I either go to my in-home office, or I am also in the process of redoing my warehouse, turning that into a creative space.
I like to stay busy until it’s time to pick up my son from school. If I have a photoshoot or something, my nanny will pick him up. My days are pretty chill unless I have something to do or travel for work.
What is your favorite way to relax and unwind?
I love doing absolutely nothing. I like sitting home. It’s so hard to get me to leave my house. My friends think I’m so boring because I don’t go outside anymore. I think I’ve made my house everything I love, so it’s like a vacation away from life, the outside world.
What would you say is the biggest challenge facing entrepreneurs like you right now?
I would say the biggest challenge is knowing how to pivot and when to pivot. I think over these last couple years, I got so sick of being stagnant to where I just kept doing the same thing and my business wasn’t scaling. I got very uncomfortable, and I just knew when to pivot to take my business from this to that.
You can continue doing the same thing over and over again, but you’re not going to get different results. You‘ve got to take that leap of faith, and that’s when things get uncomfortable.
What advice do you have for young women who may view you as a role model?
Always know who you are. Once you forget who you are, you lose sight of everything. It’s important to look in the mirror and know who you see yourself as because it’s easy to lose sight of that once you don’t know who you are.
AJC Her+Story is a series in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution highlighting women founders, creators, executives and professionals. It is about building a community. Know someone the AJC should feature in AJC Her+Story? Email us at herstory@ajc.com with your suggestions. Check out more of our AJC Her+Story coverage at ajc.com/herstory.