Black-Owned Beauty Revolution ft Buttah Skin & BLK + GRN

Brown Ambition

iHeartPodcasts

Careers, Education, Self-improvement, Investing, Business

4.9 • 2.5K Ratings

🗓️ 19 March 2025

⏱️ 65 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Hey BA Fam! This week, we’re bringing you an inspiring conversation with two powerhouse entrepreneurs who are redefining what it means to build wealth and community as Black women in the beauty and wellness industries. Meet Tamara Watkins, President of Buttah Skin (@buttahskin), and Dr. Kristian Edwards, founder of BLK + GRN (@blkandgrn). Tamara shares her journey from corporate strategy at Microsoft to scaling Black-founded brands like Buttah Skin during the pandemic. Meanwhile, Dr. Kristian opens up about her transition from academia to entrepreneurship, her resilience after a life-altering accident, and her mission to create a marketplace that spotlights non-toxic, Black-owned products. Together, these friends and collaborators discuss the importance of community over competition, the power of intentionality in business, and how they’ve supported each other through their entrepreneurial journeys. From navigating challenges to celebrating wins, this episode is all about building your own table—and making room for others at it. What You’ll Hear in This Episode: • How Tamara and Kristian met and built a friendship rooted in collaboration (2016 vibes!) • Tamara’s bold marketing moves during COVID that skyrocketed Buttah Skin’s growth • Kristian’s journey from professor to founder, including how she pivoted after a traumatic brain injury • Why Black women entrepreneurs are leading with community and lifting as they climb • The evolution of BLK + GRN’s business model and how it’s adapting post-pandemic • The resilience it takes to be a mom, entrepreneur, and changemaker This episode is packed with gems about entrepreneurship, friendship, and the power of betting on yourself. Don’t miss it! Follow Our Guests: • Tamara Watkins: @buttahskin • Dr. Kristian Edwards: @blkandgrn Let us know your favorite moments from this episode by tagging us @brownambitionpodcast on Instagram! Tune in now wherever you get your podcasts! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, hey, BA fam, I could not be more excited to bring to you our two incredible powerhouse
0:05.1	guests today. They are not just dominating beauty and wellness, but they are actively
0:09.7	redefining what success looks like for black entrepreneurs. So first, I want you all to meet Tamara
0:15.5	Watkins, who is the brilliant president of Butterskin, which I love saying butterskin, who's been making
0:21.9	major moves since 2020. She is a Howard University grad. Am I allowed to say, you know,
0:28.3	I don't think so. Go ahead. Go ahead. Your family. Your family. You know.
0:32.9	Who started as a strategic consultant and literally helped transform that brand's trajectory.
0:38.5	So she has 12 years of experience scaling multicultural beauty brands like Beville.
0:43.2	You may have heard of them and HyperSkin.
0:45.6	Tamara has that rare combination of corporate expertise because she's led e-commerce strategy
0:50.8	at a little company you might know.
0:52.3	Microsoft, Xbox, anybody?
0:54.7	I don't know.
1:01.2	A little upstart. An authentic entrepreneurial hustle. She is the definition of walking in your purpose while also building generational wealth. And I know we're both raising tiny humans.
1:06.5	And I have just heard a small snippet of what she has planned for her son. He better get ready because
1:11.4	mama has big goals for him. All right. And then Tamara is joined by friend and fellow entrepreneur,
1:17.7	Dr. Kristen Edwards, who is the founder of Black and Green, which is a marketplace that focuses
1:23.7	on bringing non-toxic black-owned beauty brands to the masses.
1:28.7	Now, this Yale University graduate has a doctorate in public health from John Hopkins to boot,
1:34.5	because if there's one thing black women are going to do, we're going to get ourselves educated,
1:38.2	you know, with a capital E.
1:39.8	But before launching this marketplace, Dr. Edwards was teaching future health care leaders at
	...

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