Turning pain into purpose.... Meet the Sistas!

Lesson 1: Everyone wants to ride with you in the limo but what you want is someone who will ride with you when it's time to ride the bus ~ Oprah Winfrey

Most people look at these sistas mad confused when they say that they are from the British Virgin Islands. Yes that’s right.. There is a British Virgin Islands somewhere in the Caribbean AND the Virgin Islands is NOT synonymous with the Caribbean. The Virgin Islands is a chain of islands within the Caribbean which is where they were born and raised... Tortola, British Virgin Islands to be exact. As little girls, they spent most of their childhood with their dad and watched him transition from having a successful career to serving months in jail. These were some of the hardest days of their childhood as they watched all the persons that were present when they were eating steak, disappear when they had to eat “bread and cheese”. This transition greatly impacted them and was the force that motivated them to be nothing short of GREAT.

Lesson 2: Cherish your loved ones while they are here.

Growing up with a historian as their grandmother, they were taught to not only embrace, but to love their culture. They were just two sisters with big dreams and two little girls when they moved to Miami to further their education. In September of 2017, hurricanes Irma and Maria devastated their beautiful British Virgin Islands leaving their family home inhabitable which prompted them to make the decision to stay in America. They later moved to North Miami when even more tragedy shook their lives. On February 10th 2018, Arianna became a single mom when her daughter’s dad was killed by gun violence. Having a close relationship, Daniele also felt the effects of this, watching her sister go through a phase of depression for almost a year. This was a pain that was indescribable but was fuel to the fire for what they were about to endeavor into next….

Lesson 3: A delay is not a denial

In April of 2018, they moved to Orlando, FL to start a new chapter as Miami was filled with too many painful memories. One of the harsh realities they faced living in Orlando was the struggle of finding decent paying jobs that compensated their qualifications. While talking to their cousins one day, they shared that they always wanted to open a hair salon. Daniele had been trying to convince Arianna ever since they were living in Miami to open a business, but Arianna was hesitant because of all the red tape and liability involved in opening a business in America. Feeling motivated about the possibility of the endeavor, they began brainstorming and doing their research. After realizing that it would be hard work but was very feasible the work began. They found the right location, sourced financing, came up with the name La’Posh Beauty Bar and fitted out their salon to be the epitome of Posh. Little did they know, their salon would not open on their anticipated start date of September 2018 but would be delayed for six months. Within those six months of being frustrated and feeling defeated, God poured into them a new endeavor that would begin their journey as serial entrepreneurs. This was the birth of Posh Culture.

Lesson 4: In business you cannot be lazy and you cannot be afraid to fail. Do your research, be creative and set yourself apart from the competition.

Being inspired by the unraveling of black entrepreneurs in cosmetics, they were elated to join the movement and began assessing the industry to see where a gap existed that they could capitalize on. They did not want to be cliché and do what everyone else was doing especially taking into consideration that they were going into a very saturated industry. They wanted their brand to be bold, creative and stand for something of substance. They found the gap when they realized that the Caribbean had not been represented through beauty in it’s authentic cultural form. After realizing they could capitalize on this, they wanted to take it a step further and not just focus on Caribbean culture but all cultures as there is so much misconception about other cultures resulting in them being under-celebrated and underrepresented. Thus, they decided to make culture their niche. On April 6th 2019, Posh Culture manifested. They chose this name because they wanted to redefine the perception of culture by illustrating it as something of quality, high class and not inferior to any other. They started with what they call the Treasures of the Caribbean Collection because of their love for their culture and realizing that the Caribbean is often viewed as being an inferior part of the world when compared to other countries. To introduce the vibrance of their culture, they launched their first product which was the Color Me Caribbean palette. This palette is an explosion of color and symbolic cultural representation which can be seen in their very detailed illustrations and eyeshadow names. Following the palette, they launched their Paradise Glow Highlighter which is intended to represent Caribbean sunshine through the packaging and color of the highlighter which has often been referred to as “gold dust”. In December of 2019, they launched a new collection named Taste of the Culture which would feature their first two liquid lipsticks, guavaberry rum and mauby: two popular drinks in the Virgin Islands especially around Christmas time. Their products are all created and designed to represent different cultures in a fun yet creative way. They invest lots of time creating their products whereby coming up with custom packaging, custom formulas and seeking dope posh culture beauties to market them. They love creating eye-catching products, but they are far from being makeup artists which is why they have established their Posh Culture Beauties.

Lesson 5: The mission is bigger than we could've ever imagined

In adding vibrant and story telling illustrations to their makeup products, they began receiving many requests from their community to take the brand up a notch. This is where they introduced their lifestyle collection which include apparel, décor and much more. The goal in doing this is to become the "go to" brand for all things culture. 

Lesson 6: “It is usually our opposites who complement us best, because they’re the ones who can balance us out” ~ Rachel Hollis

Though they are sisters and were raised the same, they could not be more different. Arianna is very systematic, calculated and strategic which is why she handles the business operations. Daniele on the other hand has the creative, color out the lines persona. She creates the products and comes up with creative ideas to set the brand apart. They sometimes clash because of their differences in personality as their perspectives on things are usually different but they mostly complement each other because where one lacks the other is able to execute. Daniele is team extra!! Her ideas are often elaborate, but she is balanced by Arianna who comes in with a response like “How much da goin cost?” (if you didn’t catch it that’s their Virgin Islands dialect).

If you’re ready for a cultural adventure, join the #poshculturegang! These sistas have so much in store for you.