Tami Curry Talks Entrepreneurship, Landing Retail Partnerships, & SelfCare By Francheska "Fancy" Felder AI’Mat Dream Brand is a hair, skin, and body brand that inspires people to show up as their best magical versions of themselves. The intentional beauty brand is curated by Tami Curry, a Baton Rouge native that resides in Houston, Texas. The former property management professional started the brand when at a crossroads in her life and wondering how to live out her true purpose. I’Mat Dreams believes self-care should be an investment as opposed to an expense. Within six months of its opening, the brand landed a partnership with Walmart.com, and they have been moving ever since. They were also the proud title sponsors of SwagHer Magazine’s Black Women Made Whole wellness event this year.
you're interested in, you're going to have those moments, those up and down moments. It's just always important to take some time for yourself and to reset.
Tami and I sat down on two occasions to discuss business, growth, life, and self-care. Here’s a montage of our conversation below.
Fancy: Right. What did you do before opening your business? Were there any skills that you took away from that and now utilize with I’Mat?
Tami on Getting Started Fancy: So, what was it like getting started? Tami: So, in business, you have those moments, you're up, you're down. In the beginning, of course, it still is now, but in the beginning, it was very exciting and exhilarating. I remember spending 72 hours, like multiple times straight up, just creating and researching the brand and what I wanted it to look like and determining how I wanted us to show up in retail in the world. So it was very tough. As I said, having four children and being a single mom makes it even more challenging. But I love it. I'm very passionate about my brand, so it's very much worth it. I would tell anybody who's interested in curating, whether it's in business, whether in beauty or whatever industry that
Tami: Yes. I come from the property management industry, so I resigned from property management about three and a half years ago. Since then, I've been a fulltime entrepreneur. Utilizing my property management background definitely helped me transfer those skills over in terms of marketing, in terms of managing teams and multiple properties and assets, and things of that nature. Also being able to show up in terms of customer service and being in the field with the people and engaging with them, solving their problems, and offering solutions to them are also useful skills that I possess. Towards the last part of my career in property management, I worked in a corporate office because I've always wanted to work in a corporate office. I'm like, I'm going to work in a corporate office one day. I just was so focused on it. It was really mostly to prove a point like, “Hey, I deserve to be here just like anyone else.” While getting there, I was able to work in marketing, accounting, and acquisitions- just pretty much everywhere in the corporate field and also being a trainer. Being exposed to those things was essential. I was able to transfer all of that knowledge into I’Mat Dream Brand.
