Meet Tomi and Asmeret, two extraordinary women who have set out on a mission to celebrate and uplift Black beauty in all its vastness and diversity. Tomi has had a successful career in the fashion, beauty, and tech industries, currently leading inclusive technology communications at Pinterest. On the other hand, Asmeret boasts an extensive background in luxury fashion production and is now a passionate social activist, fighting food injustice through the One Love Community Fridge.
Their paths crossed through Asmeret's husband, the remarkable Stanley Lumax, who played a role in connecting these like-minded souls. They soon discovered their shared passion for their culture and a desire to build a strong community that pays it forward for future generations.
The duo's journey began with the creation of The Black Beauty Club in 2020, with a primary goal of bridging the resourcing gap for Black beauty founders. The digital conversations they initiated quickly revealed an appetite for discussions rooted in culture, as beauty and wellness rituals are deeply embedded in the heritage of Black people.
For Black women, this space holds significant importance as it embraces the essence of community, a vital aspect of their shared rituals. The Black Beauty Club allows them to learn from each other and experience the vastness of their beauty and culture. Moreover, it lays the foundation for future generations, instilling a sense of self-love that empowers them to navigate life's challenges.
Photo Courtesy of The Black Beauty Club
Defining beauty within the context of Black people proves complex due to the incredible diversity across cultures. However, Tomi and Asmeret recognize beauty as a powerful cultural experience for the Black community, with nuances that are deeply enriching.
The topics discussed within The Black Beauty Club reflect a commitment to creating positive and uplifting conversations. By exploring themes such as the perception of Black queer masc/femme men as beauty consumers and the cultural impact of African beauty products with ingredients from across the diaspora, they shed light on often overlooked aspects of Black beauty.
Photo Courtesy of The Black Beauty Club
The focus on solution-oriented discussions is essential for addressing beauty's deep-rooted challenges, considering the lens society places on beauty that can be anti-feminist and anti-Black, and brown people. Tomi and Asmeret aim to provide a safe space that navigates these experiences with empathy and positivity, even in the face of difficulty.
To support Black women in the beauty space and embrace their beauty, championing one another is vital. They stress the importance of recognizing that Black women are not monolithic entities but diverse individuals with unique stories and experiences.
Photo Courtesy of The Black Beauty Club
For Black women seeking affirmation, Tomi and Asmeret draw inspiration from Toni Morrison's words: "You are your best thing." These empowering words remind Black women of their inherent beauty, strength, and resilience.
As The Black Beauty Club continues to thrive, Tomi and Asmeret envision a future where conversations about beauty remain solution-oriented, fostering unity, acceptance, and celebration of the expansive and ever-evolving essence of Black beauty. Their dedication to uplifting Black beauty culture leaves an indelible mark, empowering the next generation to embrace their heritage and flourish with confidence.
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Feature image courtesy of The Black Beauty Club
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Skylar sees things differently. At the time, she was shooting content on her iPhone. Temi came into the picture with a new perspective, an understanding of tech, and, eventually, a camera. “He doesn't give himself enough credit,” Skylar says. “He wasn't just my tripod. He wasn't just standing behind the camera and going ‘click.’ He was giving advice. He was giving me insight to how I could look at things from a different perspective. And I was like, 'Oh, he’s an artist.' I think it was maybe a heartbeat of that kind of energy of like, ‘Baby, can you take this picture?’ And it turned so quickly into, we're partners. We can work together in a way where we're advancing each other's creative thinking.”
The pair often says they’re two sides of the same coin. Skylar is an Aquarius. She attended art school, paints, and loves poetry. She’s more than happy to let the couple’s management firm and agency, Kensington Grey, handle their admin work. And, she loves to sleep in. Temi, on the other hand, wakes up early. He’s a Virgo. He loves a to-do list and regularly checks in on the couple’s brand partnerships spreadsheet to make sure everything is on track.
Because his storytelling was steeped in his love of technology, he didn’t always think of himself as a creative person. “Where I [am] the dreamer who wants to pluck things out of the sky and spend all day with my head in the clouds, Temi [is] so good at grounding me and helping me figure out how to make things make sense on paper. We just work together in such a complimentary way,” Skylar says.
It’s been more than six years since Brooklyn-based couple Temi and Skylar started dating, and nearly four since they cemented their working relationship. On TikTok and Instagram, the couple’s travel, fashion, and home content regularly rack up hundreds of thousands of views. They’ve worked with brands such as Coach, Aesop, Away, and Liquid IV, bringing their vibrant perspectives to every campaign they execute. Still, nearly two years since both Temi and Skylar committed to full-time content creation and creative directing, the couple says their romantic connection remains their priority.
“We told each other we would much rather go back to full-time jobs and preserve our relationship than to be full-time freelancers, barely getting a night's rest [and] barely kissing each other because we're so busy shooting,” Skylar says.
Working from home can make it hard to separate work from personal life for any entrepreneur. It can be even more challenging when your business partner is also your lover. Temi and Skylar had already used couples therapy as a tool to help them effectively communicate with one another. When they ran into challenges while working together, their therapist helped them set physical boundaries to help combat the issues.
"We told each other we would much rather go back to full-time jobs and preserve our relationship than to be full-time freelancers, barely getting a night's rest [and] barely kissing each other because we're so busy shooting."
“It actually took us doing very specific physical things to create boundaries between work and play in our relationship,” Skylar says. “So, for instance, we will only have conversations about work when we're out of bed or we're at the table or in the office. Initially, when we started, we had to light a candle to say that, 'Okay, this is a space where we're connecting, we’re not talking about work.' We needed really hard boundaries at the top. And then it became a little bit more organic.”
The boundaries have been crucial to implement, especially because the couple began working together so naturally. When the pair first met, Skylar was NY-based a social strategist for BuzzFeed and was using content creation to drive business to her lingerie company. She was shooting her own content. Temi was working for Microsoft in D.C. He’d recently traded in his DJing equipment for a camera. “I've always loved taking pictures,” he says. “Even when I was a kid, my African mother would wake me up at 3:00 a.m. [during a] party, and be like, 'Come take the family picture.'”
Growing up, Temi says he watched his parents support each other and be the true definition of partners. He knew he wanted the same for his own relationship. But, the couple also wanted to make sure they were being financially responsible. The pair didn’t quit their traditional jobs until they’d saved up two years' worth of their cost of living. And, Temi received his Master of Business Administration from New York University with the knowledge that it could either help him advance in his corporate career or be applicable to his business with Skylar.
Temi and SkylarCj Hart @hartbreakToday, they say their working relationship is more of a “quiet dance.” They still implement some of the boundaries they learned in therapy, but they also lean into their natural strengths and deep love for one another. When we speak, Temi has planned a date for the couple to see Princess Mononoke in 4K IMAX and added it to their Notion so they can factor it into their busy schedules. “I fully plan to date for the rest of my life,” he says.
Skylar says the couple doesn’t just wait for date nights to check in with one another, though. This often happens in the mornings, after Temi has made her peppermint tea and poured himself a cup of coffee. When they ask each other how they slept, she says, it’s not just a “nicety.” It’s a genuine question meant to foster connection.
“A lot of it happens during the day in the midst of work. We'll stop and we'll hug. Or we’ll slow dance in the kitchen,” she says. “Sometimes it's hard to set a whole date night when you have 7,000 things going on. So, we must grasp these moments and check in when we can. And I think it's become so organic to us that I actually didn't even realize how often we do it. But all day long, we're like, 'Are you good? I felt like your energy shifted,' because we're best friends, we just know. We just feel it happen.”
What’s better than being in love? Building wealth while doing it. Watch Making Cents here for real stories of couples who make money moves together.
Featured image by Cj Hart @hartbreak