Meet J’aime Wiley | Owner/Founder of Bougie Boozy Bears LLC

We had the good fortune of connecting with J’aime Wiley and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi J’aime, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I’ve always had the dream to have a business of my own. I put a lot of emphasis on dreams. In my family, we were taught to complete our education, and apply for a good job to assist in taking care of a possible family. We were never taught to complete our education and then start our own business. I am the first in 5 generations in my family to have their own business in a brick and mortar, The idea to start my own business would have never come to fruition had it now been the introduction of the world’s ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019. In April of 2020, I was advised that I too would no longer be part of the US workforce as I was laid off from my job due to the economy and our company downsizing. I went through the five stages of grief. I was a single mother of 2, an over 40+ African American woman who was going to be looking for employment against more tenured and experienced individuals. A moment of clarity hit me in May around 3 in the morning when the final state of grief – Acceptance – hit me like a brick. I was watching a documentary about how others were handling the stress and isolation of the Covid. Everyone in America was drinking more and more on a daily. The narrator of the documentary was walking down a suburban neighborhood when their recycling bins were by the road for pickup. They were overflowing with beer, wine, cans, and alcohol bottles. I’ve always been a sort of a mixologist since college. The name Bougie Boozy Bears came to me, and I had to get the name written down before I forgot the next morning. On May 14, my first batch of Pink Pixie Bougie Boozy Bears was created. I served them to my mother and other family members as my introductory flavor. I took a deep breath, prayed, and realized that God had put me in a position that was better suited for me and my family, and I never looked back!

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Bougie Boozy Bears is the only company of its kind in the United States. Everything is made in-house by either my mother or myself. When I first started the company in 2020, I started off with 20 flavors. I now have a total of 98. I think what sets me apart from everyone else is I’ve done the corporate job thing. I’ve done the customer service thing. I’ve done the entry-level and worked myself up to a management position. I know how much hard work it takes and the sacrifice that it takes to do a good job. The only difference is the result is now my product, my name, and my reputation that’s on the line and no one else’s. There have been others that have tried to imitate Bougie Boozy Bears but as you know they can never duplicate. They’ve literally ordered my bears and tried to duplicate but unfortunately for them and fortunately for me, it didn’t work out the way they expected. I’m where I’m at today because of the foundation that my mother provided to me. In order to get something or to have something that you want in life, it’s going to take a lot of dedication and a lot of self-control. Knowing the result and doing something that you ultimately enjoy in life makes it all worthwhile. It gives my daughters the opportunity to see an entrepreneur in our family for the first time ever. They’ve seen the business proceed and grow from the kitchen in our three-bedroom apartment to a storefront in historic downtown Carrollton. There have been a lot of challenges that have come along the way for me. I did not have a mentor to go to make sure that all my processes and paperwork for each step were taken correctly. I basically had to teach myself from the beginning to end. There have been a lot of lessons learned along the way. The main lesson I would have to say is to continue to be true to myself, understand where I want my vision for the company to go, and always listen to my gut instinct. They have not led me wrong so far. I want the world to know that it is never too late to teach yourself a new process. It’s never too late to live out your dreams. It’s never too late to come up with a new dream. It’s never too late to see yourself in a different light I want Bougie Boozy Bears to be a household name. All our products are made with the finest wine and spirits available. Everything is thought meticulously with care and with the vision that others will always want to come back. Bougie Boozy Bears are unique and nothing like anyone has ever tasted before.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
There are times when friends or family come in from out of state to visit and there’s a plethora of items that we want to show them. We like to take them to eat, drink, and party. The first place I would take would be to the local farmer’s markets or the artesian markets. There are always over 20 to 30 vendors there. You get a little bit of everything from food to decorations, candles, pet supplies, and of course Bougie Boozy Bears! We would visit some of the local museums in Downtown Dallas during the day and then hit Low Greenville at night to bar hop and dance the night away. Depending on the season we would make the full day of eating, drinking, and betting on the horses at Lone Star Park. We would save the best for last. Being that we are America’s Team we would have to end the week watching the best team to ever play football – The Dallas Cowboys.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I spoke with God first and foremost. I knew deep in my heart that if I was to start a new process in life I would need his guidance and support. With that, he lead me to the support that I already had. My family – from blood family to friends that had been around so long there were only considered family, college family friends, all the way back to junior high and high school family friends. The moment I announced the creation of Bougie Boozy Bears on Facebook. My mother and daughters jumped right in the kitchen with me in mixing, tasting, cutting up labels, and bagging. Family and friends were ordering bears from across the US. We made mistakes with labels, flavors, shipping, and product melting. They all stood by me and continued to make suggestions that I took to heart. Being that my company started at the heart of the pandemic we had to find a way to reach out to more of the public. I reached out to a wonderful company called Four Season Artisan Markets and spoke with the representative of a company name Abby. Bougie Boozy Bears was a very unknown product and others were reluctant to work with me because they didn’t understand my concept. It was Abby that gave me the first opportunity to join one of the largest Farmer’s Markets Corporations in TX! My mother, daughters, significant other, sisters, aunties, school family, and Abby deserve the biggest Shoutout possible.

Website: https://www.bougieboozybears.com

Instagram: bougieboozybears

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Bougie-Boozy-Bears-LLC/

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/bougie-boozy-bears-carrollton-3

Other: https://www.theknot.com/marketplace/bougie-boozy-bears-grapevine-tx-2044953