In today’s beauty-centric era, looks are everything. As such, the heavy emphasis on our physical appearance is sky-rocketing beauty, skin and healthcare markets rapidly. So it comes as no surprise that 18-year-old Joshua Clarke is making his own steps to succeed in this lucrative area.

Moving into his upper-sixth year this September, Joshua is a student of the Wolmer’s Boys School, where entrepreneurial enterprise seems to have infected the tap water, and has made his very own skin care brand, Sheek Skin and Body Care. Joshua has used social media as his primary source to create a buzz around his company for its fairly recent launch and since then has been delivering, managing and promoting his brand all on his own. Of course when teenAGE caught wind of such a big project led by such a young individual, we knew we needed to know more.

Here is our chat:

 teenAGE: Hey Joshua, we can only imagine how stressful starting your own brand can be. What would you consider to be your inspiration for Sheek Skin and Body Care?

Joshua: I was inspired to create Sheek by my older sister as well as a dear friend of mine. At the time I was only going to focus on fragrance oils and colognes, however, they inspired me to think bigger and much greater and so Sheek was born. 

teenAGE: What an excellent support system. Also, we have to ask, you’ve stamped a very ominous looking leopard on your logo and all over your promotions. What does it represent?

Joshua: Well, the Leopard in the logo is used to portray the lavish lifestyle my clients will be able to afford at a reasonable price from my company. The name Sheek was also actually inspired by the sheikhs from Dubai who live lavish lifestyles, and these sheikhs would normally be seen with leopards or other exotic animals, so that was my true inspiration for not only the logo but the name as well.

 teenAGE: So it’s safe to say then that we should not be scared of that leopard. Got it. Well, with the fresh launch of your brand, what exactly is the impression you want Sheek to have on the world?. Tell us in three words.

Joshua: Luxury, Consistency and “Blissionaire”

 teenAGE: With so many different businesses popping up nowadays with an emphasis on skin care, just like Sheek, what do you think sets your business apart, and what do your clients love most about your brand?

Joshua: Sheek focuses on the quality products it’s company will be giving its consumers. It ensures that they get more value than what their money is even actually worth. Most companies would focus on giving you the value you deserve for your money, while we give you more than what you deserve. Also, my clients not only love my price for the quantity, but they are also in love with the level of professionalism they experience when they are doing business with me.

 teenAGE: As a man, why do you think skin care is important and what do you have to say to men that may shy away from it?

Joshua: As a Jamaican male, I am often surrounded by men who may think taking care of their skin is feminine or showing interest in skin care makes them weak. So in order to fit in, they tend to shy away from giving their skin the love and care it deserves. I am, however, here to encourage them to evolve their mindsets and encourage them to stop paying attention to such criticisms. Your skin is as important as inside your internal organs, and your outer body is what the world sees and often times it is what they use to judge you on a whole, why not take care of it then? Furthermore, i ensure you that females find men who take care of themselves on a whole including their skin more attractive than those who do not.

teenAGE: What are your biggest challenges when it comes to balancing your brand and your schoolwork?

Joshua: The biggest challenge would be ensuring that my business, even though I have school, meets the needs of the consumers. This may mean deliveries at certain times of the day, or maybe answering their emails, Instagram messages or even text messages while being preoccupied. I try very hard not to turn the clients off or deter them from doing business with me in the future.

teenAGE: For persons reading this right now who are new to skin care but want try their luck, what really makes a good skin product and what make a bad one?

Joshua: As my Second mom Danasha Grant, as well as my older sister Jonbenet Clarke, would say, there is no such thing as a bad skin care product, however, it is knowing your skin type and what it may require to keep that particular skin type healthy. However, there are Skin products that are said to be used to “improve” the skin, however they destroy your skin instead, and these can be labelled as bad skin products for you.

teenAGE: And if we should buy anything from Sheek, what do you consider to be a must-have and why?

Joshua: Sheek must-haves include the different bar cleansers we offer retail. I also recommend a moisturizer at all times because these are the essential to have in our harsh climate, especially in the summer that can dry out our skin #PlaceHotB.

 teenAGE: Where do you see Sheek ten years from now?

Joshua: In ten years, I see Sheek expanding to hair care for different hair types, offering much more skin care products, and not only being an online store, but also being a store that has a set location that provides our clients with expert advice in the comfort and security of a physical store, both in Kingston and other parts of Jamaica.

teenAGE: Any advice to young entrepreneurs like yourself?

Joshua: My advice to young entrepreneurs is to never give up, even though you may feel incompetent or inferior to our older rivals, what will make you as successful as they are is your individual ideas and mindset, seeing that we all have different mindsets and dreams for our company. These are also some of the words told to me by my dear parents Jacqueline Chambers and Joshua Clarke Snr. the people who support me the most in my dreams.

Joshua will be doing Economics, Accounting, Management of Business and Caribbean Studies when he enters Upper Sixth Form later this year. Currently, he holds the positions of: Vice President for All Distinctions Club, Worship Leader for The Octagon Club for Wolmer’s, Peer Counsellor, Peer Tutor on drug abuse and Form Captain. Outside of school he is a proud member of the Portmore Gospel Chapel’s Youth Ministry Board.

You can follow Joshua and his journey with Sheek on Instagram at @sheekskinbodycare

–Matthew Dawkins