Registered Nurse, Cancer Survivor, Entrepreneur, and Mom of two, are just a few of the words that describe Bilinder McGrowder. She also describes herself as being kind, Caring and feels genuinely fulfilled in her role as a Registered Nurse, because she finds pleasure in helping others. Though she “absolutely loves” serving others in her career, Bilinder has always aspired to having her own business.
In March 2020, she was given the life-changing news, of a diagnosis of stage 4 Ovarian Cancer, that had started to spread to her lungs. Naturally, news as overwhelming and devastating as this, caused her to go through various emotions including sadness, helplessness and a sense of loss. After a few months of crying and allowing herself to experience all these emotions, Bilinder finally accepted what was happening to her, but made the decision to fight for her life!
Being the Granddaughter of a Pastor who was described as a true man of God, Bilinder has a very strong faith in God, so with prayers, a special diet, a great oncology team and the tremendous support of family and friends, her cancer was declared to be in remission…..only 8 months after her initial diagnosis.
Three weeks after her surgery in July 2020, Bilinder launched her e-commerce business, SIR NATHAN STORE, which she named in honor of her late, beloved Grandfather, Nathan. She currently sells HANDBAG ORGANIZERS and tools that cleans makeup brushes. However, She plans to expand her business in 1-2 years, to focus primarily on tools and accessories that will help anyone to get naturally, beautiful, glowing skin!
Despite being an introvert who is generally quiet and would always sit in the corner of the room ( at any social gathering) and observe, Bilinder decided to step out of her comfort-zone and launched her YouTube channel (SIR NATHAN STORE, RN, BSN) in April 2021. On her channel, she shares information on how to care for yourself physically and mentally (Skin-Care and Self Care).
At 49 years old, she has acne and wrinkle-free skin….she happily shares her skincare routines and other great tips on her channel as well! Please, show her love….. go ahead and subscribe to her channel, and don’t forget to hit the notification bell so you can see all her videos as soon as they upload!
In spite of everything she is going through, she’s still here, building her businesses, while fighting against the odds….I think it’s safe to say, we can add Resilience to the list of words that describes Bilinder McGrowder!
1 Who Was The Inspiration Behind SIR NATHAN STORE?
I named my business; SIR NATHAN, in honor of my Grandfather, Nathan.
Not only was he a Council-Man of our Neighbor back home in Jamaica, but he owned a Bakery and he sold breads, patties and other pastries to businesses in our Town. I admired him because he was
1- Honest
2- He treated everyone with the utmost respect
3- He was caring and kind
These characteristics are the foundations of my business as well, because these are the life-lessons he taught us.
Think about it; how can your business thrive if you are not honest to your customers or if you do not care about them?
2 How Did You Come Together To Create Your Brand?
I love watching and learning from YouTubes videos, especially makeup channels. One thing that I noticed quite often was, people did not have a specific way in which to wash and dry their makeup brushes. If makeup brushes are not washed and dried in a particular way, they can become damaged quite easily with the water that you use to wash them. The average makeup brush can cost up to $20 per brush; that’s a lot of money, so you want to clean and care for your brushes in ways that will preserve them…you want to protect your investments.
My brand was created because I realized that the proper tools to wash and dry makeup brushes were lacking in the beauty industry, so I came up with the perfect product that would do just that! My makeup brush Washing and Drying set, thoroughly cleans your makeup brushes to rid them of oils and dirt. Our drying racks holds the brushes in a position that allows the water to drain away from the glue that holds the brushes together….this is very effective in making your makeup brushes last for a very long time!
We all know, it is very important to wash our makeup brushes at least twice per month….clean brushes, equals beautiful skin!
3 What Are Your Best Sellers And Why?
Currently, my best sellers are my Handbag Organizers. My customers are raving about them! Everyone loves them because they help to keep your bags well organized. When you are looking for something in your big tote bag and you can find it exactly when you need it, it helps your days to go very smoothly, and everybody loves that!.
I have not decided as yet, but this item may be a limited edition item, as my store will focus on selling only makeup brush accessory/tools.
4 What Is Your Ultimate Dream For Your Business?
My ultimate dream for my business is to get into retail stores, nationwide. I think it would be absolutely great to walk into retail stores and see my products on the selves! I saw a young lady on Instagram, who went into a Target store and held up a product that she said was hers. I felt so much joy for her, that is very big accomplishment! I am working on reaching the same goals within 1-2 years!
5 What Is The Best Advice You Have Ever Received?
The best advice I have received is; “don’t reinvent the wheel”. There are many successful businesses that have been here long before I started my own business…follow their blueprint; do what they do so you can have similar results.
6 In What Areas Would You Like To Improve As An Entrepreneur?
My weakest area is by far, Marketing! I know a lot of businesses in the industry relies on influencers to market their products and I know this can be very profitable but I have had some very unpleasant experiences with a few influencers. I sent my products to them and after they received my products, the influencers stopped communicating with me.
This has lead to me being very reluctant to send anymore of my products to other influencers because I cannot afford to lose anymore of my inventory. I have addressed this issue with a few of them on their platforms, but I do not want to embarrass anyone. Ultimately, marketing is the one area in which I would love to improve; to find other cost-effective ways of getting my brand in front of more people.
7 What Has Been Your Favorite Moment In Your Business So Far?
I am getting into networking with other small businesses. I love this because I get tips, suggestions and exchanging of ideas from other businesses; some of whom are new to the industry as I am, and some who have been around a bit longer than I have, so I am slowly learning things that will help my business to grow.
8 What’s Your Favorite Social Networking Platform- Facebook, Instagram, Twitter?
My favorite networking platform is Instagram. I have met some great small business owners on there who have been looking out for me; they have shared resources of how to be more visible on the platform as well as other ideas.
9 If You Could Go Back By Ten Years, What Would Be One Top Tip You Would Give To Our Audience?
The number one tip that I would offer, is something I have heard a lot since I started my business; don’t wait, just start!
A lot of times we feel as if we are not ready, because we feel like we do not have enough information or resources to start our business, so we procrastinate, saying to ourselves, “I’ll start next month or next year, or I just want to learn some more”.
This used to be me! But I now realize that, I am learning new things as I go along. I am not always going get all the answers right away, but I am learning new things everyday, every week, every month.
DON’T WAIT…JUST START!
10 Share Three Advice For Female Entrepreneurs?
1) Connect with other female entrepreneurs
2) You may not see massive results right away; it takes time..don’t give up!
3) At first, you may not have a lot of confidence in your business—fake it ’till you make it- confidence is everything!
Website: www.sirnathanstore.com
YouTube: SIR NATHAN STORE, RN, BSN
Instagram: Sir NathanStore
FaceBook: Sir Nathan Store
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