Meet a Gen Z founder who helps people feel good
Jassma’ray Johnson’s early entrepreneurial success started with her smile.
As a kid, she recognized that her full lips were a defining feature that deserved to be accentuated. But beauty products weren’t in the budget for a fourth grader growing up in a single-parent household. So, Jassma’ray got creative. She remembers watching tutorials for DIY lip gloss online, then improvising with simple household supplies: vaseline for shine and Kool-Aid for color.
“After that moment, my friends always knew I would have a lip gloss on—and three or four in my bag,” Jassma’ray said. “It was something that made me feel good about myself.”
Her “how hard can it be?” attitude led Jassma’ray to later launch a cosmetics company from her dorm room at Iowa State University. As a first-generation freshman, she needed a way to make money while working toward her psychology degree. Inspired by her childhood hobby, Jassma’ray bought professional-grade ingredients and began mixing up big batches of lip gloss. Campus customers loved her products, which she packaged under the label Simply Sámone. She got the word out through social media and would make deliveries to women in the dorms. Even male athletes started buying her lip balms and scrubs.
Structured Support to Succeed
Faculty at Iowa State took note, too, and connected the young founder with opportunities. An invitation to participate in the University’s Start Something LAS Academy helped Jassma’ray explore her business’s potential. The Academy’s director also encouraged her to apply to CYstarters, an 11-week summer accelerator for Iowa State students or recent graduates.
“Instead of working for someone else, they actually paid you to grow your business,” Jassma’ray said.
“It definitely played a big role in the evolution of my company. I learned how to convey my message through pitch competitions, and the mentors I met through Cystarters still communicate with me.”
Making connections through the LAS Academy, pitch competitions, CYstarters and the Okoboji Entrepreneurial Institute also increased demand. Jassma’ray was able to get into three retail locations and would sell out of inventory within weeks.
The accountability of setting goals and working with a cohort helped Jassma’ray expand her business. She’s shipped Simply Sámone products to 27 states and secured wholesale relationships with several local businesses, netting tens of thousands of dollars in sales and seed funding.
Building a beauty brand centered on Black women also catapulted Jassma’ray into the spotlight. She was the subject of numerous stories posted to the ISU website, and the recent graduate was named one of The Des Moines Register’s “People to Watch” in 2024. As soon as Jassma’ray could start paying it forward, she did. While still an undergraduate student, she created a scholarship for students at Des Moines East High School, her alma mater.
“No matter how big I grow, [offering a scholarship] is something I never want to change,” she said. “If I didn’t go to college, I wouldn’t have started my business.”
Collaborating to Serve Clients
After graduating from Iowa State, Jassma’ray decided to pursue her massage therapy license and recently started renting a suite in Des Moines’ Windsor Heights under the business name Healing Hands. She’s now a licensed therapeutic masseuse and is actively taking clients.
“Being able to uplift people and help people feel good is my overall goal,” Jassma’ray said. “I’m happy that I got my [massage] license, I got my degree, I have my business. Now I’m able to put these pieces together.”
She’s excited to kick off her career in a relaxed setting alongside her former classmate Trinity Dewitt, a Des Moines-based fashion designer and hairstylist who operates out of the same space. The two envision opening a full-service salon and spa in the future.
“We want to offer the community a one-stop shop for services to make people feel good and feel beautiful,” Jassma’ray said.
Simply Sámone will continue to offer small-batch, handmade products. Jassma’ray plans to expand into body scrubs next, but her growth strategy is shifting away from shelf space in big box stores.
“I want to be in small businesses so I can help their business grow and so people can have that homemade feel,” Jassma’ray said. “This is not mass-produced. This is something made with love. This is something made with care.”
