By Marissa V. Foster
TEERANI Ramdeen, better known as “Nadia Jay”, is a Guyanese who currently resides in New York. Ramdeen is the proud business owner of a small “Indie” (independent) brand of cosmetic products, Kamakshi NYC. She is a college student who lives with her immigrant family in the United States and is a nursing student studying at Long Island University. She plans on achieving a Doctorate Degree in nursing. Teerani expressed that moving to the United States of America was quite a challenge. At times, she felt very lost and found it difficult to adapt to a strange and new environment. Nonetheless, she has always found ways to excel and one of her strengths is challenging the “norms” and the “ordinary.” It is evident in the business she now owns.

Ramdeen’s main aim was to create a beauty business for the Indo-Caribbean community. When asked what the main aim behind her business is, she replied by saying: “We’re judged when we dye our hair a different colour; we’re judged when we aren’t light enough and the list goes on. I was tired of seeing and hearing of those issues over and over, while everyone remained silent.” She continued by saying: “I was never the fairest person around and sometimes I was bullied because of my appearance. As such, I decided to create a universal makeup and skincare line that allows colours to show fiercely and vividly on all skin types– dark and light alike.” Ramdeen even tied in her religion into her business through the name. “Kamakshi” is a goddess and her name means “whose eyes awaken desire or she who has beautiful eyes.”

Her brand Kamakshi NYC was officially launched on June 21 this year. This young, driven entrepreneur expressed that although she does not live in Guyana anymore, she still wants to give back to her country through her business and its aim. She wants to uplift Guyana, specifically women, in the Indo-Guyanese community and motivate them to look beyond physicality. Her main challenge thus far has been to rise above self-doubts and low self-confidence about the success of her business. Makeup brands and businesses are flourishing all across Guyana and the world at large. Ramdeen is fully aware of this and stressed that it has been challenging to find originality in an arena where there is so much competition. Many brands are also stealing the ideas of other brands, but she remains committed to her cause and finds inspiration through the very women she wants to uplift. She also stated that she is in a “non-compete” form agreement with other small businesses to avoid repetition of unique products for sale in the beauty community.

“It is a tough time because everyone has to deal with this pandemic. A lot of people inclusive of myself are creating small businesses because they would like to ‘put food on their tables.’ My business stands out from others because it has a lot of meaning to it,” said Teerani. She offers shipping to customers in Guyana directly from the post office and all of her beauty products can be ordered through her social media or official website www.kamakshinyc.com. Teerani has lived through the struggles of being a “brown girl,” especially in a strange environment. Her very business was built on that struggle and she hopes that Indo-Caribbean women and girls feel included in the beauty community and makeup industry through her brand.