Beauty, Business, and AI: Charleston's Leading Ladies Share Their Stories

Artificial intelligence isn't just for tech giants anymore. Two Charleston-based entrepreneurs are proving that small businesses and traditional industries can harness AI's power to compete at unprecedented levels.

Meet Tanqueray Edwards, owner of TR Edwards Consultancy, who specializes in empowering small to mid-sized businesses with strategic AI solutions. Her mission resonates deeply in South Carolina, where small businesses constitute approximately 94% of the state's economy. Rather than approaching AI as a blanket solution, Edwards works closely with clients to identify specific pain points and develop customized digital roadmaps that align with their business objectives. The results speak volumes – some clients report productivity gains equivalent to adding 2.5 full-time employees through strategic AI implementation.

Alongside her sits Susannah Dellinger, CEO and founder of Bright Beauty Collective, who's revolutionizing how beauty brands enter major retailers like Sephora and Ulta across North America. Beyond her agency work, Dellinger demonstrates how business success and social responsibility can intertwine beautifully. Her company partners with One World Health to support healthcare initiatives, including underwriting Uganda's first neonatal center. As if running a successful beauty agency weren't enough, Dellinger also recently launched "fieldly," an innovative app that transforms field marketing management for brands.

Both entrepreneurs challenge the common fear that AI will replace human workers. Instead, they view artificial intelligence as a complementary force that unlocks human potential and enables businesses to operate more efficiently. As Edwards succinctly puts it: "The AI train is leaving the station" – and Charleston's business owners would be wise to climb aboard. Whether you're struggling with operational inefficiencies, seeking to scale without massive hiring, or looking to maximize your team's impact, the insights shared in this conversation provide a practical roadmap for leveraging technology to transform your business landscape.

Chapters

• 0:00 Podcast Introduction

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Welcome to the Charleston Marketing Podcast, brought to you by the Charleston AMA and broadcasting from our friends at Charleston Media Solutions Studios. Thanks to our awesome sponsors at CMS, we get to chat with the cool folks making waves in Charleston, from business and art to hospitality and tech. These movers and shakers choose to call the Lowcountry home. They live here, work here and make a difference here. So what's their story? Let's find out together.

Speaker 2: 0:28

Stephanie back from Dick South, part of the Charleston American Marketing Association. We are the marketing podcast. I have two lovely ladies with us today, can you?

Speaker 3: 0:35

introduce yourselves. Yeah, absolutely so. I'm Tancora Edwards and I am the owner of TR Edwards Consultancy, and we empower small to mid-sized businesses with AI solutions. I love it Okay.

Speaker 4: 0:48

And I'm Susannah Dellinger, and I'm the CEO and founder of Bright Beauty Collective, which is a beauty agency for brands to sell through in places like Sephora, ulta across North America, as well as the co-founder of an app that just went in the App Store today, fieldly, which puts field marketing in the palm of the brand's hands. Awesome, have you met each other before? Yes, yeah, so we just did a panel together.

Speaker 3: 1:09

Tell me a little about the panel, you guys did yeah, so we were focused on service-based industries, really trying to take the big concepts of AI and distill it down into how small mid-sized businesses can you know?

Speaker 2: 1:25

implement immediately Right. Make their lives easier.

Speaker 3: 1:28

Absolutely, absolutely.

Speaker 2: 1:29

Was it a good crowd, it was fun.

Speaker 3: 1:31

Yeah, it was fun, it was fun, it was fun.

Speaker 2: 1:33

Okay, so tell me a little bit about your beauty business. Yeah, do you love it? Because you're a beautiful person.

Speaker 4: 1:38

Oh my gosh, you're so sweet and you're a beautiful person.

Speaker 2: 1:41

Thank you, so is everybody here I know, look who's behind the camera.

Speaker 4: 1:43

She needs to be in front of the camera, so gorgeous.

Speaker 2: 1:46

I try, no, I don't. So tell me a little bit about your business. Are you guys both based here in Charleston?

Speaker 4: 1:51

Yes, yes, so my agency is based in Charleston, but we cover all of North America, okay, and we literally have revenue from that and we give back to other local charities. So, for example, we partner with one world health right here in charleston wonderful and we've under helped to underwrite the first ever neonatal center in uganda oh wow, we like to say, we take lipstick and like help save babies, that's amazing, that's amazing now I have a client based in um la, who's like, who has a hemp cosmetics company that I need to hook up with you.

Speaker 2: 2:27

She has a background with working in Starbucks and all these cool brands, so she's pretty fun. So what do you have on the horizon?

Speaker 3: 2:32

Anything exciting happening? Lots of exciting things happening. So right now I'm partnering with an energy company. So with my work again, I help small to mid-sized businesses that can cut across multiple industries.

Speaker 3: 2:45

And we really look at where do you want to grow strategically? And then we kind of dial in on two to three priorities. If it's operational efficiencies or I want to augment my team members with technology to make them more efficient, we look for those AI solutions. So right now I'm partnering with an energy company that's based out of France and we're going to do some digital enablement for their team members and that's going to be a lot of fun. Maybe I'll get to travel a little bit. I was going to say how long have you been doing this? So I've been in the consulting space for two years, but I'd say for the last year I've really been leaning in on AI, ai, ai solutions, in particular, for small businesses. I'm not sure if you guys are aware, but here in the state of South Carolina I think the number is about 94% of the economy is based from small businesses.

Speaker 3: 3:36

So, like we're holding up the economy of South Carolina and I am very passionate in ensuring that those businesses are not falling behind on the digital divide, that they are in line with corporate, you know, fortune 500 industries, of course.

Speaker 2: 3:49

of course I work with a. I'm a marketing consultant and I have an agency here in town and I work with a lot of small businesses. So, for instance, I'll work with a home services brand and we're dealing now with a lot of like, for instance, an HVAC company, where people will come in with a huge marketing budget. Huge big conglomerates are buying them up and for someone like you to come in and help tell them how to run their business typically is it like a short period of time, or how does that work?

Speaker 3: 4:15

it it depends, um. Sometimes clients know exactly what they want and how they want it. Sometimes they don't, and we have to start with. Let's build like the ai roadmap, if you will right, and align it with your business strategy, and then we'll start picking off some of those priorities one by one, and that can be an engagement of four to six weeks or it could be an engagement where I may be on retainer with them and then we just kind of roll out some AI solutions over the course of the year. So it really is dependent on so many variables what we try to be cognizant of, their budget and then ensuring that we are really in alignment with their priorities and we're not just throwing AI at everything. Like what is your pain point? How do we solve for it with an AI solution?

Speaker 2: 5:00

Yeah, the AI world can be scary, yeah, don't you think?

Speaker 3: 5:03

It is yes.

Speaker 2: 5:05

That's why we're here I used to worry that I was going to come from my job, but now I've found ways to use AI to make my life To compliment. Compliment.

Speaker 4: 5:12

Yes.

Speaker 2: 5:12

Shorten some of the yes, yes.

Speaker 4: 5:14

What we were just saying on the panel, right? Is that everyone's so afraid? Like, is AI going to take my job? Right? Yes, and instead it's. You know, ai is here, I think, like we think, to unlock your potential to do all that, that you are put here to do at an extremely fast level. Yes, I think it's changing the game.

Speaker 3: 5:38

And if you're not on the?

Speaker 2: 5:39

train now, you better get on it, that is all.

Speaker 3: 5:40

I know you better be on it. Choo-choo, choo-choo. It is leaving the station. It is leaving the station. There's so much data out there around businesses that are leveraging it and are more competitive and are able to scale and grow 10X their revenue. In fact, with some of my clients it's like adding 2.5 of an FTE. That's amazing. Like what small business would not want that?

Speaker 2: 6:03

For sure, yeah, 100%. Now are you here for the rest of the day, the conference, yes.

Speaker 4: 6:08

I'm here for a little bit, but then gotta be mommy and go to pick up a. I has not replaced pick up. Yes, she's six.

Speaker 2: 6:14

I got a billion dollar business yeah, can I find a business that either sooner down children, yeah, or animals, cuz then I would just make a fortune that's either centered around children or animals, because then I would just make a fortune.

Speaker 3: 6:32

That's right, yes, we combine that with AI and we're good to go. We're good to go.

Speaker 2: 6:35

We'll make that all happen. Well, ladies, thank you so much for being here with me today.

Speaker 3: 6:39

Now how can everybody find you? Yep, so you can follow me on LinkedIn. I'm the Tankeray Edwards, okay no-transcript.