IF YOU HAD TO HEAR A LECTURE ON NATURAL HAIR & ENTREPRENEURSHIP...

[miss_a]

Who would you want to hear?

Ladies (and Gentlemen...), I am a Teaching Assistant, who is working for a phenomenal Professor, this semester!

And the Professor, would like for our students to hear a guest lecture from an entrepreneur, within the natural hair care industry, and I course had to pose this question, to our board!

The speaker must be an entrepreneur, involved with the natural hair care industry, and super interesting!

Ladies, any ideas?

~A.

 

[Stormy]

With all of the top hair care companies jumping on the natural band wagon, have they found that their natural hair care products are more profitable than the relaxed ones, less profitable or about the same?

 

[NappyNelle]

I would want to hear a lecture from Napata of Qhemet Biologics, Jamyla and Pierre from Oyin Handmade, or Anita from Anita Grant. Those companies have scientific formulations, excellent customer service, and have been in the hair industry for over five years. I'd like to hear about their growth, catering to a niche market, selling locally, and their goals for the future.

I hope that helps.

ETA: He is more general, but Aubrey from Aubrey Organics would be cool too.

 

[miss_a]

NappyNelle y Stormy--thank you.

Ladies, any additional ideas?

(crosses fingers).

~A.

 

[Tiye]

new marketing ideas/models/success stories.

oyin/qhemet, et al successfully used the internet to promote their product lines ten years ago before the internet had scads of black hair blogs and boards - and of course ... youtube. ten years ago there was a big difference between mainstream and indie products. mainstream lines did their market research and responded by modifying formulas and adding the ingredients that people want. so what's different for newbies now? how do newbies break out in a competitive field?

 

[Solitude]

An entrepreneur couple might be interesting. The owners of Uncle Funky's Daughter (Tonya & Ray) were in the natural hair business before it was popular. They have a salon, a product line, a couture boutique, and they are starting to do events in Houston...they have a natural hair gala coming up soon.

 

[silenttullip]

I gotta second Jamyla and Pierre from Oyin Handmade... I could listen to them all day (and I have via their podcasts) and they actually seem "real" and usually give good service. Their would be great speakers to get or whoever created Bear Fruit Hair. As for Uncle Funky's Daughter down here I'd just expect a little more from their products and service.

 

[NappyNelle]

Oh, I forgot about Karen from Karen's Body Beautiful! She's been in the business for a while too.

 

[miss_a]

Tiye, Solitude, SilentTulip, NappyNelle(!), and Stormy...

Ladies y'all are phenomenal--thank you.

This is why I adore this board, after all these years...

~A.