The U.S. hair-care market is a $7 billion market and according to research firm Mintel, the black haircare market is worth $684 million and growing. Following in the footsteps of successful beauty entrepreneurs like Annie Turnbo Malone, Madame CJ Walker, Sarah Spencer Washington are the following multicultural millionaires.
Miko Branch
Miko Branch is the Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Miss Jessie’s L.L.C. Miko and her late sister Titi were in their Brooklyn brownstone kitchen cooking up hair products that would help moisturize and help women make their natural curl patterns look fabulous. The Branch sisters built their business and brand without having an M.B.A., investors or extensive personal contacts and connections͟. The daughters of an African-American father and a Japanese-American mother used their entrepreneurial to revolutionize the hair care industry and now their products are in high demand and can be found globally on the shelves of Target, Walgreens, Walmart, HEB, CVS and Sally Beauty Supply. In the memoir and business guide Creating a Successful Business from Scratch-Naturally͟, Miko shared how to build a multimillion-dollar company from scratch.
Lisa Price
Lisa Price is the founder of Carol’s Daughter, a line of beauty product she named in memory of her mother. In her Brooklyn kitchen, she began cooking up hair products with amazing fragrances that couldn’t be denied. The company eventually grew into a multi-million dollar business that later caught the attention of famous investors that included Jay-Z and Will and Jada Pinkett-Smith. L’Oreal purchased Carol’s Daughter after its retail locations filed for bankruptcy. “Even though there was technically an exchange of assets from one to the other, I’m still the soul of the brand and you can’t remove that,’ says Price. The products that started from Brooklyn kitchen can now be found at Target, Walgreens, Ulta Salon, Sally Beauty stores and the Home Shopping Network.
Mahisha Dellinger
Mahisha Dellinger, founder, and CEO of CURLS LLC is one of the leading natural hair care companies in the country. When she couldn’t find a product on the market to maintain her ethnic hair, Mahisha hired a cosmetic chemist to begin working on formulas that can help care for ethnic hair using $25,000 of her personal savings. Mahisha credits her readiness for entrepreneurship to her experience as a marketing manager in corporate America and her mentor for making the road a lot easier. The company has broadened its retail availability to 7,200 CVS Pharmacy locations nationwide. The brand is also available at Rite Aid, Target, and Walgreens. Dellinger defines The Wealth Mindset͟ in her book Against All Odds: From the Projects to the Penthouse and how to turn your tragedy into triumph, no matter what the odds͟.
Courtney Adeleye
Courtney Adeleye is the Founder and the Chief Executive Office of The Mane Choice, Courtney Adeleye. Unable to find the right products to meet her hair care need, Adeleye started making her own hair products in her kitchen. She started selling her products through her popular Youtube channel, but in 2016, the company garnered over 6.5 million dollars in sales, making Adeleye a self-made multi-millionaire seemingly overnight.͟
Leanna Archer
Leanna Archer is the founder and CEO of Leanna’s Essentials. Making history as the youngest person to ever open the NASDAQ stock market, Leanna built a multi-million dollar company by sharing her Haitian grandmother’s homemade hair care products and launching her company at just 9-year-old.
Did you peep the pattern? Most of these women started their business in the kitchen which proves that it’s not where you are but where you are going. It is up to you to put your excuses on the back burner and let your dreams to the lead. Believe in yourself and all excellence will follow.