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I met Mahisha Dellinger 16 years ago when she partnered with NaturallyCurly for the launch of her new line of products for the multi-ethnic consumer.

Having just transitioned to natural hair, she had a hard time finding quality products for women and girls embracing their natural hair textures. She found herself pacing the haircare aisles, unhappy with the heavy greases and texturizers that were developed for ethnic hair. So she decided to create CURLS, leaving her marketing position at Intel and using $25,000 of her own personal savings to hire a cosmetic chemist.

Over the years, I’ve watched as she’s built CURLS into a multimillion-dollar brand, with products now available nationwide in retailers such as Target, Walmart and CVS. The line includes several collections, including the Blueberry Bliss, Cashmere + Caviar, Curly Q’s kids’ line, It’s a Curl infant line and the original product line. As a fellow entrepreneur, I have watched with respect and awe as she’s balanced her growing company with raising four children and writing a book: Against All Odds: From the Projects to the Penthouse.

Now, Dellinger is taking her years of experience to help other female entrepreneurs on the Oprah Winfrey Network’s Mind Your Business with Mahisha TV series, which debuts at 10 p.m. EST Aug. 11th.

In each hour-long episode, Dellinger assists other female entrepreneurs and guides them on how to improve their business. Mind Your Business with Dellinger follows Iyanla: Fix My Life, (9 p.m. ET/PT”> for an all-female led Saturday night lineup on OWN, the No. 1 network on Saturday nights for African-American women. Dellinger describes the show as a cross between Shark Tank, The Profit and Iyanla: Fix My Life.

Dellinger said there is a need to elevate female black-owned businesses. Although there has been a 300 percent increase in the number of female black-owned businesses over the past two years, less than 4 percent of those businesses make it to $1 million in sales. “That’s a huge gap to bridge,” Dellinger says.

As a full-time mother, wife and CEO, Dellinger understands the struggles that plague these women, whether that be balancing your family or difficulty finding working capital. On the show, she assists the entrepreneurs with a wide range of important business skills, including branding, negotiating contracts and delegating.

The series features Gloria Williams, Founder and CEO of Footnanny pedicure products and known as Oprah’s personal pedicurist; Bad Girls Club star Mehgan James, owner of 800 West clothing line; Lia Diaz, owner of The Girl Cave, a three-store chain of beauty bars and beauty supplies in Southern California; and Chef Shalamar Lane, owner of My Father’s BBQ, a family-run BBQ restaurant in Carson, California. “Every single woman and every single brand had a specific action plan given to them,” Dellinger says.

She works with a wide range of women on the show. All of them are determined to make it. All of them have put everything on the line to make it work – to get to the finish line. “One of the entrepreneurs,“ she says, reminded her of herself, “making it against all odds.”

Dellinger has been assisting female entrepreneurs informally for many years, serving as a mentor and helping them network. She served as an expert on a panel at Black Enterprise Magazine’s 2012 Vision 20/20 Entrepreneur Conference and spoke at their 2013 Women of Power Summit. She’s also spoken at the Texas Black Expo Diva Dialogue as a panel expert and was the keynote speaker at her university’s 2013 Make Your Mark conference.

Dellinger says she never pursued a television show. Mind Your Business with Mahisha, she says, fell into her lap. Filming began in February, with one week on and two weeks off. It was challenging at times, especially with a large and growing haircare company three children at home, with “three different drop offs and three different pickups.”

She credits her husband with giving her the freedom to pursue the TV show. “I was thinking ‘I can’t do this.’ I felt like I needed to be home. My husband said ‘I’ve got this. It’s only eight weeks of your life.’”

Despite her time working on the show, she managed to create a CURLS new Green Collection, a new vegan line. “I’m always going so fast and furious,” Dellinger says.

Born and raised in a dangerous community in California, Dellinger was exposed to poverty, gang violence (her brother was in a gang”> and drugs. She credits her drive to succeed to not wanting to be poor again as well as wanting to make sure her children have a different destiny than she had growing up. “Because of where I came from, it’s a driver that keeps me going.”

Dellinger will watch the premiere this week in Dallas with friends and family with champagne, and then will be spending the next few weeks on a press tour to promote the show.

During our conversation, Dellinger shared her top tips for female entrepreneurs:

1. Don’t be afraid to ask for help: Many women are trained to be the matriarch and feel like they have to do everything themselves. “Don’t be prideful. It’s much better to ask for help when you need it.”
2. Do your due diligence: Know who your market is, know who your competition is, study the industry.
3. Start small: If you’re a brand-new entrepreneur in an industry, the best thing you can do is learn while you’re small. Then you have the chance to pivot or tweak.
4. Keep your day job as long as possible: It’s better to start off with a safety net while you’re getting your business off the ground. That helps take pressure off while you’re working through your business plan and going through the inevitable growing pains that most startups experience.
5. Reinvest everything back in the business as long as you can: “Don’t go buy that Chanel bag!”
6. Take advantage of free mentoring: Dellinger is a huge fan of SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives”>. The organization provides a variety of free resources for new business owners, including mentorship pairing and assistance in drafting business and marketing plans. Dellinger’s experience with SCORE was so beneficial, in fact, that she steers every budding entrepreneur she meets directly to their local office.

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Stephanie Rodriguez is a Latina with Type 3b curls. When she goes shopping for haircare products, she said she is looking for sulfate-free shampoos and curl-specific products from brands like Carol’s Daughter, SheaMoisture, Pantene and Garnier. “I think it should be organized by hair type/brands so it’s easier to pick out what you need for your hair, rather than just shoving the ‘ethnic’ section in the corner where people can feel left out.”

“I’m not sure who decided that ‘ethnic’ is non white. Everyone is ethnic,” says community member Ogechi Onwubu. “Let’s call it the hair care aisle, and divide it into sections based on texture.”

During the Global Beauty Alliance (GBA”> meeting last weekend at the 2018 Cosmoprof beauty show in Las Vegas, members voted unanimously to support changing the name of the “Ethnic” hair care category. The GBA would like to refer to the section as the “Textured Hair” section. The GBA’s membership includes some of the leaders in the multicultural haircare category.

According to Cornell McBride Jr, co-chair of the GBA and chief executive officer of Design Essentials, “The term ‘Ethnic’ is outdated, marginalizing and no longer the most accurate or descriptive term for the products in this beauty category.” 

Pictured: Cornell McBride Jr, co-chair of the GBA and chief executive officer of Design Essentials

With the change, the products that are currently housed in the “Ethnic” category will continue to be housed in the renamed “Textured Hair” category, which members believe is a more accurate and inclusive term. Individual manufacturers will continue with their respective marketing and consumer communication campaigns.

In making the decision, the GBA leveraged TextureMedia’s recently released Perception Study: Ethnic and Multicultural Haircare Experience. TextureMedia’s study finds that most people with curly, coily or wavy hair – no matter what their ethnicity – consider their hair to be natural, textured or curly rather than “ethnic” or “multicultural.” The term “ethnic” on products or beauty aisles causes dissatisfaction among a major group of consumers who consider the term to be divisive.

According to our study, across all ethnicities, 45 percent chose “by hair texture” as a way to organize hair products, while percent chose “by hair concern.” Across all textured-hair consumers, only 4 percent would organize the aisle by “ethnicity.” Among black consumers, only 6 percent would organize the haircare aisle by ethnicity.

The GBA explained that the term “Ethnic” refers to a population subgroup (within a larger or dominant group”> with a common national or cultural tradition. When it comes to haircare, “the ‘ethnic’ nomenclature does not describe all of the consumers, their hair, or the products in this category accurately or sufficiently. All of the products in this category are especially effective on inherently curly hair, or textured hair. The GBA believes the definition of ‘textured hair’ is hair that has some kind of a curl pattern, where hair strands create shapes, curves, spirals, zig zags or waves. Textured hair is hair that is not straight. Hair that is not straight requires unique products for styling, moisturizing and control.” 

“It’s no wonder ethnicities feel ostracized,” says Ada Nicole, a community member. “Races don’t need to be ‘called out,’ and not every white person has straight hair!‬‬”

For many who do search out the ethnic aisle in their store for their favorite products, it’s more out of habit. “It points me in the right direction,” says Ebonie Andrews.

The GBA’s vote is step one, says Carol Sagers, Director of the Global Beauty Alliance. The next step is up to retailers, who ultimately determine how they organize their haircare aisles.

If the textured-hair community has a say, stores will follow the lead of the GBA. 

“People of all shades and ethnicities have varying degrees of textured hair,” says Pamela Stephens Gaines, a Louisiana community member with Type 4 coils. “Why can’t hair products be categorized by the hair type?”

The GBA is the combined voice of the multicultural beauty industry. It includes entrepreneurs, manufacturers, distributors and others working together to promote industry growth and development. The Global Beauty Alliance is the authority and leading voice on the unique requirements of the multicultural beauty industry. It provides access to resources, information and education to benefit all of its members.

What do you think of the “ethnic” aisle, and what would you prefer it be called? Let us know in the comments!

I remember stumbling upon a store in New York filled with all the hottest K-Beauty products, including racks of facial masks. I loved that there were masks for every possible skin concern — from redness to anti-aging. And each mask contained a sheet — with eye, nose and mouth holes — bathed in product that could be easily applied.

At the time, I wished there was something similar for hair – one-use masks that could be customized for my hair’s different needs.

My wish came true in a big way. Just like K-Beauty transformed the skincare market with masks, it’s transforming the way we care for our curls. K-Beauty, of course, is an umbrella term for beauty products from South Korea that have taken the West by storm in the last few years.

Hair masks now are one of the hottest trends in haircare, with numerous brands launching their versions of these one-use, easy-to-use conditioning treatments. While many have been launched by U.S. hair brands like SheaMoisture, L’Oreal Paris, and Garnier, the K-Beauty brands have also launched a wide variety.

Of course we wanted to get our hands on some of these masks, and we had the opportunity to try the new Lindsay Home Aesthetics line of 2-Step Self-Heating Hair Masks. The company was started by Korean entrepreneur Lindsay Yu.

The masks are each formulated with different butters, oils, proteins, and other ingredients depending upon your hair’s individual needs. One of our staffers, Cara, tried the Bye Bye Tangles & Knots mask (with shea oil, argan oil, and natural keratins”>, and Alex tried the Anti-Frizz Detangling Mask (with argan oil, elastin, silk amino acids, and carotene.”> Each came with a self-heating cap that is put on over the product to help it absorb into the hair follicles and strands more effectively.

These 20-minute masks come in a variety of formulas, with ingredients designed to address problems ranging from heat-tool abuse to itchy scalp. Each contains customized combinations of ingredients such as tea tree oil, argan oil, Manuka honey, sunflower seed oil, and shea butter.

Lindsay also makes two other types of masks: Overnight masks that you leave on while you sleep, and the Split Ends Prevention masks, which also include a leave-in serum to be applied after the 20-minute treatment. They all are available at Walmart for about $4 each.

The benefits of using a hair mask include:

1. They’re convenient: Everything is self-contained, from the formula to the foil cap. 2. They’re portable: When flying, I often was forced to check my bags just because of my hair products. With these hair masks, there is no need. They can slip into a purse or backpack. “If you’re traveling a lot and you don’t want to bring your whole jar of deep conditioner, these are perfect,” says Alex. 3. They’re problem-solution oriented: Whether you’re suffering from heat damage or your color-treated hair needs some extra pampering, you can buy masks that are customized to address specific needs. 4. They’re inexpensive: Each mask is available for less than $4. 5. They’re self-heating: The foil-coated hair cap creates a steaming effect, which allows the ingredients to be better absorbed. 6. They appeal to the product junkie: There are so many different varieties to try; you won’t get bored. If you’re like me, by the time I’m halfway through a tube of conditioner, I’m getting antsy to try something new and different.

If you’d like to learn more about K-Beauty, check out this article.

Photo by trumzz — Getty Images

Briogeo founder Nancy Twine has always been a problem solver. She was researching scalp issues, which often are caused by problem buildup that can clog the hair follicle. She wanted to find an ingredient that could eliminate that buildup, along with the irritation, flakiness and itchiness that come with it. Binchotan charcoal, she discovered, had unique attributes that can remove buildup without the harsh ingredients.

It was important for me to create hair care products using gentle, effective, and detoxifying ingredients in place of harsh sulfates, which can strip the scalp and hair of hydration and natural oils, says Twine, who has integrated charcoal into Briogeo’s popular and growing Scalp Revival line.

Styling products, sweat, and natural sebum can build up on the scalp and hair overtime leading to clogged hair follicles, limp hair, scalp itchiness and irritation, and even hair loss. Charcoal helps to absorb deep-rooted impurities beyond what a standard shampoo can cleanse away. It is especially good for the scalp because it targets impurities at the root of the hair that can clog the hair follicle and cause scalp issues.

Activated charcoal is a fine black powder made from bone char, coconut shells, peat, petroleum coke, coal, olive pits or sawdust. The charcoal is “activated” by processing it at very high temperatures that changes its internal structure, reducing the size of its pores and increasing its surface area. This results in a charcoal that is more porous than regular charcoal. It has a negative charge, meaning when used in a product it attracts positively charged molecules, as in any toxins or dirt.

Because of its porous, purifying properties, activated charcoal is found in a wide variety of health and beauty products, from face masks to toothpastes. “The National Poison Control Center even encourages parents to keep charcoal powder in the home to help counteract absorption of accidental toxin consumption by children – so the performance of charcoal is real!” Twine says.

Over the past year, it’s become one of the hottest ingredients in haircare products, with such brands as SheaMoisture, Dove, Huetiful and Kenra all launching charcoal haircare collections.

“We saw that charcoal was a trend in skincare products to pull out impurities and detoxify,” says Samantha Georgakopoulos, marketing manager at Inspired Beauty Brands, which recently launched the Hask Charcoal & Citrus Oil collection. “We then thought, ‘How do we bring this ingredient into hair care to provide the same benefits as it does in skincare.’”

Here are some of the top reason for its popularity:

1. It’s a powerhouse detoxifier: Activated charcoal is known to act as a magnet which attracts and then removes impurities from your hair and scalp. Activated charcoal can absorb up to 1000 times its weight in impurities, says Ashley LeRoy, senor brand manager for Kenra, which recently introduced its Kenra Platinum and Detox & Deflect System. It is also great post-swimming to get rid of any/all chlorine that’s messed with your hair, its natural texture and its color. 

2. It pumps up the volume: If you’re carrying around enough dirt and oil, your hair will start to sag and regular shampooing may not be getting it all out. In fact, hair can gain roughly 4 percent of its own weight in build-up from scalp oils, pollution and dry shampoo. Regular shampoos remove surface dirt, but activated charcoal will pull out even more.

3. It soothes the scalp: Charcoal soothes itchy, irritated, and flaky scalps and hydrates the scalp to prevent dryness. “We can’t forget to treat our scalp with just as much importance/highlighting specific beauty routines as we do our skin,” says Georgakopoulos.

4. It helps products will work better: “Removing buildup from the hair allows for better absorption of key nutrients within hair treatments and enhances the overall shine of the health and hair,” Twine says.

5. It’s good for all hair textures: Most charcoal shampoos or treatments can be used on any hair type without drying out strands or messing with color. For best results, you might find that you only need to use charcoal shampoo once a week or maybe even every other week, depending on your hair type and the amount of styling products you use. “Giving your hair and scalp a regular detoxifying cleanse can prevent excessive buildup and the need for everyday shampooing,” Twine says.

Some charcoal products to try

• Briogeo Charcoal + Coconut Oil Micro-Exfoliating Shampoo

• Briogeo Charcoal + Pepperment Oil Cooling Jelly Conditioner

• Herbal Essences Detox Shampoo with Black Charcoal

• Herbal Essences Replenish Conditioner with White Charcoal

• Hask Charcoal with Citrus Oil Purifying Shampoo

• Hask Charcoal with Citrus Oil Purifying Conditioner

• Kenra Detox & Deflect Shampoo

• Kenra Detox & Deflect Conditioner

• Sexy Hair Color Safe Detox Shampoo

• Huetiful Activated Charcoal Shampoo & Hydrating Conditioner

• Dove Men + Care Elements Charcoal Fortifying Shampoo

• Yes To Detoxifying Charcoal Shampoo

• Hair Chemist. Charcoal Detoxifying Masque

• Apotheke Charcoal Moroccan Oil Conditioner

• Shamanuti Activated Charcoal Cleanser

• SheaMoisture Coconut & Activated Charcoal Purifying & Hydrating Shampoo

• SheaMoisture Coconut & Activated Charcoal Purifying & Hydrating In-Shower Styler

Have you tried charcoal products on your hair yet? Let us know what you think of them in the comments.

Image by Webb Chappell for Williams Magazine

A few weeks before the 2016 presidential election, a 33-year-old woman from coastal Maine named Libby Chamberlain created a private Facebook group for her friends encouraging them to wear pantsuits to the polls when they voted. In a few days, she named the group Pantsuit Nation. When Pantsuit Nation became a viral phenomenon days before the election last November, the private Facebook group was focused on electing the first female president. The group became a place where people told their stories from a variety of perspectives.

And then came Election Day, and Hillary Clinton was defeated.

“We wondered if people would leave the group in droves because the thing we hoped for didn’t happen,” recalls Cortney Tunis, executive director of Pantsuit Nation.

The exact opposite happened.

While the community had 3 million members on Election Day, it has now grown to 3.7 million.

“When things didn’t go the way we hoped, immediately people came to the group to seek solace among people who felt the same way they did,” Because that storytelling piece took root early on, the community turned into a place where people shared their stories and fears about what they were doing to counteract what they anticipated would happen.”

I met Tunis at a media gathering with publishers of websites and blogs representing every possible interest – from financial planning to pets to health. When I saw her amazing head of hair, I immediately made a beeline over to meet her and to compliment her on her curls. Tunis became involved with Pantsuit Nation as a member of the Facebook community at the end of October 2016, and became a moderator in the group a week later. She became executive director in July 2017, after working for an executive search firm and the Mayor’s Office in the city of Boston.

As a Pantsuit Nation follower, I was thrilled to find out she was the executive director. As somebody who has built a community connected by our curl stories, I wanted to learn more about how she has created this powerful, diverse community, especially since the original mission has changed into something much different.

“I was climbing onto the rocket ship as the engines were being lit,” Tunis says. “It was going to take off no matter if I was on board or not, and I wanted to be on board.

The leaders of Pantsuit Nation realized their community had become even more relevant and important, and that they had a responsibility to keep people engaged. “We were building an online community that was a version of what this off-line community would look like – a place that energized people to take civic action – to vote, go to a town hall meeting, call your representatives,” Tunis says. “Last weekend, over a thousand members posted about their participation in events across the world to support the reunification of immigrant families.”

Pantsuit Nation (which technically a now both a 501(c”>(3″> and 501(c”>(4″> nonprofit nonprofit organization, remains dedicated to publishing personal stories as a means of social change.

“The thrust of the group is to nurture storytelling and community,” says Tunis. “We believe that we are a place where we can have challenging conversations about things that not everyone agrees on.”

Like NaturallyCurly, where conversations start with hair and veer to topics as varied as books to sex, Pantsuit Nation has empowered women from a wide range of backgrounds to get politically involved in issues they care about.

“The size of the group has elevated us to a level of visibility to show you can build meaningful communities in an online space,” Tunis says. “It feels really necessary because the election wasn’t the only thing challenging to people supportive of the policies of Sec. Clinton. Those challenges continue to happen. It’s amazing to see how much discrimination cuts across so many areas.”

Pantsuit Nation has partnered with a number of organizations to support members in their offline actions, including a recent live video series about running for office with EMILY’s List and mobilizing people to events across the country with MoveOn. The partnerships are designed to give members straightforward ways to participate in democracy. Looking ahead to November, Pantsuit Nation has rolled out a Facebook Messenger service to share stories and actions, and will soon be sharing more partner-driven tools to get people involved in the upcoming elections.

Tunis says that every day, she sees the power of the community, in both big and small ways.

More than 180 community members are running for various elected offices, and most are first-time candidates. “They are doing things that are really serving the community around them. Many people credit Pantsuit Nation, at least in part, with giving them the motivation and confidence to say ‘I want someone good in that job, and I can be that someone good in that job.’ That’s a really important legacy of this organization.”

A sampling of recent posts included a young woman who recently graduated from a high school in the midwest in Michigan, wearing an orange arm band to protest gun violence. Another post was from a woman who was fighting Stage 4 cancer, and was also fighting to keep her healthcare. A third woman shared photos at her college graduation with her father, an immigrant who came to the United States 40 years ago. “I remember coming home from school in middle school to help him read the paper. He wanted to become a citizen.”

“I had my own reasons for supporting Clinton, and it was fascinating to see how varied people’s reasons were for supporting her,” Tunis says. “I got a much more textured understanding of how people were directly impacted by her as a person.”

For Tunis, this role has allowed her to stretch and challenge herself. As an entrepreneur helping to build something from the ground up, she has been involved in a variety of roles, from basic management of the web site, to grant writing to thinking about brand positioning.

Tunis says her mom has been an important mentor and advocate for her, helping talk her through her challenges and occasional moments of panic. Her one big takeaway from her work at Pantsuit Nation is the power of one person to make a difference.

“Seeing how people are making a difference makes it an easy decision to be a part of it,” Tunis says.

Actress Dominique Fishback, star of HBO’s “The Deuce,” was filming Jay-Z’s music video for “Smile” and needed four different looks. Enter celebrity stylist extraordinaire Monae Everett. Everett gave NaturallyCurly a behind-the-scenes look at the photo shoots, and how she created these amazing looks.

“Many naturals with kinky curls feel underrepresented in the media,” Everett says. “Dominique and I decided to highlight the beauty and versatility in this hair texture.”

Cornrow + Fro

I wanted to show off Domique’s unique hairline and sexy widow’s peak so I opted for horizontal cornrows. The coily half wig was a perfect quick addition for any natural hair chemeian and really came in handy or this photoshoot. It allowed me to give Dominique more length, volume, and density. I added a little extra pizazz to the look with gold accessories.

The Skyhigh Pony

This sky high ponytail was accessorized with metal wire to show off Dominique’s sweet and sassy sides. I choose to use kinky curly hair extensions for the ponytail because it matched her natural hair texture.

The Elegant Bun

An oversized, yet polished, high bun is a great look for elegant naturals and draws attention to Dominique’s face.

The Crown

This opulent Tuck and Roll style was prepped with the same kinky extensions ahead of the shoot. I placed it on the center of her head and simply pinned it into place. Some people think it’s too difficult and time consuming to create beautiful updos on naturally curly hair, but this look proves otherwise.

Key Tips

1. Make sure your hair is moisturized. That is the key to being able to change easily between styles. I recommend following the LOC method. Start by using a liquid, I recommend water or a leave in conditioner. For the oil, I’m a huge fan of both olive oil and the Ouidad Mongongo Oil. For the C, which can be cream or gel, I love the Ouidad Curl Immersion Silky Souffle Setting Creme. 2. The LOC method is great way to lay those edges. I always “set” the hairline to make it stay flat with the Eco Styler Gel with Argan Oil. After getting the hairline super smooth, I tie it down with a scarf.

About Monae:

Monaé Everett’s client list reads like a who's who of A-list celebrities: Michelle Obama, Serena and Venus Williams, Taraji P. Henson, Mariah Carey, Viola Davis, Connie Britton. She was one of the artists featured on Season 12 of “Project Runway.”

The first installation of our series with Everett, “On the Road with Monae,” showcases her work with Jasmine Cephas Jones to get her curls looking great for her promo shots for her upcoming press tour for her movie “Blindspotting.” Jones made her mark as part of the original cast of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical “Hamilton.” Everett shows off her techniques to get defined, voluminous curls.

Entrepreneurship among women of color has increased 322 percent, but only 0.2% of those women receive access to the funding needed to sustain and grow their businesses. But female-led businesses that receive funding outperform their male peers by 63 percent.

Now, these businesses will get a significant shot in the arm.

“The facts about investments in women of color entrepreneurs, particularly Black women, are astonishing,” said entrepreneur and social impact investor Richelieu Dennis, founder of New Voices.

The $100 million New Voices Fund, a next-generation fund that will make private equity investments in businesses owned and/or managed by women of color, officially launched Thursday at the 2018 ESSENCE Festival in New Orleans. During the ESSENCE Festival, New Voices will host a daytime pitch competition on Saturday, July 7 at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, with the winners being presented at the Mercedes SuperDome in the evening. Prizes of $5,000 up to $25,000 will be awarded to the winners, for a total of $100,000.

The New Voices Fund provides women of color entrepreneurs with the access, capital and expertise that they need to grow their businesses and transform communities. The Fund focuses on investments from start-ups/Seed to Series C rounds and primarily invests in three verticals: consumer, technology and media/entertainment.

The ProjectDiane 2018 report recently showed that the median funding raised by all Black women is $0, in contrast to the average seed round for all startups in 2016 being $1.14 million. In addition, Black women raised just 0.0006% of the total $424.7 billion in tech venture funding since 2009.

“This is unacceptable,” Dennis says. “It is why the Fund is focused on making equity investments and creating an ecosystem that empowers women of color entrepreneurs to reach their full potential by addressing three of the most pertinent issues preventing their long-term success – access, capital, expertise.”

The New Voices Fund will deploy and ultimately raise additional capital to support women of color entrepreneurs as they build and advance their businesses. The Fund was announced in November 2017 as part of the partnership agreement between Sundial Brands (maker of SheaMoisture, Nubian Heritage, Madam C.J. Walker Beauty Culture and Nyakio”> and Unilever.

“The needs of women of color entrepreneurs span the entire spectrum,” Dennis said. “So, it was critical that we acknowledge and address those needs beyond just capital. The New Voices ecosystem will seek to ignite long-term social change and create a society and economy that support and value entrepreneurial women of color for their significant and innovative contributions today and tomorrow.”

Women of color entrepreneurs are encouraged to join the New Voices community and apply for funding or other resources by visiting www.newvoicesfund.com and completing a business profile. Since the soft launch of the website in February, $30 million has been invested or committed in the following eight companies:

1. Beauty Bakerie – Founded by Cashmere Carrillo, Beauty Bakerie is a cosmetics company with products sold in 60 countries and a motto of “better, not bitter.” 
2. Beautycon Media – Founded by Moj Mahdara, Beautycon Media is a platform for inclusive beauty comprised of a diverse global community of creators redefining beauty with a mission to challenge traditional standards and redefine what beauty means.
3. Envested – Founded by Isa Watson, Envested is a tool that enables connectivity and promotes meaning across workplaces. 
4. McBride Sisters Wine – Founded by Robin and Andrea McBride, McBride Sisters Wine is the producer and distributer of wine grown in California and New Zealand – and the largest wine company owned by Black women. 
5. Mented – Founded by Amanda Johnson and Kristen Jones Miller, Mented is a luxury beauty and cosmetics company targeted to women of color. 
6. Sweeten – Founded by Jean Brownhill, Sweeten is a free service that matches people with major renovation projects to the best general contractors, offering personal support until the job is done. 
7. The Honey Pot Company – Founded by Beatrice Espada, Honey Pot is a plant-based feminine hygiene products company with a goal to provide women with a healthy alternative to feminine care that is free of chemicals, parabens, carcinogens and sulfates. 
8. The Lip Bar – Founded by Melissa Butler, The Lip Bar makes vegan and cruelty-free lip colors for multicultural millennials.

“There is no doubt that these women will shatter the stereotypical hurdles and ceilings they face. We are continuously reviewing applications and urge everyone to apply,” Dennis says. “It’s time to hear more voices that demonstrate measurable social and economic impact in a way that inspires more women of color to join the financial inclusion movement.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF NK Naturalz

“Hello, I’ve only been natural for about a month now and now I’ve sort of taken the ‘less is more’/lazy girls approach to my hair. I generally leave my twists in for two days just to let my hair absorb everything that I put on it, after that i might put it a puff, i might pick it out into a ‘fro, and sometimes I just might leave my twists in, keep on my satin bonnet and just rock a beret for the week. While iIlike all of these options I’m kind of bored with them now. i only have 3 1/2 inches of hair (which is mostly 4b with a patch of 4a in the very back”>. is it possible to roller set my hair after I wash it and if so, how?” – CurlTalker

The answer is, yes.

“I love roller sets because you can achieve many different styles while avoiding harsh heat,” says celebrity stylist Monae Everett. “Plus, hair that has been set usually lasts longer with less frizz than hair that has been heat styled.”

We asked Everett to share some of her top tips for achieving the best roller set on natural hair:

1. Start with clean hair
2. Use a detangler
3. Use a light moisturizing styling product. Stay away from styling products that include petroleum and butters that will be too heavy.
4. Use rollers with a smooth finish. Make sure that you are using rollers with a smooth texture, such as perm rods (without ridges”> or flexi rods. This will ensure that when you take your rollers out, your hair is not getting caught on the ridges or rough parts of the rollers.
5. Use different size rollers. This creates a more natural look. Use larger rollers than you think you need: Your natural hair will want to contract and create a smaller curl.
6. Divide your hair into small sections
7. Don’t put too much hair on each roller. Too much hair in each section will make it much harder to curl around the roller and take more time to dry.
8. Focus on consistent tension when rolling the hair. The hair is more likely to hold the set, If your hair is fine consider stretching your hair with a blow dryer before applying rollers.
9. Use a hooded dryer or air-dry
10. Make sure your hair is completely dry. This is probably the most important step to achieving a frizz-free roller set. If you remove your rollers when your hair is not completely dry, your hair is guaranteed to frizz, especially in climates with high humidity and high dew points.
11. When separating the hair, use a lightweight oil.
12. Protect your hair at night. Use a scarf or a satin bonnet to keep frizz at bay

Find out the right roller set for every texture and length.

Some of Everett’s favorite products for roller sets include:

• Mizani Fast-Drying Foam Wrap
• Shea Radiance Moisturizing Hair Milk with Shea Butter
• Aquage Beyond Shine
• Dove Regenerative Nourishment Serum-in-Oil

This article was originally published in 2011 and was updated with new information.

You might call her Mrs. Curlgeniality. On Saturday night, Su Joing Sollers will represent D.C. in the Mrs. United States Pageant. The pageant, which will culminate Saturday night, celebrates intelligent women of all walks of life.

When I met Sollers at the Baltimore book tour stop for The Curl Revolution I immediately connected with her. She was there with one of her two curly daughters in the hopes of inspiring her to embrace her natural texture. Little did I know that she’s also a beauty queen, having won numerous titles.

Sollers entered her first pageant in 1996 when she was crowned Miss Teen Omaha. She was named Miss Nebraska USA 2001. Before winning Mrs. D.C., she was Mrs. Maryland America 2015.

Growing up as a biracial woman with a Korean mother and an African-American father, Sollers struggled for many years to accept her natural texture. So I was interested to hear how she learned to embrace her curls, both in pageants and in her professional career as a commercial lender.

NC: How did you come to embrace your curls?

Sollers: I straightened my hair most of my life. I wore my hair curly one time and my husband told me ‘I hope you wear your hair like that all the time.’ From that point on, I’ve worn my hair curly. It still takes a little reinforcement.

NC: How common is curly hair in the pageant world?

Sollers: Every single woman I know wears their hair straight. Of the African-American contestants I know, I’m one of the few wearing my hair natural. I was insecure about it, but I want to be a role model.

NC: Have you gotten pressure to wear your hair straight for pageants?

Sollers: Definitely! A lot of pageant coaches have pushed toward straight hair. But that’s just one thing I will not budge on. If I have a coach that really pushes that, it’s probably the last meeting with that coach. I want to compete as myself, not who they want to turn me into.

NC: At the book tour event, you got pretty emotional when you talked about wanting your two daughters – 5-year-old Ava and 8-year-old India – to embrace their curls. Has wearing your hair curly in pageants had a positive impact on the way your two daughters feel about their curls?

Sollers: Without a doubt, yes! My daughters look to me for beauty and identity, just like I did with my mother. My mother is Korean. I always wanted straight hair like hers. I wanted to be her. It’s rare that I straighten it out anymore but when I do, they ask for theirs to be straight too.

Wearing my hair curly sends a clear message that as moms, we have a leadership responsibility to our children and they watch what we do more than they hear what we say. The most important thing I can teach my children is a strong sense of self worth by showing them that I embrace my uniqueness.

NC: What is your curl regimen for pagents?

Sollers: My pageant hair care regimen goes between DevaCurl & SheaMoisture, and it’s usually a game time decision. If my hair feels limp the day before, I go with DevaCurl routine and of its dry I go with SheaMoisture. I try listen to my hair.

Routine 1

1. Co-wash my hair with SheaMoisture Jamaican Black Castor Oil Strengthening & Restore Leave-in Conditioner, leaving in half the product and combing it in the shower.
2. Dry it with DevaCurl Microfiber towel
3. Part my hair to the side
4. Apply SheaMoisture Coconut & Hibiscus Curl Enhancing Smoothie
5. Add OGX Renewing Argon Oil of Morocco Extra Penetrating Oil for dry and course hair
6. I scrunch my hair
7. Then I blow dry my hair with a DevaFuser until it’s about 80% dry then let the rest air dry so I don’t damage my hair

Routine 2

1. Co-wash my hair with DevaCurl One Condition Decadence and leave in all the product. I comb it in the shower.
2. Dry with DevaCurl Microfiber towel
3. Part my hair to the side
4. Apply Deva Curl B’Leave-in conditioner
5. Apply DevaCurl Super Cceam or Deva CurlArc Angel or DevaCurl Styling Cream
6. Add OGX Renewing Argon Oil of Morocco Extra Penetrating Oil for dry and course hair or DevaCurl Mirror Curls
7. I scrunch my hair
8. Then I blow dry my hair with a DevaFuser until it’s about 80% dry then let the rest air dry so I don’t damage my hair.

Lastly, deep conditioning is a way of my life! I deep condition my hair at least once per week but aim to do it 2 times per week. I use DevaCurl Heaven In Hair or Deep Sea Repair Seaweed Strengthening Mask. I go back an forth between both. I use the Hot Head cap and just put in the microwave per the instructions.

I experiment with products all the time another one I recently discovered is through Aveda Be Curly Curl Enhancer. It’s a nice cross between DevaCurl and SheaMoisturize. I love the shine and smell.

NC: What is the most positive impact that participating in pageants has had on your life?

Sollers: It’s taught me that one person can truly change the world. We each have been given a gift by God. It’s our gift back to God if we use it for the greater good.

There is an inner voice in all of us that’s a compass and some of us ignore it because we want to play it safe or don’t want to be judged or offend others. If we feed it, we start to live out our true destiny and be happy.

I believe in infinite possibilities just – because it or an idea hasn’t been done before doesn’t mean you can’t be the one that changes everything!

I’ll be rooting for Sollers. You can vote for her here.

Janice Omadeke of The Mentor Method

Like many young entrepreneurs, Janice Omadeke’s business started because of her own experiences. Smart, driven and ready to take on the world, the young graphic designer wanted to find a mentor that could help guide her as she entered the workforce. “I knew finding a mentor was important for my career development, so I set out to find one at my first job out of college.”

The process was long and awkward. Networking events and in-office programs were impersonal and disappointing. As a young woman of color, she found it difficult to find a mentor that was the right fit for her. Too often, corporate mentoring programs matched her up with people based on her gender, her race or her current job title, but didn’t factor her personality or career goals into the mix. “They would match me with the only other women or black person or graphic designer,” she says. “That was it.”

Image: @thementormethod

Omadeke realized that if she was having these issues, other young professionals like her were also going through the same challenges. “Finding a mentor should be rewarding from the start.”

Omadeke believes that a good mentor-mentee relationship is built on much more than being in the same industry. It’s also important to find someone with a complementary personality who may share less tangible similarities. 

“You can’t just wait for someone to help you. You have to help yourself.” – Janice Omadeke, Founder & CEO of The Mentor Method

So she created The Mentor Method — a mentor-matching service for millennial career women that uses a patent-pending personality profile assessment where algorithmic compatibility matches people. It’s like Match.com for mentors and mentees.

In addition to matchmaking, The Mentor Method includes a four-month-long program that comes with a toolkit to helps mentees get the most out of their relationship with their mentor.

Omadeke came up with the idea for The Mentor Method at the end of 2015 but didn’t officially launch until early 2016. She was previously a creative design manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers and a lead graphic designer at BAE Systems. 

Image: @thementormethod

The company originally was geared toward selling mentor services to mentees, but Omadeke flipped the business model to sell diversity services to larger companies because it enabled her company to reach more people and have more of an impact. It also provides a meaningful solution for tech companies looking for proven ways to diversify their workforce. Current clients include consulting firm Deloitte and Fannie Mae.

She said that The Mentor Method already has led to promotions, new jobs, entrepreneurial ventures and increased confidence. One of her favorite success stories is Mia, a bar manager at TGIF and was teaching herself graphic design on the side. When looking for a job, she got numerous rejection letters from companies because she lacked a 4-year degree. Her mentor helped her get a paying graphic design internship which is now a full-time position.

Omadeke says her big moment came when she applied for MIT’s Global Entrepreneurship Bootcamp in 2016 – a long shot for her 1-month-old company. At the time, The Mentor Method was a landing page and “a lot of hope.” Omadeke was one of only 74 founders chosen from a field of more than 600 applicants and was flown to Seoul, South Korea for the intense, week-long program. 

 “I realized, this is what I was meant to do. Something is happening that’s more than me.”

For the past two years, she ran The Mentor Method while working a full-time job but finally took the leap three months ago to do it full time. “I had to make a choice. It’s the best decision I’ve made,” she says, determined now more than ever before. She also mentions that she now has to make it work because she has no safety net.

Xina Eiland of X+ PR

Omadeke knows the power of a good mentor. She credits her mentor Xina Eiland, President & CEO at X+PR, Co-Host of Get Found Get Funded Podcast and recently named one of SheaMoisture’s Community Commerce Fellows, with helping her accomplish her goals. Eiland says she has worked with her mentee on three main values including, transparency, gratitude, and dedication. Eiland feels it’s important to be transparent in communication, “let people know who you are upfront through honest, open and direct conversations.”

“Stay the course no matter how the circumstances may change in life,” says Eiland.

“Being a failure in something is better than being a loser. Losers give up and throw in the towel. People who have failures will eventually succeed.”-Xina Eiland, President & CEO of X+PR

Eiland says she’s watched with pride as her mentee has taken her part-time idea to a full-time business.

Omadeke’s career success is a world away from the life her parents came from. Originally from the DRC Congo, her parents grew up in absolute poverty and came to the United States with three children, barely knowing any English, to provide their children with a better life than the one they had left behind. She is the first entrepreneur in her family. “I have no excuse not to push myself. How could I not try when they put everything on the line for us?”

One of Omadeke’s ultimate goals for The Mentor Method is to help create inclusive workplace cultures by mentoring diverse talent.

“If we want to see more minorities in leadership positions, we have to change the way we provide opportunities to future leaders,” Omadeke says. “We wanted to create a world where minorities and women in tech are viewed as assets, not a way to check a box.”

Omadeke is driven by her own experience. “I know what it feels like when you just need someone to crack the door open for you slightly. Every day, I feel I can help underrepresented professionals who don’t feel they have a place in their company.”

Eiland believes Omadeke will be able to make The Mentor Method into one of the premiere agencies that will help Fortune 500 companies solve its diversity and inclusion challenges.

“I remind her that she has the grit and guts it takes to be an entrepreneur.”

Do you have a mentor? If not, what are some of your struggles with finding one? Let us know in the comments.

About SheaMoisture Community Commerce

This post was created in partnership with SheaMoisture around its focus on Community Commerce, a purpose-driven business model that creates opportunities for sustainable social and economic empowerment throughout its supply chain and communities in the United States and Africa.

Community Commerce focuses on entrepreneurship, women’s empowerment, education and wellness. It’s bigger than beauty. It’s about investing in local and global communities, striving to eliminate generational poverty and empowering women. A portion of proceeds from select SheaMoisture Community Commerce collections are invested in its Shea butter, coconut and African Black Soap cooperatives in Ghana and others that supply their handcrafted natural ingredients.

In the United States, their women’s empowerment programs focus on entrepreneurship and education, including fellowships to attend the Dartmouth College Tuck School of Business Minority program and Babson College’s summer entrepreneurship program. Most recently, through the $100,000,000 New Voices Fund —   created to invest in women of color entrepreneurs to help them build sustainable businesses — SheaMoisture is working to transform the landscape of business and what it means to live a more beautiful life.

Four years ago, while working at a junior high school in Denver, Colo., teacher Analise Harris noticed a troubling trend. Young women of color were wearing bandanas or hoodies – despite the dress code that prohibited them – and they were getting into trouble. In one case, a student was suspended.

Analise Harris of Curls on The Block

“I realized that a lot of times, they were wearing hoodies or bandanas because they were having bad hair days,” Harris says. “These girls were down on themselves and experiencing a lot of low self-esteem, and more often than not, those issues were linked to their hair.”

Harris says she couldn’t stand by and watch this happen, so she organized an event called Curls on the Block (COTB”>, inspired by Black Girls Rock.

Image: @curlsontheblock

There were less than 300 kids in her junior high school, but 30 girls showed up to the first event held after school. COTB was part educational (what is hair porosity, what is your curl type, what kinds of hair products should you use”>, part support and all about empowerment and acceptance. All of the girls got a note card and got to write down their frustrations about their hair – how they were teased, how they broke a comb in their hair, etc. “The girls offered each other support and encouragement,” Harris says. “Parents got a chance to see what their children were dealing with.” 

The school administrators walked by and were impressed. “They saw these kids in a totally different light – kids that some of them had written off.” That first event grew into regular events. Harris began to see COTB as an ideal way to get young girls of color excited about science. “I realized, I’m really onto to something here.”

COTB won a $10K grant in February 2016, and Harris created a curriculum to implement a project designed to help girls of color see the connection between their everyday experiences with hair and beauty regimens and the educational and job opportunities within science, technology, engineering, art and math (STEAM”>.

Image: @curlsontheblock

In addition to these sessions, COTB also created the annual “Miss Curly Self eSTEAM Pageant.” Unlike traditional pageants that focus on appearance, The Miss Curly Self eSTEAM Pageant incorporates cultural appreciation, talent, a healthy lifestyle and involvement in STEAM. Contestants are also asked to share an idea, product or process to address the needs of the curly community. At this year’s pageant, a product company has offered to create a prototype of the winner’s curly hair product idea. “I like pageants with a purpose,” Harris says.

It was through the pageant that Harris connected with Makisha Boothe, the founder at Sistahpreneurs. Boothe not only signed on as a sponsor for the pageant but also became Harris’s mentor.

Makisha Boothe of Sistahpreneurs

“I saw Makisha around at a variety of events in the city, but never had the courage to approach her for her support. Makisha believed in my vision and organization, and after the pageant, Makisha offered her mentorship and business coaching skills.

Boothe says she decided to invest in Harris and her idea because she saw an innovator with a youthful spirit – someone who only needed the encouragement to take her innovations from ideation to reality. “She is a visionary, and I see her career being anything she dreams of. Even the sky isn’t the limit for her.”

Boothe said she was in awe as she watched Harris up on stage, running the pageant, “leading the whole community in celebrating our curls and embracing our beauty. I sometimes wonder if she realizes just how much the lives of these young girls have been changed by her work.

The COTB curriculum integrates science, technology, engineering, art mathematics, and beauty.

Harris now offers weekly sessions as well as individual workshops at schools and organizations around the Denver area as well as communities as far away as California and Illinois. She’s also teaching other women how to support students at their schools. Harris also built a COTB website, creating characters that help the young women better relate to the COTB curriculum. She is also working on her first book, Harriet’s Yellow Jacket.

Overall, she has reached more than 250 girls through her Curls on The Block and Miss Curly Self eSTEAM Pageant.

Boothe believes programs like Curls on The Block and the Miss Curly Self eSTEAM Pageant will attract many young women of color into careers in science and technology and leading to a whole new generation of entrepreneurs. And beyond that, she believes that will lead to more young girls “being proud of their melanin, hair texture and culture.”

“Some of the things I learned about colorism and beauty politics I had to learn in my 20’s. These girls are getting it as young children and teens. Oh, how they will fly!” Boothe says.

Words of wisdom from Harris about starting a business:

• Find your niche! Find what you’re passionate about and pursue that. 
• Take it a day at a time. A project like this can quickly become overwhelming. Break it into small steps to make it more manageable. 
• Invest in others. If part of your project requires outside help, invest in other local, small businesses to make important connections.
• Listen to the negativity, just not too closely. If you receive negative responses to what you’re doing, try to find areas of growth in what they’re saying but don’t fixate on it
• Pay someone to do what you don’t want to do. It can be unnecessarily draining to take on every part of a project. 
• Seek out mentorship. Find someone who’s doing/done something similar that can help guide you.
• Figure out what to monetize. Harris initially found herself doing a lot of services for free, but over time she found ways to monetize COTB so that it was more sustainable. 

When working with students…

• Expect the unexpected. Students will say unexpected things– try not to let your reactions be too strong or too opinionated. 
• Show empathy. Students may bring up difficult experiences so try to be understanding and empathetic. 
• Facilitate, don’t force. Let students reach their own answers.
• Provide space for student voices. As Harris says, provide a structure that they can fill up with “emotions, fears, questions, and joys”.

How has your mentor supported you a long your journey? Let us know in the comments below.

About SheaMoisture Community Commerce

This post was created in partnership with SheaMoisture around its focus on Community Commerce, a purpose-driven business model that creates opportunities for sustainable social and economic empowerment throughout its supply chain and communities in the United States and Africa.

Community Commerce focuses on entrepreneurship, women’s empowerment, education and wellness. It’s bigger than beauty. It’s about investing in local and global communities, striving to eliminate generational poverty and empowering women. A portion of proceeds from select SheaMoisture Community Commerce collections are invested in its Shea butter, coconut and African Black Soap cooperatives in Ghana and others that supply their handcrafted natural ingredients.

In the United States, their women’s empowerment programs focus on entrepreneurship and education, including fellowships to attend the Dartmouth College Tuck School of Business Minority program and Babson College’s summer entrepreneurship program. Most recently, through the $100,000,000 New Voices Fund —   created to invest in women of color entrepreneurs to help them build sustainable businesses — SheaMoisture is working to transform the landscape of business and what it means to live a more beautiful life.

Monaé Everett’s client list reads like a who’s who of A-list celebrities: Michelle Obama, Serena and Venus Williams, Taraji P. Henson, Mariah Carey, Viola Davis, Connie Britton. She was one of the artists featured on Season 12 of “Project Runway.”

I am a huge fan of Everett. I met her during Texture on the Runway ’17, where she was one of Cantu’s stylist. She saved me when I needed some last-minute curl help before stepping onto the runway, squeezing me in between the Syncopated Ladies and the McClure Twins. She transformed my curls with her skills and I was so impressed that I asked her to do my hair for Texture on the Runway Atlanta.

Everett offered to provide the NaturallyCurly community with a behind-the-scenes look at some of her celebrity work, and we came up with a regular video series called On the Road with Monae. She will showcase some of the techniques she uses on curly celebrities.

Everett’s first video showcases her work with Jasmine Cephas Jones to get her curls looking great for her promo shots for her upcoming press tour for her movie “Blindspotting.” Jones made her mark as part of the original cast of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical “Hamilton.” Everett shows off her techniques to get defined, voluminous curls.

During the early days of NaturallyCurly, I remember hearing from a family friend about a product I had to get my hands on – a miracle product for curly girls. She sent me a bottle of Mixed Chicks Leave-in Conditioner. I loved everything about the product; it gave my 3b curls moisture and definition.

I also loved the messaging on the bottle: “Whether you’re black, white, Asian, Latin, Mediterranean or any glorious combination of the above, you’ll love the way this paraben-free, non-sticky, lightweight product leaves your hair inviting to touch as it defines and locks moisture into every curl.”

Inclusivity is very much at the core of NaturallyCurly’s philosophy and has been the philosophy of Mixed Chicks since inception – a focus on what we share rather than what separates us.

Kim Etheredge, who grew up in Los Angeles, and Wendi Levy, a New Jersey native, grew up searching for products that met their curls’ unique needs. Growing up biracial — Etheredge’s mother is Irish, and her father is black; Levy’s mother is black, and her father is white – it was difficult to navigate the right hair care aisles. So the two self-proclaimed “mixed chicks” created a product for themselves and their friends, and in the process created a Holy Grail product for curlies around the world.

Fourteen years after they launched, the textured-hair world is dramatically different, with numerous new brands launching every year and entire sections of stores dedicated to curls and coils. This new state of being means it’s even more important to celebrate pioneers like Mixed Chicks and the role the founders played in changing the hair care landscape for the curly girls – and guys – of the world.

NaturallyCurly had the opportunity to interview Kim and Wendi as they prepare for a major launch this fall: The very first Mixed Chicks’ collection that will “make life easier” for curlies.

NC: Remind us of the story behind Mixed Chicks.

Kim: Wendi and my sister worked together. Wendi was from the East Coast, and my sister and I grew up on the West Coast. We became her West Coast sisters. At a family BBQ at my home, I questioned her about her curls that were in place more than mine. I asked her to tell me what she used to make her curls look so good. She said. “Do you have a pen and piece of a paper?” We laughed and talked about our hair hurdles and all the concoctions we used and how what worked yesterday didn’t always work today. It was something we both had dealt with our whole lives. We should have bought stock in beauty-supply stores.

We both had combination-textured hair, and we had to purchase products from all over the store. Our main issue was that they looked at the color of our skin rather than the texture of our hair. We knew better. We shopped along the aisles. We both thought it was crazy that there weren’t products that embrace combination-textured hair.

Out of that conversation, we said, “We should make a hair product,” never thinking on a larger scale. We wanted to create something to serve our personal needs. We didn’t realize we had a lot of friends who were all going through the same thing. We all were experiencing the same issues. We decided to do something about it for our friends, for our family, for ourselves.

Wendi: In 2003, Kim had a friend that was working temporarily at a cosmetics lab. She suggested we come in for a visit to sit down with a chemist along with products and ingredients we liked and create a product. We could test how well they would work with textured hair. We developed our staple product, the Leave-in Conditioner. We would give it to our friends, and they wouldn’t give our samples back. We knew we were on to something.

We launched Mixedchicks.net in April 2004. Our vision was authentic. Our audience was wholly neglected, so our message was refreshing, and it helped fuel the multicultural movement in the hair industry.

We really are our brand. We are mixed chicks. That’s our DNA, our cultural experience, our understanding of hair. -Wendi Levy, Mixed Chicks

NC: I’ve heard people refer to specific hair types, such as 3c hair, as “mixed race hair” or “biracial hair,” but we have so many people who work at NaturallyCurly and in our community who are mixed, and they all have different hair types. Do you find that people get caught up in this idea that “mixed” hair is a particular hair type?

Kim: I have never really defined my texture as a particular hair type because it’s my texture; it’s blended. Some days this section might be looser, and some days it might be tighter than this side. If I get some new hair color, then my hair’s a little looser. So trying to name, or categorize, my curls has never worked for me.

We at Mixed Chicks have never defined ourselves or products according to the curl pattern scale. We’ve always claimed that our products define YOUR curl pattern, and that pattern depends on your texture, the way it curls, waves, or the techniques you use to create that pattern. Our products work to enhance what God’s already given you. Mixed Chicks is not just for one hair type or ethnicity, that’s why the messaging on our packaging has been clear from the very beginning. We celebrate diversity and versatility and embrace all.

NC: Your brand was built around inclusivity. Where do you think the industry is now concerning the inclusion all hair types?

Kim: When we began, we had the general market aisle and the ethnic aisle. We still do. The title for ethnic hair has changed over the years from ethnic hair to “specialty hair,” “relaxers and texturizers,” “naturals,” and more recently “multicultural hair.” It keeps changing, but the business model has not.

With all of the new brands that have come into the market as well as existing and legacy brands providing women, men and children with choices for haircare, we are still limited when it comes to shelf and aisle space. I would love to see the aisle expand so that brands can add more of their items to the display. That helps consumers not feel left out when looking for what else their favorite or new brand has to offer.

Instead, brands are competing with each other, or themselves, to stay alive. It would just be nice to see that aisle spread. I think data will show we are the leading spenders and that African American haircare sales in mass retail chains are thriving. Growth is driven by products specially formulated to address texture management.

NC: How do you feel about all the brands that have come on the scene recently?

Wendi: We feel old when we hear a new brand repeat our story as their own. It’s like a brand new story to some! However, we’re so happy the door has opened for people to have choices. If we didn’t have the Lusters or the McBrides (Design Essentials”> or Shea Moistures, this platform wouldn’t even exist.

Mixed Chicks is not just for one hair type or ethnicity, that’s why the messaging on our packaging has been clear from the very beginning. -Kim Etheredge, Mixed Chicks

NC: What makes Mixed Chicks different?

Wendi: We really are our brand. We are mixed chicks. That’s our DNA, our cultural experience, our understanding of hair. We genuinely service an array of textures not specific to race. Mixed Chicks serves the blended world that Kim and I truly represent.

Kim: We grew up with the (general market aisle”> and the ethnic aisle. We wanted Mixed Chicks to represent the middle where everything comes together. We represent everyone because we come in all colors, shapes, sizes, and textures. We’ve included everyone since Day 1. That’s how we started — to encourage the world to come together.

Our tagline has been that Mixed Chicks is a “multicultural revolution” since the beginning. Stores are now labeling their categories as multicultural, and it makes us feel good that they see “we” are diverse in every shape of the word. We are now supplying more products than ever before as a category and providing choices for the consumer. Our Shea Moistures, Luster’s and Design Essentials opened the door for us to make something different than what was available. We hope that we push new brands to do the same.

Again if we are afforded more shelf space, we can offer more products in our line to showcase the difference in our brand. Consumers who may feel left out because they cannot find that particular Mixed Chicks product on the shelf, or may not even know we have what they are looking for, would be able to see the depth in our product range. Thankfully we have an online shop at Mixedchicks.net where they can find all of our hair products as well as accessories, t-shirts, dolls, and cosmetics.

NC: Where does the brand look for innovation?

Kim: The hardest part is staying innovative. That’s the one thing that we built ourselves on. When you run a business, there are so many different avenues to manage, so you start to go into survival mode. That’s no fun, but you have to. So Wendi and I work to get to that place where we can become creative again. Fortunately for us over the last year, we were able to get to that place where we could be innovative and creative.

We’ve created a new line that will be out in the fall. We hope that everyone will love it because it’s not what you see packaged every day, but it’s necessary.

Wendi: The idea for our new collection came from an epiphany. We saw a problem and realized there weren’t products to solve it. The inclusion of one main ingredient came while I was on a field trip with my daughter. We were learning about what ingredients Native Californians used and other key ingredients that originated here in Southern California. Since we are a Southern Californian company and the raw material is grown locally it seemed “heaven sent.”

Our new collection launching in the fall has six products that will help push wash day further away.

NC: How many products does Mixed Chicks have?

Wendi: When we began, it wasn’t about putting out a bunch of products. It was about simplifying things. When we’ve added a new product, it has to be good, and it has to meet a specific need. We now have 22 SKUs, including kids’ and men’s products.

In early 2017, we introduced six products: Conditioning Cleansing Co-Wash, Curl Sculptor, Styling Gel, Slick Styling Tamer Edge Tamer, Daily Hair Dress and Styling Cream.

Our latest collection has five products that will help prolong day. -Mixed Chicks

The Leave-in Conditioner is still the top-selling product. It’s liquid gold in the bottle! When we created ours, leave-in conditioners on the market were for pre-styling. We decided to make our leave-in a styler. It can be used to define and moisturize curls, and natural styles as well add texture and calm frizzies to limp and fine hair. You can put it in a spray bottle with water and use it as a refresher.

I know it sounds cliché, at the end of the day, everything isn’t for everyone so with Mixed Chicks, we like to provide options. We’ve learned that you cannot please everyone, but if you help or satisfy one person, then you did a good job.

This article was originally posted in 2018 and has been updated.

Ask 10 Black women about their hair, and you’re likely to get 10 different answers. For natural women, it might mean something completely different from a woman who relaxes her hair.

At Texture on the Runway Atlanta, we were lucky enough to watch [Black Hair Is…](https://www.smoothnshine.com/blackhairis/”>, a debate created in partnership with Smooth ‘N Shine, led by six women with relaxed hair and six women with natural hair that explores ideas around what Black Hair should be and what it actually is, by looking at the divides that exist within the community.

Black Hair Is… was created by Un-ruly.com, a digital beauty platform dedicated to Black hair and women. The debate is comprised of 12 videos covering topics that ask questions like ‘have you been judged for your hair,’ ‘can relaxed hair be healthy’ to ‘is our hair dividing us’ and ‘what is Black hair?’

The idea for the debate was inspired by the conversations – some divisive – that are taking place during a time when women are embracing the possibilities of their hair. While going natural is empowering for many women, it should be a personal choice. Certain hairstyles and hair choices – including relaxing or heat styling – are still being penalized both within and outside the Black community.

The goal for the series is to create an environment that allows differences and choices to stand on even ground.

“Black hair is so versatile and diverse and our feelings and thoughts about it are equally diverse,” says Un-ruly founder Antonia Opiah, “Unfortunately, some hairstyles and textures, over time, have gotten a bad rap. As Black hair continues to evolve, the larger challenge moving forward will be to recognize just how diverse it is both in natural and altered states. We also have to unlearn the stereotypes and associations that were placed on various ways of wearing our hair. And I think with both of those things we can really embrace the diversity that lies in our diversity.”

Un-ruly has partnered with Smooth N’ Shine to release Black Hair Is… because they both celebrate the diversity of Black hair and are both on a mission to help women of all hair types define their own beauty standard, and provide women with the perfect products for their perfect hair.

Here are a few of the videos from the series. You can watch all of them here.

Dwan White’s natural hair journey has helped inspire many of the 200-plus products she has helped develop and launch during her near 20-year career as a product development consultant and head of Global Marketing at House of Cheatham — from Aunt Jackie’s Curl La La Curl Defining Custard to Texture My Way Detangle Easy Comb Crème Therapy to Argan Smooth’s Silk Press Kit for straight naturals.

White joined the 94-year-old Stone Mountain, GA company in 2001 as a consultant, coming on board full time 10 years ago, and 2016 became vice president of global marketing and product development. During that time, her team has grown from one – White – to five full-time employees and 30 contractors consisting of creative talent (graphic designers, videographers, photographers, MUA and hair stylists, etc.”>, project managers, professional educators, brand ambassadors, social media influencers, and administrative support.

“I genuinely love what I do,” White says. “I love making sure consumers’ needs are met in a way that ensures they get good quality products without breaking their wallets. If I develop a product, I want to make sure they both benefit from it and can afford it. It helps that I’m the consumer as well. And I’m a pretty discriminating consumer! It has to pass my quality requirements.”

From its Polly Peachtree products sold during the early 1900s, House of Cheatham is now known as an innovator in the natural hair industry, with brands that address the needs of people of all ethnicities and hair textures. White has created new brands, products and line extensions for consumer favorites Africa’s Best, Aunt Jackie’s, Texture My Way and Argan Smooth. The company’s products are developed and tested at its on-site lab, and 99 percent of them are manufactured at the company’s headquarters.

We had the chance to talk to White about House of Cheatham and how her own hair journey has influenced her work for the company.

NC: You talked about how your own natural hair journey has impacted product development at House of Cheatham. When did you decide to go natural? 

White: My hair was first relaxed when in the 6^th grade in the mid-70s.  DIY relaxers were just becoming popular. Over the next six years, my hair was constantly in a state of severe damage and would break like crazy during summers from swimming and harsh blow drying. Back then, there just wasn’t enough education about at-home relaxing, and the proper care and maintenance needed to keep it healthy. 

Throughout my adult life, I’d go natural for short periods of time, doing the Big Chop to take breaks here and there from relaxing.  But around 2010, when the natural movement was really taking shape, I decided to Big Chop again to try and make natural hair my lifestyle.  Like many, I soon became a product junkie, buying every product the YouTubers were demo-ing.  I was quickly becoming discouraged, spending a small fortune, and frustrated that I couldn’t identify the right products that worked for my own texture. 

That’s where being a part of the industry became a huge asset. I launched a market research project and started interviewing hundreds of naturals and transitioners to better understand their experiences – what they were missing, what they needed, what they liked and disliked, and their overall expectations. That information led me to work with our chemist to formulate a line of natural hair products that delivered moisture, great conditioning, softness, and shine in ways that many existing products didn’t.  That line became the original collection of Aunt Jackie’s Curls & Coils therapies (Curl La La, Knot On My Watch, In Control, Oh So Clean, Quench“>.  

Pictured: Dwan with MissKenK & CurlsandCouture at the World Natural Hair Show 2018

NC: What were the biggest challenges you faced going natural. 

White: Manageability and time. I have 4c texture, and an on-the-go professional lifestyle that involves lots of travel.  Whenever I wear my natural hair in textured styles, the time it takes to maintain and style is challenging. I’ve still not been able to master the styling techniques for the textured styles I want to consistently wear.  

NC: Like many women on our site, you consider yourself a Straight Natural – someone who may wear their hair in a straight style much of the time but no longer uses chemical relaxers. Tell me about that. 

White: As I talk with other Naturals, particularly among busy professional women, a common challenge to wearing textured styles is that not everyone is good with techniques such as twisting, braiding, bantu knots, coiling, etc.  Flat ironing once a week and wrapping natural hair at night, or throwing in some big rollers, helps to give both fullness and smoothness to natural tresses. These are great solutions, as they don’t have the damaging effects of frequent heat, and still keep hair voluminous and healthy.

NC: How do your hair challenges influence the products you develop? 

White: The common essentials among natural hair, regardless of how it’s worn (heat styled, braids, textured, locs, etc.”>, are softness and moisture.  I develop natural hair remedies, like Aunt Jackie’s therapies, to be ultra-moisturizing, formulated with carrier oils and ingredients that don’t just sit on top the hair, but penetrate the hair and scalp, for inside-out nourishment, and long-lasting hydration. When people use Aunt Jackie’s therapies, their hair is left super soft, well-conditioned with all the good ingredients hair loves, and it’s much easier to manage and style.  Curls & Coils stay better defined, Waves are smooth and frizz-free, and even heat styled natural hair stays soft and smooth longer, so that the user doesn’t have to frequently apply heat.   

NC: What do you like most about your job?

White: I love conceptualizing new products. I’m fortunate to work with a company that invests in consumer research. Everything I launch has the voice of consumer behind it – from the fragrance, the benefits, ingredients, the language on the label, etc., consumer demand, expectations, and interests help me to develop new products. The consumer has helped us create our products.

NC: Tell us about the development of Aunt Jackie’s

White: Aunt Jackie’s continues to prove that it’s a leader in the natural texture space. It is such an amazing success story. It launched in 2012, and was the first brand we introduced to meet the needs of the natural segment. Since then, it has experienced steady, consistent growth.

Aunt Jackie’s understands that the natural movement isn’t just about hair. It’s about their lifestyle. Our motto is “Get Your Curl On.” Go out and enjoy your life experiences and leave your hair to Aunt Jackie’s.

Aunt Jackie’s has grown to four collections – the Original Waves Curls & Coils with shea butter and olive oil, Flaxseed Recipes, Natural Growth Oil Blends and most recently Coconut Creme. We also have Aunt Jackie’s Girls for kids.

The most popular are Curl La La, a curl cream that works across textures, Don’t Shrink Flax Seed Elongating Gel, a gel that helps stretch the curl without crunch, and Knot on My Watch, an instant Detangling lotion. 

NC: I love the names for the products – Knot Having it!, Frizz Rebel, Curl Boss.

White: There is quite a bit of whimsy involved in the branding. We want to have fun names that also describe what the product does. 

NC: Texture My Way is also for Naturals. How is it different than Aunt Jackie’s?

White: It’s for the curly girl who is a style chameleon. She likes to go from braids to extensions to wigs. She’s in charge of her natural texture. She may wear it straight one day and curly the next. 

Texture My Way includes 7 products that are designed to manage texture, no matter how you want to wear it. 

NC: Why was Argan Smooth created?

White: As I did my research on the natural segment, I realized there was a growing segment that’s underserved – the straight natural who wears her hair heat styled. Argan Smooth was launched in 2014 for this consumer. The Silk Press Kit is the star of that line.

NC: Where do you get your ideas for new products?

White: We look at pop culture, market trends and beauty sites. We’re always looking at the trends. We’re looking at how influencers are doing their hair. We’re always stalking YouTube! We’re looking at what has staying power.

In terms of ingredients, we’re always working with our suppliers, and wellness and nutrition professionals to find ingredients that have big benefits to hair growth, manageability, and health.

In the end, whether we are trend watching, doing surveys, or conducting focus groups, we listen to the consumer and take into consideration what appeals to them.

NC: So what can we look forward to next?

White: We have a new Aunt Jackie’s collection launching in Q4 of this year that’s a surprise. It’s going to be a very popular line, consisting of six different therapies centered around styling.

NC: So where can we buy the products?

White: we’re available at Target, Walmart, Rite-Aid, Kroger, Family Dollar and Dollar General, as well as SHOP NaturallyCurly and in just about every neighborhood beauty supply store, nationwide. Globally, Aunt Jackie’s is sold in mass, drug, and cosmetic stores throughout the Caribbean, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. We’re looking forward to adding additional distribution this year.

As part of its ongoing efforts to make its stores more inclusive, Target is bringing in more than 150 products especially for women of color. 

Starting this week Target.com and May 20 in select stores, Target is introducing eight new cosmetic brands to its beauty assortment. Created by a diverse group of women for everyone.

“We know our guests have a wide range of beauty needs and preferences, and we want to make sure Target has the best assortment for all hair types or skin tones,” said Christina Hennington, senior vice president of Beauty and Essentials at Target. “These eight new cosmetic brands will further our range of shade options—from foundation to lip—and are available at incredible prices. We’ll continue to listen to our guests to understand what beauty products they’re looking for at Target, and look forward to seeing their response to these new cosmetic brands.”

The brands are: 

Coloured Raine

In 2013, Loraine R. Dowdy launched her makeup brand Coloured Raine, that offers bold, colorful, cruelty-free cosmetics for women of various skin tones.

EveryHue Beauty

Created by #FourWomenForWomen, EveryHue offers tinted moisturizers in 12 wearable shades, with an emphasis on warmer hues, and an array of makeup tools to help achieve a perfect application.

Haleys Beauty

Founded in 2016 with the mission to create a makeup line that also helps treat common skincare concerns, HALEYS Beauty products are vegan and made without sulfates, phthalates, parabens and fragrance.

Hue Noir

Founded and created by cosmetic chemist Paula Hayes, HUE NOIR blends color, science and technology to offer a wide array of luxury, skin-nurturing cosmetics for women of color.

The Lip Bar

Made with natural ingredients and without cosmetic chemicals, Detroit-based The Lip Bar offers vegan lip products in an inclusive array of shades for women of every skin tone, all at an affordable price point. 

Makeup Geek

What started out on founder Marlena Stell’s YouTube channel—where she shared her love and knowledge of makeup—has turned into the mega-popular Makeup Geek brand that offers everything from colorful eyeshadows to lipsticks, bronzers and more.

Reina Rebelde

Founded by Mexican-American Regina Merson, Reina Rebelde is a makeup line filled with bold colors for eyes, lips and face, gorgeous packaging and high-quality products.

Violet Voss

Created by a team of makeup artists, Violet Voss was born out of a mission to make long-lasting lip products, cruelty-free lashes and other highly pigmented makeup products.

 

At Target’s Multicultural Beauty Panel, which accompanied the launch, the changing landscape of inclusive and diverse beauty was noted. Richelieu Dennis, founder and CEO of SheaMoisture, said that in the past 10 years, “we went from having nothing but a wall of relaxers in the back of the store to assortments that speak to every hair type and every skin type, with messaging that is relevant, and that’s inclusive with companies that are coming out of our communities.”

For influencer Kayla MaDonna, her big curly hair has become her signature. “Everywhere I go, I’m asked about my shape and color. Finding the perfect shape for my hair has definitely been a journey.”

Atlanta curl stylist Robin Sjoblom has helped Kayla create this look. “I’m so grateful to have found Robin Sjoblom and her team at Southern Curl.”

The Curly Cut

Sjoblom described how she gives Kayla her look. “This is a dry cut, curl by curl. To get the shape, I did a deep face frame cut so that the curls push back out of her face. Kayla is growing her length so we just “oxygenate” her ends (dust“> and then build the cut from the bottom up, no tension to allow for her different curl patterns to be visually balanced.”

It’s probably the first thing you notice about Kayla’s hair, but she “loves VOLUME so the focus of the cut is from her temple area up, paying close attention to her head shape and density.”

The Style

You may be wondering, how does Kayla get her hair to look so big? There are a few factors at play. Kayla’s natural width and density definitely play a role in the way her hair looks. As we just learned, her stylist has cut her hair into a distinct shape that contributes to the volume, and there are also styling techniques that help her achieve the look.

Chunky clumps

According to Sjoblom, “Kayla uses a variety of products and methods, but our styling method for her is usually small sections to detangle, then rake and smooth her leave in and gel.” Kayla likes Miss Jessie’s Leave-In Condish as a leave-in, and a combination of the DevaCurl Styling Cream and their UltraDefining Gel for styling. She likes that these products give her definition without any crunch.

“Smoothing in the product is very important as it helps to clump the curls together and give a chunkier effect as opposed to millions of curls.” If you’re someone who prefers very defined, clumped curls, then you likely will not have the volume of a less defined look. But if you’re willing to sacrifice the look of frizz-free curls, you can achieve bigger hair.

Fluff

After Kayla dries her hair by either air drying or diffusing, Sjoblom says “we shake her out and fluff fluff fluff!” Sometimes Kayla uses a pick at her roots for extra volume. On Wash Day Kayla’s hair isn’t at its biggest and boldest – it typically grows even bigger on day 2 and day 3.

You can book an appointment with Robin Sjoblom at Southern Curl here, and follow Kayla MaDonna here.

Stephanie Rodriguez is a light-skinned Latina with 3b curls. When she goes shopping for haircare products, she said she is looking for sulfate-free shampoos and curl-specific products from brands like Carol’s Daughter, SheaMoisture, Pantene and Garnier. “I think it should be organized by hair type/brands so it’s easier to pick out what you need for your hair, rather than just shoving the ‘ethnic’ section in the corner where people can feel left out.”

The terms “ethnic” and “multicultural” are fine when it comes to identifying one’s ethnic origin. But when it comes to shopping for haircare, these terms are increasingly outdated, according to TextureMedia’s recently released Perception Study: Ethnic and Multicultural Haircare Experience.

The study finds that most people with curly, coily or wavy hair – no matter what their ethnicity – consider their hair to be natural, textured or curly rather than “ethnic” or “multicultural. The term ‘ethnic’ on products or beauty aisles causes dissatisfaction among a major group of consumers who consider the term to be causing division.

Martha Fast, who is white, says she always feels like she is “intruding on someone else’s space” when she’s shopping in haircare aisles labeled “ethnic.”

“Curly hair isn’t limited to one ethnicity,” says NaturallyCurly community member Jennifer Jevy.

it’s something I think about every time I have to pick up hair stuff,” says community member Ada Nicole. “It’s no wonder ethnicities feel ostracized. Races don’t need to be “called out”, and not every white person has straight hair!‬‬”

For many who do search out the Ethnic aisle in their store for their favorite products, it’s more out of habit. “It points me in the right direction,” says Ebonie Andrews.

The textured-hair category has been one of the fastest growing and most dynamic in the beauty industry. Since NaturallyCurly’s inception 20 years ago, the number of products on the market has grown exponentially, with dozens of new brands launching each year specifically for texture. Every major hair care brand now offers products for textured hair, and traditionally “ethnic” brands have expanded their offerings to a broader customer base that wants to enhance their natural texture. The question about what to call the aisle or section devoted to these products is one of the most hotly debated among retailers.

There was a time when retail stores divided their haircare aisles up by general market and ethnic. As the texture category has exploded, catering to a diverse customer base, naming the section has become more complicated. How do you create a name that’s inclusive and descriptive? How do you attract new customers without alienating others?

We asked our community. TextureMedia’s Perception Study surveyed 613 women – Black, Caucasian, Latina and biracial/multiracial about the terms “multicultural and “ethnic” as it relates to haircare products and their shopping experience We also conducted eight online discussions with 31 NaturallyCurly community members followed by an online survey.

Among the key findings:

• Almost half the respondents believe hair cannot be classified as ethnic or multicultural while some defines ethnic or multicultural hair as hair belonging to someone who is ethnic or multicultural respectively.
• All ethnic groups other than ‘White/Caucasian’ group consider themselves to be ethnic.
• The majority of White/Caucasian consumers started shopping in ethnic/multicultural aisles after getting educated about haircare for their hair types; Most Black/African consumers have always shopped on ethnic/multicultural aisles.

For Heather Wexler, the name of the aisle isn’t as important as what’s in it. “I don’t really care, as long as it’s there and it’s stocked. I understand that as a white/Jewish/Italian American woman with extremely thick and tightly curled hair, I’m not generally the target demographic for these products. I use them anyway because nothing else works for my hair type.‬‬”‬‬

How do you feel about the use of the words “ethnic” and “multicultural” to describe hair.

Let us know in the comments, we’d love to hear your opinion.