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Black women’s hair is the epitome of versatility. From knotless braids to frontal wigs, the possibilities for hairstyles are endless. Coming from her own experience of going through different hair phases, Rebundle founder and CEO Ciara Imani May tapped into alleviating some of the hassles that come with the process. As previously shared by AfroTech, the St. Louis-based company creates and sells hair extensions made exclusively from plant-based materials. The core material for the extensions is banana fiber. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Rebundle (@rebundle.co)
This little lady is the youngest in charge! According to PRNewswire, Lily Adeleye is officially the youngest founder amongst Walmart’s Black-owned business initiative through her children’s accessory line — Lily Frilly. Lily is taking after her mogul mother, Courtney Adeleye — Founder and CEO of The Mane Choice — as she’s experiencing her brand’s second retailer launch success since hitting Target shelves last year. “Lily Frilly started out as a brand my daughter Lily and myself created, as I have always believed it’s important to let your children follow their passions, whether that be art, sports, or in this case, growing a business,” shared Courtney in an official press release. “Now, Lily Frilly has become so much more than just that – it’s become a brand children love, as well as a symbol of inspiration and confidence for young girls as well as for the black community. It’s amazing to see what kids can do, and we’re so glad Walmart is providing this platform to give Lily Frilly...
A Tennessee first-grader proved that anyone can make a difference and inspire change, no matter how old they are. Earlier last month, seven-year-old Morgan Bugg of Brentwood, TN was using educational app Freckle, a gaming platform that allows students a chance to win coins while completing reading and math enrichment activities. During virtual class, she noticed its online store didn’t have any hairstyle options for Black girls like her to style her avatar. According to Bugg, she told the Tennessean that “I felt kind of sad and jealous that there wasn’t any girl hair for me.” Kelley Anne Joyner — Bugg’s teacher at Edmondson Elementary School — then noticed how visibly frustrated Bugg was and pulled her into a virtual breakout room to chat one-on-one. “She had some heartfelt tears,” Joyner said to the Tennessean. “She then said that it’s not fair that they have one Black boy hair, but they don’t have any Black girl hair.” In an effort to find a solution to her problem, Bugg suggested...
The natural haircare beauty market will soon have a new go-to source for its next innovation. Black women-owned beauty brand You Go Natural (YGN) headwraps has announced the close of a $2 million seed funding round as it looks to expand its operations. According to a press release shared with AfroTech, the funding round was led by Brand Foundry Venture Partners as well as other investors such as Capital Factory, Willow Growth Partners and Lightspeed Venture Partners. YGN has shared that its next plan of action for the funds includes the round expanding its Dallas-based production facility from 1,500 to 7,500 square feet and growing its staff to reach over 100 employees. “As a Black female founder, I have unique market insight into the world of ethnic beauty,” founder Monique Little shared in a statement. “I know where the industry is way oversaturated, and I know where there are gaps in innovation and solutions that have yet to be introduced. The vision of YGN goes way beyond...
Camille Rose — one of the largest Black-owned hair-care brands in the U.S. today — is not new to mass retail partnerships, as it has existing relationships with retailers like Target, Sally Beauty, CVS, and more. After being in business for over 10 years, Camille Rose has announced today that it has scored its most distinguished partnership deal to date with Ulta Beauty, launching in both physical U.S. stores and online, according to Glossy. Retail Brew reports that after becoming the most-requested brand from Ulta shoppers, the retailer reached out to form the new partnership. “Ulta will heighten our awareness and provide a different consumer, one who may be more ingrained in the beauty experience,” founder Janell Stephens told the outlet. The news of this new partnership arrives after Ulta announced a grand diversity plan to do a bigger push behind Black-owned beauty brands and double the amount of brands stocked at its store locations. Similar to the retailer’s action plan, we’ve...
Today’s educators are the single most influential figures in kids’ lives and the best way to reach them is by appealing to their interests. This includes incorporating popular music like Hip-Hop into core curriculum, making certain subjects resonate better with students. With this idea in mind, Healthy Hip Hop co-founders Roy Scott and Wes Smith came up with a unique concept that could both improve student-learning environments and increase classroom engagement by merging innovative technology , education , music, and cultural relevance together. For co-founder Scott, the idea for Healthy Hip Hop’s platform was sparked by an epiphany he experienced while he was picking up his son from school one day. “When I was picking up my son, Justice, from school, I noticed him repeating my music word for word,” he shares with AfroTech. “Those lyrics promoted drugs, violence, misogyny, [etc.] and that was just my light bulb moment that I couldn’t be this kind of influence on my son or anybody...
The natural hair movement in Black haircare is exploding, and Black-owned, community-focused natural hair care company Mielle Organics has been at the center of it since launching in 2014. This week, the brand announced that Boston-based firm Berkshire Partners has made a significant investment in the company that will help finance its future growth plans and continue the brand’s mission to “educate, empower, and excite Mielle’s customers and the broader hair care community,” a press release shares. “We are honored to invest behind Monique and Melvin and in Mielle,” Berkshire Partners Managing Director, Marni Payne said in a statement. “Mielle is an extraordinary business, but importantly has a larger purpose: to excite, empower and serve the community. Monique and Melvin have built this business from the ground up; we share their vision and are excited to support them as they continue their journey of growth and community.” According to a press release, the new investment will also...
There are unrealistic beauty standards all around us, and these unrealistic standards are especially detrimental to children. And that, at its core, is why Silk Me Kids was created. According to Black News, Silk Me Kids is a children-targeted salon based in New Orleans — and, they say, it’s the only one of its kind. They’ve just announced their ramped-up national campaigns to educate kids about natural hair and the different faces of Black beauty. “Kids who use Silk Me Kids hair care products are able to bring out their hair’s best potential and it instills in them a sense of confidence from being able to embrace and celebrate who they are. In addition to creating products to allow kids to look and feel their best, we create platforms, like campaigns, performances, and music videos, to give kids the spotlight where they can celebrate their beauty,” said CEO Meme Kelly, in a statement to Black News. Some of the things they offer to children to educate themselves about Black beauty —...
Madam C.J. Walker has been long since credited as one of the most successful Black beauty entrepreneurs in American history. Way before Black-owned beauty brands began taking over the market, it was her namesake hair-care company that pioneered a space for these businesses to prosper. Walker’s highly sought out creation — Madam Walker’s Wonderful Hair Grower — was a homemade treatment she experimented with that eventually became one of the most innovative products known to hair-care. Her explosive product allowed her to tour the country to share her hair care tips and hair grower with Black women all over. Her 20th century beauty empire and million-dollar legacy single-handedly paved the way for other Black women entrepreneurs to follow their dreams and create an inspiring path in the world of beauty today. Not only was she a role model as a self-made businesswoman, but also as a leading educator and philanthropist as well. Between opening her own hair school and supporting...
She’s not new to this, she’s true to this! Founder and CEO of The Mane Choice, Courtney Adeleye is a natural go-getter. Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan — which she calls her foundation — is the place where she learned “if one door doesn’t open, there’s always another opportunity.” The wife and mother of three built her hair brand from the ground up through her own curiosity and specialized knowledge base. She joins AfroTech’s Black Tech Green Money podcast host Will Lucas to discuss the home-based-hobby that’s now grown into a multi-million dollar business, how she’s using her own insight to help others, and gives advice for people like herself who are trying to scale their own businesses within the beauty industry. As a graduate of the University of Michigan and a registered nurse by trade, she used her background and expertise in science to hone in on the ingredients and products that would produce the best results to help many other women improve their own hair health. “I...
Lily Adeleye isn’t your typical six-year-old. In fact, she’s the youngest CEO to have her products available at Target . According to Face2Face Africa , the young entrepreneur runs Lily Frilly , a girl’s fashion brand. The girly collection offers a variety of items, including dresses, hair bows, lunch boxes, and backpacks. The accessories , in particular, are carried at the major retailer. “I own my own company,” she told Black Enterprise of her achievements. “I don’t just like it, I love it.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Lily Frilly ™️ (@lilyfrilly) Luckily for Lily, she gets her business savvy from her mama, Courtney Adeleye , the founder of the Black haircare line, The Mane Choice. As the mompreneur dominated the hair industry, Lily became inspired to pursue her own ventures as early as three-years-old. “From the time Lily was 3, I knew then she had a business mindset,” the eldest Adeleye said . “At an early age, as she watched me build a successful business from...
Electrodes weren’t designed with coarse hair in mind – here’s why that’s a problem. On March 11, Science News , an independent American magazine, published an article noting new electrodes technology can now better capture brain waves of people with naturally coarse hair. As innovative as this new technology is, the public response to the announcement revealed a very telling statement about the current state of STEM. The article detailed the design flaws of standard electrodes that exclude people with natural, thick hair and how these flaws pose a threat to proper diagnoses of patients. Engineer Pulkit Grover of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh stated that an electrode redesign was needed. “It’s not intentional. But at the same time, it’s kind of sad,” said Grover. “It’s worth thinking about technology, and about who it has been designed for.” Reactions to the new design across social media included declarations of relief that “finally” this technology exists. However, there...
People often talk about how Black kids lack representation in media, but there’s another pressing issue for young children: toys. For many little Black girls, it can be difficult to find dolls that look like them. Navigating a world that doesn’t represent Black girls can negatively impact how they see themselves. That’s something that’s always been at the front of Yelista Jean-Charles’ mind. She’s the founder of Healthy Roots, a toy company creating dolls and storybooks. Healthy Roots is on a mission to “positive self-perception of the richly diverse, varying shades of complexion and natural hair textures among girls of color”, according to its website. Or, as Jean-Charles describes it: Healthy Roots empowers children to love themselves the way that they are. The inspiration for Healthy Roots came from Jean-Charles’ own experiences as a child. Growing up, she didn’t see a lot of representation of women that looked like her in terms of what’s defined as beautiful in society. “I...
Most Black women who have gone through airport security will have at least one story about a time their hair was patted down. It doesn’t matter what you were wearing — twists, an afro, braids, or even a scarf — everything seems to be a cause for a search. If you’ve ever felt paranoid for thinking Black women were singled out, here’s some validation. A ProPublica report recently found that even if TSA agents say they’re not discriminating against Black women, their machines might be. The scanners in question are full body scanners made by L3 Technologies. They’re located in just about every major airport. Last year, ProPublica reported that TSA asked for ideas “to improve screening of headwear and hair in compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.” This is a law prohibiting federally funded agencies and programs from discriminating on the basis of race, color, or national origin. ProPublica received information about the machines being biased from two TSA agents. One TSA...