August is National Black Business Month, and in the beauty industry, many know the name Gwen Jimmere. If you didn’t, she’s the founder and CEO of the popular haircare brand Naturalicious, which is now a multi-million dollar business. It’s hard to believe that at some point Gwen had only $32 to her name, all while fighting through a divorce, raising a 2-year-old and being laid off from her good-paying job at Ford.
However, Gwen is the true definition of a misfit and rose to the challenge. Our conversation is so good, I won’t ramble too much. However, just know that Gwen’s resilience and determination is what now has her product sold in major retailers like Whole Foods, Sally Beauty and Ulta Beauty. It is why she is the first African American woman to hold a patent for a natural hair product. Let her story motivate you to keep going and keep soaring.
Gwen, let’s start from the beginning. What did you want to be when you were younger?
I wanted to be a singer and a dancer. I cut a demo and everything. I knew I was going to be on stage around the world singing and dancing. But then I started touring a little and realized that I actually hated having to sing and remember choreography at the same time. Do you have any idea how hard that is to actually do? I’m always amazed at artists who pull that off.
I also hated not being home as much as I’d like. So rather quickly, I realized that wasn’t the life for me and decided to stick to singing in my shower and in my car. I always knew that I’d be an entrepreneur of some sort. But I didn’t know how to manifest it. I knew I didn’t like working for other people and that my days as an employee were numbered. In school, I studied business and communications. My undergrad is in business and technology. My masters is in communications and marketing.
What was your life like at Ford? What were you doing? Were you satisfied? Walk us through your career journey that led up to the layoff.
Prior to Ford I was in grad school. While in grad school, I worked as an editor for a publishing company that specialized in risque novels. Think: 50 Shades of Grey to the 10th power. Those books were wild! Once, the owner asked me if I’d like to pose for the cover of one of the books because they needed a black woman and they thought I would help sell a lot of books. I passed. I wasn’t interested in having that come back to haunt me one day.
While there, I was recruited by Ford to lead their digital communications department.
Then Ford happened. In that moment you were let go, what was going on in your life?
Ford was great while I was there. I learned a ton that prepared me to run my own business in the age of social media. My title was Global Digital Communications Director, and I was the first woman and youngest person at the company to ever hold my leadership level.
But I felt like a fish out of water. Ford is VERY corporate; I was used to working for small, independently owned companies. I didn’t fit in super well, as everyone else was way older than me, and mostly white men.
The job was a dream by material standards. I had a company car (a Mustang), a company phone, my own office on the top floor with a beautiful view, lots of travel to cool places. But all of that came with a tether. I was expected to be on call whenever they wanted me.
It wasn’t uncommon for me to get emails or phone calls requesting things at 2 am, or to have mandatory Saturday meetings. Once, the VP of my department started a mandatory 7 am meeting schedule and we had to be at work by 6:30 am to start the meeting at 7 am. My life was no longer mine and it became too much.
So when I was laid off, I was kind of relieved, but also worried because I was in the midst of divorcing my ex-husband and my son at the time was only 2 yrs old.
And the day I was let go, I only had $32 in the bank because my divorce had become so expensive.
Naturalicious Origins
How did Naturalicious come to be? So many people have business ideas but have no idea on getting it on its legs. How did you start the business and how did you begin to monetize the product?
Naturalicious started as a hobby for me to create something I needed for myself. It wasn’t supposed to be a business, originally. I couldn’t find great products that were plant-based, worked well, and didn’t force me to take almost an entire day dealing with my hair. So I started tinkering around in my kitchen and came up with something for me. I started to realize that friends and family wanted the same things and were at a loss when looking for it in stores.
I started selling my products to them, and then eventually to people I didn’t know personally. Eventually, I was able to get my products into Whole Foods and that’s what really helped to start to take off.
What are some business challenges you hit while scaling? What lessons did you glean from those challenges? What is something every business owner should know /have in place?
There are always challenges, even now. During the pandemic, especially, there was a shortage of packaging available but we had a ton of orders. You can’t fulfill shampoo orders without bottles, so that was a huge issue. Now, we are facing rising costs of raw materials, and have to make some tough choices about how we manage that while also maintaining quality and meeting customer expectations.
The best thing to have in place is financial and inventory forecasting so when these issues come along, you can find ways to bend so that you don’t break.
A lot of creatives and entrepreneurs find that funding/ money is their highest barrier to scaling. What advice do you have based on your experience?
Develop a relationship with a banker very early on. Hire an accountant that will be able to help you grow by properly managing your finances. I started with $32, so it can definitely be done; but if you can prevent it, I would suggest having these relationships in place so that you can grow and scale much more quickly.
What about team and leadership. How have you grown as a leader and how did you know when to build a team?
I knew it was time to hire a team when I could, on my own, no longer deliver the excellence my customers had grown to expect. I didn’t want to be the bottleneck anymore and there is strength in numbers. I am very big on allowing my team to make mistakes so they can grow and learn from them. I want them to fail sooner so they can succeed sooner.
Talk to us about marketing. How have you marketed the brand and used social media and platforms to increase brand awareness?
We work with a number of influencers and do a good amount of experiential marketing. I’m also always looking for new and fun ways to get our message out there. I am in a very saturated industry so it’s important to keep finding ways to stand out.
Today, your brand is carried in so many national retailers! What advice do you have for people who are product providers?
Understand that going into retail must be strategic. Retail isn’t for everyone, but oftentimes people get caught up in the idea of being in their favorite store. Retail can completely put you out of business if you don’t manage it properly.
Understand that going into retail must be strategic. Retail isn’t for everyone, but oftentimes people get caught up in the idea of being in their favorite store. Retail can completely put you out of business if you don’t manage it properly.
Your margins will surely be cut significantly, you will not receive any customer data, and you will have to meet benchmarks while sometimes shooting in the dark. You will incur costs you’re not expecting. You have to sell on volume because the margins aren’t there otherwise. So go into retail with the expectation that you’re using retail for discovery. But keep the main thing the main thing. Your website or any other platforms you own should always be your bread and butter.
Gwen, you are nothing short of inspiring. What has been your favorite part of your entrepreneurial journey? What’s next for you?
Next up is launching an experience that I can’t talk about just yet, but just know it’s going to be epic and a complete disruptor for this industry. That’s where my main focus is now. We are also expanding our product offerings into beauty supplements to help serve our customers holistically.
Next up is launching an experience that I can’t talk about just yet, but just know it’s going to be epic and a complete disruptor for this industry. That’s where my main focus is now. We are also expanding our product offerings into beauty supplements to help serve our customers holistically.
