Driving Naturalicious: CEO on Confidence, Building Natural Haircare Brand
Gwen Jimmere, Naturallicious CEO and Founder, says confidence is the foundation for success.
As the global digital communications director for Ford Motor Company, Gwen Jimmere had a company car that was a baby blue Mustang convertible, passes to the Super Bowl and paid travel around the world.
But it was not what she wanted ultimately wanted to do.
“It sounds like a dream, but they are paying you to be there to work,” says Jimmere, CEO and founder of Naturalicious, a natural hair care product sold globally in more than 1,200 retail stores and online.
Growing up in Cleveland, a few hours from Detroit, Jimmere graduated from Kent State University in 2005, only two years after she began, because she took college courses while she was enrolled in high school.
She planned for a degree in journalism, but her parents told her she needed something that was more practical, so she majored in IT and engineering.
“For someone who is super creative, it was horrible,“ says Jimmere. “But I graduated summa cum laude.”
She moved to Columbus, Ohio, but went back to Kent State for her masters in communications to follow her original dream. That led to a job at a publishing company in Akron that was so not what she had in mind.
“I go there, interview and I am supposed to be an editor,” Jimmere says. The content was soft porn books.
She quickly began to look for other work. “I ended up being recruited by Ford,” she says. She began as global digital communications director in 2009. “I had what everyone considered a dream job. For my parents they thought if you work for an automaker, you have made it.”
And it was an amazing experience, Jimmere says, as one of the first major brands to interact deeply with consumers on social media. But it was an all-in job. “You were expected to be on call all the time, 7 a.m. meetings, Saturday meetings.”
As a new mother to her son, Caiden, in 2011, she says the hours were not conducive to motherhood. She went to work for Uniworld Group, the agency for Ford. “My boss was now my client,” she says.
In 2013, she was laid off, in the midst of a divorce from an abusive partner.
“Now I had $32, no income, a baby and no job,” says Jimmere. So, of course, this is when and why she started her own company.
““Now I had $32, no income, a baby and no job,” says @gwenjimmere. So, of course, this is when and why she started her own company. #FemaleEntrepreneurs”
When she was pregnant, Jimmere says she was looking for natural hair care products and couldn’t find any that worked well for her.
“I started looking at olive oil, shea butters, mixing things together,” Jimmere says. She asked her mother, an herbalist, for advice. She recommended rhassoul clay from Morocco, that has moisturizing properties.
“I ordered it, I mixed it and for the first time in my life, I loved how my hair looked. It was like a gift from heaven,” Jimmere says. “I had gone 30 years hating my hair.”
Her successful business started in her basement out of a need she had and other women she knew also had. “It forced me to start my own company,” Jimmere says. “I didn’t have time to doubt myself.”
“@gwenjimmere ‘s successful business @Naturalicious started in her basement out of a need she had and other women she knew also had. #CareerSuccess”
The name of the company, Naturalicious, came about because “it made me feel deliciously natural.”
The first African American woman ever to hold a patent for a haircare product, Jimmere would take her products—and her young son—to local open air markets and sell. “I didn’t have money to buy a table, so I would use my son to draw attention, then get them to try a product and buy it.”
Naturalicious products “multi-task” and instead of 12 products, you now can use just four. “We have decluttered over 70,000 bathrooms,” Jimmere says. “We have also saved people more than 1.2 million minutes,” by cutting down hair prep time from four hours to less than 30 minutes.
In 2015, Jimmere read that Whole Foods was opening in Detroit. So she called around to find out who would be the right person to have a meeting with to sell her products there.
“I go to the meeting and he is two hours late. I’m pitching to this bald white guy,” Jimmere says. “He says, ‘I don’t understand. It takes you 30 minutes or less to do your hair with this, and it normally takes two to three hours?’”
Jimmere says that during the pitch –that was not going well—a Latina woman with “huge hair” walks into the meeting. “She says ‘I have two little girls with the same hair as me, so I get up at 4:30 a.m. to do hair so I can get to work. You have your first purchase order.’”
A week later, Jimmere says she got an email saying she loved the product and she ordered for 600 stores. After four months, the product was in 1,200 stores. A Black female entrepreneur whose story inspires all women business leaders, Jimmere shares her inspirational lessons and personal story.
“A Black #female #entrepreneur whose story inspires all women business leaders, @gwenjimmere shares her inspirational lessons and personal story.”
Naturalicious now has 13 employees working from a 4,000 square foot factory in Lavonia, Mich.
City Lab reports that Detroit is ranked 37th out of 43 cities of 100,000 or more for overall outcomes for black women. “The index looks at inequities for black women in terms of income status, health conditions, and educational accomplishment. We also took the average values across all three of those categories to see how metros ranked for black women’s overall outcomes.”
City Lab reports, “According to The Status of Black Women in the United States report, produced by The Institute for Women’s Policy Research, black women overall saw their median annual earnings decline by 5 percent between 2004 and 2014 despite the fact that the share of black women with at least a bachelor’s degree increased by 23.9 percent in that same time period. Today, black women earn roughly 61 cents for every dollar made by white men across the nation.”
Miami Times reports recently, “Guidant Financial provided credible statistics that illustrated the habits, traits and financial framework of minority businesses. Accordingly, its close of 2019 reporting demonstrated that Black small business owners opened more health, beauty and fitness businesses than in year’s prior. Further, that trifecta surpassed business services as the previous year’s most popular industry for Black businesses.”
According to Miami Times, “Women rule and youth are formidable leaders in small business growth among Blacks. Comparatively, Blacks aggressively pursued entrepreneurial endeavors at a quicker pace than the average non-minority business. Baby boomers comprised the majority of all business owners at a rate of 57%, while 45% of the demographic is comprised of Black baby boomers.”
According to Guidant, “There are more Black female small business owners than the average by a solid 15 percentage points. Thirty-eight percent of Black small business owners are women – a big distinction from the average small business owner, of whom only 23% are women. This percentage hasn’t changed since last year, suggesting that though the number of Black women in small business is greater than the average, it has hit the same plateau of growth seen in the average small business owner populace.”
An advocate for all women entrepreneurs, single mothers and women surviving domestic violence, Jimmere says her biggest piece of advice is simple and quick.
“Waiting is not a strategy; waiting for your kids to graduate, waiting for X,Y and Z to happen, something else always comes up. You have to jump off the cliff. There will never be a time you are not waiting to move forward with whatever you dream. “
“An advocate for all #WomenEntrepreneurs, single mothers and women surviving domestic violence, @gwenjimmere says that “waiting is not a strategy” is her biggest piece of #advice. ”
Jimmere says it is critical that she tells her story of going from having a six-figure income, and a masters degree, to being an unemployed single mother on food stamps. And then to the top of her field as a business owner, CEO and founder. During Black History Month and every month throughout the year, it is critical to acknowledge the successes and innovations of entrepreneurs like Jimmere.
“During #BlackHistoryMonth and every month throughout the year, it is critical to acknowledge the #successes and #innovations of #entrepreneurs like @gwenjimmere. ”
“Representation matters,” Jimmere says.
“I want to build a billion dollar brand. I want to help startup companies for women who are survivors of domestic abuse. I want every woman to wake up every day and say, ‘Hello, Gorgeous.’ Because confidence is the foundation of every day.”
She adds, “When you feel great, your walk is very different. I don’t think beauty is vanity. You are more confident. You show up differently.”
““I don’t think beauty is vanity,” @gwenjimmere says. “You are more confident. You show up differently.” #InspirationalWomen #FemaleEntrepreneurs”
