Apologies that everything has to put on hold as our founder Rhoda had to have emergency medical procedures (none Covid-19 related) and is now recovering from these procedures. Even though we are very fortunate to have many volunteers and family members helping us with the business (from the photo shoots to Tradeshows and even the blogs) however, predominately of the business is run and operated by Rhoda.

Even though many activities are not taking place in front of the screen, but behind the screen, Rhoda is working very hard on the business. We have new products launching straight after the lockdown, and we had hoped to launch phase two of the business (the original business concept) in the summer of 2020; but due to Covid-19, this is postponed until the summer of 2021. Rhoda is focusing on creating contents for the blog and social media; she is also doing all the behind the screen preparation to launch the new hair accessories. This will be the last blog post for a while, the next blog post will be in a month’s time as Rhoda needs to focus on her recovery.

  Photo by Garrhet Sampson on Unsplash

Brief Background on the Founder:

Rhoda was a professional Actress/Performer by trade and has appeared in pantomimes, short films and many shows and performances such as UEFA Championship League Final 2011 and London 2012 Olympics where she danced at the opening ceremonies. Although Rhoda loved performing and was grateful to work with some of the industry best, she knew this path was not her calling and retired from the performing industry in 2012 after 5 years (from qualifying but was performing since she was young). She then spent years wondering what to do and what path to take.In her student days, she worked in London and the home counties selling luxurious cosmetic products. 

In 2009, Rhoda decided to go natural once and for all (she attempted this many times but got dissuaded by friends and family) and spent two years not know how to look after her hair (and hiding her hair most of the time). She was then ridiculed by others (from all races, including the black race- before the natural movement became big) anytime her natural hair was out during those two years. She spent another 18 months researching (and still learning) natural and organic herbs, spices, plants, vegetables and fruits that supported healthy hair growth for natural hair and wanted to share this wealth of information by creating natural hair product business (she is now sharing this through the blog). Rhoda spent another year researching how to start a cosmetic company whilst also attending the Prince’s Trust business programme (a very good programme and would highly recommend). However, many things went wrong, and she decided that this was not the path for her. This was not the first entrepreneurship itch she wanted to scratch; between 2003 and 2004, Rhoda wanted to start a fashion business, but fear and the “wisdom” from her family and friends persuaded her not to gamble on such risky and unpredictable venture.

In 2009, When Rhoda first went natural (for good), a family member was getting married and she wanted to decorate her hair. Although there were beautiful hair accessories around (which she invested in a lot) it because evident how difficult it was to remove (difficulties in pain as well as in hair loss) these accessories. So, she went on a mission and started to research good quality hair accessories that are kind and gentle to all hair types, especially Afrocarbbean hair. This research took about 5 years (this just goes to show how very little the natural hair community is represented in this part of the beauty industry) but, once she found this, she sat on the idea for another 3 years. Rhoda thought that this might not be a popular concept in the black community (as many foci were placed on hair products) and had another concept for head attires.

So, she spent another two years researching for quality materials, suppliers and conducting several market researches to ensure that it was a very feasible business. Between 2014-present she researched different types of funding her business venture, but this was very hard (as it is either a grant- which she didn’t meet the criteria or a loan- which she was against). So, she started working for an NHS Trust and have worked full time for the NHS on and off since to help fund her business and to support herself. Even though the business was legally launched in 2018, the planning and preparation started in late 2014 as Rhoda slowly started to put things in place to make the launch possible in August 2018. Between launching the business and now running the business, it has been a huge learning curve and Rhoda is still learning.

When Rhoda launch the business in 2018, not only was she a full-time NHS worker but she was a part-time student (was studying MSc Psychology) as well as freelancing as a children’s entertainment worker (She love working with children and young people); so effectively Rhoda was doing 4 very demanding things between 2018 and 2019. Rhoda has overcome hardship and so many obstacles and this current one will not stop her from providing her community, customers and readers with the things they need. Rhoda story is a true testimony that if you overcome fears, hearsays and you put in a little hard work, determination and dedication, you can achieve anything. Yes, she has just begun her business journey; yes, there are many more obstacles to overcome and many more learning curves to master, but with her steely determination and confidence, she can achieve whatever she wants.