Latest / Skin Anarchy / Keya James, Founder of Tailored Beauty and YouTube Beauty Guru

Transcript

Keya James, Founder of Tailored Beauty and YouTube Beauty Guru · Skin Anarchy

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: Hi guys, welcome back to Skincare Anarchy.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: This is your host Ekta, and I'm super excited about today's episode because I've been really enjoying the products that are made by this amazing guest of ours.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_00: So without further ado, I want to introduce you guys to Kia James, who is the founder of Tailored Beauty and a well-known influencer on YouTube.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: So welcome to the show, Kia.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_01: I'm so excited to hear I'm so excited to be here.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for having me.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, it's my honor.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: I would love to get started and talk about your journey with YouTube and just like the influencer world and really like all of the inspiration that led to all of your beautiful products.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: So can you get us like started on that?
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: Like how did you start?
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I started on YouTube.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_01: I started back in around 2013, around when my um daughter was um born.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um I started actually recording when I was in grad school as a way to um, you know, just have a hobby.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_01: I had a lot going on at that time.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_01: I was in grad school.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_01: I was also um pregnant at that time, and I was transitioning to natural hair.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_01: So that meant that um I was no longer using chemicals in my hair, and I really wanted to just document my hair journey and document the products that I was making and the in the products that I was putting in my hair as well.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so um when I had my daughter, I started to make videos um showing people how to do um baby's hair as well as my hair as well, and I was using my own products.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_01: So at that time, um, this is around the time when there was no influenza marketing, um, Instagram.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_01: There was no Instagram at this time as well.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so a lot of people were searching for information on the internet, yeah, and they were actually searching for it, and it wasn't really searching for them.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um, yeah, things like that.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_01: So at that time it was a little bit different, and people were seeing the results that I was getting with my hair as well as my daughter's hair.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_01: So they started to request that I make these products.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_01: So I was just doing it as a hobby at that time.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't know that it would turn into the business that it is today.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_01: Oh but it was just yeah, it was just really a way for me to um disconnect from everything that was going on and doing some do something that I really enjoyed.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: Of course.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: No, that's so, you know, I think some of the most amazing things stem from just, you know, good, just serendipity, right?
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: It's just like it happens.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: So I I love that.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: I love that you you created um everything from just the joy of wanting to give people what they wanted.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: So um, can you talk to me about the like, you know, or tell us about the journey of finding the ingredients that you started using?
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: Like, how was that process for you?
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um, in terms of like searching stuff up and you know, really figuring out what you love.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_01: Well, the way I started looking for ingredients was I started actually learning about ingredients.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_01: I watched this one video, it actually traumatized me, um, where someone um put relaxer on a Coke bottle and it showed what a hair relaxer did um and how much damage it did and how it penetrated from the scalp to the skull.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_01: And from then, um, I just you know was committed to never putting anything in my hair that would cause that much harm.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so once I did that, that's when I started to really read ingredient boxes and learn about the benefits of ingredients.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_01: And at that time, um, I was also um transitioning to vegan as well, and really learning and uh making my daughters baby food.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um I I was becoming more conscious about ingredients, natural ingredients.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_01: And um, when I started reading labels and I started reading what um the chemicals and a lot of products were doing, I was also reading articles on ingredients that were really good and beneficial for hair.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_01: So that's how I learned about ingredients.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_01: That's how I learned about um the benefits of ingredients and not only just you know reading blogs and articles, but learning about other cultures and what um the natural ingredients that they put in their hair and seeing the results that they were getting with their hair care as well.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_01: Wow, I love that you know, that we weren't, and when I say we, that African Americans weren't putting in our hair products.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: That is beautiful.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: I love that you brought that up about um really taking from other cultures and and really incorporating it in a in a unique way.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: I love that, you know, and I love that you're openly able to say that because I've interviewed so many, well, not you know, not so many, but a few people, and I've thought about like lines that you know they take from, for example, I'm Indian, you know, they'll take like turmeric or something, right?
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: And like never give credit or like never acknowledge, you know what I mean, that it's from a different culture and it's um you know something that's been used for hundreds of years.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: So I love that.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um, a lot of my ingredients actually I've learned um about a lot of hair care ingredients from um Indian cultures.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um, one of the first things that I started doing with my hair care is using henna.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_01: And a lot when I first started um creating products, I actually would go to an Indian store to get a lot of those in um ingredients such as henna, alma powder, um chikakai powder.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you wouldn't necessarily find in American markets.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_01: I would actually go to um Indian markets to find those different ingredients.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: I love that because those are actually shipped from India, like the brands and stuff.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: So I love, I really love that.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: Um, okay, so I want to I want to actually ask you, you know, um, I know we all have our own like journeys with like hair, you know.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: I know I definitely did, you know.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um, for me, it was always like I could never figure out like the hairstylist thing never worked for me, you know what I mean?
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: Because they'd always cut my hair and and I want like a hairstyle, and they were like, Well, you can't ask me for this hairstyle because I cut this on mostly white people or this ethnic people.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, Well, figure it out, you know what I mean?
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: It was like a it was a struggle for me.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_00: So I just want to know from your standpoint, what was one of the biggest um hurdles with hair care that you faced that really motivated you to like, you know, create something?
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_01: I think one of the biggest hurdles was that my hair wouldn't grow past a certain length, and that I just really didn't understand my hair at all.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't understand how to take care of it um because I really wasn't taught how to take care of my hair properly.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and it wasn't really until college where I, you know, met so many black women who had beautiful hair, and I asked them, how did you get your hair to look that nice?
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_01: Um, because I didn't feel like it was achievable for me, but I could see that it was achievable for them.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um and just really um educating myself, learn learning how to do it, do it on my own.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um, this was something that, like I said, that wasn't taught.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_01: So I had to really learn how to do everything.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and just doing this by reading blogs, like I said, and watching YouTube videos.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: No, that makes sense.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, I think like for me, um, you know, I always learn from people who have very, very different hair types because, for example, like my hair is like wavy, but I've learned some of the best tricks from people who have like the most beautiful, coily, curly hair, you know what I mean?
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: So it's like you learn so much from each other.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: So I love that.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I actually want to talk to you about um the business perspective of all of this because I know that um, you know, creating a business as a woman of color.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I personally have had my you know run-ins with some hurdles.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_00: So I want to talk to you about that.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_00: How was that journey for you?
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_00: You know, um, you know, like when you're really starting to get the brand together, like what was that like?
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it actually I actually had a lot of support um from my community.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_01: And um I think that's it is because um I was able to create a product that showed results, and I was very transparent with my audience about every part of my journey, whether it be coming out with a new product or you know, showing the behind the scenes of what's going on with the business.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_01: I was very um transparent about that, but also um the thing about the industry, the textured hair care industry, is that it's it is one of the fastest growing hair industries, um, especially amongst black business owners.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_01: And I, you know, I got a lot of support from my community.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_01: And when I say community, I I not only do I'm not only do I mean the African American community, I mean the community that I was able to build on my own, the community that I was able to build for my YouTube channel, um, the community of customers that I've been able to build.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um, that's what really helped my business get to the next level.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and then, you know, when we get to the next level, um, like I stated, it started as a hobby.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so when we got to the next level, it was really about connecting with people within the industry to really help my business to grow, um, meeting a lot of manufacturers as well as um buyers and distributors.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_01: And because the industry is growing um at the pace that it's growing, a lot of um distributors and and a lot of buyers, they want input from black business owners like myself.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um so, you know, it is an advantage because there is a market for it.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_01: And um, because there's so many dollars spent within our industry, um, you know, a lot of companies, as far as big box retailers, they're looking at businesses like myself to bring our consumer into their stores.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_00: Right, right.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_00: No, I love that.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: See, that's the thing.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I think, you know, it's actually brilliant what you did is create a network of people on YouTube that could really, you know, relate with the content that you were providing.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_00: And then, you know, you built your business off of those experiences and and that feedback that you got.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's one of the most rare things to see in this industry because you know, everyone you talk to is like, well, we did, you know, we did some sort of you know survey or consumer research.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, well, is that really telling you what people want?
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_00: But you know, versus like what you're doing here, which is like, you know, consistent content and obviously feedback from people consistently.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_00: So I think it's a it's a brilliant, brilliant uh business strategy.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_00: So I want to commend you for that.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, um, I actually, you know, I want to talk a little bit about um, you know, just overall for women, you know, just entrepreneurs, like I I want you to give us some advice because I know that right now everyone's hopping onto YouTube and they want to become the you know, the next big thing on YouTube.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: But like, can you give us some like insight onto what it's like to really grow a YouTube channel in the beauty industry?
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_00: And like, you know, is is it difficult?
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: Is it you know, does it just come naturally?
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: Like, can you give us some insight into that?
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_01: Well, you know, I don't know if I can necessarily speak on today because I've had I've had a YouTube channel.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_01: Funny thing is, when I first started my YouTube channel, I did not want anybody to find out that I was on YouTube.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_01: And I can tell you how how long ago this was because it was taboo for people to say, hey, I make videos on YouTube.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_01: And even today, um, being on YouTube for as long as I've been on it, I don't have you know over a hundred thousand subscribers.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_01: But to me, that's not that's not how I measure success.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_01: And I think a lot of people um measure success based on how many followers they have, how many subscribers they have.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_01: That's how they measure success.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_01: And honestly, you can be successful in any space as long as you find a niche and you find a uh audience that's really, you know, that really appreciates the value that you bring and you're creating quality content.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_01: To me, that's what will help you to be successful.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um, because you know, myself, I've been on YouTube for a long time, um, but I don't have a lot of subscribers, but I have a successful business.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_00: And that's the point.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, that's the point.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_00: You have a you have a huge group of people that you've connected with, you know what I mean?
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_00: That's that's beautiful.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_01: So you can, you know, to me that's success that that is successful, and success might even just be doing something that you um thoroughly enjoy doing.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and like I stated, I started the business um as a way to just have fun.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_01: I was in graduate school um to be a clinician.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_01: I um have a background in um clinical counseling.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, even for me, I think success just means just being happy.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_01: Does what you do make you feel happy overall?
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um, how do you, you know, to me that's how you measure success.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and when you feel happy and when you're doing things that you love, um, the results will come.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_01: People will see it, people seeing the passion that I had behind my brand and people believed in that.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, people wanted to, you know, purchase my products because they believed in me.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_01: And to me, having people that actually believe in me and continue to buy and support my products and provide testimonials, um, that's how I measured success.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_01: I would say I would say you really can't compare your journey to anybody else's journey.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um, because if I compare myself to someone who has, you know, half a million um subscribers, subscribers on YouTube, I would be miserable.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_01: So you have to figure out what's gonna make you happy and stay focused on accomplishing your own goals.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_00: And I love that you said that so candidly because that is such honest advice, everyone listening.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, you know, I can't tell you how many friends I've had that are like, I'm gonna be the next YouTube sensation.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, okay, come back to me in three weeks and let me know how it's going, you know, like because I know it's difficult, you know, growing a community.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_00: So um, I love that.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_00: I want to actually ask you though, I want to go back to the products, um, Kia, and I want to uh ask you what your first product was that you created, and you or was it like all at once that you had, you know, you had your recipes and you just wanted to come out with the first few products?
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_01: No, so actually, right now we have 14 products, and my first product that I ever developed is a um Shea Butter blend called Everything Butter, and it's still to this day our number one selling product.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I created that product.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I created that product because I needed a moisturizer for my hair.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and so after I had started using it, um, I realized that it could be literally used for everything.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_01: I started using it on my hair, and then when I was pregnant with my daughter, I would use it on my stomach.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_01: And I don't know if this sounds vain or not, but I did not want to have stretch marks um during my pregnancy, and I was fully committed to making sure that that did not happen.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_01: So I would rub the everything butter on my stomach at least two to three times a day.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_01: And um, when I had my daughter, I didn't have any stretch marks.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_01: So I yeah, so um when I had her, I started using the product in her hair as well.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_01: And when I had a scar, it would treat my scar.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_01: So I realized that the butter can literally be used on pretty much everything.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um so that's how we that's how I started my first um, that's how I started developing my first product.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_01: It actually happened on accident, but I just kept making this the shea butter blend and it just kept working.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_01: And so um when my husband actually would read all the YouTube comments and he said, Okay, I think we should sell this stuff because um a lot of people are asking um for this product, so we should just you know put this in a jar and sell it.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_01: So, okay, I'll do it.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um, not thinking that it would turn into a business, but at first I was afraid because I'm one of those people.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_01: If I if I try something, I have to be all in and committed to being doing the best that I can do.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah, of course.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_01: So we um got some packaging and we got we created labels, and um that's pretty much how we started selling that very first product.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_01: And once um we realized okay, this this product is doing really, really well, we started um introducing new products to our customers.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_00: I love I love everything about that.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_00: I love how organic that growth is and how organic the whole process is, you know, for your brand.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_00: Like I know so many companies just like come out with products and it's like, whoa, you know what I mean?
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I don't even know if I like one of your products.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_00: I love how you know you really have approached this so organically and so naturally.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_00: And that's that's beautiful.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_00: I can tell you though, the product that you mentioned, um, the butter, the shea butter, I love it.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_00: I use it um, you know, for my own like just body care and whatnot, and I've been loving it.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, everyone listening, she's not joking.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_00: It's definitely a bestseller for a reason.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, so but I want to talk about like what your hardest formulation was.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_00: Like when you um, because I know that it's it's a wide range, you know, that you're covering with your products.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_00: So what was one of the hardest ones um to figure out?
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_01: Actually, a lot of them are very difficult to make, um, just based on the ingredients.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_01: So um, so usually when I'm making products, not only am I thinking about the ingredients that I want to use in the product, but I'm thinking about how long how what the shelf like look shelf life looks like.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so that might include I might make a product today, but I might it may, I may be testing it for a year just to see how well um the product is going to work.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but a lot, I think some of I think my hardest products are the ones with the um, I would say my golden herbal collection.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_01: Um that's the products with where we use iurbetic herbs, such as GoTo Cola Extract, Fanigreek, Neem oil, um, products that are aren't really readily available on the market.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and just um creating those products um and creating them on my own, but bringing them to my chemist.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_01: That's what makes it, that's where the difficult part comes in.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um, because I don't have a science background.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_01: I just really enjoy making products and it's just something that I've learned how to do on my own.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_01: But I need to make sure that every product that I put out um is gonna be one good for the consumer, two, the shelf life is going to be good, and three, um, the quality remains consistent.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_01: So that's when it becomes difficult to make a product because I have these good ideas, I have these good formulations, but now I have to bring them to my chemist to make sure that they're a good that it's a good product to sell, or you know, we may like the consistency of the product and really just trying to figure out how to mass create that same product and keep the can keep the same integrity of the consistency and the quality within the product.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, that makes sense.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I love that.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_00: You know, and I think that that's really it's interesting how you describe that journey because I know a lot of founders, it's it all starts in the kitchen.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_00: But, you know, for me, I've always wondered, you know, how is the process of finding a lab for those kind of, you know, those companies?
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_00: Because I know that when you create something and it's it just works, you know, how do you find the perfect team to recreate that, you know, in a way that because you know, I'm guessing a little bit of like you know, letting go of control is involved, right?
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_00: Like we're all very like, you know, um attached to our formulations.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_00: I understand.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_00: That's that's amazing though.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I want to actually just, you know, kind of end the show with, you know, just asking you about your your favorite products in the line and um something you, you know, just some products that you think would work for pretty much everybody.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um actually, all the products are my favorite.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um, if you um look at my YouTube or if you look on at my Instagram, I am a natural who just enjoys wearing my hair.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so you may see me with my hair straight.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_01: Right now, I have cornals in my hair.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I love wearing my hair curly.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um so um the hit our um products tell.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: Color beauty is really um for anyone in any phase within their hair journey.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so for example, we have we have a mousse, we have styling creams, we have curling jellies if you enjoy wearing your hair curly, but we also have um oils, serums, butters if you love wearing protective styles, and we have deep conditioner.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we have deep conditioners, we have um I love the deep conditioners actually, and the oil, the hair oil, um Tailored Beauty's hair oil is amazing.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_00: It's so I wanna actually like how why did you make that so like so much more like viscous?
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um, Kia, because it's so wonderful for my hair.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I you know, usually hair oil for me feels like it just evaporates off, but it's like your hair oil just really like my hair just absorbs it and it's like oh thank you.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_01: And you said you you have you have wavy hair, correct?
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I have wavy hair and it's Indian like hair, and it's like I have a lot of it.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so the oil, the oil is actually um great for um curly, kinky, and wavy hair types.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um, right now it's our number one selling product at Walmart because it just works for so many different hair types.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so um with the oil, um it can be used so many different ways.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_01: Um it can be used as a hot oil treatment, as an everyday oil.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but but the reason why I made the oil the way I made it is because um I struggle with thinning edges.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um and my daughter also struggled with the bald spot that a lot of babies get in the back of their so at that time, at that time I just um really needed to make something that was going to help both of our hair grow um because it was healthy, but it wasn't growing in those areas.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_01: And if you look at the ingredients, the number one ingredient is castor oil, which is great for um, which is great for growing hair.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_01: We have other, we have several, a blend of so many different oils, but um, even if you look on the testimonials on our website, um, if you go to um Walmart.com, you look at those testimonials, you'll see like a lot of people love the oil for the same reason why you love the oil, the consistency as well as the results that it gives.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, it's it's a really, really nice like like change because I I feel like as soon as I applied it, especially like for me, like the ends, like it just smooths everything out and it doesn't make my hair feel like weighed down, but it's still it's just so viscous.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_00: That's why I was like, it's brilliant, you know what I mean?
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_00: Like the combination because it feels like it's gonna weigh when like when you first put it on your on your palm, you'll feel like how thick it is, and it's beautiful, but then when you put it in your hair, it doesn't weigh it down at all.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_00: So I just I love that product.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_01: And then we have another oil which is different from that oil.
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_01: We have a serum, which is which is actually the opposite of um the consistency of that oil.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_01: That one is a little bit thinner.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so let's say you were to curl your hair with a curling iron, or you don't want to put a you don't want to put something on your hair that's going to weigh it down, but you for the reasons that you like the growth thick oil, we have one that's a little bit thinner that also penetrates, but it won't weigh your hair down as well.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, I didn't know that.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_00: That's pretty cool.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_00: Like I'm I'm honestly like not a I'm not into oils that much, but it's like you know, it's like once I find one that works, I like stick to it.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_00: So it's it's great.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, I've really so Kia, can you tell us about um, you know, I know that the the line is available in Walmart and I would love to hear like what that process was like and you know why you chose Walmart and just all the details.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_01: Um yeah, so um we actually launched at Walmart earlier this year.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_01: Um and like I said, there um there is a need for products like ours in Walmart.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_01: Um, the texture hair care space is rapidly growing.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_01: And so we were actually contacted and um they asked us what are our five best sellers.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_01: Um so we went and we looked at the data and you know we have a really close um relationship with our audience.
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um not only do, you know, we have our Facebook community, but we also do a lot of trade shows.
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um so we had the opportunity to meet our audience in person, ask them a lot of questions.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_01: So um when they asked us what our five products were, um, we were able to provide them with that information.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so right now um we are in Select Walmart stores, over 200 Walmart locations.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um, yeah, so we're congratulations.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_00: That's amazing.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_01: We we're really happy about that.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um and um the products are available there, they're available on our website.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_00: Is it does Walmart.com carry them too, or do they not do that?
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, um, they're also available on Walmart.com as well.
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yay, that's awesome.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_00: That's so cool.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_00: I love that you but I love that you picked Walmart though, you know what I mean?
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_00: Like I love that you went with it because it's such a huge, like I think that's such a huge step in accessibility for you know a brand.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_00: And I I love that.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that you know, by using that as like the place instead of something like, for example, Sephora or only like some places like Ulta, you know, only a few people go there.
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_00: Whereas Walmart, it's like you're reaching so many more people, I think.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_00: So I love that you chose Walmart.
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_01: That's and our cons our consumer generally does shop at Walmart, so we wanted to make the products accessible to people, to places to a store where customers um are our customers are likely to shop.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um, because um last year before we got in our into Walmart, that was our biggest selling year.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_01: And honestly, the um just being in Walmart really helped our business because you know, being online and now being at Walmart stores, we're able to really keep up with, you know, making sure that our customers have their products um when they want their products.
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_00: No, it's it's huge.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_00: That's a huge step.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, again, like congratulations.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_00: I'm so excited to see that you know, a brand like yours, like something that's so organic, so you know, rooted in just good products that work.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_00: I'm loving that you guys are doing so well.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_00: And everyone listening, you know, I really, really need you to go check out Tailored Beauty like yesterday.
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_00: So um thank you.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_00: Listening out there, I really want you guys to go check out Tailored Beauty.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_00: It's a beautiful line.
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, every product you can see that Kia put her heart into it.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's it shows, you know, in the quality of the product.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_00: So I really want you guys to check them out.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_00: Leave us some comments, some feedback, um, anything you want us to kind of circle back on.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_00: I can definitely contact Kia's team and see if we can get some you know answers if viewers have any questions.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_00: But um, yeah, thank you so much, Kia.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_00: This was such an awesome, awesome conversation.
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for having me.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_00: Hey guys, so I hope you love that episode.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_00: Please make sure to hit subscribe if you're tuning in to us on any podcast platform.
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_00: We are available on so many different platforms.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_00: So wherever it is that you're tuning in, just go hit subscribe.
• 29:44
  SPEAKER_00: You will be immediately notified when we publish new episodes.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_00: This way, you're able to tune in to amazing insights from experts, brand founders, industry leaders, authors, all the wonderful people that we host.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_00: And that's very important for me because I love to hear from you guys and really understand what you love and what you want to hear more of.
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_00: Also, make sure to give us a follow on all of our social media outlets.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_00: We're available on Instagram, TikTok, X, you name it, we're there.
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_00: We also have a blog on Medium.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_00: So if you're a reader and you love Medium blogs, check us out on Medium.
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_00: We publish some really great articles on there that do deeper dives than just what's available on the podcast.
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_00: And it's really a great place for all of you science geeks out there that want to learn a little bit more.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_00: We go above and beyond with our research and making sure we're bringing you information that you usually probably won't hear about in other outlets.
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_00: So check us out, leave us a comment, leave us a review, and we'll be back next time with another episode.
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.