By: Shivani Persad, November 14 2024
Hello Hair is a dynamic business rooted in celebrating the natural beauty of textured hair and empowering individuals through inclusive products and education. As a part of Elevate Innovation’s Innovator Challenge, Hello Hair is a shining example of how we support and enable D2C founders to grow their vision.
Enjoy reading our interview with Hello Hair founder Anita Grant.
Can you tell us about your background and what inspired you to become an entrepreneur?
“I’ve always had an interest in entrepreneurship. My parents and sisters have all dabbled in the entrepreneurial world and have always been encouraged to have some form of ownership in the house… I was extremely shy growing up, and my two career options were either being a teacher or starting my own business. I had a bad experience tutoring at an early age, and I decided to pursue business… I took my last grade, 11 to 12 – all business courses, 98% plus in each, and it was like I had this new passion that I didn’t even know. I loved it. I went to school and commerce at Ryerson University, got a Business Commerce degree, thought I would get into law, and got a sales job 10 days after university. And once I learned that I could close the sale, I thought, okay, we’re going all in.”
Can you describe Hello Hair and the problem it aims to solve?
“Hello Hair is on a mission to represent, educate and celebrate the beauty of our natural hair through inclusive products for children and the inner child in all of us. It started as just a book for my young daughter to see how beautiful her crown is, and it is slowly evolving into a lifestyle brand, showing the beauty of our natural hair and different art forms. I would say so, from the book to our styling dolls and now getting into the multimedia production, so animations and TV, we’re just trying to expand and show how beautiful our hair is in different forms.”
What were some of the key challenges you faced when starting Hello Hair?
“I have a background in helping other businesses, so I’m a business consultant by day, but mostly in the tech space. And I think the hardest part is the lack of resources for CPG businesses when it comes to your market research regarding funding. And it was a book, so there’s really limited to no funding for the publishing space… I think just me going in that it’s a different community CPG, e-commerce, I’m so grateful. So, for me, it’s all the experience I had with a tech space. It’s still there, but it doesn’t always translate. So clearly, in CPG, they have their own set of challenges.”
What makes your product or service unique in the market?
“What we’ve identified when it comes to hair care and textured hair, you see a lot of big brands now pushing different products, but the biggest gap for us and myself, which took me 20 years to actually wear my natural hair, is because of the lack of education. There are so many products being pushed. There’s a lot of representation, but no one’s taking the time to break it down for us to know: this is my hair porosity. This is the science of my hair. This is why I’m adding this product to my hair. These products complement each other. These aren’t right. So it’s having a safe space to ask those questions and receive the correct answers.”
How has Hello Hair evolved since its inception?
“Honestly, I’m just listening to the community. The response was just overwhelmingly positive. It was: what can we do to help? What’s coming next? And that’s how the second book came out, which is more so the series of experiments to understand the signs of your hair, which led to the styling dolls to get the hands-on practice… I’m trying to break something down in the most simplified way because when you think about learning, where I’m at, when I’m level with my natural hair, I’m at the kindergarten level like my daughter, right? So we are learning together.”
What motivated you to join the incubator program with Elevate and Moneris?
“Community. So, first and foremost, it was the first program I did regarding the CPG space. People both like the self-guided, at your own pace, on-demand type of programming. So, one was just a community where people could learn from others. I know the Elevate brand has been in the space for a long time and has so much value. So, I was so pleased to be connected with people. I ended up hiring some of the speakers.”
How has the program helped you overcome specific challenges?
“I think the first one is the mindset, right? Just knowing some of the challenges that I thought were just exclusive to me is a widespread thing in this space, and that was being able to talk to other founders, direct to consumer founders, and realizing that these are very similar challenges that you’re going to experience. Before I went into that program for two years, I had never made any ads. I never opened organic marketing. And that was also a whole new world that I was exposed to, and really focusing on the conversions in putting strategy behind what we’re doing… I love the live audits… getting on this broad feedback on my business and being able to implement that feedback immediately.”
Can you share a memorable experience or critical learning from the program?
“Life gets busy. I have two little ones. I run this business. I have a family to support. So it’s hard to stay fully engaged in all these things. And I will say what was unique and memorable for me; it’s like, I couldn’t miss a session because you can see and feel the intention behind the actual speakers and how dedicated they were to adding value in sessions. I felt like I left with so much knowledge that it could be the same topic I’ve heard repeatedly, but the way that they deliver, the way that they have their cases, the way that they are, it just hit different.”
What are your future plans for Hello Hair?
“We’re actively fundraising right now. I would love to grow my team because it’s lonely, but there are so many different avenues and paths we can take. So, it is currently focusing on the CPG stage, and we will be evolving the education. So, getting back into the education time that we had in 2022, we now have the dolls, providing that hands-on education and creating content around that to house in the tech world. So we’re getting back into technology.”
What advice would you give to other entrepreneurs?
“Join communities like Elevate, ask questions, talk to people, and know that your challenge is not unique. And I feel like once you find your people and share your challenges, you’ll know you’re not alone. It’s not exclusive to you, but there are so many moving parts with CPG, and there’s always an answer. And I’m learning that it’s solely by me surrounding myself with people and similar experiences that I can navigate this journey, knowing that if I did need help, I could reach out to somebody. So it’s a community; I would say, find your community.”
Hello Hair’s journey showcases the impact of community support and innovation on small businesses and their ability to break barriers in their industries. Elevate Innovation is proud to support founders like those behind Hello Hair as they grow their ventures, inspire their communities, and redefine what’s possible in the CPG space.
If you’re an entrepreneur looking for a supportive environment to help bring your vision to life, consider joining Elevate’s next Innovator Challenge. Check out Hello Hair on Instagram and follow their journey to making a difference and building community.
