The Essence Girls United Disruptors Summit features a dynamic panel discussion that tackles the challenges of building a small business, provides critical insight into the brand’s new products, and highlights some key curl power moments. did. The panel was led by Tiffany Rennie, senior marketing executive and original curly hair influencer, and Shelly Taveres, Cantu Ambassador and founder of House of Curls.
The conversation began with Shirley sharing her journey to founding her brand and her experience as a curly hair influencer.
“This is a brand I created about six years ago to support the representation of the Latinx community with natural hair,” Sherry told GU.
Tiffany then asked Shelley questions about her journey as an influencer and how curls are represented, and discussed the diversity of curly hair in the influencer world.
“The first content I worked on was natural hair. I started doing curly hair content to see what my hair liked and what products I needed to use. From there, I started doing it on YouTube. started appearing and a lot of natural hair influencers started coming out. That’s when I learned about my hair preferences, and Cantu was one of the first products I used, posting the ones that worked for me. The ones I loved were really authentic, and Cantu was one of those brands, and one day I DMed them and they said they were holding an event for creators in Miami. They wrote me back, flew me to Miami, and everything was paid for. I was their ambassador at the time, and it’s been about 6 years now. ” Sherry told GU.
Tiffany expressed her appreciation for Cantu’s natural hair products and for listening to their customers.
“One of the best things about them is that they listen to their customers, their consumers. They’ve recently reformulated it to have better ingredients and be even more moisturizing. It’s very important to listen to the opinions of people,” Tiffany told Gu.
Shirley echoed this sentiment, talking about the relationship between her business and the community she has built.
“In my business at House of Carl’s, we are very community-oriented. We call them the HOC fam, the House of Carl’s fam. Many of them More than a customer to us, they have become really good friends. They attend all the events, retreats and pop-ups we do and they always give us suggestions and ideas. I’m always listening because it’s the roots of who we are and what we do for them. We started this brand because of our younger selves. wants the younger generation to know that it’s okay to wear your natural hair,” Sherry told GU.
Shirley also shared her favorite Cantu products as an influencer.
“Curl Activator Cream” My hair loves this. I think this is enough and I don’t have to put anything in my hair and it lasts for a week. Personally, I love something with a little more definition and volume, and I think this is one of the products that does that well. I really like the conditioner and reformulation. When I don’t want to put too much product in my hair, I leave it alone,” Sherry told GU.
Tiffany highlighted several key ingredients included in the reformulated products, including organic coconut oil, fair trade shea butter, and B vitamins. She then asked Sherry about the improvements she had made during her trip.
“For me, when I first started, I wasn’t that hard on myself. When I first started, it was hard when something didn’t work or wasn’t perfect, and I focused on perfection. . Now I know that if I love it, they’ll love it too. I have to trust my instincts instead of hoping it will work out perfectly.” told.
Shirley concluded with some valuable advice for those considering starting a business.
“Follow your gut. It will always lead you to the right place and you don’t have to wait for the right time. There’s never a right time to do something, the time is now,” Sherry told GU told.
