Jackson & Williams promote female empowerment

Monique Jackson and Kita Williams are not like most women who appear on VH1’s popular reality TV programming. They didn’t get famous because of romantic affiliations with celebrities and they don’t throw drinks and fists. They’re about business from a professional standpoint. The PR and marketing divas behind the machine that is NFL star Terrell Owens boast over 10 years of branding experience for clients ranging from Ludacris to Bruce Willis, and expanded their expertise to television when they successfully pitched The T.O. Show. But it doesn’t stop there.

After receiving a flood of emails from young women and girls about various topics ranging from dating to hair, Jackson and Williams launched Define Your Pretty, a multi-service company that offers beauty and hair products, as well as mentorship to women around the country. Their mission is to show that there are positive Black women on reality TV and that it’s important to be a entrepreneur about substance. BlackEnterprise.com caught up with the busy duo to talk about the power of ownership, the motivation behind expanding their brand and why they feel there’s a lack of positivity on reality TV.

What exactly is the goal of the Define Your Pretty brand?

Williams: Define Your Pretty was something that was our child. We felt like it was our responsibility to show girls that you can be smart, talented and creative. It doesn’t matter whether you have the latest Louboutin shoes, or the latest Hermes bag—that’s not valuable. Monique and I want girls to know that we’re a business brand. We have a long resume of credible talents and smarts that got us to where we are today because of education and dedication. We want girls to know they know what it takes to be a CEO, an entrepreneur or even to be a person that’s on the right track ’cause of their own hard work, not because of who they’re married to, dating or sleeping with.

How did the beauty products work into the brand messaging?

Williams: Define Your Pretty is a movement and it’s the message that motivates these girls. We figure once you work on the inside, how do you work on the outside? Because, you can be a beautiful person on the outside but your own traits on the inside are all messed up because you don’t value yourself and because you value the aesthetics like so and so is on the cover of Cosmo. Monique and I decided to be our own brand. If we’re experts in creating financial revenue for our clients, why wouldn’t we do it for ourselves? So from Define Your Pretty, Monique and I had to define ourselves because we want to be pretty, successful business women so the brand now breeds beauty products because we decided to create the No. 1 thing that we, as African American women consume—that’s beauty cream and hair products.

How hard was it for you to get the line off the ground?

Williams: We spent almost a year trying to get this deal rolling because it’s harder for African American businesswomen to get into the hair business because the Asians have it on lock in all areas. I’m tired of us buying hair from people that don’t look like us. We’re launching our own hair care line, where it’s 100% virgin, it’s straight, wavy, curly and kinky. And it’s affordable to our girls. We wanted something that’s affordable so if you live in Alabama or if you live in Kentucky, you can afford our hair and it’s the same hair that we were putting on here so that is key. And then with that part of our purchases go to support the Define Your Pretty Camp.

Define Your Pretty beauty and hair care products

What is the Define Your Pretty Camp all about?

Jackson: The camp is a place for girls who are dealing with issues. We joined forces with the United Negro College Fund. Education and financial literacy and all of that are important but you can’t move forward in any area of your life if you don’t feel good about yourself. So when we joined forces with them, we called it Define Your Pretty. We’re talking to girls about self-empowerment issues, image, just the day-to-day things that we go through as women in order to make our lives better—the tools we need and the characteristics that we need. Our camp right now is a day camp and our plan is eventually to do a weekend overnight-like type of camp situation.

Click here to continue reading…

Williams and Jackson with their client, NFL star Terrell "T.O." Owens

What are some of your most important business tips for women trying to make it as entrepreneurs?

Williams: We have three business tips that we give women for building a successful brand. The first thing is having more than one financial stream of revenue [because] when one of your financial streams of revenue is pulled away—whether you get laid off from your job, you get fired or even if the money isn’t coming in the way it used to—if you have something else that’s bringing in some money you won’t feel so desperate if something catastrophic happens. That’s the first part of what we call the three Ps—passion, progress and profit. If you have a hobby make it a passion and you will progress. The second and third are, know your niche and play the part you want to become.

Speaking of becoming the part you play, you both are very vocal about the negative portrayal of Black women on reality TV. What are your thoughts on reality TV and women of color?

Williams: Why is it that we have to pull hair and fight to get on the mainstream shows? But, at the end of the day we feed into the image because if we have to act a little bit more belligerent or “ghetto” then we’re going to act belligerent or ghetto and if we stop doing what they expect us to do then they’ll see women of color—people of color period—in a different way. We won’t look like animals acting up. We won’t have to be really obnoxious when the cameras are on. I think it’s unfair and if you think about the Basketball Wives they go to lunch, go to coffee shops, go to somebody’s house and talk about what they did and who didn’t show up and why she’s not talking to you. On our show we have real story content and it’s a story that unfolds over 10 weeks. Whatever is going on in our lives is not going to be resolved in one episode, it’s happening throughout. You see us doing all sorts of things but unfortunately there’s no substance there when you’re talking about who didn’t come to my bridal shower, who didn’t show up here or why you slept with my ex husband or why [are] you talking about me. That’s high school stuff! Monique and I really want to be known to change the concept and maturity of the way people see us.

Jackson: Unfortunately, the way society portrays us [as women of color] and the way we are being puppets in allowing ourselves to be portrayed, you know the catfights and the derogatory statements will be the ones left in because it gives the audience a wow factor. So if you are fighting to play because you can get a paycheck you will go the extra mile or two.

Is it safe to assume that you’ll be executive producing more shows with a positive spin?

Jackson: Definitely. We’re in the pitching business. We stumbled upon it by accident but we definitely have been bitten by the producer’s bug, the creative side bug, so we are looking to produce other shows.

Williams: We are the brown Kardashians with substance and I don’t mean that in any way with knocking [the Kardashians], but we use them as a prototype. We have real substance with how we got to where we are because the crazy part is Terrell can be Kim Kardashian all day long because it was Terrell that allowed us to showcase who we are because I believe everyone in life has a purpose. Terrell needed us just as much as we needed him. He wouldn’t have been able to pitch a show by himself. He would have never had the time nor the resources but we also realized that the Kardashians are a multimillion-dollar brand because they took their brand and made it a business. We would love to expand the brand of Mo and Kita, so you guys can see us outside of Terrell, kind of like Kourtney and Khloe.

Black Enterprise.com: You started running at an early age. Can we say that you planned for the success that you’re enjoying today?

Richards-Ross: Yes, I’d definitely say that I planned for success. I started running when I was seven and I was always very good at track and field, but when I was 16, I kind of made a commitment to myself that I wanted to push myself and do whatever it would take to become one of the best. I was in high school at the time, and I started working out a lot. I’ve always been very determined, and planned to do really well at whatever I do, so I definitely think I planned for the success that I’m enjoying today.

When one aspires to be a professional athlete, should they start preparing early in life?

I think it’s different for everybody. It just depends on your goals and how you train.

With an athletic career, what is your version of the 9-5?

Even though I don’t work consistently from morning to evening, it definitely feels like a 9 to 5. Usually I do my weight training in the morning for an hour or two, and then I’ll have lunch before I head the track. I stay on the track for another hour and a half to two hours doing my workout routine. And then I work on flexibility and do thousand abs a night. Sometimes I get massages a few times a week, so I fill a lot of the day. Of course it’s very important for me to rest, so it feels like a full-time job.

And you’re currently training for the 2012 Olympics?

My main goal is to be ready for the Olympics of 2012, but I still have a full season this year where I’ll go overseas and compete in about 10-15 races, and then ultimately I hope to defend my world title  in Korea.

You suffer from Behcet’s Syndrome, what is that exactly?

It’s an autoimmune disease that’s rare in America, and also rare in African-American women. For about four years, I’ve suffered from severe mouth ulcers and lesions, fatigue and joint pain. So it’s just been an obstacle that I’ve had to deal with. There have been times when it’s been really challenging to train or to compete because of the illness. But, it’s made me stronger, I think I’m a better athlete than I would have been had I not had this illness.

And to add to that challenge, you also recently fell and injured yourself correct?

Yeah, actually before I fell, I had a quad injury in April of last year while I was competing in a meet and I pulled my quad muscles. I tried to come back and compete in June when I fell and bruised my tailbone and twisted my ankle, so it was a rough 2010. But, I’m healthy now and training hard again, so hopefully I’ll have another full, successful season.

Is training very different when you have an injury?

Yes, the thing about having an injury and training is that it’s such a tough balance. You actually want to train harder, but you have to train less because you don’t want to make your injury worse by running too fast or running too hard or lifting too heavy. So I actually had to train less. When my leg did start to feel a little better, I was trying to push it more and more and I ended up injuring myself again. So it’s very difficult when you have an injury, especially mid-season when you want to recover from it and run well.

Click here to continue reading on page 2

You and your husband, New York Giants cornerback Aaron Ross, both have extreme careers, and you also co-own a hair salon in Austin, Texas. Do you, along with so many, struggle with trying to achieve work/life balance?

You know we don’t. It’s amazing how everything just works out so well for us. His football season usually starts in September, and my track season usually ends around the same time, so I’m able to be with him full-time in New York, supporting him and going to the majority of his games.  I also usually start my early season training in New York. When his season ends, he comes to Texas. So right now we’re together in Texas while I’m doing my training, and he’s off. He cooks and supports me, just like I do for him when I’m off.  With the business, because it’s a family business, I don’t always have to go in for the business to work. I co-own the shop with my sister, the store manager, and my mother, so it’s not a distraction in any way. It’s something fun that I do with my sister. So I think my husband and I have a great balance to our relationship and it works. When we’re apart, we miss each other, and it’s just great to be together again. It’s actually a positive for us.

What philanthropic activities are you involved in? (The Sanya Richards Fast Track Program)

What’s very dear to my heart is an after-school program that I started in Jamaica where I’m from called the Sanya Richards Fast Track Program. I’ve always been proud that our education was superior to most countries, but I was surprised to hear a couple of years ago that it wasn’t on that same level, and that a lot of the kids weren’t reading on their grade level and that illiteracy had gone way up. So four years ago, we started this program in one school. Today, we’re in 10 schools, and the board of education in Jamaica has said that they believe our program is actually helping kids. Every time I go down there, I meet another 30 or 40 group of kids that are being impacted by the program. It’s really special to me. My main project right now is growing this program, and possibly bringing it to the United States.  I also partner with an organization called Fun for Kids which is out of Miami, and we came together and made the program work in Jamaica.

You’ve always been intentional when it comes to your life goals. So what can we expect to see you doing in the future?

I want to run for sure in the 2012 Olympics. I’m not sure about 2016 just yet because I want to start a family with my husband sometime after the next Olympics. It kind of all depends on if I can get back into training and still be one of the best in the world, then I may run in 2016. If not, I hope to have written a book or two. I really love fashion so I may start my own sporty clothing line. I’m very ambitious; I always have a lot of goals, but track and field is my primary goal now, and I’m going to try and express myself from there depending on where the future takes me.

• Read more…
• Top 10 tips for Young Entrepreneurs
• Getting Started: Turning Your Blog into a Business
• Getting Started: Kandi Burruss and Her Biz Partner on Opening a Business with Your Best Friend
• 10 Remarkable Career Comebacks

In tackling their own hair challenges, Levy, left, and Etheredge built a smooth operation. (Photo by Hayley Murphy)

As biracial women, Wendi Levy and Kim Etheredge couldn’t find haircare products for their curly hair texture. “[At the time] there really was not a product on the market for our specific hair type—combination hair,” says Etheredge.

Tired of mixing and matching products, the two friends in 2004 launched MIXED CHICKS, a Canoga Park, California, company that serves up haircare products for multicultural women and men. And with the number of bi- and multiracial people in the United States at 6.5 million and growing, MIXED CHICKS is ready to serve them and others. Their products are currently sold in nearly 1,000 beauty supply stores and salons in the U.S. and abroad, and the company grossed $3.5 million in revenues in 2009. With an all-natural children’s line coming out at the end of the summer, MIXED CHICKS stands poised to double that amount in 2010.

But the road was rough initially. When Levy, 41, and Etheredge, 39, started the company, both still worked full time as a teacher and public relations executive, respectively. Levy worked with Etheredge’s sister, who introduced the two. Both biracial (Etheredge’s mother is Irish and her father is black American; Levy’s mother is black American and her father is Jewish), the two became friends, and eventually the business venture was born. Their day jobs funded the business, giving them a budget of about $10,000 to spend on product ingredients, laboratory time, and marketing materials. But when it was time to purchase product packaging, their funds came up short.

“We had a specific bottle that we liked,” says Etheredge. “Most bottles are usually round or oval. We liked this square bottle. It just wasn’t something that you saw on the shelves every day.” However, that uniqueness made the bottles more difficult to find. There were manufacturers that had extra round bottles to sell in small denominations, but when it came to the less common square bottle, “most companies didn’t want to deal with you unless you were going to order 50,000 units,” Levy recalls. With no real budget (“We were winging it,” says Etheredge), they could afford only about 1,500 bottles for their initial run. As a result, manufacturer after manufacturer turned down their request.

Frustrated and faced with the prospect of packaging their products in a way that didn’t convey the image they wanted, the duo came up with a last-ditch plea: Let the manufacturer fill MIXED CHICKS bottles when it fulfilled other large orders. Although forcing MIXED CHICKS to package products on somebody else’s schedule, the move allowed the duo to create a more visually appealing product on their limited budget. Eventually, a manufacturer said yes,  and MIXED CHICKS got its upgraded packaging without the upgraded price.

As the company grew, Levy and Etheredge took it on full time and were clear about their target audience. “Some people gave us negative feedback, thinking we were trying to separate ourselves,” says Levy. But they didn’t see it that way. As Etheredge asserts, “We are providing unity.”

Word about the products spread among the multicultural community. The company’s turning point came when a number of biracial celebrities, such as actresses Tracee Ellis Ross and Halle Berry, started mentioning the products in media interviews, unsolicited. Levy says the recognition helped significantly. Revenues doubled from 2008 to 2009—the year Berry announced her affinity for MIXED CHICKS products. “When they gave a shout out in different magazines, [the business] stopped inching along.”

The company, now with three full-time employees, invested more than $10,000 in 2008 to have a custom mold created, which put production control in MIXED CHICKS’ hands. Unlike before, Levy says, “We don’t have to wait for somebody else’s timetable.”

Dellinger

When Mahisha Dellinger set out to launch her Elk Grove, California-based hair care company Curls L.L.C., she anticipated a few kinks. And with determination and business know-how, Dellinger managed to solve not only her own hair dilemma but also the hair frustrations of others with what seemed like unmanageable curly tresses. In 2003, its first year, the fledging company went on to gross $86,000. Now, seven years later and with $3 million in gross revenues for 2008, the 36-year-old looks forward to taking her business to even greater heights.

Here are Dellinger’s five business strategies for securing sheer success.

Don’t be afraid. Launching into a market already heavily saturated can be intimidating, so it’s best to find your niche. Although, there were more established and consumer-trusted ethnic hair care companies when Dellinger first came on the scene, it didn’t stop her. Dellinger says she was confident Curls products possessed a new and innovative spin. And by focusing on multi-ethnic women with curly hair initially, she was able to reach an otherwise ignored clientele.

Utilize all of your resources. “We started out six years ago before the popularity of Facebook, Myspace, and the other social networking sites,” says Dellinger. “However, we still used digital resources.” She and her team aggressively went into chat rooms and online forums promoting the products, which led to developing a large client base from grassroots marketing. Thus, marketing your business online can be an easy and cost-efficient way to build a buzz for a new product or service. Add to that a mentor and you create an advantageous synergy twice over.

Dellinger worked with SCORE, a non-profit organization dedicated to educating entrepreneurs and the formation, growth and success of small business nationwide. “SCORE matched me with a mentor that was a retired hair care company executive,” recalls Dellinger, who sought out someone experienced in her field. “He was very helpful and provided excellent insight.”

Connect and stay connected. “We connected with our clients through online focus,” Dellinger says. “We also attended hair shows to meet and talk to curly-haired women. We listened to their needs and adjusted our products to fit. Dellinger, who still tests products on customers to ensure they are meeting their needs, attributes much of Curls’ success to listening to customers even as the business grew. “If our customers are satisfied with our product they not only continue to purchase it, but they also spread the word and encourage their local hair salons and stores to carry it,” says Dellinger.

Do your due diligence. Starting a business is an enormous task. Dellinger advises that all entrepreneurs research the market they want to launch into thoroughly. Knowing about the industry can save you time, money, and energy down the road, she adds. “Starting off as an unknown brand we received a lot of ‘no thanks’ from salons that we wanted to partner with,” says Dellinger.  But instead of taking the rejections as a defeat, they motivated her to push forward and target other companies. She adds, “Research the more established companies, find their mistakes, learn from them and capitalize.”

Make a great first impression. “You want to make sure everything that will touch your customer makes a good impression,” Dellinger advises. She encourages entrepreneurs to hire individuals to handle the aspects of their business that they cannot. From packaging to marketing, experts can ensure that all components of your business come across as professional and worthy of the consumer. She adds, “You do not want to come across as a small company on a small budget even if you are.”

For more on Mahisha Dellinger and Curls L.L.C., check out the July 2009 issue of Black Enterprise magazine.