Joy Adaézé is a popular face in the fashion and entertainment community. The stylist and blogger is often praised for her fierce head-to-toe style and can be spotted rocking one of her many fabulous turbans. Adaézé’s latest venture includes the launch of a natural-textured weave and clip-in line, Curl Sistas Hair. What’s really cool about the brand for naturalistas of varying hair textures is that Joy teamed up with her new husband, Obi Okere, to create and launch it.
BlackEnterprise.com caught up with the New York-based newlyweds to get the scoop on Curl Sistas Hair, how they deal with relationship issues while working so closely together, and more.
BlackEnterprise.com: What inspired the birth of Curl Sistas Hair?
Joy: My first love before I got into the fashion industry was hair! I did everything from sew-in weaves to braids. I love the ability hair has to transform a person’s look and mood. Obi and I launched CurlSistas.com, where natural hair meets personal style, last year in April and it was very popular with our followers. Our instagram @curlsistas grew quickly as a result of our creative hair inspiration. We decided a natural-textured hair line would be a great product to serve our customers and at the same time utilize my background as a hair stylist. I’ve also been natural for five years, so I really related with what our customer was looking for because I was her! The best part of Curl Sistas Hair is that now women with natural hair can wear protective styles that match their own texture. No need to straighten your leave-out!
How long has the process been since the two of you first had the idea?
Obi: The process between the idea for Curl Sistas Hair and our product launch lasted about four and a half months. We didn’t waste any time after we initially came up with the idea. We immediately began researching the natural
hair extension market and the feasibility of us launching a successful hair line. Although four and a half months is a relatively quick turnaround time, we spent countless late nights surveying potential customers, designing and testing our product, building new supplier relationships, developing our go-to market strategy, and creatively solving all of the random problems that came up along the way. It was a hectic and fun bringing our idea to life.Keep reading on to the next page to see how Obi and Joy tackle relationship issues …
What’s unique about this hair versus other extension brands?
Joy: I am most proud of the quality of Curl Sistas Hair. It’s super soft and has beautiful, voluminous texture. Curl Sistas Hair is 100% virgin human hair, so it lasts up to a year or more—you can wash, dye and use heat on it. It won’t lose its curl pattern after styling. Curl Sistas Hair also does not matte up
after washing. Each pack of Curl Sistas Hair comes from one donor. The cuticle of the hair is kept intact to maintain its long lasting quality. Curl Sistas Hair undergoes a steam process to lock in the curl pattern at our international facility.Aside from our clip-ins, wefts and lace closures, we also offer small sample sizes of each texture for purchase so that our customer can experience Curl Sistas Hair firsthand before making her purchase. Most of all, what distinguishes us from other extension brands is that Obi and I recently wrote a book about natural hair called The CurlSistas Guide to DIY Natural Hair Products. With our book we are able to further serve our customers by giving them options to maintain and care for their real hair. It’s an awesome book full of easy to make all-natural shampoos, conditioners, moisturizers and more! All of our recipes are custom created by Obi and I, and I’ve
personally tested each one. My hair has never felt better! It’s moisturized, soft and the shedding has been dramatically reduced. Our book comes in e-book form for just $5. Plus, it’s free with a purchase of Curl Sistas Hair wefts or clip-ins!How do you deal with relationship issues so that they don’t affect the brand?
Joy: Date nights help! It’s really important not to let work interfere with our personal life. We like to have movie nights a couple times a week and spend time just talking and enjoying each other’s company.
What advice do you have for other couples looking to start a business together?
Obi: It’s important to understand eachother’s style of communication and fix any communication challenges before starting the business. If a couple has a problem communicating in their relationship, the problem will also play out in their business. This can hurt both the business and the relationship at the same time.