August 5, 2026 • 41 mins
Wealth Wednesday: Courtney Adeleye is back in the hair care industry with Watch And Sea Beauty. As she enters this new chapter, she reflects on what she wishes she knew when she first started, on spending 4 years homeless as a teenager, and how that experience changed her perspective
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
What's up his way up at Angela Yee and Stacy
Tissdaily's here with me today on a Wealth Wednesday with
an amazing guest.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
We do have an amazing guest. Happy Wealth Wednesday's everybody,
and we're actually kicking off our Entrepreneur Spotlight series every
Wednesday during Black Business Month. We are going to be
celebrating and lifting up iconic entrepreneurs and who else could
you possibly possibly kick that off with except for Courtney Etai,
(00:28):
Thank you and thank you so much for being here.
Courtney is the now the founder and CEO of Watching
See Beauty, but you might know her from the main
choice Woo, which she founded in twenty thirteen. Twenty thirteen,
five hundred dollars?
Speaker 3 (00:42):
Okay, how a hundred that happen? Oh? Five hundred dollars
in a vision? You know, you know, I'm really big
on you know, grow as you go. I don't think
you always have to start big. So when people hear
she started with five hundred dollars, how and you turned
into one hundred million dollars in sales, I don't think
you have to start big. I think you should start
(01:03):
where you are, and I think you have the ability
to scale. So with me, I'm like, okay, give me
some bottles, give me a few ingredients, give me a label,
and let's get this business cracking.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
What made you even decide that this was something you
wanted to do. There's always that why I want.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
Yeah, you know, I'm from Detroit. You know, they like
to call it the hair capital. It is, so I've
always been into hair. You know, My background is science
is nursing. But long story short, put a bad color
on my hair and I had I was forced to
start taking care of my hair.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
Listen who that I would need to dye my hair
blind and I was like, I'm not doing that again.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
You know. I quickly learned that I've did it before.
Speaker 4 (01:42):
I was like, I don't think I can do that again.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
Yeah, you know, I say relaxers and you know, color
don't mix. And I think I learned the hard way
or should I say the good way? You know, because
it definitely was a segue into you know, this really experimenting,
experimenting with.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
Hair before we jump into the business. In a back
up a little bit, your story is just amazing. You
were homeless at some points in your life, and I
know you had two sisters, and you grew up with
a single mother in Detroit.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
Mm hm.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
And as I was reading your backstory, I was wondering
if starting this hair care business was because you wanted
to start a business or you wanted to change your life.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
You know, I think sometimes, you know, not all the time,
but I think entrepreneurship is something that a lot of
people are born with. And I think what it looks
like on the outside, sometimes we're saying, like, look at
this person, like they're doing something else, and they're doing
something else, and but they're doing something right, right, So
we look at those dream chasers and we look at
some time from a negative perspective, but those are the
(02:42):
ones who actually changed the world with their vision. So
for me, it was always something I felt like, you know,
even going into nursing, I've always felt like there was
something else that I was meant to do. I felt
like it was a stepping stone. But yeah, definitely, going
through you know, being homeless, you know, life was purposeful.
You know. I didn't think it was fair to just
(03:04):
operate on a you know, just on a self thing.
Like I said before, I think we were here to serve,
you know, And I think when you do that every day,
everything else just aligns.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
The Troy is definitely I want to say, that's a
city that breeds entrepreneurship too, for whatever reason.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
Because of the hustler you know, you know, and it's
you know, and we use that term, you know, hustling,
but it's the truth. Entrepreneurship is a hustle. Can you
get up every day and do the unthinkable? Can you
do it without getting paid? Can you hustle your way
through it? And I think when we look at Detroit,
you know, you have those individuals, like life wasn't in
(03:42):
your favor being a single mom. I was actually known
as the best dressed in high school and I was homeless. Wow,
you know what I mean. So it's like you don't
have to show up. You know what you're going through,
so you have to have that purpose, you know. And
for me, like you know, my mom told me not
too longer. She was like, oh, you know, I'm sorry,
And I said, well, don't apologize, I said, because I
(04:03):
know for a fact I wouldn't be who I am
today if I didn't go through those things.
Speaker 4 (04:07):
How did that even happen? You know?
Speaker 1 (04:09):
Because I think I've heard people just look down on that.
But there's such extenuating circumstances and as we all know,
that could happen to anyone.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
That's right. And you know the crazy thing is, and
I'm glad you said that because we think of the
typical when we think of homelessness. But my mom, knowing
that we were from Detroit, she had our girls, she
was like, I just don't want you guys living in
neighborhoods where you're going to get pregnant. You're going to
end up as a statistic. So she always lived above
her means, so she was in places that we really
(04:37):
couldn't afford. And it was like, okay, the opposite of
that is we're like in our car. So what she
was trying to do, like I told her, I said,
you actually achieved it. I said, because a lot of times,
you know, and I hate to sound cliche, people like, oh,
you know you're from Detroit, you a hustler, Like what
side of town are you from? And I'm like, we're
shooting decided Walmart somewhere outside, sleeping in the car, you know.
(04:58):
But what she tried to achieve I told her, I said,
you accomplished it. You know, I have the mindset that
you wanted me to have. You know, the circumstances wasn't ideal.
But that's why I grind every day. That's why I'm
trying to make sure that my kids don't go through
the same thing. You know.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
And sometimes as kids too, we adapt so easily to things.
And did it feel normal to you or when did
you realize that it wasn't?
Speaker 3 (05:23):
You know, I'm the youngest side of my sisters, so
I think for them it probably affected them from a
negative perspective a lot more than it did for me.
You know, as a kid, you know, you have to
your sisters are right there, your mom is right there.
For me, it's like I'm good, you know, getting older, yeah, exactly.
So when I got a little older, it's like okay,
Like she's like, well, I would have to go to
(05:45):
like the gas station and wash up in the morning.
I remember at one time it was a four year straight,
a four years straight, and it was like every day,
like we would have to go somewhere, you know, get
up in the morning, you know, get our clothes, go
in the bathroom, wash up, getting ready for school. And
that's so I told me, I've been on my own
(06:05):
since I was fifteen years old, and it wasn't ideal.
It wasn't like, oh, she's a bad kid. Like, no,
we didn't have stability. But at the same time, I
knew I wanted more in life. I knew what she
was trying to do, so I never held it against
her at all. I'm like, I see what you what
you were trying to do, and I get it.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
And you did go to college, right, okay, and that's
when you said, Okay, what were your goals then when
you were going to school.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
You know, my goals was. I felt like I kept
getting mixed out, like I would get like nice jobs,
you know, before I had a degree, and they're like, okay, Courtney,
well you don't have a degree, so we can't give
you more money. And I'm like, well, shoot, that's a
problem because I'm again, I'm a hustler. I'm always looking
for that next level. And I'm like with shoot, if
you say I got to go to school, then I
got to go to school. Went back, got my you know,
LPN license, and I went back and got my ron license,
(06:49):
and I went back and got my bachelor's and I
was on my way to get my master's and to
this haircare came into play, you know. But you know,
for me, it's if there's another level to hit, then
I'm gonna hit it.
Speaker 4 (07:02):
Yeah, you know I like that too.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
I'm all about like when I'm trying to get to
a certain place, if there's a certain certification or education.
Speaker 4 (07:09):
I think we need to be more about that.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
Yes, a lot of times people do things and they're
not trying to be ambitious enough to take it to
the next.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
Level, right exactly. You just got to put that time
in for sure.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
So talk to us about how the main choice started.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
Yes, like I said, put a bad color in my
hair started, and I was known as the girl with
like the perfect hair, so I had to really I
had a.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
Relax By the way I'm looking at her hair, it's perfect.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
Different way now, So I had a relax My mom
put a relax from my hair and I was ten
years old, so that's the only thing that I knew
was like bone straight hair, that's it. So when I
put the color in my hair and my hair started
just breaking off, that was my first time going without
a relaxer for like some weeks. But as my hair
started growing in, I'm like this hair don't look too bad,
(07:56):
you know, because I've never really said that yet. I
was like, well, man, what would that look like if
I just kind of kept going. So this was like
before the whole natural movement, Like I literally just had
to lay off of you know, chemicals, and it started
there and I'm like, as it started to grow out,
I'm like, with shoot, now I can't get a cone
through it. So one thing led to another. Then that's
(08:17):
when I just started mixing up products. I felt as
if you know, I went on on YouTube and I
was using it as a journal, like by no means
was I trying to use it to like, Okay, I
want to.
Speaker 4 (08:26):
Start a beuings scientists.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
Yeah, like no, I became a mad scientist. But I'm
just like, let me just document it. I don't even
I'm like, let me just document this as like a
visual journey, you know. And I did, and my hair
was like here chin length, and it just started growing
like over the years, and people like, wait a minute,
now I've been finally before a minute, like what are
you using? And again I had no idea that I
(08:48):
was going to start a haircare brand, but I was
very passionate about the things that I was learning doing
this journey, like I'm mixing this stuff and I'm like, Wow,
this thing worked. I'm like, does anybody else go through this? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (08:58):
And did you know I heard it was to find
products because, like you said, this was before the whole
natural hair movement exactly, and so when you're going to
the store, you're using stuff that's not.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
Really exactly for us.
Speaker 4 (09:10):
It could drive your hair out. It's not really doing nothing,
it's you know.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
So I just think because I remember myself being younger
and having like this thick, curly hair and not having
like products exactly that were good for me to use
in my hair.
Speaker 3 (09:23):
And that's what my mom said. I was like, my
she was like, well, if they had products like this
when you was growing up, maybe I would to put
a relax on your hair exactly. And I'm like, if
I could make her believe, because I remember when I
first got started, she was like, you're going natural and
she was just so against you, you know, so now
she's like natural.
Speaker 4 (09:41):
I always wanted to relax it too when I was young.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
My mom was like no, I think I tried to
do one and it didn't really do much to my
hair either.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
They're terrible for your hair. I got one when I
was younger because I was an athlete and just to
keep it away from my parents and my mom's like,
let me put this in your hair, but I haven't.
Speaker 3 (09:57):
And sometimes that's all we know. Like when I'm going exactly,
it was just a day of life, so exactly exactly.
And it's crazy because I look at my daughters and
I'm like, dang, like they don't even know what it
is to go through that, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
So yeah, so when did you realize that this was
going to be a real business.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
That's a funny question because it took me years to
even say, like, you know what, I have a solid business,
Like I just felt like I was creating something and
I was trying to keep up. Like the first year
I did like one hundred and eighty three thousand dollars
in sales online. The year two, I did like two
point five million online. It's just me at home, so
(10:38):
I'm still not convinced that I have a business yet.
I'm just like I'm keeping up. Year three, six point
five million, I'm still at home. And what was that?
Speaker 4 (10:47):
Yeah? What was going on?
Speaker 3 (10:49):
It went right? It went from me being in like
my office, to moving into the living room, to just
and to anybody that's coming coming by, like help me
pack these orders, you know, and I'll never do it.
Speaker 4 (11:03):
I got some wine, please, you know.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
And it really wasn't until like year three that I'm like, Okay,
I maybe I know something, you know what I mean,
Like I still wouldn't say it, like I wouldn't say
that I know what I'm doing, you know. So yeah,
it was like until year three when I decided to say, okay,
like maybe I should take this thing to retake I have.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
To ask how was all of this affecting your previously
homeless family. I mean, you're homeless and all of a
sudden you're making all this money.
Speaker 3 (11:32):
Was like, oh, we need a whole nother podcast for
that conversation, because I would definitely say in business, you know,
people ask me like, what was your number one issue,
you know, during this journey, And it's never the business
piece that I'm thinking about now. I probably got some issues,
for sure, but it's always the family dynamics that nobody
(11:55):
prepares you for being the one in your family like
a lot, oh my gosh, like comes with a lot
that I'm like a lot of people just don't talk
about enough until you get with another entrepreneur, you're like,
wait a minute, am I the only one that's going
it's not at all and it's not fun.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
Remember you're we're here because you're an icon Black Business
Month and a lot of entrepreneurs feel this, and I think, yeah,
we're like first generation entrepreneurs trying to create second generation wealth. Yes,
so what would you say to them? What did you do?
How did you manage that?
Speaker 3 (12:26):
You know? You know, this time around, like with the
new company, I'm trying to move a little different. Like
you know, before I was like, okay, you know, cousin
ray Way, you know, whoever, come home and get your job.
You know. But then when it's you have to make
those hard decisions like what do you do now? You know,
And if it was a stranger, you can make that
decision a lot a lot quicker. But you know, I
(12:47):
wouldn't say I'm just going to X X out because
you do have people in your family who's willing to,
you know, put the work in, and you know understand
that this is a generational you know type of thing.
And I was very fortunate to have some individuals like that.
You know, we have some mothers too as well. But
you know, just even getting started. You know, my husband's
(13:07):
a medical doctor, you know, having to retire him and
you know him being in a business and helping pack
and you know, a lot of dynamics change. You're not
going to be a doctor, are exactly or you know,
at the time, I traveled so much, so it's like
now you have to be mommy, like you have to
like bathe them and you have to like their hair like.
(13:28):
So that was a transition nobody warned me about, you
know what I mean, So so many things changed. Again.
You know, we start these things, you know, this is
our passion, but everything changes. When one thing changed, everything
changes your personal relationship, your friends, your family, you know everything.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
So how did you learn how to run a business
and even how to budget and just financial Yeah.
Speaker 3 (13:52):
You know, I thank God because I think that's a
piece that definitely kind of came with me a little natural.
So I am the one and even prior to you know,
the business people look at as she's about her business,
you know what I mean, like, you know, somebody got
something that's gonna be Courtney, you know, But as a nurse,
I hustled. You know, I did two hundred hours of
(14:12):
pay period as a nurse. You know what I mean,
one hundred hours a week.
Speaker 4 (14:16):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (14:17):
So I'm not a stranger to hard work. And I
think sometimes people look at entrepreneurship as you know, I
want to work with myself so I don't have to work. Well,
that's the furthest the truth, it is exactly. You know,
like I said, I put in one hundred hours as
a nurse, so to do the same thing for my
own business, you know, it's just second nature.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
But you must. Entrepreneurs have to make decisions differently because
the things you guys got a side hustle or you've
got a business and a scaled business is a completely
different way of making decisions. It is we would you
what kind of tips would you give on that?
Speaker 3 (14:50):
I would definitely say, you know, because some people, you know, say, well,
you know you got a side hustle, you have a business.
I think ultimately it's it's it's still a business. I
always also like to say, begin with the end in mind,
what does that look like in the future when things
may change. So even today when I start something, I'm
never looking at it as you know, this is where
(15:10):
it stands right now. I can be mediocre because I'm small.
I'm a small black business, so I can proceed accordingly.
That's never been the case. Like to me, I look
at that as a badge of honor, Like, Okay, if
you know that I'm a black owned business, I don't
want you to cut me some slack because my shipping
is terrible. Like no, I think we should ship on time,
you know what I mean? And I mentor a lot
of people and sometimes I ask, all, you know, how
(15:32):
often do you ship? Watch ship once a week?
Speaker 1 (15:34):
Why?
Speaker 3 (15:35):
You know what I mean? So again, I try my
best to make sure that you know I'm operating business
the right way.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
When did you realize that you wanted to sell? Because
that's a conversation too. Like you said, you're thinking about
the endgame. But at the same time, people have bought
into you as a brand, bought into your story, and
you grew this brand into a one hundred million dollar business.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
Yes, yes, you know. The crazy thing is when I
went to I would say, get an evaluation. That was
all I was going to do. I was not trying, yeah,
to be honest, by me starting his business at home,
by myself five hundred dollars, I'm like, am I even
doing it right? I mean, I know I have the sales,
(16:18):
like obviously you know what I mean, But I'm like,
I would love to know is it even profitable? Like
is it you know? But now retrospect, looking back, it's
almost like going window shopping. Like no one goes window shopping.
You're gonna buy something. So for me going to these individuals,
they look like, oh, she about to sell, But I
was only there to see what was the company worth?
(16:39):
Like am I doing it right? So looking back, I'm like, duh,
you know what I mean. You go to these guys,
that's the first thing they're going to do. But it
was an eye opener though, because I remember having a
conversation with a bank when I first started, and the
first thing he asked me was he said, what are
you going to sell? I remember that day. I was
so offended that he asked me that. I was like,
(16:59):
why would you ask me that? Do I look like
I'm about to sell? You know? But being in business
for so long, that's the epitome of a business. Like
you don't have to, but your business should be positioned
that it is sellable and at the time, you know,
because we don't in our community get a chance to
be in a position like that. We were in a
(17:19):
lot of hats. We're the CEO, we the CFO, we
do the marketer, we all of these things. So to
be in a position where the company is profitable. And
then at the end of the day, every company has
a window. Every company has a window, and unfortunately, what
a lot of people don't like to see is sometimes
you will miss that window. And they said, well, all,
(17:41):
look at this brand they have been you know, this
is a black On haircare brand. They've been around forever.
Look at their evaluation today though they missed their opportunity.
Speaker 4 (17:50):
And I see that even now like business has gone down,
they do it.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
It's not even an opportunity to sell. And they didn't
sell eractuly time time, and.
Speaker 3 (17:59):
There's nothing to pass on to their to their you know,
their legacy. Unfortunately, there's also a.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
Lot of ownership and you know, a lot of people
are reluctant to sell. And I know in our community
a lot of people she sold, she sold out what
she's doing, there's a lot of that.
Speaker 3 (18:14):
Yeah, it was I think that was kind of like
the the the hardest part when I did you actually
had either had the people that was like, girl, how
did you do it? And I'm like, to be honest,
that should have been a number one question. Everybody should
have been asking.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
That's a scale number one one.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
But at the same time, I am an African American person.
I understand that we don't get a chance to scale businesses.
I understand that when people see me, they see themselves.
So I never got offended when people say, well, why
did you sell? Like, I understand why you feel the
way that you feel, and I understand that you may
(18:52):
can't relate because you're not in this particular situation to relate.
So I never got offended. If anything, It's like, okay,
let me educate you. And I did that four years straight.
Every day I got on and I did not because
I had to because I felt like who else is
going to do it? But nobody who has a business
at this level is going to get on here for
free every single day to give you some insight of how.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
Yeah, I think that is important to also be able
to respond to people, be open and transparent about what
the process was like. Yes, because you can't just ignore
when people are coming at you you know, some people
are going to be determined to Yeah they are, but
a lot of people will.
Speaker 4 (19:32):
Be like, Okay, I get it.
Speaker 1 (19:32):
I understand it because as it's starting to happen more,
you know.
Speaker 4 (19:36):
But I just know that some founders have been.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
Like, it's just attacked over selling their sins, and we
should be.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
But you know what it's not even just founders, is
black female founders.
Speaker 4 (19:48):
Yeah, because you can have a man, you can.
Speaker 3 (19:50):
Have an African American man who do it, and they're
going to get dabbed up and say that's a boss move.
But when a black woman actually do it, then we're not.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
The only man I saw really get it was Richie
Lou Dennis when Oyster.
Speaker 4 (20:04):
Yeah, and then but then he went and bought Essence
and people are like, okay, now I get it right,
right right.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
Sometimes you don't know what moves people are making too,
because that's money you're gonna invest into something else.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
And I've seen you say that about Tyler Perry. People
were so excited when he bought that Atlanta facility or
when he built it, but they don't understand he had
just sold something so that he can feel an exact something.
Speaker 3 (20:24):
You're doing something bigger, you know what I mean. To
be able to get that kind of capital from a
sale to now really impact and do things, It's be
an acquisition, you know. I remember being at uh you know,
a big retailer, and a guy came up there. He
just launched into retail and he was up there speaking.
The first thing he said was I'm trying to sell
in the next two years. Everybody started clasping, and I'm like,
(20:47):
there's no way I could say that you could do that,
you know what I mean? Like that and it was
just but it also showed me that there's a lot
of educating that needs to be done in the community.
So and this is why I'm saying I'm never offend
it when someone doesn't understand we.
Speaker 4 (21:02):
Have trauma in this community. We do we do, we
do cal fast.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
Recently, I saw you and Lisa Price to the picture together.
She bought back Carol's daughter. You had the opportunity to
buy your company back as well.
Speaker 3 (21:15):
I did. I did. I ain't take a go. You know.
I'm very particular when it comes to the branding, the positioning,
the messaging, where the company is and if I feel
like it's not what it was, then I'm like, do
(21:37):
I feel like doing a work to get it back
or is it better than I just do this thing
from scratch. And it hasn't been done before, Like there's
been no black person to exit at this level and
come back in haircare period, man or woman. So I
didn't think. I didn't think it was gonna be easy.
It's probably a reason why it hasn't been done, you know.
Same thing with Lisa, you know, buying her company back, which,
(21:59):
like I said, I had the ability to. But I'm
very particular about branding. I'm very particular about my messaging
while I'm here, the community, the person that I'm serving,
and if I feel like it's been a little too tainted,
then I'm like, no, I'm not interested.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
I love that throughout this whole journey, you're so human,
Like when people are listening to this, so like, wow,
one hundred million dollars, biggest sale you know ever. But
something happened right before you were selling your company for
one hundred million dollars that you were like, what do
you mean I don't own this? M welcome to tell
us about that story. The formula Oh.
Speaker 3 (22:33):
Yeah, yes, right yeah, so and a learning you know
on owning your formalists, because when you do sell a company,
that's what you're selling. You're selling your formulas. And the
main choice grew so fast. I didn't even sit down
and finish your paperwork type of thing to own my formulasts.
(22:55):
Like I knew it was there. I knew I had
hit the thresholds because you have to have a certain
threat show before you own it. I knew I've done
all of that, but the actual I think I I was.
I received the paperwork, but I never signed off on it.
I sent it to somebody on my team. I said,
sign this and send it back over to where it
needs to go because it didn't have to have my signature,
just somebody executive. And I dug back through the emails
(23:18):
and I seen that she never did send it. Her
message to me was you want me to sign it?
And I never caught that message. I never caught it.
Speaker 4 (23:27):
In my head.
Speaker 3 (23:27):
It was just done, you know what I mean. Yeah,
so I had to play hardball, you know, with our
time went to our manufacturer.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
They was this was when someone was going to actually
buy it?
Speaker 3 (23:38):
Yeah, exactly. I didn't. I didn't, and I went on
a strike of ordering to the last minute and they
were like, you're not ordering. I said, no, I'm not
going to host.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
The manufacturer said he wasn't going to give it to.
Speaker 3 (23:51):
You exactly exactly what could they do?
Speaker 4 (23:53):
They would have had to really just.
Speaker 3 (23:55):
You know, I played it to like the last the
last minute, and I know you.
Speaker 4 (23:59):
Made them a lot of money too.
Speaker 3 (24:00):
I don't like when people do stuff Oh yeah, exactly,
and that's kind of yes, that's I think that was
the most frustrating piece. And like now to this day,
we're like best friends. Like the guy who was like
over that, you know, I think you probably raced it
out of his memory, but I'm like, I remember that,
you know, but you know you you you do. And
I think it comes with the headache, like like we mentioned,
(24:20):
when we start these businesses, we're not starting businesses. We're
doing something that we're passionate about, and it turns into
this like we're forced to be a CEO, were forced
to be these things Like I just wanted to create
a dot product, get it out there so you can
try it, and then the things starts to scale and
now I'm stuck being something that I probably didn't go
to school for. Don't have an expertise in but at
(24:43):
the same time, I still think that's one of our
superpowers as well too. Though when it comes to business.
Speaker 2 (24:47):
How do we we have that script for growth, for hustle,
for grinding? What is that next scaling script that you
want that you would like the community to learn.
Speaker 3 (24:57):
I think the next scaling script is and this is
something talked about recently. I do think the dynamics of
building a company today is different than it was ten
years ago. I think it was easier to make to
become a multi mega dollar company ten years ago than
it is today, you know. And it's crazy because over
(25:17):
these last few years, I've been telling people, I'm like,
be careful, we talk about the soft life. I get it,
you know what I mean. I hear what you're saying.
But I felt like they was about to start making
things harder. And I said this years ago, and I
think we're there. You're seeing a lot of black business
to struggle, You're seeing them closed. And I'm like, I
(25:38):
called this. I didn't know what to call it, but
I felt it coming. It is strategic now, it is
an ecosystem, it is systematic. So that's the difference. Like
back in the day, yeah, the algorithm I could post
get a hundred thousand. You know, that's not no more
happened today, Like you better learn how You have to
understand now how to grow a business. And you can
(26:01):
learn it, but you have to have a desire to,
you know. And I see so many people like, oh
my god, let me try to hire somebody to do No.
I just said it. You're gonna have to learn some
things right now.
Speaker 4 (26:11):
Right on TikTok shops.
Speaker 3 (26:12):
I mean, Lisa, I legit. I was not on there
at all. I was like, I'm not about to do
another social media platform at all. And I'm just like
learning this new ecosystem. I'm like, Courtney, that's not even
an option no more. You know, before I hired an agency,
I knew nothing about TikTok grew up to six figures
(26:32):
in like thirty days, you know. And this was and
this is not the main choice. Courtney's so smart, Like, no,
this was Courtney. Let me get in here on the weekend,
let me start researching and actually just start seeing how
do you grow? I had no experience, and I don't
want to say because it was Courtney that kind of
got us there. It was really me sitting down learning
(26:54):
something that I had no idea about.
Speaker 4 (26:57):
Get your zone sometime, to get with the times.
Speaker 3 (27:01):
You do you do when when when things change, and
it's I think it's so. I was looking at a comment.
I rarely read a lot of stuff when people do,
like interviews and stuff like that, because I hate seeing
like the drama. But I seen something that went viral.
A young lady I did a makeover and somebody had
posted it and I was like, oh, I didn't know
(27:22):
this was like circulating on Facebook and I'm reading the
comments and I'm reading like one of the girls was like, oh,
isn't she the one who had a company? Then she
started doing something else. Then she started doing something else,
and we were talking about the different business businesses and
and they was like, yeah, that's her, and I'm looking
and they was like laughing, going back and forth right,
(27:43):
and I was just like wow, Like, first of all,
I'm not offended by the conversation, but it's like the
lack of understanding, like you too should pivot when it's
time to pivot, Like we think this is a joke, right,
you understand, so to see yet to see that, it
was just like because I feel like I feel like
(28:03):
the weight sometime because I just feel like the average
person is not about to put out there what I'm doing.
They don't care if you understand or not. They're gonna
sell a company, get their bread, and they're gonna hit dodge.
But I'm just like, it's so many more people out
there who do want to learn, And girl, if you
need to pivot, you need to pivot. You know what
I mean, it may not be serving you no more,
(28:25):
and it's not a bad thing. And I met this
guy he sold two companies for five billion dollars each.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (28:32):
And I did a transaction with him and I told him,
I said, you know what, I said, we can't cross
paths without you give me some type of mini master
class like period on the spot. And I never forget.
This is before I came back and take care care.
He said. You know what, he said. I started a
water company, he said, I sold it for six billion.
He said, I started another water company. He said, I
(28:53):
sold it for six billion. He said, And if I
came back again and started another company, he said, do
you know what that company's going to be? I'm like water,
he said exactly. So basically, he's like you're doing this
other thing. Get back into haircare, you know what I mean,
That's what they know you for. You know, so again
you want to be able to learn as you go.
(29:14):
And for me, it's not about selling this company. This
will be the legacy company for me. But that first
move got me to where I am today.
Speaker 2 (29:21):
And you did that watching Sea Beauty and it's an
amazing Their products are amazing. Of course this is the
second company Courtney created. What would Courtney Main Choice CEO
tell Courtney? What would Courtney Watching c Beauty CEO tell
Courtney Main Choice CEO?
Speaker 3 (29:39):
Hmmm, I would probably say. I would probably say keep
doing what you're doing. You know, I think it's the
people who actually withstand. You know, when people hear about
the struggles or they fill the struggles with the business,
that doesn't necessarily mean it's time to fold. That means
(30:00):
it's time to learn, period, you know what I mean.
I'm not going to sit here and tell you that
every day is peaches and cream. I am putting out
a fire, big fires. When I first launched, we launched
in Target like that was my first store Black History Month, intentional.
I was intentional about that that time. The same week
(30:22):
the Dee, I wrote back, you know what I mean
like this, you you couldn't have planned that worse. You know,
everything had the hole like we you know how much money,
Like that was a million dollar launch that wasn't coming
from funding. That was a million dollar launch and a
(30:42):
million dollar worth the products sitting in there with nobody
getting it off the shelves. You know. So you go
through things. So what I would say is just because
you're going through something, that doesn't mean it's shut down time.
That doesn't mean it's time to not figure it out.
That means it's time to get a little comfortable with
learning some things that you may not may not know.
Speaker 4 (31:04):
Man, that was a I know you were like, why
is this challenged?
Speaker 3 (31:08):
Listen? People was like in boxing me. I said, listen,
I'm reading, I'm reading what you reading. You know what
I mean. We didn't get the news earlier than anybody,
and you know, having a conversation like with you know,
Target CEO, like we didn't we didn't get the news early.
Speaker 1 (31:23):
You know what I mean, found out just a love
with a shocking head. Listen, what did you do?
Speaker 3 (31:28):
Who? What did I do? You know I had to
put on my relatable hat. I would say, you know,
I had two sets of people. I had an angry,
you know, group of customers who I supported one hundred
and ten percent, and I had a group of people
to say, I'm still in here, I'm looking for the product,
(31:49):
you know, what do I do? And then at that time,
you know, like I, you know, told everybody, I'm like, listen,
I can't make a decision overnight, like I'm trying to.
I'm trying to think this through too, Like what does
that look like? You know? And sometimes I'm not going
to say sometimes all the time, You're not going to
please everybody, you know what I mean, Like, you can't.
(32:09):
You have to make the best decision.
Speaker 4 (32:11):
It's easy for somebody not in that position to take easy.
Speaker 3 (32:14):
You should do it easy. And so I always like
to come back. I always like to come back with
them on social media. I was like, I said, well
you're still here on Instagram and they rode back to
the e. I said, but you don't have to tell
me your reasoning for being on here. I know you
have one just as well as I have one. It
may not be what you want to hear. I said,
because at the end of the day, Target has bought
these products they don't need. I don't own them anymore.
(32:36):
I said, do you want me to get an eighteen
ruler and go street by street and rally after process.
That's that's not realistic, you know what I mean. Yeah,
So my position was to stand firm on I'm supporting
one hundred percent. If you like courty, I'm not going
into the store. I'm not about you to tell you yeah,
I'm not going to do that because at the end
(32:57):
of the day, I am a black woman. I feel you.
I understand exactly where you're coming from, you know, so
I will never tell you to do something you're not
comfortable with. But it was a challenge, you know what
I mean. So when we look at business, you can't
call it every day. It's not going to be gravy
at all.
Speaker 1 (33:12):
But it also shows you how important it is to
be diverse and where your placement.
Speaker 4 (33:16):
Is too, so that when this isn't here, well at
least the online business is strong. This is strong. This
is strong.
Speaker 3 (33:22):
Exactly and the hardest thing you can do right now,
Like you know, even what we're doing, like building you know,
e comm like being heavy you know on TikTok being
heavy in retail. You really don't see a lot of
beauty brands playing in both areas because it is difficult,
you know, and it's very strategic, you know, but we're navigating,
(33:42):
you know what I mean. I was one of the first,
I'm gonna say, one of the first black brands in
Walmart who actually went to the general market aisle as
one hundred percent ownership as a black brand, Okay, right, So,
and that's not easy to do. So it's a lot
of things, a lot of history three being made, and
I don't take it for granted, and I don't do
(34:02):
it for accolades. It's just to say that, you know,
like I'm standing in the gap for it, y'all, because
sometimes we don't know who's actually out there rooting for us,
making room for us in the future. And I think
the worst thing you can do is move on emotion.
And I think with our culture, people know that and
they play off of that. We move all emotion. Whatever
(34:22):
my emotion is right now, I'm going to make that decision.
And sometimes that's not necessarily the right decision. You have
to think it through. How is this going to impact everybody?
What does this look like? Because now in the store
in there, you're not going to see a lot of
black brands in there anymore because they lost that face.
But guess what, guess who's back in their shopping. You
(34:44):
see what I'm saying. So you just gotta gotta be smart,
you know what I mean. And you gotta be okay
with everybody not being okay with the decisions.
Speaker 4 (34:54):
Ye please everyone you can you can't.
Speaker 2 (34:57):
So two things before you go. First, you're making all
this money and you're giving it away.
Speaker 3 (35:04):
Sort of yeah, all of it, not all of it.
You know, this was back in the day, Like even
me doing like to pay my bill. Like back in
the day in Detroit, there was like a radio station
and this guy he used to pay a bill like
every week, and I was just so impressed. But I'll
never forget. I was a nursing school. Every Friday I
would listen in and he would pay somebody's bill. And
(35:26):
I just thought that was just so dope. And I said,
you know, I said, if I ever was in a
position that I can do that, I said, I will,
And today I have done that. Like I said, I
paid hundreds that people know publicly. Then there's someone on
behind the scenes but I think the most gratifying when
I'm out. Like someone came to me the other day
was like, you may not know me, but you paid
(35:47):
for like my college tuition and I just graduated, you
know what I mean. Like I was at like an
awards and a guy came up to me. It was like,
you got my car from out of you know, being repolled.
So I don't know, like you know. One thing I
do is when I pick a winner, because I do,
I pick the winners myself. I pray over it and
I say, God, just help me to go to whatever
person you want me to go. I mean, it feels
(36:08):
overwhelming because I got so many writ and in but
I'm like, I'm just going to pick one and God
direct my path. And I've been doing that. Some people like, oh,
she's doing it for marketing. I don't do it for marketing.
Don't you know I have to pay for that.
Speaker 4 (36:23):
It's a Detroit thing. To the skill of baby was
up here.
Speaker 1 (36:25):
He's been buying houses for people in Detroit, paying attention
like all of that. Kayla's laughing my intern because she's
like she told Skill she was like, hello, my tuition.
Speaker 3 (36:35):
Yeah, you know you think about that thing. Think about
think about that person who you always wanted help from, right,
I think when we get in these positions, like why
not become that person that we always dreamed of?
Speaker 4 (36:50):
Yeah, no, that's amazing.
Speaker 1 (36:52):
You know, that's a blessing that people are out there
that are like, she did this for me.
Speaker 4 (36:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (36:56):
And it's crazy because it's it'll be in the craziest
areas like I'm just an a war ceremony, you know
what I mean. It's like like wow, because sometimes it's
like am I even impacting by doing like one? You
know what I mean?
Speaker 1 (37:09):
But it is though, if you can have one person,
that is a blessing.
Speaker 4 (37:14):
Yeah, it's a great feeling.
Speaker 2 (37:16):
So we got your Black Business Month check. Great way
to kick it off. It is also National Philanthropy Month. Check.
Every day is Parents' Day and you're making a mini me.
Your daughter was the youngest CEO to have something in Target.
Tell us about that.
Speaker 3 (37:31):
Yes, yes, so she is a CEO at heart. She's
the youngest one. But it's so crazy now as the
middle one starts to get older, she got her CEO
hat on.
Speaker 2 (37:40):
But we're doing all this from right.
Speaker 3 (37:44):
You know, it's funny to my husband He's like, listen,
I'm in medicine. He was like, I'm the opposite. I
don't want to run nothing. I don't want to be
over nobody, you know.
Speaker 4 (37:52):
I pack man.
Speaker 3 (37:54):
He's just like, I'm not gonna do what you do.
But I definitely think, you know, at the end of
the day, get our kids. They sold cookies, they sold
candy in school, you know what I mean, Like, we're
not we're not new to this. So it's like, how
about doing this for yourself? You know, just imagine what
is that something like even like now that she's kind
of outgrown the bowls, they're both now collaborating on something
(38:17):
that may be coming in the future. But they they
actually see like I can make something, you know what
I mean, I can do something. So I'm always going
to still promote them obviously going to college like my
son he's in for software engineering. But I'm like you too,
Like if you want to have your own business, you can,
but we're going to finish because otherwise you're not doing
nothing at home right now, but you can create something.
Speaker 4 (38:39):
What's her business that wasn't target?
Speaker 3 (38:41):
She had hair bows?
Speaker 4 (38:42):
Okay, so yeah, so Walmart is the target.
Speaker 3 (38:44):
Yes, she was the youngest, youngest one, and she designed
him herself like literally, and she will wake up. I
remember she woke up like at two o'clock in the morning.
Was like I got an idea. I said, girl, please
go back passion exactly exactly.
Speaker 4 (39:02):
So watching c beauty tell us.
Speaker 3 (39:05):
Yes, you know, people allize. Some people will say, well,
you know, how did you guys come up with the name?
You know? Some people say, well, can she do it again?
Is it possible?
Speaker 2 (39:15):
Watching exactly, notice how I put that together.
Speaker 4 (39:20):
I look in your hair down with this is our
new viral product. Okay, you know what.
Speaker 3 (39:27):
This product came and took over the company. It's so crazy.
You can have all intentions on how you want to
roll things out, and I added this product on and
I was this product I was so nervous to do
because I'm like, no one really does a product that's
designed for a slick back and you could actually have yes,
and it's crazy. I can get the craziest idea and
(39:51):
it's always the one that takes off the most. Like literally,
it has taken over the company.
Speaker 4 (39:56):
Now, I'm telling you, I've seen that.
Speaker 1 (39:57):
And I was like, I need that slick back because
I you know, First off, I'm going my bangs out,
so now I just it's you know, they're at the
in between stage. But when I tell you, and your
hair looks so perfect, cute.
Speaker 3 (40:09):
And my thing was, what can I do if I
want to get up like this morning and I want
to come in and I wanted my hair to look
on point. I don't want to do it yesterday. I
don't want to do it like I did my hair
this morning, you know what I mean. So it's literally
designed for that girl who is doing her hair herself.
You know what I mean. She want to pull it together.
(40:30):
She don't have a lot of time. Because that's that's
the epitome of my Look at this, come on girl like,
oh we're gonna get you. We're gonna.
Speaker 4 (40:38):
I need some help. They don't look crunchy, you know
how sometimes it can be like flaky.
Speaker 3 (40:46):
Yes, it's totally controllable. You can build it. Put a
little bit, put a lot, and this is locked in
for the week. Put a scarf on at night and
I love it.
Speaker 2 (40:55):
That's where can people buy it?
Speaker 3 (40:57):
You can buy this at Walmart, Our, Target, CBS, H G,
B Meyer, Amazon, you name it, so we little bit
of it. You name it. I'm excited to be able
to do it again. You know, retail is no joke.
It's no joke, and it's not easier that I'm back again.
So I'm fortunate and blessed for sure.
Speaker 2 (41:17):
Clearly you love it right, and we love you, and
thank you so much for kicking off Black Business Month
with Wealth Wednesdays. Thank you, We wish you luck. We
will be why you wanted to do this again. That
can be our next Innew all right, that can be
our next interview. But thank you so much, and happy
Wealth Wednesday's everybody, and happy Black Business Month.
Speaker 3 (41:36):
Thank you
What's up his way up at Angela Yee and Stacy
Tissdaily's here with me today on a Wealth Wednesday with
an amazing guest.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
We do have an amazing guest. Happy Wealth Wednesday's everybody,
and we're actually kicking off our Entrepreneur Spotlight series every
Wednesday during Black Business Month. We are going to be
celebrating and lifting up iconic entrepreneurs and who else could
you possibly possibly kick that off with except for Courtney Etai,
(00:28):
Thank you and thank you so much for being here.
Courtney is the now the founder and CEO of Watching
See Beauty, but you might know her from the main
choice Woo, which she founded in twenty thirteen. Twenty thirteen,
five hundred dollars?
Speaker 3 (00:42):
Okay, how a hundred that happen? Oh? Five hundred dollars
in a vision? You know, you know, I'm really big
on you know, grow as you go. I don't think
you always have to start big. So when people hear
she started with five hundred dollars, how and you turned
into one hundred million dollars in sales, I don't think
you have to start big. I think you should start
(01:03):
where you are, and I think you have the ability
to scale. So with me, I'm like, okay, give me
some bottles, give me a few ingredients, give me a label,
and let's get this business cracking.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
What made you even decide that this was something you
wanted to do. There's always that why I want.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
Yeah, you know, I'm from Detroit. You know, they like
to call it the hair capital. It is, so I've
always been into hair. You know, My background is science
is nursing. But long story short, put a bad color
on my hair and I had I was forced to
start taking care of my hair.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
Listen who that I would need to dye my hair
blind and I was like, I'm not doing that again.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
You know. I quickly learned that I've did it before.
Speaker 4 (01:42):
I was like, I don't think I can do that again.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
Yeah, you know, I say relaxers and you know, color
don't mix. And I think I learned the hard way
or should I say the good way? You know, because
it definitely was a segue into you know, this really experimenting,
experimenting with.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
Hair before we jump into the business. In a back
up a little bit, your story is just amazing. You
were homeless at some points in your life, and I
know you had two sisters, and you grew up with
a single mother in Detroit.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
Mm hm.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
And as I was reading your backstory, I was wondering
if starting this hair care business was because you wanted
to start a business or you wanted to change your life.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
You know, I think sometimes, you know, not all the time,
but I think entrepreneurship is something that a lot of
people are born with. And I think what it looks
like on the outside, sometimes we're saying, like, look at
this person, like they're doing something else, and they're doing
something else, and but they're doing something right, right, So
we look at those dream chasers and we look at
some time from a negative perspective, but those are the
(02:42):
ones who actually changed the world with their vision. So
for me, it was always something I felt like, you know,
even going into nursing, I've always felt like there was
something else that I was meant to do. I felt
like it was a stepping stone. But yeah, definitely, going
through you know, being homeless, you know, life was purposeful.
You know. I didn't think it was fair to just
(03:04):
operate on a you know, just on a self thing.
Like I said before, I think we were here to serve,
you know, And I think when you do that every day,
everything else just aligns.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
The Troy is definitely I want to say, that's a
city that breeds entrepreneurship too, for whatever reason.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
Because of the hustler you know, you know, and it's
you know, and we use that term, you know, hustling,
but it's the truth. Entrepreneurship is a hustle. Can you
get up every day and do the unthinkable? Can you
do it without getting paid? Can you hustle your way
through it? And I think when we look at Detroit,
you know, you have those individuals, like life wasn't in
(03:42):
your favor being a single mom. I was actually known
as the best dressed in high school and I was homeless. Wow,
you know what I mean. So it's like you don't
have to show up. You know what you're going through,
so you have to have that purpose, you know. And
for me, like you know, my mom told me not
too longer. She was like, oh, you know, I'm sorry,
And I said, well, don't apologize, I said, because I
(04:03):
know for a fact I wouldn't be who I am
today if I didn't go through those things.
Speaker 4 (04:07):
How did that even happen? You know?
Speaker 1 (04:09):
Because I think I've heard people just look down on that.
But there's such extenuating circumstances and as we all know,
that could happen to anyone.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
That's right. And you know the crazy thing is, and
I'm glad you said that because we think of the
typical when we think of homelessness. But my mom, knowing
that we were from Detroit, she had our girls, she
was like, I just don't want you guys living in
neighborhoods where you're going to get pregnant. You're going to
end up as a statistic. So she always lived above
her means, so she was in places that we really
(04:37):
couldn't afford. And it was like, okay, the opposite of
that is we're like in our car. So what she
was trying to do, like I told her, I said,
you actually achieved it. I said, because a lot of times,
you know, and I hate to sound cliche, people like, oh,
you know you're from Detroit, you a hustler, Like what
side of town are you from? And I'm like, we're
shooting decided Walmart somewhere outside, sleeping in the car, you know.
(04:58):
But what she tried to achieve I told her, I said,
you accomplished it. You know, I have the mindset that
you wanted me to have. You know, the circumstances wasn't ideal.
But that's why I grind every day. That's why I'm
trying to make sure that my kids don't go through
the same thing. You know.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
And sometimes as kids too, we adapt so easily to things.
And did it feel normal to you or when did
you realize that it wasn't?
Speaker 3 (05:23):
You know, I'm the youngest side of my sisters, so
I think for them it probably affected them from a
negative perspective a lot more than it did for me.
You know, as a kid, you know, you have to
your sisters are right there, your mom is right there.
For me, it's like I'm good, you know, getting older, yeah, exactly.
So when I got a little older, it's like okay,
Like she's like, well, I would have to go to
(05:45):
like the gas station and wash up in the morning.
I remember at one time it was a four year straight,
a four years straight, and it was like every day,
like we would have to go somewhere, you know, get
up in the morning, you know, get our clothes, go
in the bathroom, wash up, getting ready for school. And
that's so I told me, I've been on my own
(06:05):
since I was fifteen years old, and it wasn't ideal.
It wasn't like, oh, she's a bad kid. Like, no,
we didn't have stability. But at the same time, I
knew I wanted more in life. I knew what she
was trying to do, so I never held it against
her at all. I'm like, I see what you what
you were trying to do, and I get it.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
And you did go to college, right, okay, and that's
when you said, Okay, what were your goals then when
you were going to school.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
You know, my goals was. I felt like I kept
getting mixed out, like I would get like nice jobs,
you know, before I had a degree, and they're like, okay, Courtney,
well you don't have a degree, so we can't give
you more money. And I'm like, well, shoot, that's a
problem because I'm again, I'm a hustler. I'm always looking
for that next level. And I'm like with shoot, if
you say I got to go to school, then I
got to go to school. Went back, got my you know,
LPN license, and I went back and got my ron license,
(06:49):
and I went back and got my bachelor's and I
was on my way to get my master's and to
this haircare came into play, you know. But you know,
for me, it's if there's another level to hit, then
I'm gonna hit it.
Speaker 4 (07:02):
Yeah, you know I like that too.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
I'm all about like when I'm trying to get to
a certain place, if there's a certain certification or education.
Speaker 4 (07:09):
I think we need to be more about that.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
Yes, a lot of times people do things and they're
not trying to be ambitious enough to take it to
the next.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
Level, right exactly. You just got to put that time
in for sure.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
So talk to us about how the main choice started.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
Yes, like I said, put a bad color in my
hair started, and I was known as the girl with
like the perfect hair, so I had to really I
had a.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
Relax By the way I'm looking at her hair, it's perfect.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
Different way now, So I had a relax My mom
put a relax from my hair and I was ten
years old, so that's the only thing that I knew
was like bone straight hair, that's it. So when I
put the color in my hair and my hair started
just breaking off, that was my first time going without
a relaxer for like some weeks. But as my hair
started growing in, I'm like this hair don't look too bad,
(07:56):
you know, because I've never really said that yet. I
was like, well, man, what would that look like if
I just kind of kept going. So this was like
before the whole natural movement, Like I literally just had
to lay off of you know, chemicals, and it started
there and I'm like, as it started to grow out,
I'm like, with shoot, now I can't get a cone
through it. So one thing led to another. Then that's
(08:17):
when I just started mixing up products. I felt as
if you know, I went on on YouTube and I
was using it as a journal, like by no means
was I trying to use it to like, Okay, I
want to.
Speaker 4 (08:26):
Start a beuings scientists.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
Yeah, like no, I became a mad scientist. But I'm
just like, let me just document it. I don't even
I'm like, let me just document this as like a
visual journey, you know. And I did, and my hair
was like here chin length, and it just started growing
like over the years, and people like, wait a minute,
now I've been finally before a minute, like what are
you using? And again I had no idea that I
(08:48):
was going to start a haircare brand, but I was
very passionate about the things that I was learning doing
this journey, like I'm mixing this stuff and I'm like, Wow,
this thing worked. I'm like, does anybody else go through this? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (08:58):
And did you know I heard it was to find
products because, like you said, this was before the whole
natural hair movement exactly, and so when you're going to
the store, you're using stuff that's not.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
Really exactly for us.
Speaker 4 (09:10):
It could drive your hair out. It's not really doing nothing,
it's you know.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
So I just think because I remember myself being younger
and having like this thick, curly hair and not having
like products exactly that were good for me to use
in my hair.
Speaker 3 (09:23):
And that's what my mom said. I was like, my
she was like, well, if they had products like this
when you was growing up, maybe I would to put
a relax on your hair exactly. And I'm like, if
I could make her believe, because I remember when I
first got started, she was like, you're going natural and
she was just so against you, you know, so now
she's like natural.
Speaker 4 (09:41):
I always wanted to relax it too when I was young.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
My mom was like no, I think I tried to
do one and it didn't really do much to my
hair either.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
They're terrible for your hair. I got one when I
was younger because I was an athlete and just to
keep it away from my parents and my mom's like,
let me put this in your hair, but I haven't.
Speaker 3 (09:57):
And sometimes that's all we know. Like when I'm going exactly,
it was just a day of life, so exactly exactly.
And it's crazy because I look at my daughters and
I'm like, dang, like they don't even know what it
is to go through that, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
So yeah, so when did you realize that this was
going to be a real business.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
That's a funny question because it took me years to
even say, like, you know what, I have a solid business,
Like I just felt like I was creating something and
I was trying to keep up. Like the first year
I did like one hundred and eighty three thousand dollars
in sales online. The year two, I did like two
point five million online. It's just me at home, so
(10:38):
I'm still not convinced that I have a business yet.
I'm just like I'm keeping up. Year three, six point
five million, I'm still at home. And what was that?
Speaker 4 (10:47):
Yeah? What was going on?
Speaker 3 (10:49):
It went right? It went from me being in like
my office, to moving into the living room, to just
and to anybody that's coming coming by, like help me
pack these orders, you know, and I'll never do it.
Speaker 4 (11:03):
I got some wine, please, you know.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
And it really wasn't until like year three that I'm like, Okay,
I maybe I know something, you know what I mean,
Like I still wouldn't say it, like I wouldn't say
that I know what I'm doing, you know. So yeah,
it was like until year three when I decided to say, okay,
like maybe I should take this thing to retake I have.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
To ask how was all of this affecting your previously
homeless family. I mean, you're homeless and all of a
sudden you're making all this money.
Speaker 3 (11:32):
Was like, oh, we need a whole nother podcast for
that conversation, because I would definitely say in business, you know,
people ask me like, what was your number one issue,
you know, during this journey, And it's never the business
piece that I'm thinking about now. I probably got some issues,
for sure, but it's always the family dynamics that nobody
(11:55):
prepares you for being the one in your family like
a lot, oh my gosh, like comes with a lot
that I'm like a lot of people just don't talk
about enough until you get with another entrepreneur, you're like,
wait a minute, am I the only one that's going
it's not at all and it's not fun.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
Remember you're we're here because you're an icon Black Business
Month and a lot of entrepreneurs feel this, and I think, yeah,
we're like first generation entrepreneurs trying to create second generation wealth. Yes,
so what would you say to them? What did you do?
How did you manage that?
Speaker 3 (12:26):
You know? You know, this time around, like with the
new company, I'm trying to move a little different. Like
you know, before I was like, okay, you know, cousin
ray Way, you know, whoever, come home and get your job.
You know. But then when it's you have to make
those hard decisions like what do you do now? You know,
And if it was a stranger, you can make that
decision a lot a lot quicker. But you know, I
(12:47):
wouldn't say I'm just going to X X out because
you do have people in your family who's willing to,
you know, put the work in, and you know understand
that this is a generational you know type of thing.
And I was very fortunate to have some individuals like that.
You know, we have some mothers too as well. But
you know, just even getting started. You know, my husband's
(13:07):
a medical doctor, you know, having to retire him and
you know him being in a business and helping pack
and you know, a lot of dynamics change. You're not
going to be a doctor, are exactly or you know,
at the time, I traveled so much, so it's like
now you have to be mommy, like you have to
like bathe them and you have to like their hair like.
(13:28):
So that was a transition nobody warned me about, you
know what I mean, So so many things changed. Again.
You know, we start these things, you know, this is
our passion, but everything changes. When one thing changed, everything
changes your personal relationship, your friends, your family, you know everything.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
So how did you learn how to run a business
and even how to budget and just financial Yeah.
Speaker 3 (13:52):
You know, I thank God because I think that's a
piece that definitely kind of came with me a little natural.
So I am the one and even prior to you know,
the business people look at as she's about her business,
you know what I mean, like, you know, somebody got
something that's gonna be Courtney, you know, But as a nurse,
I hustled. You know, I did two hundred hours of
(14:12):
pay period as a nurse. You know what I mean,
one hundred hours a week.
Speaker 4 (14:16):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (14:17):
So I'm not a stranger to hard work. And I
think sometimes people look at entrepreneurship as you know, I
want to work with myself so I don't have to work. Well,
that's the furthest the truth, it is exactly. You know,
like I said, I put in one hundred hours as
a nurse, so to do the same thing for my
own business, you know, it's just second nature.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
But you must. Entrepreneurs have to make decisions differently because
the things you guys got a side hustle or you've
got a business and a scaled business is a completely
different way of making decisions. It is we would you
what kind of tips would you give on that?
Speaker 3 (14:50):
I would definitely say, you know, because some people, you know, say, well,
you know you got a side hustle, you have a business.
I think ultimately it's it's it's still a business. I
always also like to say, begin with the end in mind,
what does that look like in the future when things
may change. So even today when I start something, I'm
never looking at it as you know, this is where
(15:10):
it stands right now. I can be mediocre because I'm small.
I'm a small black business, so I can proceed accordingly.
That's never been the case. Like to me, I look
at that as a badge of honor, Like, Okay, if
you know that I'm a black owned business, I don't
want you to cut me some slack because my shipping
is terrible. Like no, I think we should ship on time,
you know what I mean? And I mentor a lot
of people and sometimes I ask, all, you know, how
(15:32):
often do you ship? Watch ship once a week?
Speaker 1 (15:34):
Why?
Speaker 3 (15:35):
You know what I mean? So again, I try my
best to make sure that you know I'm operating business
the right way.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
When did you realize that you wanted to sell? Because
that's a conversation too. Like you said, you're thinking about
the endgame. But at the same time, people have bought
into you as a brand, bought into your story, and
you grew this brand into a one hundred million dollar business.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
Yes, yes, you know. The crazy thing is when I
went to I would say, get an evaluation. That was
all I was going to do. I was not trying, yeah,
to be honest, by me starting his business at home,
by myself five hundred dollars, I'm like, am I even
doing it right? I mean, I know I have the sales,
(16:18):
like obviously you know what I mean, But I'm like,
I would love to know is it even profitable? Like
is it you know? But now retrospect, looking back, it's
almost like going window shopping. Like no one goes window shopping.
You're gonna buy something. So for me going to these individuals,
they look like, oh, she about to sell, But I
was only there to see what was the company worth?
(16:39):
Like am I doing it right? So looking back, I'm like, duh,
you know what I mean. You go to these guys,
that's the first thing they're going to do. But it
was an eye opener though, because I remember having a
conversation with a bank when I first started, and the
first thing he asked me was he said, what are
you going to sell? I remember that day. I was
so offended that he asked me that. I was like,
(16:59):
why would you ask me that? Do I look like
I'm about to sell? You know? But being in business
for so long, that's the epitome of a business. Like
you don't have to, but your business should be positioned
that it is sellable and at the time, you know,
because we don't in our community get a chance to
be in a position like that. We were in a
(17:19):
lot of hats. We're the CEO, we the CFO, we
do the marketer, we all of these things. So to
be in a position where the company is profitable. And
then at the end of the day, every company has
a window. Every company has a window, and unfortunately, what
a lot of people don't like to see is sometimes
you will miss that window. And they said, well, all,
(17:41):
look at this brand they have been you know, this
is a black On haircare brand. They've been around forever.
Look at their evaluation today though they missed their opportunity.
Speaker 4 (17:50):
And I see that even now like business has gone down,
they do it.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
It's not even an opportunity to sell. And they didn't
sell eractuly time time, and.
Speaker 3 (17:59):
There's nothing to pass on to their to their you know,
their legacy. Unfortunately, there's also a.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
Lot of ownership and you know, a lot of people
are reluctant to sell. And I know in our community
a lot of people she sold, she sold out what
she's doing, there's a lot of that.
Speaker 3 (18:14):
Yeah, it was I think that was kind of like
the the the hardest part when I did you actually
had either had the people that was like, girl, how
did you do it? And I'm like, to be honest,
that should have been a number one question. Everybody should
have been asking.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
That's a scale number one one.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
But at the same time, I am an African American person.
I understand that we don't get a chance to scale businesses.
I understand that when people see me, they see themselves.
So I never got offended when people say, well, why
did you sell? Like, I understand why you feel the
way that you feel, and I understand that you may
(18:52):
can't relate because you're not in this particular situation to relate.
So I never got offended. If anything, It's like, okay,
let me educate you. And I did that four years straight.
Every day I got on and I did not because
I had to because I felt like who else is
going to do it? But nobody who has a business
at this level is going to get on here for
free every single day to give you some insight of how.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
Yeah, I think that is important to also be able
to respond to people, be open and transparent about what
the process was like. Yes, because you can't just ignore
when people are coming at you you know, some people
are going to be determined to Yeah they are, but
a lot of people will.
Speaker 4 (19:32):
Be like, Okay, I get it.
Speaker 1 (19:32):
I understand it because as it's starting to happen more,
you know.
Speaker 4 (19:36):
But I just know that some founders have been.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
Like, it's just attacked over selling their sins, and we
should be.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
But you know what it's not even just founders, is
black female founders.
Speaker 4 (19:48):
Yeah, because you can have a man, you can.
Speaker 3 (19:50):
Have an African American man who do it, and they're
going to get dabbed up and say that's a boss move.
But when a black woman actually do it, then we're not.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
The only man I saw really get it was Richie
Lou Dennis when Oyster.
Speaker 4 (20:04):
Yeah, and then but then he went and bought Essence
and people are like, okay, now I get it right,
right right.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
Sometimes you don't know what moves people are making too,
because that's money you're gonna invest into something else.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
And I've seen you say that about Tyler Perry. People
were so excited when he bought that Atlanta facility or
when he built it, but they don't understand he had
just sold something so that he can feel an exact something.
Speaker 3 (20:24):
You're doing something bigger, you know what I mean. To
be able to get that kind of capital from a
sale to now really impact and do things, It's be
an acquisition, you know. I remember being at uh you know,
a big retailer, and a guy came up there. He
just launched into retail and he was up there speaking.
The first thing he said was I'm trying to sell
in the next two years. Everybody started clasping, and I'm like,
(20:47):
there's no way I could say that you could do that,
you know what I mean? Like that and it was
just but it also showed me that there's a lot
of educating that needs to be done in the community.
So and this is why I'm saying I'm never offend
it when someone doesn't understand we.
Speaker 4 (21:02):
Have trauma in this community. We do we do, we
do cal fast.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
Recently, I saw you and Lisa Price to the picture together.
She bought back Carol's daughter. You had the opportunity to
buy your company back as well.
Speaker 3 (21:15):
I did. I did. I ain't take a go. You know.
I'm very particular when it comes to the branding, the positioning,
the messaging, where the company is and if I feel
like it's not what it was, then I'm like, do
(21:37):
I feel like doing a work to get it back
or is it better than I just do this thing
from scratch. And it hasn't been done before, Like there's
been no black person to exit at this level and
come back in haircare period, man or woman. So I
didn't think. I didn't think it was gonna be easy.
It's probably a reason why it hasn't been done, you know.
Same thing with Lisa, you know, buying her company back, which,
(21:59):
like I said, I had the ability to. But I'm
very particular about branding. I'm very particular about my messaging
while I'm here, the community, the person that I'm serving,
and if I feel like it's been a little too tainted,
then I'm like, no, I'm not interested.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
I love that throughout this whole journey, you're so human,
Like when people are listening to this, so like, wow,
one hundred million dollars, biggest sale you know ever. But
something happened right before you were selling your company for
one hundred million dollars that you were like, what do
you mean I don't own this? M welcome to tell
us about that story. The formula Oh.
Speaker 3 (22:33):
Yeah, yes, right yeah, so and a learning you know
on owning your formalists, because when you do sell a company,
that's what you're selling. You're selling your formulas. And the
main choice grew so fast. I didn't even sit down
and finish your paperwork type of thing to own my formulasts.
(22:55):
Like I knew it was there. I knew I had
hit the thresholds because you have to have a certain
threat show before you own it. I knew I've done
all of that, but the actual I think I I was.
I received the paperwork, but I never signed off on it.
I sent it to somebody on my team. I said,
sign this and send it back over to where it
needs to go because it didn't have to have my signature,
just somebody executive. And I dug back through the emails
(23:18):
and I seen that she never did send it. Her
message to me was you want me to sign it?
And I never caught that message. I never caught it.
Speaker 4 (23:27):
In my head.
Speaker 3 (23:27):
It was just done, you know what I mean. Yeah,
so I had to play hardball, you know, with our
time went to our manufacturer.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
They was this was when someone was going to actually
buy it?
Speaker 3 (23:38):
Yeah, exactly. I didn't. I didn't, and I went on
a strike of ordering to the last minute and they
were like, you're not ordering. I said, no, I'm not
going to host.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
The manufacturer said he wasn't going to give it to.
Speaker 3 (23:51):
You exactly exactly what could they do?
Speaker 4 (23:53):
They would have had to really just.
Speaker 3 (23:55):
You know, I played it to like the last the
last minute, and I know you.
Speaker 4 (23:59):
Made them a lot of money too.
Speaker 3 (24:00):
I don't like when people do stuff Oh yeah, exactly,
and that's kind of yes, that's I think that was
the most frustrating piece. And like now to this day,
we're like best friends. Like the guy who was like
over that, you know, I think you probably raced it
out of his memory, but I'm like, I remember that,
you know, but you know you you you do. And
I think it comes with the headache, like like we mentioned,
(24:20):
when we start these businesses, we're not starting businesses. We're
doing something that we're passionate about, and it turns into
this like we're forced to be a CEO, were forced
to be these things Like I just wanted to create
a dot product, get it out there so you can
try it, and then the things starts to scale and
now I'm stuck being something that I probably didn't go
to school for. Don't have an expertise in but at
(24:43):
the same time, I still think that's one of our
superpowers as well too. Though when it comes to business.
Speaker 2 (24:47):
How do we we have that script for growth, for hustle,
for grinding? What is that next scaling script that you
want that you would like the community to learn.
Speaker 3 (24:57):
I think the next scaling script is and this is
something talked about recently. I do think the dynamics of
building a company today is different than it was ten
years ago. I think it was easier to make to
become a multi mega dollar company ten years ago than
it is today, you know. And it's crazy because over
(25:17):
these last few years, I've been telling people, I'm like,
be careful, we talk about the soft life. I get it,
you know what I mean. I hear what you're saying.
But I felt like they was about to start making
things harder. And I said this years ago, and I
think we're there. You're seeing a lot of black business
to struggle, You're seeing them closed. And I'm like, I
(25:38):
called this. I didn't know what to call it, but
I felt it coming. It is strategic now, it is
an ecosystem, it is systematic. So that's the difference. Like
back in the day, yeah, the algorithm I could post
get a hundred thousand. You know, that's not no more
happened today, Like you better learn how You have to
understand now how to grow a business. And you can
(26:01):
learn it, but you have to have a desire to,
you know. And I see so many people like, oh
my god, let me try to hire somebody to do No.
I just said it. You're gonna have to learn some
things right now.
Speaker 4 (26:11):
Right on TikTok shops.
Speaker 3 (26:12):
I mean, Lisa, I legit. I was not on there
at all. I was like, I'm not about to do
another social media platform at all. And I'm just like
learning this new ecosystem. I'm like, Courtney, that's not even
an option no more. You know, before I hired an agency,
I knew nothing about TikTok grew up to six figures
(26:32):
in like thirty days, you know. And this was and
this is not the main choice. Courtney's so smart, Like, no,
this was Courtney. Let me get in here on the weekend,
let me start researching and actually just start seeing how
do you grow? I had no experience, and I don't
want to say because it was Courtney that kind of
got us there. It was really me sitting down learning
(26:54):
something that I had no idea about.
Speaker 4 (26:57):
Get your zone sometime, to get with the times.
Speaker 3 (27:01):
You do you do when when when things change, and
it's I think it's so. I was looking at a comment.
I rarely read a lot of stuff when people do,
like interviews and stuff like that, because I hate seeing
like the drama. But I seen something that went viral.
A young lady I did a makeover and somebody had
posted it and I was like, oh, I didn't know
(27:22):
this was like circulating on Facebook and I'm reading the
comments and I'm reading like one of the girls was like, oh,
isn't she the one who had a company? Then she
started doing something else. Then she started doing something else,
and we were talking about the different business businesses and
and they was like, yeah, that's her, and I'm looking
and they was like laughing, going back and forth right,
(27:43):
and I was just like wow, Like, first of all,
I'm not offended by the conversation, but it's like the
lack of understanding, like you too should pivot when it's
time to pivot, Like we think this is a joke, right,
you understand, so to see yet to see that, it
was just like because I feel like I feel like
(28:03):
the weight sometime because I just feel like the average
person is not about to put out there what I'm doing.
They don't care if you understand or not. They're gonna
sell a company, get their bread, and they're gonna hit dodge.
But I'm just like, it's so many more people out
there who do want to learn, And girl, if you
need to pivot, you need to pivot. You know what
I mean, it may not be serving you no more,
(28:25):
and it's not a bad thing. And I met this
guy he sold two companies for five billion dollars each.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (28:32):
And I did a transaction with him and I told him,
I said, you know what, I said, we can't cross
paths without you give me some type of mini master
class like period on the spot. And I never forget.
This is before I came back and take care care.
He said. You know what, he said. I started a
water company, he said, I sold it for six billion.
He said, I started another water company. He said, I
(28:53):
sold it for six billion. He said, And if I
came back again and started another company, he said, do
you know what that company's going to be? I'm like water,
he said exactly. So basically, he's like you're doing this
other thing. Get back into haircare, you know what I mean,
That's what they know you for. You know, so again
you want to be able to learn as you go.
(29:14):
And for me, it's not about selling this company. This
will be the legacy company for me. But that first
move got me to where I am today.
Speaker 2 (29:21):
And you did that watching Sea Beauty and it's an
amazing Their products are amazing. Of course this is the
second company Courtney created. What would Courtney Main Choice CEO
tell Courtney? What would Courtney Watching c Beauty CEO tell
Courtney Main Choice CEO?
Speaker 3 (29:39):
Hmmm, I would probably say. I would probably say keep
doing what you're doing. You know, I think it's the
people who actually withstand. You know, when people hear about
the struggles or they fill the struggles with the business,
that doesn't necessarily mean it's time to fold. That means
(30:00):
it's time to learn, period, you know what I mean.
I'm not going to sit here and tell you that
every day is peaches and cream. I am putting out
a fire, big fires. When I first launched, we launched
in Target like that was my first store Black History Month, intentional.
I was intentional about that that time. The same week
(30:22):
the Dee, I wrote back, you know what I mean
like this, you you couldn't have planned that worse. You know,
everything had the hole like we you know how much money,
Like that was a million dollar launch that wasn't coming
from funding. That was a million dollar launch and a
(30:42):
million dollar worth the products sitting in there with nobody
getting it off the shelves. You know. So you go
through things. So what I would say is just because
you're going through something, that doesn't mean it's shut down time.
That doesn't mean it's time to not figure it out.
That means it's time to get a little comfortable with
learning some things that you may not may not know.
Speaker 4 (31:04):
Man, that was a I know you were like, why
is this challenged?
Speaker 3 (31:08):
Listen? People was like in boxing me. I said, listen,
I'm reading, I'm reading what you reading. You know what
I mean. We didn't get the news earlier than anybody,
and you know, having a conversation like with you know,
Target CEO, like we didn't we didn't get the news early.
Speaker 1 (31:23):
You know what I mean, found out just a love
with a shocking head. Listen, what did you do?
Speaker 3 (31:28):
Who? What did I do? You know I had to
put on my relatable hat. I would say, you know,
I had two sets of people. I had an angry,
you know, group of customers who I supported one hundred
and ten percent, and I had a group of people
to say, I'm still in here, I'm looking for the product,
(31:49):
you know, what do I do? And then at that time,
you know, like I, you know, told everybody, I'm like, listen,
I can't make a decision overnight, like I'm trying to.
I'm trying to think this through too, Like what does
that look like? You know? And sometimes I'm not going
to say sometimes all the time, You're not going to
please everybody, you know what I mean, Like, you can't.
(32:09):
You have to make the best decision.
Speaker 4 (32:11):
It's easy for somebody not in that position to take easy.
Speaker 3 (32:14):
You should do it easy. And so I always like
to come back. I always like to come back with
them on social media. I was like, I said, well
you're still here on Instagram and they rode back to
the e. I said, but you don't have to tell
me your reasoning for being on here. I know you
have one just as well as I have one. It
may not be what you want to hear. I said,
because at the end of the day, Target has bought
these products they don't need. I don't own them anymore.
(32:36):
I said, do you want me to get an eighteen
ruler and go street by street and rally after process.
That's that's not realistic, you know what I mean. Yeah,
So my position was to stand firm on I'm supporting
one hundred percent. If you like courty, I'm not going
into the store. I'm not about you to tell you yeah,
I'm not going to do that because at the end
(32:57):
of the day, I am a black woman. I feel you.
I understand exactly where you're coming from, you know, so
I will never tell you to do something you're not
comfortable with. But it was a challenge, you know what
I mean. So when we look at business, you can't
call it every day. It's not going to be gravy
at all.
Speaker 1 (33:12):
But it also shows you how important it is to
be diverse and where your placement.
Speaker 4 (33:16):
Is too, so that when this isn't here, well at
least the online business is strong. This is strong. This
is strong.
Speaker 3 (33:22):
Exactly and the hardest thing you can do right now,
Like you know, even what we're doing, like building you know,
e comm like being heavy you know on TikTok being
heavy in retail. You really don't see a lot of
beauty brands playing in both areas because it is difficult,
you know, and it's very strategic, you know, but we're navigating,
(33:42):
you know what I mean. I was one of the first,
I'm gonna say, one of the first black brands in
Walmart who actually went to the general market aisle as
one hundred percent ownership as a black brand, Okay, right, So,
and that's not easy to do. So it's a lot
of things, a lot of history three being made, and
I don't take it for granted, and I don't do
(34:02):
it for accolades. It's just to say that, you know,
like I'm standing in the gap for it, y'all, because
sometimes we don't know who's actually out there rooting for us,
making room for us in the future. And I think
the worst thing you can do is move on emotion.
And I think with our culture, people know that and
they play off of that. We move all emotion. Whatever
(34:22):
my emotion is right now, I'm going to make that decision.
And sometimes that's not necessarily the right decision. You have
to think it through. How is this going to impact everybody?
What does this look like? Because now in the store
in there, you're not going to see a lot of
black brands in there anymore because they lost that face.
But guess what, guess who's back in their shopping. You
(34:44):
see what I'm saying. So you just gotta gotta be smart,
you know what I mean. And you gotta be okay
with everybody not being okay with the decisions.
Speaker 4 (34:54):
Ye please everyone you can you can't.
Speaker 2 (34:57):
So two things before you go. First, you're making all
this money and you're giving it away.
Speaker 3 (35:04):
Sort of yeah, all of it, not all of it.
You know, this was back in the day, Like even
me doing like to pay my bill. Like back in
the day in Detroit, there was like a radio station
and this guy he used to pay a bill like
every week, and I was just so impressed. But I'll
never forget. I was a nursing school. Every Friday I
would listen in and he would pay somebody's bill. And
(35:26):
I just thought that was just so dope. And I said,
you know, I said, if I ever was in a
position that I can do that, I said, I will,
And today I have done that. Like I said, I
paid hundreds that people know publicly. Then there's someone on
behind the scenes but I think the most gratifying when
I'm out. Like someone came to me the other day
was like, you may not know me, but you paid
(35:47):
for like my college tuition and I just graduated, you
know what I mean. Like I was at like an
awards and a guy came up to me. It was like,
you got my car from out of you know, being repolled.
So I don't know, like you know. One thing I
do is when I pick a winner, because I do,
I pick the winners myself. I pray over it and
I say, God, just help me to go to whatever
person you want me to go. I mean, it feels
(36:08):
overwhelming because I got so many writ and in but
I'm like, I'm just going to pick one and God
direct my path. And I've been doing that. Some people like, oh,
she's doing it for marketing. I don't do it for marketing.
Don't you know I have to pay for that.
Speaker 4 (36:23):
It's a Detroit thing. To the skill of baby was
up here.
Speaker 1 (36:25):
He's been buying houses for people in Detroit, paying attention
like all of that. Kayla's laughing my intern because she's
like she told Skill she was like, hello, my tuition.
Speaker 3 (36:35):
Yeah, you know you think about that thing. Think about
think about that person who you always wanted help from, right,
I think when we get in these positions, like why
not become that person that we always dreamed of?
Speaker 4 (36:50):
Yeah, no, that's amazing.
Speaker 1 (36:52):
You know, that's a blessing that people are out there
that are like, she did this for me.
Speaker 4 (36:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (36:56):
And it's crazy because it's it'll be in the craziest
areas like I'm just an a war ceremony, you know
what I mean. It's like like wow, because sometimes it's
like am I even impacting by doing like one? You
know what I mean?
Speaker 1 (37:09):
But it is though, if you can have one person,
that is a blessing.
Speaker 4 (37:14):
Yeah, it's a great feeling.
Speaker 2 (37:16):
So we got your Black Business Month check. Great way
to kick it off. It is also National Philanthropy Month. Check.
Every day is Parents' Day and you're making a mini me.
Your daughter was the youngest CEO to have something in Target.
Tell us about that.
Speaker 3 (37:31):
Yes, yes, so she is a CEO at heart. She's
the youngest one. But it's so crazy now as the
middle one starts to get older, she got her CEO
hat on.
Speaker 2 (37:40):
But we're doing all this from right.
Speaker 3 (37:44):
You know, it's funny to my husband He's like, listen,
I'm in medicine. He was like, I'm the opposite. I
don't want to run nothing. I don't want to be
over nobody, you know.
Speaker 4 (37:52):
I pack man.
Speaker 3 (37:54):
He's just like, I'm not gonna do what you do.
But I definitely think, you know, at the end of
the day, get our kids. They sold cookies, they sold
candy in school, you know what I mean, Like, we're
not we're not new to this. So it's like, how
about doing this for yourself? You know, just imagine what
is that something like even like now that she's kind
of outgrown the bowls, they're both now collaborating on something
(38:17):
that may be coming in the future. But they they
actually see like I can make something, you know what
I mean, I can do something. So I'm always going
to still promote them obviously going to college like my
son he's in for software engineering. But I'm like you too,
Like if you want to have your own business, you can,
but we're going to finish because otherwise you're not doing
nothing at home right now, but you can create something.
Speaker 4 (38:39):
What's her business that wasn't target?
Speaker 3 (38:41):
She had hair bows?
Speaker 4 (38:42):
Okay, so yeah, so Walmart is the target.
Speaker 3 (38:44):
Yes, she was the youngest, youngest one, and she designed
him herself like literally, and she will wake up. I
remember she woke up like at two o'clock in the morning.
Was like I got an idea. I said, girl, please
go back passion exactly exactly.
Speaker 4 (39:02):
So watching c beauty tell us.
Speaker 3 (39:05):
Yes, you know, people allize. Some people will say, well,
you know, how did you guys come up with the name?
You know? Some people say, well, can she do it again?
Is it possible?
Speaker 2 (39:15):
Watching exactly, notice how I put that together.
Speaker 4 (39:20):
I look in your hair down with this is our
new viral product. Okay, you know what.
Speaker 3 (39:27):
This product came and took over the company. It's so crazy.
You can have all intentions on how you want to
roll things out, and I added this product on and
I was this product I was so nervous to do
because I'm like, no one really does a product that's
designed for a slick back and you could actually have yes,
and it's crazy. I can get the craziest idea and
(39:51):
it's always the one that takes off the most. Like literally,
it has taken over the company.
Speaker 4 (39:56):
Now, I'm telling you, I've seen that.
Speaker 1 (39:57):
And I was like, I need that slick back because
I you know, First off, I'm going my bangs out,
so now I just it's you know, they're at the
in between stage. But when I tell you, and your
hair looks so perfect, cute.
Speaker 3 (40:09):
And my thing was, what can I do if I
want to get up like this morning and I want
to come in and I wanted my hair to look
on point. I don't want to do it yesterday. I
don't want to do it like I did my hair
this morning, you know what I mean. So it's literally
designed for that girl who is doing her hair herself.
You know what I mean. She want to pull it together.
(40:30):
She don't have a lot of time. Because that's that's
the epitome of my Look at this, come on girl like,
oh we're gonna get you. We're gonna.
Speaker 4 (40:38):
I need some help. They don't look crunchy, you know
how sometimes it can be like flaky.
Speaker 3 (40:46):
Yes, it's totally controllable. You can build it. Put a
little bit, put a lot, and this is locked in
for the week. Put a scarf on at night and
I love it.
Speaker 2 (40:55):
That's where can people buy it?
Speaker 3 (40:57):
You can buy this at Walmart, Our, Target, CBS, H G,
B Meyer, Amazon, you name it, so we little bit
of it. You name it. I'm excited to be able
to do it again. You know, retail is no joke.
It's no joke, and it's not easier that I'm back again.
So I'm fortunate and blessed for sure.
Speaker 2 (41:17):
Clearly you love it right, and we love you, and
thank you so much for kicking off Black Business Month
with Wealth Wednesdays. Thank you, We wish you luck. We
will be why you wanted to do this again. That
can be our next Innew all right, that can be
our next interview. But thank you so much, and happy
Wealth Wednesday's everybody, and happy Black Business Month.
Speaker 3 (41:36):
Thank you
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