Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
The following is a paid commercial by Black Girls Sunscreen.
The views expressed are those of the sponsor and not
iHeartMedia or this station. Welcome to Shamelessly Chante with your
host Chantay Lundy.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Good morning. You're listening to shame We see Chante and
I'm your host, Chantey Lundy. So yeah, it has been
a world win of a quarter starting from December when
retailers announced that they were rolling back and cutting their
(00:39):
DEI initiatives. And as a founder, an entrepreneur that has
their products in these major retailers, it has been very confusing,
frustrating and emotional to hear what the retailers are doing,
(01:00):
but also see how our community is responding to the cutbacks.
So there's well, not talk, but there have been boycotts
from certain retailers. There have been fast from certain retailers,
and everybody kind of has their own theory of why
things are happening. Everybody has someone different that they're listening to,
(01:24):
and in my opinion, there lacks unity in whatever is
supposed to happen. The retailers, though, are standing on business,
and what I mean by that is they're not They're
not doubling back on not not supporting their DEI initiatives
(01:46):
that that they said they once were going to do.
And I think that's more surprise surprising because it's almost
not acknowledging the buying power of black people. So as
a founder an entrepreneur, it has been every day. It's
something very confusing because do Black Girls Sunscreens values need
(02:11):
to align with theirs or align with the culture in
the community that has supported us? Right, these are questions
that are going through my mind all the time. So,
francis you know with that what's happening at Black Girls Sunscreen? Sure?
So y'all know we have a sunscreen specifically for men now, Okay, yeah, okay, okay,
(02:35):
if you didn't know, now you know BGS Men SPF
fifty is infused with hops, licorice root and aloe leaf juice.
It provides the same protection as our cream product, the
Black Girls Sunscreen SPF thirty, the one you all know
and love. Ladies, you no longer have to share your
sunscreen with the men in your life, and men, y'all
(02:57):
can go get your own, stop stealing from us. Okay, okay,
real question, Francis sure? Now, the last time I asked
you a question I don't know if you were honest
with us. Okay, Francis, Yes, and I'll be honest with
you if you ask it back. Okay, okay, okay, Francis.
Have you tried BGS men? I have not tried BJS men? Okay,
why not? Because it's for men? And do you feel that? Yes?
(03:21):
You do feel?
Speaker 3 (03:21):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (03:21):
I do. Yeah. Okay, you tried it yet? Yes? I
tried it before it was even made. Okay? Have I
tried it out of the packaging? Yes, just a little rub.
Is it my go to? No, because vanilla crem is
my go to for the skin and body now face somebody,
and for my lip it is make it shade pop.
(03:42):
So I just have a personal favorite and that's why
I haven't really, you know, dabbled in the men's But
I also want to make sure that you know my
the products that we're creating for you know, certain skin types.
I'm using the one for my skin type, correct, Yeah? Yeah, yeah, okay,
I'm stuck on the og. Yeah, I love her. Have
(04:05):
you gifted men? Yes to a man in your life? Yes? Okay,
you know the men in my life. They actually purchased
and and that and that was very I thought it
was very kind and very nice, and they were really
excited to be the first picture from like Amazon when
(04:26):
it was on there and then and then from the website,
and that held more weight than me saying here, here
you go, here's it, here's a package. Yeah, okay, So
BGS men is out there. Summer's right around the corner,
Yes it is. Don't get caught slipping being ashy. Don't
be ashy. Okay, Well, today's guest, I don't know. You
think she wears men? No, no, I don't think so.
(04:50):
I think she wears OG. I do too, because she's
an og okay of the brand. That is yeah okay,
And you're listening to shameless chante.
Speaker 4 (05:00):
If you want to protect your skin crane, make sure
you get some black girl sign screen black girl, you
ain't gunandgeum sign bab. Just let on your black girl
sign screen, black guy ain't black, don't crack it doesn't.
But people get signed burned too. As my cousin, I'm
skipping skin and this for women and for men, and
(05:20):
how this summer street or know how you got the bee.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
That's a bag.
Speaker 4 (05:23):
If you side of that dry white cash, you should
take your melons you can still get melanoma. It's made
wick a cow while Vocado and her hole and it's
moldy purpose. You could use it for your lochbu women
and the sun making mad make it go. You're gonna wish.
You gotta win the fine linest.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
On the show.
Speaker 4 (05:42):
If you want to protect your skin crane, make sure
you get some black Girl sign screen Black Girl. You're
on GVNANDJEM sign bing just lit on your black Girl sign.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Scrawm Francis, Yes, ma'am. Who do we have sitting next
to us? A libra A libra uh definitely Today's Guest.
Is a distinguished beauty industry strategist and founder and president
of Beauty Founder's Agency, a premier multicultural brand strategy and
marketing firm. With over fourteen years of experience in multicultural
(06:16):
advertising and brand management. She has advised Fortune five hundred
companies and emerging beauty and CpG brands, helping them scale
into major retailers. Notably, she played a key role in
the success of Sacred Beyonce's hair care collection, providing expert
insights on product testing and marketing. She holds an MBA
(06:36):
and a bachelor's degree from Fisk University is a dedicated
advocate for innovation and diversity, serves on advisory boards and
invests in beauty and tech ventures. Please welcome the illustrious Melissa.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
Spell it.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
So much.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
I have you than ignorant question. It's fish.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
It is an HBCU, Nashville, Tennessee.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Okay, I knew who stuff Melissa. Do you remember when
we met?
Speaker 1 (07:08):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (07:09):
God, that's how I felt when they asked.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
Me we met a long time ago, like in your infancy,
because I know you're about five six.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Years old, and oh we're nine, you're nine.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
Oh see, it's been that long.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
It hasn't been that long. I think when you met
me it was more of like when people were discussing.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
Yeah, it was definitely pre my daughter, so she's seven now,
so I know it was before that.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Wow, Okay, I think it might have been at a dinner. Okay.
Maybe Black Women Black Women in Hollywood, m M. Black
Women Beauty.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
You're right, twenty five Black Women in Beauty. That organization.
That was short lived, but it was great because.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
You don't want to give it. I don't want to
give it to him right now.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
No, but it was great to meet you there and
there were a lot of amazing black women at the
table and all are thriving still till this day.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
Yeah, so that's good.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
That's the good thing about that.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
I don't think it's all but well.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
More than fifty yeah, yeah, yeah, it's true.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
It's true. I kind of want to just get into
it right because you are in the space of brand building,
you're in the community or in the culture. I opened
up the conversation with DEI, do you want to just
kind of give us, like your immediate thoughts today, not
when it all kicked off in December with the videos
(08:30):
and all that stuff. Today. How is Melissa and the
folks around her feeling about this scaling bag the boycotts
in the past.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
Well, unlike a lot of people, d I didn't phase me.
I didn't leverage it, I didn't need it. I didn't
prioritize it in order to grow and scale and build
my career and help founders build theirs, because I knew
that we weren't the primary beneficiaries of DEI. So our
capabilities and competence and relevance how to come from somewhere else.
(09:01):
And so for me, it's just more about educating others
on why we should not be so divisive on the
topic now, but really look at really understanding what DII
ultimately meant so that we can get around the emotional
trauma of the scaling back and how the community is
(09:22):
really responding to it. So, for me, diversity equity inclusion.
Of course, I believe in inclusion. But we've never had
a problem being inclusive. We've also but our biggest problem
was benefiting from the thing that society believes that black
women had benefited from, which was diversity equity inclusion. We
were the least beneficial. So it is a topic. It
(09:44):
is a frustrating topic right now, and we're right in
the middle of it because we launched at a major
retailer right when this all happened.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
Oh us too, Black Girl Sunscreen. I mean, one of
our biggest customers is the one that is getting hit
the hardest. And we have two new projects, two new
products that have launched on shelves and you know, to
be quite honest, I can't even we can't even talk
about it for the fear of actually being canceled. Yeah, right,
(10:13):
and we why should we have the fear, right because
it's like the community is like, well, you guys are
just a you know, collateral damage in all this. We
we really want to hurt the big corporation and y'all
just y'all just happened to be there. So shame on
you whatever brand and Black Girl Sunscreen for not aligning
with us. Are you getting that?
Speaker 3 (10:31):
Oh? Are we getting that? And worse? I mean, the
comments section is real. So we launched the first black
owned braiding hair brand in history.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
Congratulations saw it.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
With Target and it's a deal that I was working
on on for over a year. So this again didn't
just happen. It has been in the works and it
just so happened. We all, we've always known it was
going to launch in February. We always knew it was
going to launch.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
And I'm just gonna pause out there for a second, right,
because when you launch into the major retailers, it takes
about a year to to get in, right.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
Yep, it takes about a year to get in, and
Target it takes a while to on board and do
all the things get through their system. So we launched
the first black owned braiding hair and February was the
timeframe when all the DEI was also rolling back. So
our dms were hit with, you know, questions around whether
we were going to pull out, why we wanted to
still be there, why are we advocating because we also
(11:23):
launched a big commercial at the time that we filmed
in at Target and and soil. All of it was
happened simultaneously, and they were asking They're basically saying like,
we're never going to shop there. Yeah, you guys are
just going to be a part of that collateral damage,
but we're not shopping there. And I thought it was
so insensitive and really unfortunate that this the position was
(11:44):
being taken place on the fact that we should black
owned brands, the hundreds of them that are in Target
should pull out, not really considering the business and financial
and legal implications to even do such a thing, but
also the fact that it's silly. I mean, we really
create products black girls send screen and others so that
we can create better and provide better quality products to
(12:07):
the consumers that require it and asking for it. So
we delivered to you on a non toxic braiding here
with no carcinogenic ingredients to the masses. We're in two
hundred stores, scaling to five by May for braid season. Summer,
and yet you're asking us to go away because because
the D and I has now stepped into the chat,
(12:29):
it's problematic for me.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
How'd you handle it?
Speaker 3 (12:32):
So we submitted. First of all, we addressed a lot
of the comments. We made our own statement on why
we believe we deserve to be there and why we're
staying there and why. Also that we are also getting
a lot of support from our merchants, our two buyers
that targeted black women, young black women who've been there
a long time, who are on the front lines ensuring
that brands like yours and ours survive and thrive. We
(12:54):
talked to them weekly. We get emails of continuous support,
and we have not seen any divesting. We have not
seen any what some of the narrative is that they're
putting the products on the back shelves and discounting it,
and so much of that is false, and that false
narrative is also driving the emotional, you know, damage that's
(13:15):
happening in the social spaces. But we just reassure them
that we're safe, we're happy, we are being supported internally.
And in addition to that, when the consumer reports came
out about Synthetic here, we also doubled down, you know,
letting them know that we're a non Sleigh is a
non toxic rating hair brand. So for all the things
like we deserve to be there and we're going to
(13:36):
stay there.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
Yeah, that's powerful and I'm glad that you are speaking
with your chest because for me, as a founder that
has been in business with them for five years, we'd
We've decided to take a different route. Our product, you know,
still moves, it serves, it does what it needs to do.
(13:59):
We have have other retailers though that love Black Girl Sunscreen,
And to be honest, we as a company, we don't
actually from a social perspective, we don't actually shout out
our retailers.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
Right.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
People know us to be in the bullseye because that's
where we launch first, but we have so many other
places where you can purchase, so our socials can get
convoluted if we're like, hey go here this day, Hey
go there tomorrow, Hey go there next week. So we've
decided on a different social approach to how we announce
(14:37):
where we are and what we're doing. But I have
been asked the same questions. I have been asked, like,
you know, what are your values? What do you stand
for and all of those things. I really wish this
were a bad dream, right and I wake up and
it's still here, still here.
Speaker 3 (14:58):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I think that you've had the diversification
of the multi channel. And this is Slave's first major
mass retailer. Now we have launch a tej Max, we
know other off price retailers, and but this was the
one that we have been working on and so for
us that the timing of it, we had to double
down on not just being there, but also dressing addressing
(15:21):
what was happening during that time frame. So yeah, very
unfortunate time. Wish it were.
Speaker 4 (15:29):
Black, don't pract it doesn't Black people get sign burned too.
As my cousin skimming skin, it's for women and for men.
On how this summer street run you got the beach
some BG yes or black Girl side screen found in
twenty sixteen. Shout out to the owner shot Lundy. She
a skim queen. She gave me the black Print song.
Going later, Stay mortialized, but take your skin from hybrid
(15:52):
pimentageous for every occasion, use SPS year around, BGS for
every persuasion. Brand a bottle and.
Speaker 3 (15:59):
Join you sun screen.
Speaker 4 (16:02):
See you girl, you look amazed. If you're going to
present your make sure you get some black girls sun screen.
Your just on your black girl sun screen. Black don't cracked.
Black people get.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
Have you changed your shopping habits? What are your what
are your shopping habits?
Speaker 1 (16:26):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (16:26):
God? Well, as a laborer, you know, I love I
love to shop. I And one of the reasons why
I tend to be so such a fan of beauty
and founders and beauty products because I am a consumer
through and through. So I am shopping everywhere from you know,
your off price retailer to your major retailers online, you
(16:48):
know boutiques around the city. I'm shopping everywhere, and so
my habits are I shopped for my staples where I
need to go. But since this has all happened, have
I not? I said to everyone, if you I believe
that if you're going to do anything, shop strategically, go
into those stores and buy the black brands. Why because
(17:10):
there's so many in all categories in the bull's eye.
So that for me is really empowering because I cannot
sit by and watch another brand suffer knowing that I'm
also in the space of elevating supporting you know other
founders like I can't just walk away, but there is
a better way. I think that. You know, Claude Anderson
(17:32):
said in his book You Know Paranomics, that it is
about think you strategically about how we spend our money,
because we're gonna spend it. And so that's where I stand.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
On the matter. Thank you for sharing. Then where do
I stand on the matter. I actually am a shopper
as Leber, but I only buy what I need from stores.
I because I also want to say, because I know
I have this bad habit, I don't actually go into
the the math retailers and just buy stuff. That's not
(18:02):
how I am. Like, oh, cute pillow, it stays there.
It just it just stays there for me. So my
shopping habits haven't really kind of changed because I wasn't
like like overboard, Oh my goodness, I went in for
one thing, but my receipts is three hundred dollars. That's
not who I am. I'm very intentional. If I need
something for an event or if I see something like,
(18:23):
oh that's cute, I'm gonna save it for the next time.
That that's how I do it. So so so yeah,
I'm not necessarily not doing something, but I'm not also
doing something right if that makes sense. That makes sense, Melissa,
let's change gears a little bit.
Speaker 3 (18:40):
Beauty vet.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
You've been in the industry for a long time. Yeah,
so I'm sure you've seen it all I can. Yeah,
what's your relationship with sunscreen and what do you see
in the importance of using it every day?
Speaker 3 (18:53):
So, for those who have known me pre consulting in
pre my agency, I also was a professional abrity makeup
artists for quite a while, and I chose that route
after leaving Corporate America because I really wanted to have
my hands in beauty in an authentic way where not
only can I learn the skill set, but also be
able to work with a variety. I had a big plan,
(19:16):
and the big plan was where I am right now.
But I chose an alternative route because Corporate America was
not going to allow me to both, you know, be
an executive and enjoy my hobby and figure out how
I you know, can fit it in, can fit it
in and develop the skill set that I needed. I
went to high school. I went to beauty school in
high school. So I graduate from high school and cosmetology school. Simultaneously,
(19:39):
I also broke into an abandoned dorm in my college
and did hair and makeup all throughout college while a
prelaw major. Beauty has always been with me. But I
really wanted the career of a traditional career because I'm
an immigrant. My parents immigrated here from Jamaica. They brought
us here to build us a better life seven children,
and I wanted the America. I wanted that experience to
traditional college, the traditional corporate experience, fourteen years in corporate
(20:01):
America after graduating. But beauty has always been with me.
So I say all that to say that sunscreen as
a professional is absolutely primary, particularly when we did red
carpet moments and all that. So it was always there
wasn't a preference though until Black Girl Sunscreen. My daughter
was four years old when the Little Mermaid partnership and
(20:21):
you graciously invited us to the premiere. She had a ball.
Oh my god, it was so beautiful. But being four
and being able to have a conversation around sunscreen with
her in a way that was not only authentic, but
there was a representation. She met the founders, she got
to see the experience and all of it for me
like I now can teach her. But in the industry overall,
(20:44):
I always understood the power of sunscreen for me. There
weren't many that would be as a brownskinned woman that
I felt was made for me. So I honestly have
avoided sunscreen for a long time until Black Girl Sunscreen.
And I know many black women with that very same story.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
Wow, that's my story, a lot of ours. So I
have a couple of quick questions. I want you to
think too much of it, okay, okay, and then we're
gonna play a game. Okay, you ready? So looking back,
what's the beauty trend that you were committed to that
now makes you cringe?
Speaker 3 (21:16):
Wow? I want to say baking.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
Oh, the makeup.
Speaker 3 (21:22):
Yeah, the makeup of the powder, you know, heavy powder.
Let it sit for like forever underneath your eye. And
that's the baking. You know they still do it, though
they still do it, but I think it. I know
now that it ages you, depending on as you know,
you get to a certain point, your skin changes. Baking
is not good after a certain age or you know,
(21:42):
life stage. So no baking for me, and nobody will
bake up my face again. What's the wild Somebody just
baked on me.
Speaker 2 (21:52):
Yes, yes, what's the wildest and most unconventional beauty hack
you've tried and did it work?
Speaker 1 (21:57):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (21:57):
Yeah, milk up magnesia to it works right, putting milk
of magnesia. It absorbs the oil in your skin absolutely,
and I still stand by it till till this day.
To do it, I wouldn't do it every day, but
I do it from like my big you know, photoshoot moments,
event moments. But yeah, you dab it in, let it sit,
(22:18):
it dries, it pulls the oil and then you keep
going interesting. You never use molka magnesia, No really, I
just used masks. Now there's primer, but primer then I
mean milka magnesia, then the primer and then the then
the good makeup. Oh yeah, and I use I use
a CC cream, So I don't even use foundations.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
See that is advance for me. What new look from
today do you think will be will end up being
timeless tomorrow new look?
Speaker 3 (22:46):
Oh my god, I think that healthy skin look. I
still believe in that. That's why I like CCA creams
as opposed to foundations, because it's a combination of like
moisturizer plus sort of a foundation mix and so it
gives you that dewey look and for me, like that
is really big, that minimaliss beautiful skin with that great
(23:06):
lip and you know, a nicely shaped brown.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
Yes, that is talking my language.
Speaker 3 (23:12):
Yes, I'm basically speaking about Chantey's face.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
We're gonna play a game, Okay, Francis tee it up
for us, all right, So the game is called yeah nah,
I'll give you a phrase and you just give us Yeah. Na,
we're gonna roundtable it okay, Okay, plastic on the sofa.
Speaker 4 (23:34):
Is hell?
Speaker 2 (23:34):
Non up? Okay, that's nah, but I do leave my
plastic on like my computer screens and stuff. So anyway,
go ahead. Yeah, it's a not for me. Okay, boys,
short panties, no thong? Girl okay? Nah? Yeah, okay, sinks
(23:58):
and chills, I'm sorry. Six inch heels oh yeah, originally
she had four?
Speaker 3 (24:05):
Yes, yes, do you see him?
Speaker 1 (24:08):
And to me?
Speaker 2 (24:10):
Oh nice? Yeah, yeah, I'm not. I'm down to threes now,
I'm na. I'm down to sneakers. Okay, shoes on a
house no, nah, Oh you scared me for a minute.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
There.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
You have a you have to think about, like training
a child to on why it's make your shoes off.
Speaker 2 (24:32):
So stank breath. No, no, and not for me. Yeah,
that's a negative. Yes, cats are better pets than dogs.
Speaker 3 (24:47):
I have not I have neither, right, but I think
yes cats yes?
Speaker 2 (24:52):
Hell no, you know that cat's are psychotic? No, that
was fun we had.
Speaker 3 (25:00):
They're less aggressive. I don't know. I could be wrong.
This depends on the type, right, especially orange cats.
Speaker 2 (25:06):
Yes, well, listen, So what's next for you?
Speaker 1 (25:11):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (25:11):
My goodness? You know I because I'm sitting in the
space of working with founders, I still am frustrated around
this idea of being underfunded and all the things. I
hate the statistics. I'm like, how can we solve it?
So I'm really looking at ways of figuring that out.
I want to be a part of the solution. So
(25:32):
I'm looking at some alternative funding opportunities that I can
bring into my company. I'm looking at some alternative distribution
opportunities I can bring in my company. I want to
help founders to survive and thrive, and I we can't
rely on it, Like I always tell them, no one's
coming to save you, right, And that's I truly believe that.
So I'm in a position to do it. And that's
really what I really want to focus on. And then
(25:54):
you know, I want to do build more here in
Los Angeles area. I want to travel to Atlanta seven
times last year and I was like, God, I'm leaving
my community, leaving my state to go and build in
somewhere else. I want to build more here. So I'm
involved in a lot more community based incubators and programs
that are helping entrepreneurs in the city of LA and
(26:15):
I'm doubling down on that. So there's a lot more
on that front. And then potentially not a published book,
but an ebook that is really going to also help entrepreneurs.
So a few things.
Speaker 2 (26:26):
You know, it's all part of the big plan.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
It is.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
You said that you're doing it right now, that's right present.
That's the fact we're speaking to a business woman over here.
I love it. Let me know if you need some support,
thank you, involvement with Chante and or a Black Girl screation.
Speaker 3 (26:41):
Thank you. I appreciate that you have always been accessible
and you mean you do what you say, you mean
what you say, What do you know what I mean?
Speaker 2 (26:51):
Whatever you do that, you do what you say. You
go girl, you did that, and you're listening to seamous
chante bye yeah, yeah, I can't yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:11):
The proceeding was a paid commercial by Black Girl's son's
Green
The following is a paid commercial by Black Girls Sunscreen.
The views expressed are those of the sponsor and not
iHeartMedia or this station. Welcome to Shamelessly Chante with your
host Chantay Lundy.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Good morning. You're listening to shame We see Chante and
I'm your host, Chantey Lundy. So yeah, it has been
a world win of a quarter starting from December when
retailers announced that they were rolling back and cutting their
(00:39):
DEI initiatives. And as a founder, an entrepreneur that has
their products in these major retailers, it has been very confusing,
frustrating and emotional to hear what the retailers are doing,
(01:00):
but also see how our community is responding to the cutbacks.
So there's well, not talk, but there have been boycotts
from certain retailers. There have been fast from certain retailers,
and everybody kind of has their own theory of why
things are happening. Everybody has someone different that they're listening to,
(01:24):
and in my opinion, there lacks unity in whatever is
supposed to happen. The retailers, though, are standing on business,
and what I mean by that is they're not They're
not doubling back on not not supporting their DEI initiatives
(01:46):
that that they said they once were going to do.
And I think that's more surprise surprising because it's almost
not acknowledging the buying power of black people. So as
a founder an entrepreneur, it has been every day. It's
something very confusing because do Black Girls Sunscreens values need
(02:11):
to align with theirs or align with the culture in
the community that has supported us? Right, these are questions
that are going through my mind all the time. So,
francis you know with that what's happening at Black Girls Sunscreen? Sure?
So y'all know we have a sunscreen specifically for men now, Okay, yeah, okay, okay,
(02:35):
if you didn't know, now you know BGS Men SPF
fifty is infused with hops, licorice root and aloe leaf juice.
It provides the same protection as our cream product, the
Black Girls Sunscreen SPF thirty, the one you all know
and love. Ladies, you no longer have to share your
sunscreen with the men in your life, and men, y'all
(02:57):
can go get your own, stop stealing from us. Okay, okay,
real question, Francis sure? Now, the last time I asked
you a question I don't know if you were honest
with us. Okay, Francis, Yes, and I'll be honest with
you if you ask it back. Okay, okay, okay, Francis.
Have you tried BGS men? I have not tried BJS men? Okay,
why not? Because it's for men? And do you feel that? Yes?
(03:21):
You do feel?
Speaker 3 (03:21):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (03:21):
I do. Yeah. Okay, you tried it yet? Yes? I
tried it before it was even made. Okay? Have I
tried it out of the packaging? Yes, just a little rub.
Is it my go to? No, because vanilla crem is
my go to for the skin and body now face somebody,
and for my lip it is make it shade pop.
(03:42):
So I just have a personal favorite and that's why
I haven't really, you know, dabbled in the men's But
I also want to make sure that you know my
the products that we're creating for you know, certain skin types.
I'm using the one for my skin type, correct, Yeah? Yeah, yeah, okay,
I'm stuck on the og. Yeah, I love her. Have
(04:05):
you gifted men? Yes to a man in your life? Yes? Okay,
you know the men in my life. They actually purchased
and and that and that was very I thought it
was very kind and very nice, and they were really
excited to be the first picture from like Amazon when
(04:26):
it was on there and then and then from the website,
and that held more weight than me saying here, here
you go, here's it, here's a package. Yeah, okay, So
BGS men is out there. Summer's right around the corner,
Yes it is. Don't get caught slipping being ashy. Don't
be ashy. Okay, Well, today's guest, I don't know. You
think she wears men? No, no, I don't think so.
(04:50):
I think she wears OG. I do too, because she's
an og okay of the brand. That is yeah okay,
And you're listening to shameless chante.
Speaker 4 (05:00):
If you want to protect your skin crane, make sure
you get some black girl sign screen black girl, you
ain't gunandgeum sign bab. Just let on your black girl
sign screen, black guy ain't black, don't crack it doesn't.
But people get signed burned too. As my cousin, I'm
skipping skin and this for women and for men, and
(05:20):
how this summer street or know how you got the bee.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
That's a bag.
Speaker 4 (05:23):
If you side of that dry white cash, you should
take your melons you can still get melanoma. It's made
wick a cow while Vocado and her hole and it's
moldy purpose. You could use it for your lochbu women
and the sun making mad make it go. You're gonna wish.
You gotta win the fine linest.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
On the show.
Speaker 4 (05:42):
If you want to protect your skin crane, make sure
you get some black Girl sign screen Black Girl. You're
on GVNANDJEM sign bing just lit on your black Girl sign.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Scrawm Francis, Yes, ma'am. Who do we have sitting next
to us? A libra A libra uh definitely Today's Guest.
Is a distinguished beauty industry strategist and founder and president
of Beauty Founder's Agency, a premier multicultural brand strategy and
marketing firm. With over fourteen years of experience in multicultural
(06:16):
advertising and brand management. She has advised Fortune five hundred
companies and emerging beauty and CpG brands, helping them scale
into major retailers. Notably, she played a key role in
the success of Sacred Beyonce's hair care collection, providing expert
insights on product testing and marketing. She holds an MBA
(06:36):
and a bachelor's degree from Fisk University is a dedicated
advocate for innovation and diversity, serves on advisory boards and
invests in beauty and tech ventures. Please welcome the illustrious Melissa.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
Spell it.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
So much.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
I have you than ignorant question. It's fish.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
It is an HBCU, Nashville, Tennessee.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Okay, I knew who stuff Melissa. Do you remember when
we met?
Speaker 1 (07:08):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (07:09):
God, that's how I felt when they asked.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
Me we met a long time ago, like in your infancy,
because I know you're about five six.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Years old, and oh we're nine, you're nine.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
Oh see, it's been that long.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
It hasn't been that long. I think when you met
me it was more of like when people were discussing.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
Yeah, it was definitely pre my daughter, so she's seven now,
so I know it was before that.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Wow, Okay, I think it might have been at a dinner. Okay.
Maybe Black Women Black Women in Hollywood, m M. Black
Women Beauty.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
You're right, twenty five Black Women in Beauty. That organization.
That was short lived, but it was great because.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
You don't want to give it. I don't want to
give it to him right now.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
No, but it was great to meet you there and
there were a lot of amazing black women at the
table and all are thriving still till this day.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
Yeah, so that's good.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
That's the good thing about that.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
I don't think it's all but well.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
More than fifty yeah, yeah, yeah, it's true.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
It's true. I kind of want to just get into
it right because you are in the space of brand building,
you're in the community or in the culture. I opened
up the conversation with DEI, do you want to just
kind of give us, like your immediate thoughts today, not
when it all kicked off in December with the videos
(08:30):
and all that stuff. Today. How is Melissa and the
folks around her feeling about this scaling bag the boycotts
in the past.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
Well, unlike a lot of people, d I didn't phase me.
I didn't leverage it, I didn't need it. I didn't
prioritize it in order to grow and scale and build
my career and help founders build theirs, because I knew
that we weren't the primary beneficiaries of DEI. So our
capabilities and competence and relevance how to come from somewhere else.
(09:01):
And so for me, it's just more about educating others
on why we should not be so divisive on the
topic now, but really look at really understanding what DII
ultimately meant so that we can get around the emotional
trauma of the scaling back and how the community is
(09:22):
really responding to it. So, for me, diversity equity inclusion.
Of course, I believe in inclusion. But we've never had
a problem being inclusive. We've also but our biggest problem
was benefiting from the thing that society believes that black
women had benefited from, which was diversity equity inclusion. We
were the least beneficial. So it is a topic. It
(09:44):
is a frustrating topic right now, and we're right in
the middle of it because we launched at a major
retailer right when this all happened.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
Oh us too, Black Girl Sunscreen. I mean, one of
our biggest customers is the one that is getting hit
the hardest. And we have two new projects, two new
products that have launched on shelves and you know, to
be quite honest, I can't even we can't even talk
about it for the fear of actually being canceled. Yeah, right,
(10:13):
and we why should we have the fear, right because
it's like the community is like, well, you guys are
just a you know, collateral damage in all this. We
we really want to hurt the big corporation and y'all
just y'all just happened to be there. So shame on
you whatever brand and Black Girl Sunscreen for not aligning
with us. Are you getting that?
Speaker 3 (10:31):
Oh? Are we getting that? And worse? I mean, the
comments section is real. So we launched the first black
owned braiding hair brand in history.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
Congratulations saw it.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
With Target and it's a deal that I was working
on on for over a year. So this again didn't
just happen. It has been in the works and it
just so happened. We all, we've always known it was
going to launch in February. We always knew it was
going to launch.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
And I'm just gonna pause out there for a second, right,
because when you launch into the major retailers, it takes
about a year to to get in, right.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
Yep, it takes about a year to get in, and
Target it takes a while to on board and do
all the things get through their system. So we launched
the first black owned braiding hair and February was the
timeframe when all the DEI was also rolling back. So
our dms were hit with, you know, questions around whether
we were going to pull out, why we wanted to
still be there, why are we advocating because we also
(11:23):
launched a big commercial at the time that we filmed
in at Target and and soil. All of it was
happened simultaneously, and they were asking They're basically saying like,
we're never going to shop there. Yeah, you guys are
just going to be a part of that collateral damage,
but we're not shopping there. And I thought it was
so insensitive and really unfortunate that this the position was
(11:44):
being taken place on the fact that we should black
owned brands, the hundreds of them that are in Target
should pull out, not really considering the business and financial
and legal implications to even do such a thing, but
also the fact that it's silly. I mean, we really
create products black girls send screen and others so that
we can create better and provide better quality products to
(12:07):
the consumers that require it and asking for it. So
we delivered to you on a non toxic braiding here
with no carcinogenic ingredients to the masses. We're in two
hundred stores, scaling to five by May for braid season. Summer,
and yet you're asking us to go away because because
the D and I has now stepped into the chat,
(12:29):
it's problematic for me.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
How'd you handle it?
Speaker 3 (12:32):
So we submitted. First of all, we addressed a lot
of the comments. We made our own statement on why
we believe we deserve to be there and why we're
staying there and why. Also that we are also getting
a lot of support from our merchants, our two buyers
that targeted black women, young black women who've been there
a long time, who are on the front lines ensuring
that brands like yours and ours survive and thrive. We
(12:54):
talked to them weekly. We get emails of continuous support,
and we have not seen any divesting. We have not
seen any what some of the narrative is that they're
putting the products on the back shelves and discounting it,
and so much of that is false, and that false
narrative is also driving the emotional, you know, damage that's
(13:15):
happening in the social spaces. But we just reassure them
that we're safe, we're happy, we are being supported internally.
And in addition to that, when the consumer reports came
out about Synthetic here, we also doubled down, you know,
letting them know that we're a non Sleigh is a
non toxic rating hair brand. So for all the things
like we deserve to be there and we're going to
(13:36):
stay there.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
Yeah, that's powerful and I'm glad that you are speaking
with your chest because for me, as a founder that
has been in business with them for five years, we'd
We've decided to take a different route. Our product, you know,
still moves, it serves, it does what it needs to do.
(13:59):
We have have other retailers though that love Black Girl Sunscreen,
And to be honest, we as a company, we don't
actually from a social perspective, we don't actually shout out
our retailers.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
Right.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
People know us to be in the bullseye because that's
where we launch first, but we have so many other
places where you can purchase, so our socials can get
convoluted if we're like, hey go here this day, Hey
go there tomorrow, Hey go there next week. So we've
decided on a different social approach to how we announce
(14:37):
where we are and what we're doing. But I have
been asked the same questions. I have been asked, like,
you know, what are your values? What do you stand
for and all of those things. I really wish this
were a bad dream, right and I wake up and
it's still here, still here.
Speaker 3 (14:58):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I think that you've had the diversification
of the multi channel. And this is Slave's first major
mass retailer. Now we have launch a tej Max, we
know other off price retailers, and but this was the
one that we have been working on and so for
us that the timing of it, we had to double
down on not just being there, but also dressing addressing
(15:21):
what was happening during that time frame. So yeah, very
unfortunate time. Wish it were.
Speaker 4 (15:29):
Black, don't pract it doesn't Black people get sign burned too.
As my cousin skimming skin, it's for women and for men.
On how this summer street run you got the beach
some BG yes or black Girl side screen found in
twenty sixteen. Shout out to the owner shot Lundy. She
a skim queen. She gave me the black Print song.
Going later, Stay mortialized, but take your skin from hybrid
(15:52):
pimentageous for every occasion, use SPS year around, BGS for
every persuasion. Brand a bottle and.
Speaker 3 (15:59):
Join you sun screen.
Speaker 4 (16:02):
See you girl, you look amazed. If you're going to
present your make sure you get some black girls sun screen.
Your just on your black girl sun screen. Black don't cracked.
Black people get.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
Have you changed your shopping habits? What are your what
are your shopping habits?
Speaker 1 (16:26):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (16:26):
God? Well, as a laborer, you know, I love I
love to shop. I And one of the reasons why
I tend to be so such a fan of beauty
and founders and beauty products because I am a consumer
through and through. So I am shopping everywhere from you know,
your off price retailer to your major retailers online, you
(16:48):
know boutiques around the city. I'm shopping everywhere, and so
my habits are I shopped for my staples where I
need to go. But since this has all happened, have
I not? I said to everyone, if you I believe
that if you're going to do anything, shop strategically, go
into those stores and buy the black brands. Why because
(17:10):
there's so many in all categories in the bull's eye.
So that for me is really empowering because I cannot
sit by and watch another brand suffer knowing that I'm
also in the space of elevating supporting you know other
founders like I can't just walk away, but there is
a better way. I think that. You know, Claude Anderson
(17:32):
said in his book You Know Paranomics, that it is
about think you strategically about how we spend our money,
because we're gonna spend it. And so that's where I stand.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
On the matter. Thank you for sharing. Then where do
I stand on the matter. I actually am a shopper
as Leber, but I only buy what I need from stores.
I because I also want to say, because I know
I have this bad habit, I don't actually go into
the the math retailers and just buy stuff. That's not
(18:02):
how I am. Like, oh, cute pillow, it stays there.
It just it just stays there for me. So my
shopping habits haven't really kind of changed because I wasn't
like like overboard, Oh my goodness, I went in for
one thing, but my receipts is three hundred dollars. That's
not who I am. I'm very intentional. If I need
something for an event or if I see something like,
(18:23):
oh that's cute, I'm gonna save it for the next time.
That that's how I do it. So so so yeah,
I'm not necessarily not doing something, but I'm not also
doing something right if that makes sense. That makes sense, Melissa,
let's change gears a little bit.
Speaker 3 (18:40):
Beauty vet.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
You've been in the industry for a long time. Yeah,
so I'm sure you've seen it all I can. Yeah,
what's your relationship with sunscreen and what do you see
in the importance of using it every day?
Speaker 3 (18:53):
So, for those who have known me pre consulting in
pre my agency, I also was a professional abrity makeup
artists for quite a while, and I chose that route
after leaving Corporate America because I really wanted to have
my hands in beauty in an authentic way where not
only can I learn the skill set, but also be
able to work with a variety. I had a big plan,
(19:16):
and the big plan was where I am right now.
But I chose an alternative route because Corporate America was
not going to allow me to both, you know, be
an executive and enjoy my hobby and figure out how
I you know, can fit it in, can fit it
in and develop the skill set that I needed. I
went to high school. I went to beauty school in
high school. So I graduate from high school and cosmetology school. Simultaneously,
(19:39):
I also broke into an abandoned dorm in my college
and did hair and makeup all throughout college while a
prelaw major. Beauty has always been with me. But I
really wanted the career of a traditional career because I'm
an immigrant. My parents immigrated here from Jamaica. They brought
us here to build us a better life seven children,
and I wanted the America. I wanted that experience to
traditional college, the traditional corporate experience, fourteen years in corporate
(20:01):
America after graduating. But beauty has always been with me.
So I say all that to say that sunscreen as
a professional is absolutely primary, particularly when we did red
carpet moments and all that. So it was always there
wasn't a preference though until Black Girl Sunscreen. My daughter
was four years old when the Little Mermaid partnership and
(20:21):
you graciously invited us to the premiere. She had a ball.
Oh my god, it was so beautiful. But being four
and being able to have a conversation around sunscreen with
her in a way that was not only authentic, but
there was a representation. She met the founders, she got
to see the experience and all of it for me
like I now can teach her. But in the industry overall,
(20:44):
I always understood the power of sunscreen for me. There
weren't many that would be as a brownskinned woman that
I felt was made for me. So I honestly have
avoided sunscreen for a long time until Black Girl Sunscreen.
And I know many black women with that very same story.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
Wow, that's my story, a lot of ours. So I
have a couple of quick questions. I want you to
think too much of it, okay, okay, and then we're
gonna play a game. Okay, you ready? So looking back,
what's the beauty trend that you were committed to that
now makes you cringe?
Speaker 3 (21:16):
Wow? I want to say baking.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
Oh, the makeup.
Speaker 3 (21:22):
Yeah, the makeup of the powder, you know, heavy powder.
Let it sit for like forever underneath your eye. And
that's the baking. You know they still do it, though
they still do it, but I think it. I know
now that it ages you, depending on as you know,
you get to a certain point, your skin changes. Baking
is not good after a certain age or you know,
(21:42):
life stage. So no baking for me, and nobody will
bake up my face again. What's the wild Somebody just
baked on me.
Speaker 2 (21:52):
Yes, yes, what's the wildest and most unconventional beauty hack
you've tried and did it work?
Speaker 1 (21:57):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (21:57):
Yeah, milk up magnesia to it works right, putting milk
of magnesia. It absorbs the oil in your skin absolutely,
and I still stand by it till till this day.
To do it, I wouldn't do it every day, but
I do it from like my big you know, photoshoot moments,
event moments. But yeah, you dab it in, let it sit,
(22:18):
it dries, it pulls the oil and then you keep
going interesting. You never use molka magnesia, No really, I
just used masks. Now there's primer, but primer then I
mean milka magnesia, then the primer and then the then
the good makeup. Oh yeah, and I use I use
a CC cream, So I don't even use foundations.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
See that is advance for me. What new look from
today do you think will be will end up being
timeless tomorrow new look?
Speaker 3 (22:46):
Oh my god, I think that healthy skin look. I
still believe in that. That's why I like CCA creams
as opposed to foundations, because it's a combination of like
moisturizer plus sort of a foundation mix and so it
gives you that dewey look and for me, like that
is really big, that minimaliss beautiful skin with that great
(23:06):
lip and you know, a nicely shaped brown.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
Yes, that is talking my language.
Speaker 3 (23:12):
Yes, I'm basically speaking about Chantey's face.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
We're gonna play a game, Okay, Francis tee it up
for us, all right, So the game is called yeah nah,
I'll give you a phrase and you just give us Yeah. Na,
we're gonna roundtable it okay, Okay, plastic on the sofa.
Speaker 4 (23:34):
Is hell?
Speaker 2 (23:34):
Non up? Okay, that's nah, but I do leave my
plastic on like my computer screens and stuff. So anyway,
go ahead. Yeah, it's a not for me. Okay, boys,
short panties, no thong? Girl okay? Nah? Yeah, okay, sinks
(23:58):
and chills, I'm sorry. Six inch heels oh yeah, originally
she had four?
Speaker 3 (24:05):
Yes, yes, do you see him?
Speaker 1 (24:08):
And to me?
Speaker 2 (24:10):
Oh nice? Yeah, yeah, I'm not. I'm down to threes now,
I'm na. I'm down to sneakers. Okay, shoes on a
house no, nah, Oh you scared me for a minute.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
There.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
You have a you have to think about, like training
a child to on why it's make your shoes off.
Speaker 2 (24:32):
So stank breath. No, no, and not for me. Yeah,
that's a negative. Yes, cats are better pets than dogs.
Speaker 3 (24:47):
I have not I have neither, right, but I think
yes cats yes?
Speaker 2 (24:52):
Hell no, you know that cat's are psychotic? No, that
was fun we had.
Speaker 3 (25:00):
They're less aggressive. I don't know. I could be wrong.
This depends on the type, right, especially orange cats.
Speaker 2 (25:06):
Yes, well, listen, So what's next for you?
Speaker 1 (25:11):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (25:11):
My goodness? You know I because I'm sitting in the
space of working with founders, I still am frustrated around
this idea of being underfunded and all the things. I
hate the statistics. I'm like, how can we solve it?
So I'm really looking at ways of figuring that out.
I want to be a part of the solution. So
(25:32):
I'm looking at some alternative funding opportunities that I can
bring into my company. I'm looking at some alternative distribution
opportunities I can bring in my company. I want to
help founders to survive and thrive, and I we can't
rely on it, Like I always tell them, no one's
coming to save you, right, And that's I truly believe that.
So I'm in a position to do it. And that's
really what I really want to focus on. And then
(25:54):
you know, I want to do build more here in
Los Angeles area. I want to travel to Atlanta seven
times last year and I was like, God, I'm leaving
my community, leaving my state to go and build in
somewhere else. I want to build more here. So I'm
involved in a lot more community based incubators and programs
that are helping entrepreneurs in the city of LA and
(26:15):
I'm doubling down on that. So there's a lot more
on that front. And then potentially not a published book,
but an ebook that is really going to also help entrepreneurs.
So a few things.
Speaker 2 (26:26):
You know, it's all part of the big plan.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
It is.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
You said that you're doing it right now, that's right present.
That's the fact we're speaking to a business woman over here.
I love it. Let me know if you need some support,
thank you, involvement with Chante and or a Black Girl screation.
Speaker 3 (26:41):
Thank you. I appreciate that you have always been accessible
and you mean you do what you say, you mean
what you say, What do you know what I mean?
Speaker 2 (26:51):
Whatever you do that, you do what you say. You
go girl, you did that, and you're listening to seamous
chante bye yeah, yeah, I can't yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:11):
The proceeding was a paid commercial by Black Girl's son's
Green
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