WEBVTT - Mahisha Dellinger Full Interview 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:03.080 Listening makes us smarter, more connected people. It makes us 0:00:03.080 --> 0:00:06.240 better partners, parents, and leaders, and there's no better place 0:00:06.280 --> 0:00:09.280 to start listening than Audible. Audible is where so many 0:00:09.320 --> 0:00:12.600 inspiring voices and compelling stories open listeners up to new 0:00:12.640 --> 0:00:15.760 experiences in ways of thinking. Audible members now get more 0:00:15.800 --> 0:00:18.880 than ever before. Members choose three titles every month, one 0:00:18.880 --> 0:00:22.000 audiobook plus two Audible originals that you can't hear anywhere else. 0:00:22.320 --> 0:00:24.760 Members also have unlimited access to more than a hundred 0:00:24.840 --> 0:00:29.280 audio guided fitness and meditation programs. 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Explore all the ways listening on Audible 0:01:02.360 --> 0:01:06.360 can help improve mind, body, and soul with entertainment, information 0:01:06.600 --> 0:01:08.800 and inspiration. You can get titles from your favorite I 0:01:08.880 --> 0:01:12.000 Heeart talent such as Chelsea Handler, Danny Shapiro, Charlomagne, The God, 0:01:12.080 --> 0:01:14.399 and Bobby Bones on Audible. Start listening now with a 0:01:14.440 --> 0:01:17.360 thirty day Audible trial and your first audiobook plus two 0:01:17.360 --> 0:01:20.880 Audible originals are free. Visit audible dot com. Slash I 0:01:21.040 --> 0:01:24.280 heart or text I Heeart to five hundred, five hundred 0:01:24.480 --> 0:01:29.000 Hi Roshan McDonald, Rushaw McDonald say, my next guest is 0:01:29.040 --> 0:01:31.200 the name I gotta get right, because like I always 0:01:31.240 --> 0:01:35.880 get mad when people say Russian Rushan? Is this so 0:01:35.920 --> 0:01:37.880 hard to say? So? The next yes, you know, we 0:01:37.880 --> 0:01:39.759 we've been going back and forth, you know, all fair, 0:01:39.840 --> 0:01:42.120 making sure I got her addiction, the diction right on her. 0:01:42.520 --> 0:01:45.720 So she I'm ready. If she's ready, I've ready. My 0:01:45.760 --> 0:01:48.760 next has survived the tough streets of self Sacramento. I 0:01:48.760 --> 0:01:50.720 don't know, I come fear for Texas and we're gonna 0:01:50.720 --> 0:01:54.720 compare tough. Okay, turned to the creative idea, to multimillion 0:01:54.720 --> 0:01:56.880 dollar hair company and now I don't have any hair, 0:01:56.960 --> 0:01:59.639 so she got me on there Curl name that company 0:01:59.640 --> 0:02:02.280 just Curl, their family gonna getic hair care products, target 0:02:02.320 --> 0:02:06.200 for women embracing their natural textures. She's starting new show 0:02:06.200 --> 0:02:09.320 on own as Own that's the open network called Mine 0:02:09.400 --> 0:02:16.080 Your Business with Shaw. Hello, How you doing? I just 0:02:16.120 --> 0:02:17.920 paused to see if I got it right? Okay, I 0:02:17.919 --> 0:02:22.919 got it right? Good on Saturday and Eastern Standard time. 0:02:23.160 --> 0:02:26.880 Please work on the money. Main conversation Mohisha dealing. How 0:02:26.960 --> 0:02:31.240 you doing? I'm doing well, Thank you, thank you. I 0:02:31.360 --> 0:02:33.200 paused to see if you're gonna because I've seen your 0:02:33.200 --> 0:02:34.880 show now, because see I want to go. I wanna 0:02:34.919 --> 0:02:39.359 be on your good side. I want to because I've 0:02:39.400 --> 0:02:47.800 seen the bad side. Well. The thing about it is 0:02:47.840 --> 0:02:49.760 that so when I said your name, it was like 0:02:49.800 --> 0:02:54.360 a affirmation, you know, is that right? Is the right? Okay? Okay? Cool? 0:02:54.480 --> 0:02:56.320 But I got it right. I've gotten through the first 0:02:56.360 --> 0:03:00.880 test of our relationship. Because before we move forward into 0:03:00.960 --> 0:03:03.760 the TV show that's start, there's air and on Own 0:03:03.919 --> 0:03:06.640 at ten p m. On Saturday night. Does it follow 0:03:07.120 --> 0:03:13.480 I am another name I can't say correctly, Miss Vans's show. 0:03:13.919 --> 0:03:16.080 And so so when you look at that show because 0:03:16.080 --> 0:03:17.960 her show is kind of like a tough love show 0:03:18.000 --> 0:03:20.440 as well. There's the air on own on Saturday the 0:03:20.560 --> 0:03:24.359 night correct that is correct and so but hers is 0:03:24.440 --> 0:03:30.320 tough low within the family dynamic. Yours is tough love. 0:03:30.440 --> 0:03:35.000 In the business world, Yes, mine is all about helping 0:03:35.440 --> 0:03:38.800 This show mind your Business with Mihi Shan owned this 0:03:38.880 --> 0:03:43.760 show that's all about helping black female based business owners excel. Um. 0:03:43.760 --> 0:03:47.080 There's an increase in the number of black female based businesses. 0:03:47.120 --> 0:03:51.280 Were on the rise absolutely three that there's an increase 0:03:51.280 --> 0:03:55.720 of three of us, but only four percent have made 0:03:55.720 --> 0:03:58.160 it to the mean dollar mark. Now there's a huge 0:03:58.240 --> 0:04:01.760 gap there. We have a large growth, but only four 0:04:01.840 --> 0:04:04.400 percent of less make it to the million dollar mark. 0:04:04.720 --> 0:04:06.920 So the goal of the show's helped to bridge the gap. 0:04:07.360 --> 0:04:10.760 We're gonna help eight individual business owners, eight individual brands, 0:04:10.800 --> 0:04:15.240 eight individual companies should excel and succeed. But throughout the 0:04:15.400 --> 0:04:17.919 show in the season, we're also given the tools to 0:04:18.000 --> 0:04:21.040 the audience the viewers for watching it to also take 0:04:21.120 --> 0:04:25.080 back home to implement in their life. Now that now, 0:04:26.400 --> 0:04:29.240 well show this I like a lot that some people 0:04:29.320 --> 0:04:31.919 have compared your show to her show. You remind me 0:04:31.960 --> 0:04:33.680 a lot of a very popular show that I like 0:04:33.839 --> 0:04:39.600 called The Profit. And because you yes, yes, okay, cool, 0:04:39.920 --> 0:04:41.960 I gotta stay on the good. I thought she's about 0:04:41.960 --> 0:04:44.040 to come ahead of you. I'm changing. You gotta watch 0:04:44.040 --> 0:04:46.400 the show now. You can Keepshaw's Pauls and all the time. 0:04:46.440 --> 0:04:48.240 Because we live on radio and you might go to 0:04:48.320 --> 0:04:51.360 the left on me. I go, I can't dump button up, 0:04:51.440 --> 0:04:54.960 but something save my career. But the thing about like 0:04:55.000 --> 0:04:56.840 the prophet, he goes in there and he has to 0:04:56.880 --> 0:05:00.240 do tough love too. And because some people should be 0:05:00.279 --> 0:05:03.520 in business, but they're getting business. And some people have 0:05:03.600 --> 0:05:07.240 a business and guess what, it's just barely getting by 0:05:07.360 --> 0:05:10.320 and it should be way more profitable. And so when 0:05:10.320 --> 0:05:12.120 I was when I when I did my research and 0:05:12.160 --> 0:05:15.200 started examining what this show was all about. Because you 0:05:15.279 --> 0:05:17.360 go into the you know, it's very it's a very 0:05:17.400 --> 0:05:22.000 personal experience that you're having with these owners of these businesses. 0:05:22.160 --> 0:05:24.920 Are people who have these ideas of these concepts that 0:05:25.040 --> 0:05:27.880 they try to get afloat. So tell everybody about your 0:05:27.880 --> 0:05:30.719 show before I get more detail. Everybody know exactly what 0:05:30.800 --> 0:05:34.200 the show does, yes, and you know when I when 0:05:34.200 --> 0:05:37.159 you set the Profit, it is exactly that it's a 0:05:37.279 --> 0:05:40.560 mixture of the profit meets the shark tank with the 0:05:40.600 --> 0:05:43.640 sprinkle of thealypics my life. That is really the premise 0:05:43.680 --> 0:05:46.880 of the show. We're fixing people's businesses coming in a 0:05:46.920 --> 0:05:49.320 little bit of tough love, a lot of tools, a 0:05:49.320 --> 0:05:53.040 lot of information, a lot of resources. There are some 0:05:53.240 --> 0:05:55.719 investment piece that comes along with some of the ladies, 0:05:55.760 --> 0:05:58.560 like you saw an episode two by this past Saturday, 0:05:59.120 --> 0:06:02.480 UM so it UM and the help comes in different forms. 0:06:02.839 --> 0:06:05.840 Each business owner is in a different industry, different state 0:06:05.880 --> 0:06:09.080 of her business and it has different needs. So every 0:06:09.160 --> 0:06:12.840 individual episode will be unique. We can't just do it once, 0:06:12.920 --> 0:06:15.800 you know, once ize fits all approached, So we're meeting 0:06:15.800 --> 0:06:18.159 them where there are, give them what they need at 0:06:18.160 --> 0:06:21.640 that present time, UM to get them to do success. 0:06:21.839 --> 0:06:24.640 So the mess you said, you're doing this with eight businesses, 0:06:25.000 --> 0:06:27.960 will you well you involved in the process of selecting 0:06:28.000 --> 0:06:32.240 the eight businesses, No, I was not. UM. There is 0:06:32.680 --> 0:06:38.520 a team of casting UM managers that go after these ladies. 0:06:38.560 --> 0:06:40.520 They have approached them. They all had to be obviously 0:06:40.520 --> 0:06:44.920 African American black business owner UM that has a legitimate 0:06:44.960 --> 0:06:47.640 business of course, and at a problem that we could 0:06:47.680 --> 0:06:50.760 actually solve beyond just giving money. We wanted to have 0:06:50.839 --> 0:06:52.599 them that we can actually dig our teeth in and 0:06:52.640 --> 0:06:55.760 really help with. I don't know if you solved it, 0:06:55.839 --> 0:06:58.280 because okay, let's let me just go back and like 0:06:58.480 --> 0:07:00.679 the episode I saw the episode with the young lady 0:07:00.720 --> 0:07:09.240 who's the reality star. Oh yeah, that that that that 0:07:09.400 --> 0:07:13.080 show made her made that. Let's let's let's be real. 0:07:13.200 --> 0:07:16.120 Now you got mad at her, did you not? I didn't? 0:07:16.160 --> 0:07:18.880 You know why I did? And here's the deal, I 0:07:18.960 --> 0:07:22.520 asked the producers when I went into before apology, give 0:07:22.520 --> 0:07:24.880 everybody the back story so we can keep everybody in 0:07:24.920 --> 0:07:27.920 this journey about what this show was about and then 0:07:27.960 --> 0:07:31.200 why you got made. Okay, so that this what is 0:07:31.200 --> 0:07:34.400 this episode about? This particular episode with eight hundred West 0:07:34.760 --> 0:07:38.160 was all about helping a reality star named Megan James 0:07:38.520 --> 0:07:43.320 with her Swimwa swimwear fashion line that she makes for 0:07:43.480 --> 0:07:46.960 fashion of a big reteller that's very popular. So she 0:07:47.200 --> 0:07:50.440 brought in with her a partner that she actually was 0:07:50.520 --> 0:07:54.160 blessed with. This woman who's um connected in the industry, 0:07:54.160 --> 0:07:57.480 is cutting and so wasn't a material handlers and production 0:07:57.520 --> 0:07:59.240 and she does all this stuff that you need to 0:07:59.320 --> 0:08:04.320 contact you. She became her partner, a very minor partner. 0:08:04.560 --> 0:08:08.640 But this partner of hers gave her credit she may 0:08:08.640 --> 0:08:11.920 get to use because she had eighteen years of credit 0:08:12.000 --> 0:08:14.960 established with these people and Ms James did not pay 0:08:15.080 --> 0:08:19.320 her bills. And so now this poor lady Tanya is 0:08:19.640 --> 0:08:23.400 faced over eleven thousand dollars worth of it build and 0:08:23.440 --> 0:08:27.480 potentially we'll be sued. So um, the reason why I 0:08:27.520 --> 0:08:31.280 got set with Mrs James is because he did not 0:08:31.520 --> 0:08:34.280 take account of the whole accountability for her action. She 0:08:34.320 --> 0:08:37.319 did not care that she's what she did to Miss Tanya. 0:08:37.440 --> 0:08:41.160 I felt horrible that she has this platform that she 0:08:41.240 --> 0:08:44.200 can actually do good with, but instead she's making us 0:08:44.200 --> 0:08:46.880 look bad. We as black woman already have a lot 0:08:46.880 --> 0:08:49.640 of things we have to face and deal with negativity, 0:08:49.679 --> 0:08:53.960 negative impressions and impressions of us, and we have to 0:08:54.280 --> 0:08:57.000 set up bar higher for ourselves. And when you have 0:08:57.120 --> 0:09:00.959 the opportunity to do so in a platform, take it seriously. 0:09:01.520 --> 0:09:05.600 And I was disappointed with her. Um, So that's where 0:09:05.640 --> 0:09:07.679 you see the anger coming from, because I want her 0:09:07.720 --> 0:09:10.560 to be better. Well, the thing about it in that scene, 0:09:10.640 --> 0:09:13.520 let me just tell you, guys, I was upset because 0:09:14.640 --> 0:09:18.400 Megan that's her name, correct, was selfish. They're selfish, this younger. 0:09:18.440 --> 0:09:22.839 Her partner was crying. Her was emotionally crying, pleading her 0:09:22.880 --> 0:09:27.120 case with receipts, and you know what they're going, what's 0:09:27.120 --> 0:09:29.719 the problem. I don't care, she said, I don't. It 0:09:29.760 --> 0:09:31.319 doesn't make me feel bad. I don't know about it 0:09:31.280 --> 0:09:34.840 at all. I'm like, oh my goodness, and I think 0:09:34.840 --> 0:09:36.640 we need to move her up an hour to y'all 0:09:36.640 --> 0:09:39.240 gonna take my life and then come back to this show. Well, 0:09:39.280 --> 0:09:41.120 you know you fix it, though, I'm gonna tell you 0:09:41.160 --> 0:09:43.000 somebody else on this show, because when you watch this 0:09:43.080 --> 0:09:45.000 she gotta watch these shows because they grab you. They 0:09:45.000 --> 0:09:46.920 get you once you once you realize you're dealing with 0:09:46.960 --> 0:09:48.840 a crazy person. You're trying to figure out how miss 0:09:48.880 --> 0:09:52.120 Dillinger is gonna fix this problem, because I'm looking at 0:09:52.120 --> 0:09:54.560 the person who had no She was just she was 0:09:54.600 --> 0:09:57.000 just popular because she came from a rally show. She 0:09:57.120 --> 0:09:59.880 had no respect for the process, She had no big 0:10:00.120 --> 0:10:03.760 this sense, she had no respect for her partner. She 0:10:03.880 --> 0:10:06.040 spent the money that was supposed to go pay for 0:10:06.080 --> 0:10:10.400 the bills on herself. That was the part that got 0:10:10.440 --> 0:10:14.440 everybody mad, is that she had the money, she decided 0:10:14.480 --> 0:10:21.600 guess what that's profits, profits go to them. Yes, yeah, yes, sir. 0:10:21.679 --> 0:10:24.440 That was very hard for me to hear. That was 0:10:24.520 --> 0:10:25.760 very hard for me to hear. I think it was 0:10:25.960 --> 0:10:28.760 hard for me to see was when she was pitching 0:10:29.880 --> 0:10:37.160 to investors. That was hard. She she put a little 0:10:37.200 --> 0:10:39.800 bikini out there and didn't know the price of the 0:10:39.800 --> 0:10:43.040 bikini and uh and talking about this is this is 0:10:43.240 --> 0:10:45.840 my product, one product. Now you know you're trying to 0:10:45.880 --> 0:10:48.200 pitch to investors, you're just gonna bring in a bikini 0:10:48.520 --> 0:10:50.960 and say this is an example of my product. And 0:10:51.000 --> 0:10:53.720 it was in a little looked like a sandwich bad, 0:10:53.880 --> 0:10:56.400 a little a little sandwich bad because it was it 0:10:56.480 --> 0:11:00.160 was just like watching this stuff going okay, how then 0:11:00.200 --> 0:11:01.800 and then you know Ms Dill just she's sitting up 0:11:01.840 --> 0:11:04.320 there with four three other people black girl on end. 0:11:04.400 --> 0:11:06.439 She was done with her from jump okay it was 0:11:06.440 --> 0:11:08.080 the other black lady sitting on the end. She was like, 0:11:08.440 --> 0:11:10.080 I knew she was done as soon as she walks 0:11:10.080 --> 0:11:11.559 in the room and still up and started studying the 0:11:11.679 --> 0:11:14.600 black la like really, okay, they took up if these 0:11:14.640 --> 0:11:16.760 cameras one on, I tell her to get out of 0:11:18.920 --> 0:11:21.800 That's how bad he was And so, but what would 0:11:21.800 --> 0:11:26.160 embarrassed me? Would embarrassed me because she because again she's 0:11:26.240 --> 0:11:28.800 she's represented. I always tell people, you know, if one 0:11:28.840 --> 0:11:31.760 black person to shoot somebody, all black people shot somebody. 0:11:32.040 --> 0:11:35.240 And that's what you you. You're becoming that pool of ignorance. Okay, 0:11:35.440 --> 0:11:39.000 here's a young lady claims she wants to get in business. 0:11:39.040 --> 0:11:41.040 She has a business partner over there. She don't care 0:11:41.120 --> 0:11:43.040 nothing about. All she wants to do is make money. 0:11:43.160 --> 0:11:45.280 She knows no idea that if you make ten dollars, 0:11:45.720 --> 0:11:47.760 probably now that it goes to pay bills, you keep 0:11:47.800 --> 0:11:52.120 one dollar. Now on to her lifestyle. Okay, girls sitting 0:11:52.200 --> 0:11:55.240 right in front of her, little little girl crying tears, 0:11:55.600 --> 0:11:57.839 talking about you ruining Gertha. I just take out the 0:11:57.920 --> 0:11:59.719 law and just get dump you, get you out of 0:11:59.720 --> 0:12:03.080 my life because obviously you don't care. And then she's 0:12:03.120 --> 0:12:07.720 like the mediator in between all this ignorance. Crying girl 0:12:07.720 --> 0:12:12.480 on this side, ignorant woman on this side. Okay, that's 0:12:12.520 --> 0:12:15.040 how mad I got watching this show, and so I 0:12:15.080 --> 0:12:16.880 because see curse too, That's why I wanted to let 0:12:16.920 --> 0:12:21.400 you know, curs right a sacent to beat up. So 0:12:21.600 --> 0:12:24.239 that's how I made both of us mad and so 0:12:24.240 --> 0:12:26.000 so when you get to that point in the show 0:12:26.040 --> 0:12:30.520 and you start realizing that that that that you you said, 0:12:30.640 --> 0:12:33.040 you said that these people are brought to you. You 0:12:33.080 --> 0:12:35.240 don't hand you don't get involved in the in the process. 0:12:35.440 --> 0:12:38.040 How do you get your information on being able to 0:12:38.040 --> 0:12:41.439 build the story out? Well? I, you know, I and 0:12:41.600 --> 0:12:44.760 could truth be told. I didn't want making on the 0:12:44.800 --> 0:12:47.120 show when I saw the cast, the list of everyone 0:12:47.120 --> 0:12:49.599 on the wall, and I said, I didn't want to 0:12:49.640 --> 0:12:51.760 show the be about that, you know, because I already 0:12:51.800 --> 0:12:55.840 knew who she was. Um, And they told me, promised 0:12:56.080 --> 0:12:59.200 like trust us, we know we're doing I'm like, okay, um, 0:12:59.280 --> 0:13:01.679 And then I kept reading more about it. So the script, 0:13:01.760 --> 0:13:03.800 what there is in a script? Fy I, There isn't 0:13:03.840 --> 0:13:07.040 a script. This is all will no scripts, as you 0:13:07.120 --> 0:13:09.800 probably can tell, but some reality shows have have scripts. 0:13:09.800 --> 0:13:12.360 This is not a script of reality show. This was 0:13:12.440 --> 0:13:14.679 a show where the story was given to me as 0:13:14.720 --> 0:13:17.439 to what's going on. They sat down, they spoke to 0:13:17.600 --> 0:13:20.240 each and every one of the employees and business owners 0:13:20.600 --> 0:13:23.280 and got all the individual stories and bought them to 0:13:23.400 --> 0:13:26.920 me to review. And there was a storyline creative of 0:13:27.000 --> 0:13:30.480 what they're doing. Each and every moment um. So, for example, 0:13:30.600 --> 0:13:34.200 in hunder west Um episode with Megan, Um, You're gonna 0:13:34.200 --> 0:13:36.880 go to her office to me with her and sit 0:13:36.920 --> 0:13:39.520 down and talk to her about her her new designs 0:13:39.520 --> 0:13:41.680 and so what the objective out of this meeting is 0:13:41.679 --> 0:13:44.080 to get X y Z. So there's a scene where 0:13:44.080 --> 0:13:46.600 I'm gonna be and objective and there isn't anything else 0:13:46.640 --> 0:13:49.160 beyond that, and I dig and ask the questions I 0:13:49.240 --> 0:13:50.599 need to ask to get to what I need to 0:13:50.640 --> 0:13:53.360 get cool. Hold that thought right there. We're gonna be 0:13:53.360 --> 0:13:56.600 back with more money making conversations, keep winning everybody. Um, 0:13:57.080 --> 0:14:00.400 she's a sorrow or showing owners every Saturday night at 0:14:00.400 --> 0:14:03.800 temp M is called mind your Own Business, and that's 0:14:03.800 --> 0:14:05.960 what I'm doing. I'm minding them my mind and my 0:14:06.000 --> 0:14:08.640 own business to be back. Hi, just us Sean McDonald's 0:14:08.640 --> 0:14:11.319 I'm on the phone with Mahitha dell Linger. She's the 0:14:11.360 --> 0:14:14.240 star of a new TV show on the own network 0:14:14.240 --> 0:14:18.559 called Mind Your Own Business with Mahsha And it's really 0:14:18.600 --> 0:14:22.440 engaging because it got me emotionally charged. But let's go 0:14:22.480 --> 0:14:24.240 back a little bit in this break to talk about 0:14:24.280 --> 0:14:27.000 how did you get to this TV show? Now? I 0:14:27.120 --> 0:14:29.720 mentioned it in your credit to You're from self, Sacramento 0:14:30.120 --> 0:14:32.840 and a company called curls. So you said, this show 0:14:32.920 --> 0:14:37.360 us about interviewing African American females who are entrepreneurs. You 0:14:37.520 --> 0:14:39.640 come from that world, You developed that word. How did 0:14:39.640 --> 0:14:42.640 you get started with this company called curl Yes, so 0:14:42.800 --> 0:14:45.760 curl bt brands. Um, It's a brand that I created 0:14:45.800 --> 0:14:49.760 over fifteen years ago. Very small brand initially because I 0:14:49.800 --> 0:14:51.440 came from nothing, so I didn't have a lot to 0:14:51.480 --> 0:14:55.360 put into it. But I was in corporate America and 0:14:55.400 --> 0:14:58.480 that faced corporate racism for the first time and was 0:14:58.520 --> 0:15:00.760 devastated because I was a young single mother and this 0:15:01.080 --> 0:15:02.840 this man was looking to get rid of me. And 0:15:02.880 --> 0:15:06.160 I was very stressed about the whole possibility of my 0:15:06.240 --> 0:15:09.400 financial picture given that you know what his plans were 0:15:09.440 --> 0:15:12.080 for me. So after I got through that process, I 0:15:12.120 --> 0:15:14.840 realized I wanted to work for myself because it was 0:15:15.280 --> 0:15:17.720 something that I had never experienced before. But also it's 0:15:17.840 --> 0:15:20.280 very daunting, and I thought, I'm never gonna allow anyone 0:15:20.320 --> 0:15:23.720 else to hold my financial destiny and a palm in 0:15:23.760 --> 0:15:25.320 their hands, even if it was just for a couple 0:15:25.360 --> 0:15:27.720 of months. I didn't like it filling, so I started 0:15:27.720 --> 0:15:30.240 to do my duke diligence to see what kind of 0:15:30.280 --> 0:15:33.600 business I could actually launch that would be profitable, sustainable 0:15:34.000 --> 0:15:37.080 and something needed. And I was a newly natural mom 0:15:37.200 --> 0:15:39.720 and I needed products from my hair. But the ethnic 0:15:39.800 --> 0:15:43.400 aisle back then was think about that two thousand two 0:15:43.480 --> 0:15:47.240 years that was what Jerry curl products. Perms, relaxing had 0:15:47.280 --> 0:15:50.520 be grief not a lot, right, So wave Nubau was 0:15:50.560 --> 0:15:53.120 the only option really, So I decided to see if 0:15:53.160 --> 0:15:55.080 that was a sustainable business and it was. There were 0:15:55.080 --> 0:15:58.800 many other women at the time transitioning back to natural 0:15:59.200 --> 0:16:01.840 and that's my Da Curls and they started very small 0:16:02.880 --> 0:16:06.040 e commerce space. I was working in my garage and 0:16:06.040 --> 0:16:08.560 then we we started getting calls from salons, and then 0:16:08.600 --> 0:16:12.360 distributers started calling, and then target called, And that was 0:16:12.440 --> 0:16:17.400 really the transition of the hold on dealgy. How did 0:16:17.440 --> 0:16:22.320 you get to target calling? You though you do, you 0:16:22.360 --> 0:16:24.520 certainly went from you know, don't know what you're gonna 0:16:24.520 --> 0:16:26.560 do with your life, making stuff in your kitchen to 0:16:26.720 --> 0:16:29.400 target calling. Well, that was seven years later. It was 0:16:29.480 --> 0:16:32.600 the same thing it was seven years later at y I. 0:16:33.440 --> 0:16:37.200 That was seven years of grinding, no social media to 0:16:37.280 --> 0:16:41.960 help me. It was all about being very aggressive with 0:16:42.000 --> 0:16:44.760 my approach, but creative as well. So the buyer back 0:16:44.800 --> 0:16:46.640 then she and her name was Rendas Solo and then 0:16:46.680 --> 0:16:50.600 she was a blonde hair, blue eyed buyer for ethnic 0:16:50.640 --> 0:16:53.440 hair care. So she wasn't sure why her category was selling. 0:16:53.520 --> 0:16:56.320 She had all these relaxes that were no longer settling well. 0:16:56.520 --> 0:16:58.360 So she started to do her research and saw that 0:16:58.400 --> 0:17:01.160 there are a few brands like mine underground, but had 0:17:01.200 --> 0:17:03.960 a lot of bugs. And she called me in for 0:17:04.000 --> 0:17:06.480 a meeting, and she said, we'll give you a test 0:17:06.840 --> 0:17:09.000 a hundred and five stores. We'll put you on this 0:17:09.119 --> 0:17:11.639 premium in cap and see how you do. If you 0:17:11.640 --> 0:17:14.119 guys do well, well, we'll keep growing you. If not, 0:17:14.240 --> 0:17:15.960 will ship you all your stuff back and be on 0:17:16.000 --> 0:17:18.880 your way. So we all did well. Together, we kept 0:17:18.920 --> 0:17:21.159 going and going and going. As as she grew us, 0:17:21.200 --> 0:17:24.359 she added more brands, and she creates the very first 0:17:24.880 --> 0:17:28.479 ethnic category, the newly national category in this industry. Now 0:17:28.480 --> 0:17:31.520 that everyone has Now you can go to CDs, Walgring, 0:17:31.600 --> 0:17:33.760 to write a Walmart and all the other stores, and 0:17:33.800 --> 0:17:36.919 now you can see that natural brand and said, and 0:17:37.240 --> 0:17:39.119 Curls was one of the pioneers. We were one of 0:17:39.160 --> 0:17:42.359 the first to kick it. Off you know some that 0:17:42.560 --> 0:17:45.840 is such a cool story. So when your products went 0:17:45.840 --> 0:17:48.040 into this on the stores, that's like I heard your 0:17:48.080 --> 0:17:50.520 song on the radio. If you're a singer, you know, 0:17:51.160 --> 0:17:53.800 So what did did you do anything extra to try 0:17:53.840 --> 0:17:56.119 to get sales going? I know you don't have social 0:17:56.160 --> 0:17:59.159 media as it is today's dominant is today. Did you 0:17:59.200 --> 0:18:01.639 do anything? X sure make any phone calls? Were you 0:18:01.720 --> 0:18:05.320 there old and upside buy my products samples in the 0:18:05.560 --> 0:18:08.639 Target stores they were near you? What did you do? Well? 0:18:08.720 --> 0:18:10.719 We couldn't do in stores back then, So I did 0:18:10.720 --> 0:18:12.320 a lot of stuff, Like we did a lot of 0:18:12.359 --> 0:18:15.480 sampling for events that had black women. They maybe weren't 0:18:15.480 --> 0:18:17.960 hair related, but we would give samples out and say 0:18:18.000 --> 0:18:20.639 go buy that Target um. And then we did a 0:18:20.640 --> 0:18:22.560 lot and then we did social lap Facebook, I know, 0:18:22.680 --> 0:18:25.080 I think was my Space back then, so we advertised 0:18:25.080 --> 0:18:27.240 my people know we're at my you know, at Target. 0:18:27.520 --> 0:18:31.280 And there's also some back then chat groups, chat rooms 0:18:31.359 --> 0:18:36.080 like um Naturality, na Naturally Nap, Nappy Hairs, what blend 0:18:36.160 --> 0:18:38.880 up and the naturally Curl and all these other sites 0:18:38.920 --> 0:18:41.840 that were checked groups to protect your hair, we advertised there. 0:18:42.280 --> 0:18:45.320 We it was very specific and um we let people 0:18:45.359 --> 0:18:47.719 know and then they and target off the partner with 0:18:47.800 --> 0:18:50.800 us and did the in capet the pictures of every 0:18:50.800 --> 0:18:54.040 brand owner. And we were in pren A prim location. 0:18:54.359 --> 0:18:56.679 I mean that's in The in caps are expensive, they 0:18:56.720 --> 0:18:59.240 usually cost so we were able to get exposure just 0:18:59.320 --> 0:19:01.640 from the inn caps alone. Just walk by you see 0:19:01.680 --> 0:19:04.639 the product. That's that's right, that's the beautiful of that, 0:19:04.640 --> 0:19:06.960 that opportunity. You just push your little basket down the 0:19:07.000 --> 0:19:10.400 out going Oh yeah, what is this? Oh yeah, let's 0:19:10.400 --> 0:19:13.600 try that. Okay, that's awesome. So so now you you 0:19:13.680 --> 0:19:16.399 have that level of success. How did the TV show 0:19:17.000 --> 0:19:22.119 come about? Well, there was originally um a show that 0:19:22.160 --> 0:19:24.639 they had interviewed me for that was going to be 0:19:24.680 --> 0:19:28.040 all about other black haircare brand owners. It was gonna 0:19:28.040 --> 0:19:29.600 be four or five of us. And when that it 0:19:29.720 --> 0:19:33.280 pan out on the producers remembered me from my interview 0:19:33.720 --> 0:19:37.520 and you just stood out. You just like that, just 0:19:37.560 --> 0:19:39.720 walking around, You're just taking tro What did I say? 0:19:39.800 --> 0:19:42.679 What did I say? Hit? So everybody please watch it 0:19:42.720 --> 0:19:45.320 on Saturday night at ten o'clock on on Mind your 0:19:45.359 --> 0:19:50.280 Own Business? So so you stood out your originally was 0:19:50.320 --> 0:19:52.880 before now you yourself have to call you so what's 0:19:52.920 --> 0:19:55.040 running into your mind when they bring you back in 0:19:55.080 --> 0:19:57.480 because you went through this this routine before and it 0:19:57.560 --> 0:20:00.520 didn't work out. What did it make that this process 0:20:00.560 --> 0:20:04.960 feel a little bit different? What what what made it go? Well? 0:20:05.040 --> 0:20:08.159 It was definitely I thought it was a better a 0:20:08.240 --> 0:20:12.480 better project because of the need and we the producers 0:20:12.520 --> 0:20:15.840 that created and sold the show, created an amazing sizzle 0:20:16.480 --> 0:20:20.119 and we we went to bat first and own second 0:20:20.160 --> 0:20:24.520 and bet him Ahad and did jump own Jump, and 0:20:24.720 --> 0:20:28.240 umuse OpenH is really into it. OpenH is really really 0:20:28.320 --> 0:20:31.879 into helping obviously black females and just empowering people to 0:20:31.960 --> 0:20:35.399 be better and so it really fit for her, her 0:20:35.520 --> 0:20:38.159 her network. Um but yeah, so that's why what it 0:20:38.280 --> 0:20:41.080 was actually an easy sell with them as well. Um 0:20:41.280 --> 0:20:43.640 they just they wanted to see me. The producers told 0:20:43.680 --> 0:20:46.600 me that the network executives are like, I don't know 0:20:46.600 --> 0:20:48.320 if she's real. I need to meet her in person. 0:20:48.359 --> 0:20:50.280 She really a real person and she can do all that. 0:20:50.680 --> 0:20:52.520 Let me see in person. So they brought me in 0:20:52.640 --> 0:20:54.600 they want They asked me tons of questions. It was 0:20:54.600 --> 0:20:58.399