Today we’d like to introduce you to Vanessa Van Dyke.
Vanessa, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Vanessa’s Essence Natural Hair Care was started in 2014 by my mom, with me being the face and spokesperson of the company after I became the victim of natural hair discrimination in 7th grade at a private school. My principal told me that I would either need to cut or straighten my hair in order for the bullying to stop. After this controversial story went viral on the news, I received a ton of backlash as well as an overwhelming amount of support from people all over the world.
From this negative situation, Vanessa’s Essence Natural Hair Care was established in order to boost my self-esteem regarding my hair and other women and young girls, which is our current mission today. A year later, I was asked to tell my story on the talk show The Real. I told them my story of how I overcame being bullied and how I was able to turn something negative into something positive. Ebony Magazine created a hashtag #afroday specifically for me and others after my story went viral. Vanessa’s Essence Natural Hair Care has partnered with several online retailers.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It hasn’t always been a smooth road because starting a business is always hard, and one of the struggles that come with that is being able to make sure the business is advertised properly to our consumers. In the beginning, we didn’t have a lot of help with advertising and really didn’t understand how to market our brand. Since that very beginning of starting Vanessa’s Essence Natural Hair Care, it was decided that no matter what, our brand would be known and we wouldn’t give up trying to get our name out there to the public.
Please tell us about Vanessa’s Essence Natural Hair Care.
Vanessa’s Essence Natural Hair Care caters to young girls mostly who are developing mentally, physically, and emotionally. We want them to have products that are made for them to love the hair that been born with. The European standard of beautiful hair has long discounted a Black girl’s natural coils. It has taken years for Black hair to be considered beautiful in it’s natural state. Because of being bullied in school and having others tell kids that the way that they look is not okay, sometimes kids question if they are beautiful and question their entire being. Our company is unique because it was founded based on a true event and how I was the victim of this kind of discrimination at such a young age. We are also known for having products with natural and organic ingredients. We feel that it is important for women and young girls to feel confident in what they are putting in their hair. At the moment, we are working on getting our products in boutiques, hair salons and stores like Whole Foods, Ulta, Target, Walmart, etc. We also sell our products on online stores such as Black Naps and Boutsy Marketplace. We are also at Kinks and Curls Natural Hair Boutique in Lawrenceville, Georgia.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
If we had to start over, we would’ve hired a couple of assistants if it was afforded at the time, which would make it so much easier regarding certain tasks that would have to be done. Growing any business requires teamwork and people who can contribute and grow the company with the skills needed for every aspect of growth. We needed a team, and we didn’t have that in the beginning nor did we know how to go about hiring a team of talent.
Contact Info:
- Address: 15 W 38th St
4th Floor Ste. 547 New York, New York 10018 - Website: www.vanessasessence.com
- Phone: 855-550-8720
- Email: info@vanessasessence.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vanessasessence
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vanessasessence
Image Credit:
Kristia Knowles (personal photo)
Demarcus Bowser (first photo with dark grey background)
Suggest a story: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
