Cherice Williams is a Jamaican-born entrepreneur and owner of BLAQ Luxury Hair. After immigrating to the United States, Cherice had to stop her studies at the prestigious University of the West Indies and worked as a waitress and housekeeper to support herself and her family. Running a multi-million dollar haircare company was the last thing she saw herself doing.
While trying to remedy hair loss, a symptom of her PCOS diagnosis, Williams decided to take things into her own hands by creating a hair serum oil. Her determination to self-heal and not give up led her to grow BLAQ Luxury Hair from an at-home side hustle to a multimillion-dollar operation. Cherice sat with me to discuss her health journey and the growth of BLAQ Luxury Hair.
This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
PCOS
PCOS affects an estimated 8–13% of women of reproductive age, and up to 70% of cases are undiagnosed. Black women with PCOS are more likely to go undiagnosed by their physicians, are at a higher risk of insulin resistance, and experiencing infertility. There are many symptoms of PCOS, including Cherice’s experience with dry, brittle hair and hair loss. Her journey to diagnosis and recovery would lead her to create a life-changing business for herself and women worldwide.
Stephanie Tharpe: Can you get into how PCOS influenced you to start BLAQ Luxury Hair?
Cherice Williams: I was diagnosed with PCOS in 2018. Before that, I wasn’t aware of the condition. My hair was always dry and brittle and shedding. I used to wonder what was happening. I also had other symptoms, like irregular periods; I realized it was an internal problem. Through extensive research and help from my doctor, I was diagnosed with PCOS. My doctor advised me that my hair products had many synthetic ingredients that weren’t good for people with my condition, and I needed to make changes. I was working as a waitress and a housekeeper then, and some of the products he recommended were too expensive for me to afford. It was basically a quarter of my paycheck. So, I took the initiative to start making my own products at home.
I started with my hair growth oil and that was that product was made from a lot of essential oils and nutrients. One of the key ingredients in the development was Jamaican Black Castor Oil, which was a part of my roots that I incorporated into producing that product.
Stephanie Tharpe: How did you gain your first customer?
Cherice Williams: I was in a natural hair group, and many of the women had the same concerns that I was having. I showed them my results, and they were interested in the product. It wasn’t a business for me then, and I wanted to gift it to them. But they insisted on paying.
My first sale came from the natural hair group. I would send them the product if they covered the shipping. My first online line sale came about a week after I launched. I went to bed, and until then, I had limited traffic on the site. I woke up around three o’clock in the morning and realized that someone had purchased my product. I was trying to understand why the person even bought it. I had no labels on the products or anything! Not long after receiving the oil, she returned to the website and purchased more bottles. We still contact the customer and send her free products because I appreciate her early support.
Marketing Strategy
Stephanie Tharpe: What was your marketing strategy when launching?
Cherice Williams: I didn’t have a marketing plan. I didn’t even have a marketing team. We were still operating from one of the natural hair groups I was in. I was contacting many small and even big influencers, asking them for a free shout out. Some would respond and quote me advertising prices. I took a leap of faith with one platform, knowing my rent was due, giving us our first push. We kept advertising with them until we could work with more prominent influencers and outlets. We saw more growth once we started using Instagram and Facebook ads.
Stephanie Tharpe: What advice would you give to others when trying to market their products online?
Cherice Williams: As an entrepreneur just starting a business, I would not recommend directly contacting these influencers with free products. I also wouldn’t suggest saving up a large sum to pay them for advertising, because that is a financial risk. I recommend starting small. You can put $200 behind a Facebook or Instagram post and use the return to reinvest into boosting your posts.
I had fallen into the trap of influencer marketing early on. That was a costly learning experience for me. Not everyone that has a huge following is great for your brand. They have to resonate with what your brand stands for and align with your brand image. I’ve invested over ten thousand dollars into influencer marketing and didn’t get a sale. That would have really hurt me at the beginning of my business. That’s why I don’t recommend starting with them. Just start small and work your way up.
Rapid Growth
Stephanie Tharpe: You were able to scale your company rather quickly. What was the process of moving from a home-based company into a larger facility?
Cherice Williams: We were home-based for about six months before moving to a warehouse. Six months in, we had fulfilled over sixty thousand orders and had to lease a two thousand-square-foot warehouse. We were there for about two years and have now upgraded to an eight-thousand-square-foot warehouse. We are currently on Amazon through a distributor, domestic beauty supply stores through the OTC market, and are in several countries in the UK, South America, and the Caribbean. With the grace of God, we will soon be in major retailers soon.
Stephanie Tharpe: How did launching your company during the Covid-19 pandemic affect its success?
Cherice Williams: The pandemic was great for me. I saw the most growth during that time. I wasn’t impacted in the same way that a brand in a retail store would be. Because of stores being shut down, people’s shopping patterns changed. They were purchasing products through Amazon and direct websites—that’s where we thrived. The only impact I experienced was getting packaging for my hair oils. Ultimately, we did very well through online sales that year.
Stephanie Tharpe: Can you talk about your distribution?
Cherice Williams: When we first started, I was trying to go directly to retailers and pitch my product. After so many pitches and being told no, I knew there had to be another option—that was when I was introduced to my distributor. They purchase a product from us and sell it to the smaller beauty supply stores.
Stephanie Tharpe: What was your approach to expanding your product lineup?
Cherice Williams: The hair oil was our first product, and I made that. I had no money to hire chemists to formulate a whole line then. Once I made enough money, I could hire a manufacturer to custom develop my products. Research and development is a costly process to go through. Plus, when you’re placing your first order, it will have to be in bulk most of the time.
Stephanie Tharpe: How has your financial success changed you?
Cherice Williams: The experience humbles me. Even though I am a millionaire, I still feel the same as I did five or six years ago. My most significant accomplishments are the ability to provide quality products to my community and provide jobs. Those things bring me even more fulfillment than the money. Now, I have financial freedom and can care for my family in a way I couldn’t before.
Stephanie Tharpe: What advice would you give to entrepreneurs looking to start a business?
Cherice Williams: Embrace failure as a learning opportunity and use it as a stepping stone to success. Every setback provides valuable lessons and insight that can be used to improve your growth. That’s always my advice to every entrepreneur who wants to begin this journey.
You Can Purchase BLAQ Luxury Hair on their direct website or Amazon.
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