Saleemah Elamin – Hydratherma Naturals – Atlanta, GA
Tell me about your background?
I was born and raised in Buffalo, NY and attended the University at Buffalo. There, I received my BA in psychology and my BSN in registered nursing. I also received my cosmetology degree during that time period. I worked as a cosmetologist and registered nurse while in Buffalo. I had a love for both professions and didn’t want to give up either. My first love has always been with hair. While doing a travel nurse assignment, I fell in love with Atlanta and moved there in 2008. I worked as a registered nurse in Atlanta for about 7 years. In 2008, I followed my dream with my first love hair. My husband and I started a hair care business called Hydratherma Naturals LLC and the Hydratherma Naturals hair product collection. We started working the business part time while working our regular full time jobs. In 2009, I went full time with Hydratherma Naturals. This allowed me more time to dedicate to the growth of our business and product development.
My Husband was born in Huntsville, Alabama and raised in Birmingham, Alabama. He attended Alabama A&M University where he attained a BS degree in finance. He received his executive MBA from Troy University. He has worked in corporate America for a total of 17 years (12 years in the finance industry). He began working full time with Hydratherma Naturals in November 2009. Some of his responsibilities include finance and marketing.
What industry are you in?
We are in the health, beauty and cosmetics industry. We sell hair care products to salons, spas, beauty supply stores and online. The beauty industry is a great industry to be in because it is one industry which is virtually recession proof. When people feel sad about not having money, they still want to look good and looking good helps them to feel better. When people do have money, they still want to look good. During the depression, the sales of lipstick soared. People didn’t have the money but they would make sacrifices to buy cosmetics because it would make them feel good. Being in the beauty industry has allowed us to do extremely well despite the recession.
What motivated you to start your own business?
There are various reasons for my desire to launch a hair care product line. The main reason is for my love of hair. I have had a fascination with hair and styling hair since I was 6 years old. I strongly believe that you have to have a passion, interest and love for what you are doing. I noticed early on that there was a huge void in the market. There aren’t many hair care products on the market that were beneficial to curly and kinky hair types. These hair types need products that are very moisturizing to the hair and these types of products were lacking in the market. I was very frustrated with my dry / breaking/ damaged hair and no product out there helped me in spite of their claims on the bottle. I spent so much money and time on trying to find that miracle product that would keep the moisture in my hair and I couldn’t find anything. My hair always stayed dry and brittle. I would always hear many of my friends, family and people online complain about their dry hair problems. I then began creating my own formulas and mixing different ingredients together. I knew the moisturizing ingredients that I liked and wanted the products to be natural based. After doing much research and creating different formulas, I started using them on my own hair. The formulas actually kept my hair very soft, moisturized and prevented breakage. My hair began to flourish, thrive and grow. I gave the products to my friends and family and they all loved them. I then began to sell the products online and things just took off from there.
Another thing that motivated me to start Hydratherma Naturals is to aid others. I really wanted to educated many women of color on better ways to take care of their hair. Many women just give up on their hair and they think that they will have to depend on weaves and wigs forever. We receive so many emails from women who are sincerely depressed about their hair and once they are educated on better ways to take care of their hair, it would make a big difference with their self esteem. We are also able to help others via supporting various charities that are close to our hearts.
If you have employees, how are you attracting top talent?
We have no employees. We contract out all of our needs. By outsourcing we are able to save money on overhead and maximize profits. All order fulfillment, most custom blending and some customer service issues are outsourced. Outsourcing also allows us to focus more time on marketing and growing the Hydratherma Naturals hair care line. We also have chosen not to have a brick and mortar business location. Most of our sales are done online to individuals and our retailers order from our online retail member site. This way we save money on expenses such as wages, equipment, supplies, insurance, rent and other costs.
What about your business/industry keeps you up at night?
Marketing strategies and product development. We are always seeking new ways to market to our customers via online, print ads, and networking events. We are always trying to develop products that will make our line better and different from the rest. The goal of our product line is to give the hair a balance of moisture and protein with one collection set. Too much moisture or too little moisture can lead to breakage so our line gives you a delicate balance. There is no other line on the market that does this. I am always seeking ways to create products that compliment this moisture and protein model and making our current products better.
Who is your target market and how are you reaching them?
Our target markets are primarily women and men of color who have curly/ kinky hair types or who have chemically processed hair. Most of our customers are those who want to be educated on better ways to take care of their hair at home. Many of our customers want to grow their own hair out without having to depend on wigs and weaves and many may just want to thicken their hair or get it in a healthier state. We are reach our customers through social media, print ads, word of mouth, online and face to face social networking.
How long did it take you to break-even?
Believe it or not, it took us about 1 month to break even. This is because we started very small and used our own money to finance the business. We have a total of nine hair care products. We started out with about 25 of each product which was about 225 products total. We bought shipping boxes, shipping paper and tape at wholesale prices. As we sold those products, we bought more inventory and made a profit very soon after. When we first started the business, most of our marketing was done online which was free via online social networks and youtube. We later began using paid advertising like print ads and google.
What is your strategic advantage (unique quality that separates you from the competition)?
Many people of color are looking for a hair care product line owned by a person of color because they believe that we are more knowledgeable on the needs of curly and kinky hair types. 91-95% of the large hair care product lines are not owned by people of color. We are also a natural based hair care product line. None of our products contain mineral oil, petrolatum or parabens which are harmful to the hair and scalp. These 3 chemicals are in the majority of hair products marketed to kinky hair types. As mentioned above, our products give your hair a nice balance of moisture and protein which is not offered by any other line. This is our best selling point.
What are you most passionate about business or otherwise?
Besides my passion for hair, hair styling, hair education and my husband’s passion for education and public speaking, we are very passionate about educating and encouraging others about entrepreneurship. We also have a passion to use our business to help others via various charities and foundations. Eventually, we will start our own foundation to help those in need.
Any advice for future business owners?
I truly believe that you should have a sincere passion about what you are doing. If you are not passionate about what you are doing then don’t do it. The passion is what helps you go that extra mile for you business. Someone told me long ago; if you are doing what you love, you will never ‘work’ a day in your life.
