One of the hardest things to do is to get capital. That's where we, as black business, struggles. And the other place we struggle is scale, and because we don't have an access to capital, we cannot scale. Richelieu Dennis More Quotes by Richelieu Dennis More Quotes From Richelieu Dennis As our company grew and we began growing our family stateside - with heritages ranging from Liberian and Sierra Leonean to Irish, Indian, Swedish, Filipino, German, and beyond - our different cultural influences and walks of life helped us even better understand the criticality of an inclusive point of view. Richelieu Dennis view better family life There's no need for women and moms to go through this world alone without the help and the support from the businesses that do business in our communities and that generate success from the women in our community. That should not be happening. Richelieu Dennis alone women business success When you're doing something that hasn't been done before, and you're trying to build something that hasn't been built before on a platform that hasn't existed before, you are going to make mistakes. The biggest advice that I can give is to not run away from issues when they occur. Own it. Your consumers deserve that. Richelieu Dennis mistakes doing you i-can I am proud of all of our products across every category we're in - hair, bath and body, face, cosmetics, baby, and men's - because they reflect the highest quality natural, organic, fair trade, and community commerce-sourced ingredients available. Richelieu Dennis face i-am quality men Madam C.J. Walker was the first person to devise and scale a business model that addressed the hair care and beauty needs of women of color while also challenging the myopic ideals of the beauty industry at that time. Richelieu Dennis women business time beauty The ability to forget is a prerequisite for an entrepreneur. Richelieu Dennis ability entrepreneur forget We understand that we, as a brand, have transcended a brand, and we are part of our cultural identity, and there's a responsibility that comes with that. Richelieu Dennis understand responsibility identity A critical lesson I learned is that we have to make sure all our employees, particularly new hires, have a full immersion in our culture. Richelieu Dennis lesson employees new culture Once a company develops out of its consumer base, you will often see a well-funded multinational company come in and take over that space. The black-owned company either stays a niche company or just disappears. This is something we don't want to happen. Richelieu Dennis will see you space Our mission is to serve women of color and serve them deeply. Richelieu Dennis serve mission women color I'm very focused on giving back, investing, and growing my community. Richelieu Dennis back focused community giving I was born and raised in Liberia in West Africa. My mother is Sierra Leonean, and my father's Liberian. I grew up at a time when there was a lot of civil unrest in both countries, so when something would happen in Liberia, we'd go to Sierra Leone, and when something would happen in Sierra Leone, we'd go back to Liberia. We moved to save our lives. Richelieu Dennis born mother time father I was fortunate enough to get a scholarship to go to college in the United States. By the time I graduated, we had a full-blown civil war in both Liberia and Sierra Leone. I couldn't go home. Richelieu Dennis college home time war My father ran an insurance company, but he passed away when I was 8. My mother was an economist working for the government of Liberia. But both my grandmothers were entrepreneurs in rural West Africa. Richelieu Dennis insurance government mother father As a kid growing up, one of the brands I thought was tremendous was Karl Kani... and I don't see Karl Kani today. I want to see SheaMoisture tomorrow. Richelieu Dennis thought growing-up tomorrow today My grandmother was a single mother. My mother's a single mother, and I have four daughters. I've experienced firsthand the challenges of what it is to be a single mother. And many of those challenges are challenges that, if we all just got together and worked together and thought about it together, we could help solve. Richelieu Dennis thought challenges mother together There's something about 'Essence' that we more than like - that we really love: the history of the community, the forward-thinking leadership. Richelieu Dennis community leadership love history By questioning the very concept of a normal standard, especially as it applies to beauty and to hair type or texture, we can begin to see how arbitrary, narrow, and potentially destructive it is and course-correct ourselves on a path to where everybody gets love. Richelieu Dennis path hair beauty love Our forward track must focus on including everyone, embracing everyone, and celebrating the beauty - and normalcy - of everyone's differences. Richelieu Dennis everyone differences focus beauty One of our missions has been to create an all-natural hair care line that caters to meet the unique needs of multi-ethnic consumers, which has traditionally been an underserved group in the mass market. Richelieu Dennis group care unique hair
