Why The Hood Needs Traplord Owned Businesses

This is not my Aunt Hazel's salon but this image is a close
replica. Work with me. Camera phones weren't around in the 80's.

I have entrepreneurship and hustling in my blood. I grew up spending summers and weekends in my Aunt Hazel's beauty salon. The whole family worked there. My older cousin's, my aunts, even my mother did her time there while in college. She paid her own way through four years of Coppin State University using her earning from "the shop". My grandmother was a known hustler. Ruthie was known to sell Avon, have a few rental properties, sell moonshine. You name it. The same for my father. As an I.T. expert, he had a computer consulting business and then took over my grandmother's real estate portfolio. It's not surprise that I am a full-time entrepreneur.

One thing I noticed about my business owning family is who they hired. They hired family and people from the neighborhood. People that most traditional jobs would not have given a chance. The young and eager boy who looks unkempt because his home life is in shambles. The drug addict who is trying to do better but just can't shake it. The young girl with "too many kids for her age", whatever that means, who can't really afford childcare so she can't doesn't look for work but wants to be able to do something. Anyway, with the way present day society is set up, we need more of that. The black community needs more business owners who will give people in their own communities an opportunity. 

My father has been a full-time entrepreneur since 2004. I know the date because he was laid off from University of Maryland-College Park at the end of my last semester in college. He's had his ups and downs but overall, he is doing well. One day, my car battery died and I needed a jump. AAA was too far away, so I called my daddy - Daddy's Girls Antics. He came running, of course. He usually has his worker, Mike, with him but this worker's face didn't look familiar but he knew everything about me. My whole name. That I had a kid. I was freaked out a little bit but was rushing and didn't put it all together until a few hours later. It was Mr. Pete! Mr. Pete is one of my father's best friends. I remembered hanging out with him and his family as a child and then he disappeared for a LONG TIME and now he was back....working with my father. Interesting. So, I asked what the deal was.

A drawing Mr. Pete illustrated while imprisoned

Mr. Pete served 26 years in a federal prison. He had become addicted to drugs and committed felony murder while under the influence. A lot can happen while someone is incarcerated for 26 years. The guilt of your actions can eat away at you. Most of the time, relationships diminish and disappear. People turn their backs on you when they find out what you did. But not my father. He remained true to his a friendship that began in 1957.

While in prison, Mr. Pete learned who he was and worked on himself. Came home to show people that he changed. He wrote a book called "Look Into My Soul" but with no training programs in prison, he came home with no real skills but there was opportunity waiting for him. Work. Yes, manual labor, not ideal for a college educated man over 65 BUT it would be in an environment of love and encouragement. Now, Mr. Pete is able to learn a few trade skills and earn some money with his best friend since the 5 years old.

Predominantly African-American communities in the United States are forgotten. Our children are written off. The teenagers are judged and labeled as under achievers. The adults are stereotyped as stupid and lazy. However, study after study proves that when given opportunity and encouragement, ANYONE can thrive. Anyone. So, for us "woke" folk, it is evident that we are the only ones who can save us. This is exactly why I am looking for spaces for the Fancy Factory within the community. Yes, I could easily find a beautiful commercial space in Owings Mills but who would that serve? I want to serve my people because ultimately, we all we got. (Y'all remember that from New Jack City? Ok. I digress)

The "system" is not designed for residents of certain socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds to flourish. We have to constantly fight to make a way EVEN when have support and opportunity. Imagine how it is for those young folks who don't have either. I have chosen to be the change I want to see and set up an operation that bypasses the system. We NEED black owned businesses in black neighborhoods who hire people within our black neighborhoods.

The second building I looked at that he shut down. LOL!

My husband and I argue about it because I've been looking at spots in the trappiest of the trap. I understand his concerns but I have to be the one to invest in my community before it gets snatched up by an investor who is not invested in the surroundings, only what they can take. Ugh! Don't get me started on these investors from out of town who are buying up everything in our city and leaving the buildings to rot.

Anyway, my family has laid the foundation for my future. It's not the easiest route to success but it's mine. Heavy is the head.....

Shameless Plug Alert:

Fancy Free Hair & Skin manufactures quality products for hair and skin, as well as provides natural hair consults for women who would like assistance on their natural hair journey. Our motto is "Keeping you chemical free." Visit our website, www.fancyfreehairandskin.com, to see a full range of our products and services. Sign up for our mailing list to receive natural hair tips and stay up to date on sales and the latest happenings with Fancy Free.

Subscribe and become Fancy's Friend to receive a code for 10% off your next purchase. 

That Time I Had To Eat My Words

In between clients, we would rehearse Beyonce choreography.
Ok. Maybe we would just pause in the middle of a client.
#GoodTimes

One of the reasons for cosmetology education is to train stylists how to use chemicals safely with minimal damage to the hair shaft. I think my natural hair clients loved me because I essentially did what the client told me worked for their hair. Mainly because I didn't know any better, I had a relaxer at the time. LOL! If they brought their own products, I used them. From aloe vera gel and squeezing real lemons to S-curl activator. Yes, jheri curl juice. She liked the results so who was I to say no?

So, when I cut the last of my relaxed ends off of my curly roots, I was on the internet like everyone else looking to see what were the best products. The first product I bought was TRASH. Everyone was raving about so I couldn't wait to try it. My curls were popping but the next day, I had a head full of flakes. I looked at the ingredients and the first ingredient on the product was mineral oil. I clutched my pearls.

"Isn't mineral oil one of the big product no-no's?"

"Someone said that this product was different after they started mass production."

"This product says "natural" but is mineral oil considered natural?"

http://www.cosmeticsinfo.org/ingredient/mineral-oil-0

As a scientist, I had a ton of questions. As a disappointed customer, I was going directly to the source. So I called the company's headquarters. I asked how this product is legally labeled natural but the first ingredient is mineral oil. The person on the other end of the line tried to explain to me that it was "organic" mineral oil. FIRST OF ALL!!!!

1. Mineral oil is not from a plant source so it's not FDA approved organic.

2. If you are referring to it as organic because it has a "carbon" in the molecule structure, I doubt that the average person would consider a derivative of crude oil "organic" in the way that products are labeled as such.

If you knew the 30 y.o. me, you know I went off, running down my credentials and telling them that they should be ashamed of themselves for misleading uninformed consumers in this manner. Then I hung up and promptly returned that product to target for a full refund.

My very first pitch competition!

Seven years later, I've made a business of manufacturing quality products for hair and skin using organic ingredients. We are in exponential growth phase and applying to every opportunity for funding that we qualify for. With that comes finding a way to present your business information to a group of investors that grabs their attention. You have to entertain and spark emotions all while giving boring statistics. iFundWomen hired a coach to help the Maryland Cohort prepare for the Innovation Labs Pitch Competition at Baltimore's Light City Festival. I also read a plethora of books on how to give great business pitches. In short, tell stories that include the data to keep the investors interested. Of course, my story that communicated the "problem" with the current state of products for natural hair care was going to include my personal experience with the trash, mineral oil product.

http://www.cosmeticsinfo.org/ingredient/mineral-oil-0

But you can't just say, mineral oil is bad, you have to give the facts on why, just like we do with aluminum in deodorant causing breast cancer. So, as a scientist, I did the research and do you know what I came up with? Crickets. There was nothing that said mineral oil in hair products was bad for you. No causing cancer. No flaring up of existing skin conditions. No causing of skin conditions. Nothing. I began to dig deeper, as a member of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists, I looked into the studies of mineral oil and petroleum in hair and skin care products. Studies show that it is more effective and longer lasting at "clumping" hair, what we all want for our wash and go days, than most other oils commonly used in hair products.

2 day old vaseline Wash and Go

Of course, I gave it a try. My 2 year old son wears a wash and go, so, after shampooing his hair. I applied a little Free Shea Pomade then worked some good ole vaseline through his hair. And voila! It worked....even better than the flax seed gel I had been experimenting with. 🙈
Disclaimer: Any product that is mainly oil must be applied to wet or damp hair and skin to be effective. The purpose is the seal the moisture, aka water, in. Otherwise, the product will sit on top of your dry skin and you will have oily but dry skin or hair. LOL!

One of the things I take into account when developing new products is that I choose ingredients that are of the earth and can be eaten. And mineral oil can, in fact, be consumed. It's often used as a laxative, an old school solution if you don't have Miralax. Do not worry, I will not be to using mineral oil or petroleum as an ingredient in any of Fancy Free products but I just wanted to let you know, just in case you found a product that you love with mineral oil as a main ingredient. It's ok. You may proceed. LOL!

Shameless Plug Alert:

Fancy Free Hair & Skin manufactures quality products for hair and skin, as well as provides natural hair consults for women who would like assistance on their natural hair journey. Our motto is "Keeping you chemical free." Visit our website, www.fancyfreehairandskin.com, to see a full range of our products and services. Sign up for our mailing list to receive natural hair tips and stay up to date on sales and the latest happenings with Fancy Free.

Subscribe and become Fancy's Friend to receive a code for 10% off your next purchase.