Today we’d like to introduce you to Iyonna Woods.
Hi Iyonna, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I grew up in a hair salon. My mother was a cosmetologist. All of my aunts were cosmetologists. But I was set on becoming a healthcare professional. I went to college… for a long time, and earned a few degrees. I was the girl who styled hair in the dorm. I also worked in a salon as a natural hair stylist and apprenticed under my mother, who is a senior cosmetologist, while in graduate school. Once I earned my degree to become a Medical Laboratory Scientist and specializing in Blood Bank, I eventually started managing the Transfusion Medicine Department in the laboratory at the University of Maryland Medical System Midtown Campus for seven years. The whole time, the beauty industry was chasing me down.
I grew my relaxer out in 2011 and had trouble finding the perfect product for my thick, kinky hair in stores. As a natural hairstylist, I knew what I needed, so I decided to make it myself. Once I perfected the product, I started getting a lot of questions about my hair, the products I used, and my styling techniques. This was before the explosion of influencers and tutorials on the internet. So, I started Fancy Free Natural Hair Consults. I would do a one-on-one consultation and create a personalized hair care plan for each client. Included in their consultation was a sample of the product I was making for myself along with the recipe. My clients wanted to buy the product from me instead of making it themselves. Fancy Free Hair and Skin was born.
I started with one product, whipped shea butter, on an Etsy page in 2015. That’s it. The one product took off so quickly that I decided to give it 100% effort, retiring from healthcare in 2017 to focus on building Fancy Free Hair & Skin. Since becoming a full-time entrepreneur, I have launched over 15 new products and have employed five Baltimore City residents. I have expanded my business by offering product development and private label manufacturing to other small beauty brands.
And we’re just getting started.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Entrepreneurship is definitely an emotional rollercoaster. I thought I knew what I was doing because I knew how to run a laboratory with my eyes closed. The problem was not a marketing genius. I didn’t know anything about branding, storytelling, visuals, or any of that and I didn’t really have a lot of money to hire someone to help me. So I stumbled through it.
With access to capital being a major hindrance, I started entering pitch competitions, applying for grants, and running crowdfunding campaigns. I did all of that while pregnant with my second child in 2018. While I did well with crowdfunding, I never actually won a pitch competition or any grants that I applied for. I had to resort to bootstrapping and getting loans from my e-commerce platform that were based on my sales volume. I was getting denied traditional business loans too.
By the time my second child was born, I had two employees keeping Fancy Free Hair & Skin afloat while I attempted to go on maternity leave. Adding employees to the mix took a lot of weight off of me but recruiting and retaining talent has proven to be difficult. In 2018, I couldn’t afford to hire the highly skilled workers that I needed, so there was a lot of wasted product/bloopers and a high turnover rate before training was evening completed. Talent acquisition continues to be a constant pain point in my business. I think it’s a problem for business owners across the board. No matter what the industry is.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Fancy Free Hair & Skin?
Fancy Free Hair & Skin manufactures personal care products that are “Fancy and Free” of harsh chemicals. We specialize in shea butter-based moisturizers, aluminum-free deodorants, shampoos, conditioners, and a host of other bath products. I, a certified laboratory scientist, have mastered the art of creating these natural products that actually work. What sets Fancy Free Hair & Skin apart from other similar brands is that I am an expert in laboratory science as well as an experienced consumer with over 10 years of experience styling natural hair. There aren’t many brands that can claim that the founder has an advanced understanding of both the science and the use of the products.
I am most proud that my brand is elevating the “Science of beauty”, exposing the world to STEM careers that no one really talks about, like cosmetic science and medical laboratory science. When formulating products, whether it be for Fancy Free Hair & Skin or for another company, I take pride in selecting plant-based ingredients, which is much better for our health in the long run.
Our personal care products are multi-functional. Most of them can be used head to toe, on your hair, and on your skin. Eliminating waste, which is great for the environment and your budget. It’s super exciting to have products manufacture at the Fancy Factory be the catalyst to the success of other small beauty brands. We can create a product from scratch or take an existing formula to manufacture it for companies who are looking to scale their operation but increasing capacity.
How do you define success?
Success is aligning your gifts and passion with your purpose to make a positive impact on your community. Being excited about the work you do is a success. Living the life you dreamed of and prayed for is a success.
Contact Info:
- Email: info@fancyfreehairandskin.com
- Website: https://www.fancyfreehairandskin.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fancyfreehairandskin
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fancyfreehair
- Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/fancyfreehair
Image Credits:
Kyle Pompey
