What inspired you to start Organic Brilliance?
I am always inspired to create healthier products to help a loved one in need, and I create products that don’t currently exist on the market in a pure, beneficial and healthy form.
Rich & Thick HAIR is my first hair care product line for our new company, Organic Brilliance. I was inspired to create this product line because my mom was using a product that I felt was harmful to her hair and scalp.
My mom had used harsh chemicals on her hair for many years and her hair was thinning. She showed me a product she was using to topically fill in her thinning hair and make her hair look instantly fuller. The product was a powder made with keratin (wool shavings), DMDM hydantoin (formaldehyde), ammonia, and dyes, etc.
After searching on line and in stores, I was very surprised that I could not find an instant hair powder or hair thickener in her hair color that did not contain harmful ingredients for hair and scalp.
I created Rich & Thick HAIR initially in the Light Blonde shade for my mother, and that inspired me to go on to create the entire line of healthy instant hair filler fibers in several hair colors. I named our parent company Organic Brilliance as I hope to create many more high performance, pure and healthy hair care products.
What makes Organic Brilliance different?
Our flagship product line, Rich & Thick HAIR is a fine powder made only with 16 Certified Organic botanicals, 3 Wild Harvested botanicals, and naturally sourced silk peptide proteins. It is an instant, topical, dry hair styling product.
Rich & Thick HAIR is a perfect dry shampoo in your hair color, it is a truly healthy root touch up, it adds fullness and body to limp hair, and it effectively and naturally fills in thinning hair.
Rich & Thick HAIR is offered in 16 hair colors, and the colors are made from the botanicals themselves with NO dyes!
It is a dry fine powder that resists sweat, wind and rain. Rich & Thick HAIR is so unique and innovative that it is now Patent Pending.
Are you a Nashville native?
I am not a Nashville native. My family lived in foreign countries an traveled the world as my dad was in the Air Force.
Nashville is being called the “It” city…why are you loving Nashville, right now?
I love Nashville because it is an international city. People from all over the world visit our city, and we are changing and growing in amazing ways. I love our rich heritage of music and the arts.
What would you say has been the biggest aha moment during your business journey, so far?
There have been so many aha moments for me in this business. I would say that the biggest ones had to do with realizing that prayer, asking God for help every step of the way, kept me on track to finding the answers I needed in choosing the ingredients that went into the final formulas. Also, I prayed for years to be able to make a bigger difference in the lives of children who are hurting. I think another big aha moment for me is when I realized that this could be the answer to my prayer to be able to give much more.
3 things you love about NBIC that others may not know?
- I think that the first and best thing about the NBIC is our Executive Director, Angela Crane-Jones. Angela has wisdom, knowledge and insight into business development and has been very helpful to us from the moment we met her.
- Another thing we love about the NBIC is the way the resident businesses are so helpful and friendly. We are like a family, and we all reach out to help each other in various ways.
- We are very proud to be a part of the NBIC, and we have found that the program has a great reputation in the city.
Is there one business resource or tip you would give to readers just starting out in their business?
Honestly, it would be to surround yourself with professionals of integrity and knowledge in your type of business, stay humble and open to learning, and never give up on your dream.
You researched and tested your product for over 2 years, what was the biggest thing that kept you motivated during this time?
I think every little discovery that a botanical actually worked better than harmful chemicals and looked beautiful was very rewarding each time it happened. Creating a product and starting a business around it is a marathon, not a sprint. You have to celebrate each little step of progress and not grow discouraged because there is a lot of unglamorous work involved. It also takes courage. Growing up in a military family, I have always been aware of the risks taken by our soldiers, sailors and airmen. I have always pushed myself to have the same kind of courage in any endeavor.
Lastly, what can Music City expect from Organic Brilliance in 2016?
Now that we have our Patent Pending status, Music City can expect us to become much more visible in local salons, on social media, and on radio, etc. We are just now launching our product Rich & Thick HAIR and expect to expand rapidly through the hair and beauty industry. Nashville is a fabulous community and part of what makes it that way is the giving nature of the people who live here. When our neighbors face a crisis, we jump in and help. We absolutely want to do our part in giving back. And we plan to begin moving forward with our goal of helping children in crisis.