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Sharpen your pencils and open your monogrammed Moleskines. At the moment, Abena Boamah can be main the beauty trade in a vocabulary lesson.
The previous seventh grade teacher-turned-skin care founder is uniquely certified for the job.
In 2017, Boamah launched Hanahana Beauty: sustainable, accessible, all-natural shea butter merchandise, ethically and transparently sourced from the Katariga Ladies’s Shea Cooperative in Ghana and created to uplift ladies of colour.
In 2020, these values — sustainable! accessible! ladies of colour! — turned the buzziest buzzwords in magnificence, a shift pushed by the coronavirus pandemic, fixed local weather emergencies and the social justice motion that ignited after the loss of life of George Floyd by the hands of Minneapolis police.
“When it got here time for all these lists, we have been hitting these alternatives, which I’m very grateful for,” the Ghanaian American entrepreneur mentioned, referencing the quite a few “Black-owned Magnificence Manufacturers to Purchase Proper Now” roundups that Hanahana Magnificence topped final yr. Beyoncé’s included.
However as these phrases change into extra ubiquitous, Boamah has doubled down on the significance of mission over advertising.
“If you happen to’re going to say that being ‘accessible’ and ‘sustainable,’ are part of your values, you will have to do a little analysis on how one can truly be impactful,” she mentioned. “There’s a lot alternative within the magnificence house. I’d slightly see Black individuals being given alternatives than simply listening to, ‘Purchase Black.’”
It’s an surprising sentiment from a enterprise proprietor, maybe — however Boamah isn’t in it to earn money. She’s in it to make change. (And — after all — actually good shea butter.)
Hanahana Magnificence has gotten plenty of consideration over the previous yr. What does scaling sustainably appear to be for you?
Abena Boamah: I believe it comes right down to defining sustainability and evaluating the way you’re hitting sustainability in all areas. As a group, we take a look at sustainability with a holistic method. We’re a group of Black ladies who’re placing our time and power into this firm not only for a examine, however to make a higher affect. We’re persevering with to construct on the inspiration we’ve created, from environmental sustainability by packaging all the best way to the producers we work with. [Hanahana pays its producers in Ghana two times the going rate for shea butter.] As a group, we now have to consider our worth level choices and the way we are able to proceed to make high-quality merchandise which are truly accessible.
Do you assume the trade understands that holistic method but? That “sustainable” doesn’t solely imply packaging, however consists of truthful wages and firm coverage?
A.B.: The trade has to know the holistic method. There’s a sure degree of consciousness and curiosity that’s grown in magnificence customers, notably prior to now yr. As a shopper myself, I’m not solely taken with the advantages of a product, however the path of the place my greenback goes.
How do you navigate pricing to replicate the work that goes into making them versus being inexpensive? What’s the stability of sustainability to accessibility in that holistic equation?
What I’ve discovered is that possibly we are able to’t be accessible by every certainly one of our merchandise, however we could be accessible by the knowledge and alternatives we give and the tales we share. We take a look at accessibility by completely different approaches: by our Hanahana Circle of Care, our neighborhood well being care initiatives for the Katargia Cooperative, and in addition in how we curate studying experiences round magnificence and wellness for our neighborhood.
The sort of relationship you will have with the Katargia Cooperative is uncommon within the mainstream magnificence house.
A.B.: It’s, and I didn’t understand that. I bear in mind certainly one of my mentors requested, ‘Wait, so did you truly go to Ghana? As a result of I’ve labored with manufacturers that say all this stuff they usually’ve by no means stepped foot within the nation they’re associating themselves with.’ I’m coming from a special background. There’s no manner that we may’ve created the Hanahana Circle of Care if I hadn’t lived in Ghana. As a trainer, my motto has at all times been which you could’t create actual affect in a neighborhood should you’re not close to it.
You latterly rebranded. How did you method that whereas staying true to your basis?
A.B.: As a group, we requested ourselves: How can we actually educate individuals by our branding in a extra strategic manner? We elevated the model presentation so it met the extent and care of the work we’re doing. We nonetheless use glass packaging however we’ve transitioned to heavier double-walled glass containers with wide-mouth openings, for simpler utility. We even reassessed all of the distributors we supply from exterior of cooperatives. It was additionally simply time for an aesthetic change. I really like colour and it felt proper so as to add a colour recognized with our scents and merchandise. For inventive, we did all the things in-house, working with Leroy Wadie, a graphic designer in Ghana on a brand new emblem and packaging design. We additionally partnered with Deun Ivory and Juliet Cangelosi on imagery, who know our group and our model very well. The very best half concerning the rebrand was working with our associates and neighborhood — I didn’t wish to ‘elevate’ by pivoting to working with an enormous branding company. We have been in a position to elevate the model whereas tying within the individuals who bought us right here within the first place.
Coming out of your background of instructing and remedy, what motivated the pivot to skincare?
A.B.: I’ve at all times felt like my objective in life has to do with creating house for individuals to really feel snug studying about themselves. As a trainer and a therapist, I assumed that was one of the best ways to go about it. However working inside these methods pushed me to seek out one other option to create an affect, and I finally discovered skincare and wellness. Each day we do one thing that impacts our pores and skin, from the merchandise we apply to the meals we eat. What occurs after we change into extra intentional about how we maintain our largest organ? We would transfer in a different way or take into consideration different features — what we’re placing inside our our bodies. I hope to dwell in a world through which persons are extra intentional about how they give thought to pores and skin, not only for themselves, but in addition why and the way they deal with individuals the best way they do — understanding why you’re feeling sure methods about individuals with sure pores and skin colours.
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