The OG of organic skin & hair care for WoC
Hi friends 👋,
Happy Friday! Hope you get to enjoy the summer before it slips away.
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In today’s edition:
✨ The story of Stevonne and her company, Beija-Flor Naturals, an organic skincare and haircare company.
🎙️ Look back to our live chat with Matt from Loftie, a smart alarm clock that restores tech-life balance
👀 Interesting new DTC brands we’ve discovered
Spotlight - Stevonne and Beija-Flor Naturals
Our main story today is about Stevonne Ratliff and her company, Beija-Flor Naturals. She started her organic skincare and haircare company out of necessity back when eCommerce wasn’t as big and “influencers” weren’t a thing.
Her products include a Kinks, Curls and Coils bundle that helps women, especially women of color, with their hair needs.
Here at StoreyLine, we spotlight a lot of founders who are passionate about serving communities that are usually overlooked by mainstream industries, and Stevonne is a great example of that.
Here’s a sneak peek of Stevonne’s story*.
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🚊 Why I started Beija-Flor Naturals
I have hypo and hyper pigmentation; I’m also allergic to mineral oil, which is in a lot of existing skincare products. At that time (around 2009), there were very few natural skincare solutions, especially those that catered to women of color, so I started formulating my own products by hand in my kitchen.
In 2013, I opened my first brick and mortar location in the trendy Temescal neighborhood of Oakland, CA named Concept Forty-Seven. I then opened a second location in San Francisco in 2017. I made a lot of friends, it was so fun.
💡 What makes Beija-Flor special
The inspiration for Beija-Flor came from my time in Brazil. I was studying Political Science in Rio de Janeiro, and there was an apothecary near my house that sells vitamin-rich Brazilian botanicals that really worked for my skincare needs. So I incorporated these ingredients into my own products.
The market has changed a lot since I started Beija-Flor, now there are a lot of organic skincare brands. Because of the quality and efficacy of our products, we get a lot of repeat customers once they try it.
🔦 Thoughts on recent media attention
The past two months have been amazing - we got covered by Elle and a lot of micro-influencers, and our sales tripled.
A lot of black-own businesses are bootstrapped because we don't have easy access to capital. Every dollar people spend goes straight to supporting the founders and their families. I hope people would continue to support minority-owned and small businesses.
*Answers adapted and condensed from a conversation with Stevonne.
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We’ll be doing a chat on Instagram Live TODAY (August 7) at 4pm ET. Join us by visiting our Insta pages @storey.line or @beijaflornaturals!
Looking Back
Last week, we had a great chat with Matt, the Founder of Loftie, which makes smart alarm clocks that restore tech-life balance.
We talked about why he started Loftie, the importance of having a healthy tech-life balance, and how to get a better night’s sleep. He also gave us a product demo in the live stream!
Watch our conversation here, and read his full story here.
Brand Hunt
Slate Milk: Chocolate milk for adults;
Noodie: The original healthy instant ramen
Chirps: Chips made from cricket flour
Byrd Food: Savory Oat & Seed clusters
Amore Gelato: Date-sweetened & nutritious ice cream
At StoreyLine, we empower socially conscious brands and consumers to connect more efficiently through a unique, experiential marketplace both online and offline.
See you next week!