12.05.18
Many Ethnicities, a brand founded in 2014 by Dr. Ena Hennegan MD, provides multi-texture hair care solutions. Facing the daily challenges of being an indie brand, this Cary, IL-based company is expanding its footprint internationally and rolling out more solutions. Dr. Hennegan shares her story:
I decided to launch my line because: Simply, I saw a need for it. As a doctor, I am always in examination mode...constantly probing the various medical needs and wants of my patients in efforts to maintain their optimum health and condition. When was I caring for my three daughters’ hair—that frankly required more attention and care because each one had a separate and distinct grade and curl pattern relative to the typical natural hair ranges— I was constantly searching for products that worked for all their needs; it was exhausting and expensive! Due to their mixed culture genetics, their hair was a mixture of wavy loose curls to super tights coils and their thickness went from fine and medium all the way out to super coarse in appearance. No daughter had uniform hair texture, so all the products we tried were invariably never enough for them. Consequently, after examining our bathroom shelf of 70-plus products for natural hair “this” and style maintenance “that,” I saw a gap in the market for a comprehensive, “one-stop texture brand” that addressed the health, beauty and challenges for my daughters’ specific type of multi texture hair. I was looking for a prescription and treatment plan that didn’t exist...so I created the remedy!
Our newest product is: Top secret! But this I can share...next year, we’ll launch two stylers/finishers that treat the pain points of texture strands—manageability and curl definition. The needs are well known; our specialized approach to them is new and innovative. The benefits of one SKU are so significant we are literally thinking of naming it: Significant Hair Mist.
The hardest part of being an indie business is: Without question...growing and scaling our business. The path from transitioning my idea and launching products to a viable business proposition has been characterized by trials and errors. There is no “master plan” to follow; at best, there are some successful practices, but they are only directional and must be extrapolated for Many Ethnicities’ intentions. Therefore, besides having to fundamentally know our consumer and develop the best next-generation products, we need a well-conceived and flexible marketing plan.
The best part of being an indie business is: Being responsive. Our business is attuned to the pertinent external factors and trends for inclusive marketing—just as you have to be in medicine when managing patient concerns...knowing how to react to the latest and most up to date courses of care for best health possible. We are keenly attuned to the most advanced thought leadership, discoveries and style trends befitting our target consumer. The best part of our business is giving our multi texture consumers the focus they deserve; this consumer’s hair is finally seen, respected and addressed in totality.
Melanie Mills of Melanie Mills Hollywood asks “With sustainable beauty on trend how is this affecting your company? What steps are you taking?”: We believe in maintaining a healthy footprint for our clients and the environment too! We painstakingly limit our number of SKUs when creating the “one stop texture brand.” For us, less is definitely more, from ingredients to regimen steps. Consequently, we curate the collection for maximum effectiveness, thereby, reducing the number of SKUs offering only the most vital treatment products for the entire family. Our multifunctional products eliminate SKU redundancy.
How will you grow the business in 2019?: Half of all kids under 5 years old in the US are multicultural and more than 40% of the world’s population is part of the African Diaspora. Given the changing demographics, we are set on expanding Many Ethnicities within these target groups. We are starting with our close end target market while seeding the brands for expansion. We are expanding US retail distribution in select accounts and with strategic partnerships. And we are actively extending our footprint internationally too with partnerships in the Middle East and Africa.
I decided to launch my line because: Simply, I saw a need for it. As a doctor, I am always in examination mode...constantly probing the various medical needs and wants of my patients in efforts to maintain their optimum health and condition. When was I caring for my three daughters’ hair—that frankly required more attention and care because each one had a separate and distinct grade and curl pattern relative to the typical natural hair ranges— I was constantly searching for products that worked for all their needs; it was exhausting and expensive! Due to their mixed culture genetics, their hair was a mixture of wavy loose curls to super tights coils and their thickness went from fine and medium all the way out to super coarse in appearance. No daughter had uniform hair texture, so all the products we tried were invariably never enough for them. Consequently, after examining our bathroom shelf of 70-plus products for natural hair “this” and style maintenance “that,” I saw a gap in the market for a comprehensive, “one-stop texture brand” that addressed the health, beauty and challenges for my daughters’ specific type of multi texture hair. I was looking for a prescription and treatment plan that didn’t exist...so I created the remedy!
Our newest product is: Top secret! But this I can share...next year, we’ll launch two stylers/finishers that treat the pain points of texture strands—manageability and curl definition. The needs are well known; our specialized approach to them is new and innovative. The benefits of one SKU are so significant we are literally thinking of naming it: Significant Hair Mist.
The hardest part of being an indie business is: Without question...growing and scaling our business. The path from transitioning my idea and launching products to a viable business proposition has been characterized by trials and errors. There is no “master plan” to follow; at best, there are some successful practices, but they are only directional and must be extrapolated for Many Ethnicities’ intentions. Therefore, besides having to fundamentally know our consumer and develop the best next-generation products, we need a well-conceived and flexible marketing plan.
The best part of being an indie business is: Being responsive. Our business is attuned to the pertinent external factors and trends for inclusive marketing—just as you have to be in medicine when managing patient concerns...knowing how to react to the latest and most up to date courses of care for best health possible. We are keenly attuned to the most advanced thought leadership, discoveries and style trends befitting our target consumer. The best part of our business is giving our multi texture consumers the focus they deserve; this consumer’s hair is finally seen, respected and addressed in totality.
Melanie Mills of Melanie Mills Hollywood asks “With sustainable beauty on trend how is this affecting your company? What steps are you taking?”: We believe in maintaining a healthy footprint for our clients and the environment too! We painstakingly limit our number of SKUs when creating the “one stop texture brand.” For us, less is definitely more, from ingredients to regimen steps. Consequently, we curate the collection for maximum effectiveness, thereby, reducing the number of SKUs offering only the most vital treatment products for the entire family. Our multifunctional products eliminate SKU redundancy.
How will you grow the business in 2019?: Half of all kids under 5 years old in the US are multicultural and more than 40% of the world’s population is part of the African Diaspora. Given the changing demographics, we are set on expanding Many Ethnicities within these target groups. We are starting with our close end target market while seeding the brands for expansion. We are expanding US retail distribution in select accounts and with strategic partnerships. And we are actively extending our footprint internationally too with partnerships in the Middle East and Africa.
