Bozoma Saint John launches hair model Eve by Boz

Saint John, 47, left her final full-time function at Netflix in early 2022 and since then has revealed a memoir that instructed her private story of dropping her husband to most cancers and dropping their daughter, who was born prematurely; saved up along with her 500,000 Instagram followers; and joined the forged of the upcoming season of Actual Housewives of Beverly Hills. “I assumed I’d be again in a yr in one other company seat, however that yr was actually transformational for me,” she says.

As a substitute, in spring of 2023, Saint John began conceiving of her personal venture. Haircare manufacturers abound, however she noticed alternative within the wig class. “There’s actually no voice within the manufacturing course of for ladies of shade and Black ladies, who’re those who’re consuming a majority of the product,” she says. She traveled to Guangzhou, China for a hair present, the place she and her hairstylist met 40 distributors. She traveled all through Asia, the place the wig trade is concentrated. She requested questions on why the lace connected to wigs is often gentle in shade. “They mentioned, ‘As a result of nobody requested us to make it in a different way,’” she remembers.

Saint John declined to boost funding for her enterprise and put “a pair million” of her personal cash into the model. “I’ve labored for sufficient large firms and bought a whole lot of inventory at a whole lot of locations,” she says. “It’s time to reinvest in myself, and that’s what I made a decision to do. Additionally, I can have whole management. I don’t need anybody telling me what to do.”

She now has 10 workers and about 50 folks engaged on the model in whole, plus a retail retailer in Accra, Ghana, the place the model is manufacturing its merchandise (whereas nonetheless working with Asia-based suppliers). Eve by Boz is launching with 171 merchandise, together with all doable mixtures of its wigs with 5 hair varieties, 5 lengths, and three lace colours. The wigs will promote for between $650 and $2,100, with merchandise together with shampoo and a hair fragrance oil promoting for between $35 and $50. Its merchandise can be found to buy by way of its web site, and Saint John says she’s not inquisitive about promoting by way of retail apart from her personal shops.

Constructing her personal model has drawn on a number of the abilities Saint John constructed by her profession in company America. “What I actually love about brand-building is discovering the emotional connection between regardless of the product is and the buyer,” she says. So actually, it doesn’t matter if it’s rideshare or it’s music streaming or if it’s a soda—that emotional dialog that you’ve got with a client is magic. It’s sacred.”

Saint John will quickly attain a brand new viewers when her first season of Actual Housewives of Beverly Hills airs. Whereas many ladies who seem on Housewives franchises use the platform to advertise their manufacturers—from authentic business-minded star Bethenny Frankel to new Housewives forged members Jenna Lyons and Rebecca Minkoff—Saint John says the timing is a contented accident. “I started this model manner earlier than I used to be in any dialog concerning the Housewives,” she says. “However I might be ignorant to assume a platform like that couldn’t be useful.”

Saint John goals to differentiate her model from opponents with consideration to element, like transport wigs in reusable silk bonnets somewhat than plastic packaging. Whereas she desires to personal this class, she additionally hopes the model’s give attention to its client leads opponents to enhance the best way they serve their prospects. “I don’t need to need to go on YouTube or Google and see 14 million movies of Black ladies and girls of shade kitchen chemists dying their lace to match their pores and skin,” she says. “My intention is that different firms will see the success of this one and can comply with go well with.”

Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com

The Most Highly effective Girls Each day e-newsletter is Fortune’s every day briefing for and concerning the ladies main the enterprise world. At the moment’s version was curated by Nina Ajemian. Subscribe right here.

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