When Rahya Kelley isn’t attending classes or practicing with her cheerleading squad at Olivet College, she does her hair for black students on campus. But it can be difficult for Kelley to access care products for black hair.
Olivet, Michigan, Kelley said, is “in the middle of nowhere.”
There’s a Walmart 12 miles from campus, but she said it doesn’t always offer a reliable selection of black hair care products.
“The only time I could go to the beauty supply store was when I was going home or if one of my friends was going to the beauty supply store and I was with them,” said Kelley, a senior studying business. of companies. .
Kelley then learned about Beauty Genie, a new company that provides vending machines that dispense products like edge control and deep conditioner, from the company’s CEO, Ebony Karim, who is Kelley’s mother’s best friend. Kelley, 22, worked with other students at the Hiram Archer Student Success Academya mentoring program for students of color, to bring the vending machine to Olivet College, where 18.1% of students are black.
Starting August 1, Olivet will be the first college campus to house a Beauty Genie vending machine, stocked with black hats, combs and other hair care items.
While the first Beauty Genie was placed in a chicago train station Earlier this month, the company’s founders saw an opportunity to serve black students at remote universities, where personal care products for black people can be hard to find.
While retailers like Walmart, which have become mainstays in small towns, particularly college towns, do carry some hair-care products, many of the items, said Beauty Genie co-founder Quintella Rodgers, are not suitable for black hair and may cause damage or breakage. .
Rodgers, who owns Thee Hair Bar, a salon in Blue Island, Ill., said many of her college clients tend to wait until they arrive during school break to get their hair done.
“They [are] excited to get their hair done” because local retailers and pharmacies in small college towns rarely carry products suitable for black hair, she said.
But on campus, Beauty Genie machines will include products from companies like Luster Products, which has been black-owned and operated since 1957, and Mielle Organics, which has skyrocketed in popularity and recently joined P&G Beauty. It will also offer combo product kits, such as shampoo and conditioner, or a detangling brush and comb.
Karim, the CEO and one of the co-founders of Beauty Genie, said the initiative is important because it focuses on the needs of women of color and encourages them to embrace “our own natural hair texture.”
“I think a lot of times we don’t have a lot of options,” Karim said. For this reason, “being comfortable with natural hair, not always having to straighten it, being able to buy products for which we don’t have to travel a lot or we don’t have to order them online and wait for them to arrive.” being sent” is at the core of the company’s mission, he added.
In addition to beauty products, the vending machines show short videos of professional stylists discussing hair maintenance topics and the best products for each hair type. Managing partner Swanzetta Lewis, who is a braider and has worked at Rodgers’ salon since it opened four years ago, said the Beauty Genie team wants to give students information they can retrieve and apply.
“Some students may not even have experienced or even know certain things, like how often to trim the ends,” Lewis said. “So if we can provide tutorials for those kids to remember and know about, it’s educational for them as well.”
The company is also launching a university ambassador program. Students will not only make sure the machines are stocked, but they will also learn about entrepreneurship and be able to participate in brand marketing on their campuses.
Karim said the Beauty Genie team is “very excited” to have Olivet College as the first college to host their vending machines. His team also aims to expand to universities on the East Coast and in the South.
“We’ve been getting amazing feedback,” Karim said. “I think it’s only a matter of time before more universities get on board.”
They are also looking for locations for the vending machines beyond college campuses, including airports or truck stops.
