两性色午夜

Mother of Invention

With a hard-to-get beauty patent, alumna Gwen Jimmere is taking her line of natural hair products from the kitchen sink to the global market.

by Laura Billings Coleman
photos by Brian Rozman

Gwen Jimmere photographed in her office by Brian Rozman

Gwen Jimmere 鈥03, MA 鈥08, recently became the first African-American woman in history to patent a natural hair care product鈥攁nd she owes some of the credit to Chris Rock. 

Catching a rewind of the comedian鈥檚 2009 documentary 鈥淕ood Hair,鈥 a reflection on the love-hate relationship behind the $9 billion Black hair care industry, Jimmere was shocked by a scene in which Rock and a chemist dunk an aluminum can into a vat of hair relaxing ingredients, only to see it disintegrate in a matter of minutes. 

鈥淚鈥檇 been relaxing my hair since the third grade, so that really freaked me out,鈥 recalls Jimmere, who decided to swear off the harsh chemicals while she was pregnant with her son in 2011. 鈥淚 grew up in a household where my mom could make nearly anything she wanted by mixing oils and other ingredients to do different jobs,鈥 so Jimmere began experimenting in her own kitchen sink, looking for natural ingredients that could do the work of the dozen or more products she once relied on. 

Curious about the conditioning effects of natural clays鈥攁 cosmetic ingredient used for centuries鈥攕he found a source for rhassoul clay, a mineral-rich clay found only in Morocco鈥檚 Atlas Mountains. 鈥淭he formulation was trial and error, but when I started working with the rhassoul clay, I was able to cut the time I spent on my wash day down from three hours to seven minutes, and my hair felt great. It was like I鈥檇 hit pay dirt.鈥

Similar rave reviews from friends and family inspired Jimmere, a global digital marketing director for Ford Motor Company and later their agency of record Uniworld Group, . Word of mouth spread so far that one day she got a call asking her permission to include her line of products in the gift bags to be handed out at President Obama鈥檚 second inauguration in January 2013. 鈥淲hen you hear the White House is calling you think, 鈥榃ho鈥檚 playing with my phone?鈥 I thought it had to be a joke.鈥 

When I started working with the rhassoul clay, I was able to cut the time I spent on my wash day, and my hair felt great. It was like I鈥檇 hit pay dirt.

But just a few months later, Jimmere got very serious about the side business in her kitchen sink when she got the news that her corporate gig had been eliminated in a restructuring鈥攖he same month she was finalizing her divorce. 鈥淚f I鈥檇 had more warning, I might have been looking for other jobs, but instead I went right into survival mode,鈥 she says, e-mailing her way into a pitch meeting with the management team of Whole Foods, which was just preparing to open their first location in downtown Detroit. 

Fifteen minutes after making her case (鈥淚 came up with a four-step system that does the work of 13 products, so as you can imagine it saves you 80 percent of the time and 60 percent of the money that you would normally spend鈥︹), she walked out with her first retail contract. 

 鈥淲hen they said yes, in my mind I just collapsed on the floor,鈥 Jimmere says. 鈥淲ith everything that was going on at the time, I only had $32 in the bank and my mortgage was due in 15 days. So I pitched them like my life depended on it. I didn鈥檛 have the luxury of doubting myself or being afraid to approach a huge retailer.鈥 

As Jimmere鈥檚 business began to scale out of her kitchen, into her basement and on toward shipping fulfillment centers, she knew she didn鈥檛 want to take on additional debt鈥攁 mistake many small businesses make. Instead, she took to the stage, , which was held in Columbus, Ohio. It鈥檚 one of several 鈥淪hark Tank鈥濃搇ike competitions she鈥檚 used to build up her bottom line. 

鈥淚鈥檝e been thrilled to watch Gwen and her business grow and mature,鈥 says author and entrepreneur Lauren Maillian, a venture capital investor and co-host on Oxygen鈥檚 new startup-focused TV show who met and coached Jimmere at that first pitch event. 鈥淪he鈥檚 doing everything on a bootstrap budget, but she鈥檚 found some very inexpensive ways to get the things that are important to her done, and she gets them done well.鈥 

That D.I.Y. approach drove Jimmere to secure a patent for one part of her haircare line, a business move prompted by frequent encouragement from her mother. 鈥淪he kept telling me, 鈥榊ou鈥檝e invented something incredible, but someone is going to do what you鈥檝e done and make millions off your idea if you don鈥檛 patent it. You鈥檒l see other people on TV, making all this money, and the only thing you鈥檒l be able to do is be upset because you didn鈥檛 protect your invention.鈥 Finally I thought, 鈥榃ow, she鈥檚 right.鈥欌 

Though Jimmere had secured several trademarks on her own, she knew hiring a patent attorney was out of her price range. Instead, she took advantage of Detroit鈥檚 new regional United States Patent and Trademark Office that opened in 2012, a first-of-its kind entrepreneurial incubator made possible by Obama鈥檚 America Invents Act. 

鈥淚t was like going back to 两性色午夜,鈥 she says. 鈥淚 spent nine months making friends with librarians and learning everything I could about how to properly draw the design and research prior art, which is anything that resembles or has the same utility as what you鈥檙e trying to patent. In 2015, it鈥檚 extremely hard to invent something unlike anything that鈥檚 ever been invented before. But I did invent something brand new and was able to prove it, which resulted in the patent being issued to me.鈥

Now with a five-year-old son and a haircare line finding its way into global markets from South Africa to the Bahamas, Jimmere has launched another sideline, Pitch Proof, a consulting firm aimed at teaching other aspiring entrepreneurs some of her secrets. 

鈥淪o many people talk themselves out of their dreams by thinking, 鈥榃hat if people don鈥檛 like me, or my product, or my idea?,鈥欌 says Jimmere. 鈥淚t鈥檚 fear of rejection that makes people only imagine the negative, but we hardly ever ask ourselves, 鈥榃hat if everybody loves it?鈥 I figure, if I try and fail, the worse that will happen is I鈥檓 in the same spot that I was before I tried. So why not try?鈥

Laura Billings Coleman is a writer and editor based in St. Paul, Minnesota.

 

Gwen Jimmere photographed in her basement test kitchen by Brian Rozman

 

 

 

Gwen Jimmere once made all of her Naturalicious line by hand, with packaging she designed herself. But her business was able to take off when she hired more help. 鈥淭he best advice I ever got from one of my mentors was, 鈥楪et out of the basement.鈥欌

Gwen Jimmere鈥檚 Top Tips for Inventors and Entrepreneurs

Start before you鈥檙e ready

鈥淲hatever the reason you haven鈥檛 started your business yet鈥攜ou need to save up more money, you need to get the kids out of the house鈥攖here鈥檚 never going to be a perfect time,鈥 says Jimmere. 鈥淚nstead, start where you are, work with what you鈥檝e got and just get it going鈥攎aybe testing the market with two products instead of 50. I call it 鈥榠nvesting in your greatness,鈥 and if you鈥檙e scared to invest in your plan, you can鈥檛 complain when you鈥檙e still in the same place next year. Waiting is not a wealth strategy.鈥

Waiting is not a wealth strategy.

Hire the help you need

Though Jimmere once made all of her Naturalicious line by hand, with packaging she designed herself, 鈥淎t one point I realized I was spending six hours a day filling orders and keeping up,鈥 she says. 鈥淭he best advice I ever got from one of my mentors was, 鈥楪et out of the basement.鈥 My business couldn鈥檛 grow if I had my hands in everything.鈥 

Though she still manages her business day-to-day, Jimmere also depends on a fulfillment center to ship orders and a call center to answer customer questions. 鈥淚鈥檓 still bootstrapping, but getting extra help allows your business to scale.鈥 

Know your numbers

Reality TV shows may spotlight the inventors with compelling personal stories, but in real-life pitch competitions, investors are more interested in the bottom line. 鈥淛udges want to know how they鈥檙e going to make ten to twenty times their money back, so my strategy is to answer all of those questions before they even have a chance to ask,鈥 Jimmere says. By the time you鈥檝e led the judges through their return on investment, you鈥檒l be able to hit a softball question like 鈥淗ow鈥檇 you come up with this idea?鈥 right out of the park. 

Don鈥檛 take on too much debt 

鈥淪tudies have shown that women and minority-owned businesses take on personal debt to grow their business far more than other businesses,鈥 Jimmere says. 鈥淲e鈥檙e taking out loans, home equity lines of credit, credit card debt, because we鈥檙e in the daily grind and not thinking about other ways to get it done.鈥 

Instead of hiring expensive PR firms to get the word out about her product, Jimmere has relied on social media and her own storytelling savvy to get publicity in several online publications, including Fast Company, Entrepreneur and the Huffington Post. 鈥淓xhaust all the alternatives before you spend money you don鈥檛 have.鈥

Exhaust all the alternatives before you spend money you don鈥榯 have.

Own your ideas 

Securing a patent is a high hurdle for any inventor, but Jimmere believes it鈥檚 important to protect your intellectual property. 鈥淚t鈥檚 easy to be on the hamster wheel of running your business day to day, without thinking about the future,鈥 she says. 

Securing a patent gives her the leverage to sell her business someday, but hang on to her invention. 鈥淥wning a patent or a strong brand trademark can set you and your family up for wealth for generations to come,鈥 she says. 鈥淛ust think how much Nike could make with the swoosh alone? It鈥檚 crazy.鈥 

Listen to your customers

Businesses that ignore customer complaints do so at their peril. 鈥淵ou need to respond not just to the person, but to everyone else who is looking to see how you鈥檙e going to handle it,鈥 says Jimmere, who鈥檚 had two complaints since Naturalicious hit the shelves at Whole Foods in June 2013. 

鈥淚 turned the complaints around so well that one of those customers invited me to her wedding in July, and the other is now a huge fan of the company. A basic human need is to feel appreciated鈥攕how your customers that their business matters to you.鈥  

鈥擫aura Billings Coleman 

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