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Full Transcript:

Note: This is an original transcript–edited for sense, length, and clarity.  If you have any questions or concerns, please email our host, Doria Lavagnino, at doria@sheventurespodcast.com.

00:01.36

Doria:

This woman pivoted from the Peace Corps in 2005 to entrepreneurship as the founder and CEO of Shea Yeleen, a social impact skincare business. She’s dedicated to women’s economic empowerment. She’s trained thousands of women in Ghana, Burkina Faso, and Mali on quality shea butter production and business skills. She can also speak to growing from a bootstrapped business to earning distribution deals with Whole Foods and MGM Resorts. She is here to talk to us today about how smart socially responsible businesses can scale. Rahama Wright, welcome to She Ventures. 

00:48.93

Rahama:

Thank you so much for having me.

00:58.95

Doria:

You are an advocate for women’s empowerment. I got a strong sense from everything that you’ve done in your life. Can you talk to listeners about how your upbringing shaped your views?

01:07.97

Rahama:

Absolutely well, you know, I feel like being a first-generation American and having an immigrant mother from West Africa — from Ghana — and being able to live in a family where on the one hand, my mom had a sixth-grade education and on the other hand, my dad had a master’s degree. Even seeing within our family unit that there was an equality based on where my parents grew up was something that molded me from a young age. 

I grew up in Upstate New York, outside of Syracuse in a small town, but I had a family that gave me a global perspective, and I knew not everyone had access to the same things, and not everyone had access to opportunity. I knew I wanted to do something in Africa from a young age. I remember receiving the Peace Corps brochure in high school, and I knew it was something I was gonna do when I graduated college. It wasn’t until I started my Peace Corps service and lived in a rural community in Africa for the very first time — in Mali — and a lot of the experiences I saw women having directly connected to the stories my mom would share growing up. The issues in terms of gender inequality. 

For example, her family wanted her to marry young versus going to school. They had challenges simply because they didn’t have access to financial resources and struggled with systemic poverty within their communities. These were similar experiences my Mom had growing up in Ghana, so for me it wasn’t a choice. It was something that I felt in my DNA in terms of caring about these issues surrounding women, and being in these communities and seeing it firsthand because I grew up in a different way. It moved me and compelled me to want to do something about it.

03:48.15

Doria:

It’s one thing to read about it or contribute to a charity that does work in those areas, but to be there firsthand with the Peace Corps. I was curious: Are you able to decide your area of interest [when applying to the Peace Corps] or are you assigned based on what they feel you should be doing?

04:12.65

Rahama:

Well, it’s changed since I did it. I was a Peace Corps volunteer in 2004. Since then you have a bit more choice. For example, I couldn’t choose my country. I could only choose a region. Now you can choose the exact country you want to go to. I was assigned to be a community health educator, so that meant I would work in the health center in my village, and support the nurse with whatever she needed.

04:54.78

Doria:

Did you see a lot of period poverty?

04:58.85

Rahama:

I knew it was there, but I didn’t necessarily see it firsthand. Meaning that I knew that if you went to the local boutique you wouldn’t see tampons and pads, but women used other things that were probably more sustainable, but I didn’t necessarily see it firsthand in terms of it being like an obvious problem that women were facing. It typically was something private, and not necessarily a topic of conversation. 

05:36.46

Doria:

Yes, that makes sense, and I don’t even know why I thought of it. I think it’s because it’s become such a prevalent issue as of late. What were the most common issues that women faced?

05:56.21

Rahama:

One of the things that I think is important when talking about communities where you can see inequality and poverty is having a balanced perspective. I was amazed at how much support community members provided to each other and how bonded women were within my community. There was always joy and happiness, but at the same time…. For example, you wake up and you have daily chores you have to do. You have to get firewood. You have to start cooking for the day. Washing clothes and taking care of kids. So there’s a lot of work that has to be done. Many of the men and women in my community were subsistence farmers. It was grueling hard labor, and you really weren’t getting a lot of money.There were issues of people getting sick with malaria, for example, and not being able to afford any medicines. Not having just basic needs met. Issues around access to clean water, issues around lack of electricity, and things of that nature. Those were things I saw firsthand and noticed how it made daily life difficult. Yet you could juxtapose it against community bonds and people supporting each other. Your neighbor is hungry; you’re going to give them food. There was never a moment in my experience where if I was lost like in the middle of the night somewhere — this never happened, I’m just giving an example — that someone wouldn’t help me.

08:04.74

Doria:

A sense of safety.

08:10.71

Rahama:

Yes, you know what I mean? Invite me in and take care of me. The generosity — honestly when I think about it sometimes — it blows me away. There are these strong community bonds, but there are these realities people face. There is gender discrimination and domestic violence. I did see different treatment between a boy child and a girl child.

08:39.65

Doria:

Yes.

08:48.72

Rahama:

You know I think we need to talk about both. We need to talk about the beautiful things: the strong bonds, the commitment to family and community. On the other hand, there are some systemic issues that are related to poverty. Choices when you don’t have access to money and income can create negative ripple effects within the family environment as well as the community.

09:22.80

Doria:

I love such a balanced answer and I’ve never heard one like that. I tend to hear the negative piece, which is important — domestic violence is obviously disturbing, important, and often happens when women don’t have a way out. It’s a complex issue. I appreciate the emphasis on community because I didn’t realize that so I learned from you today. 

You pivoted from the Peace Corps to a business making shea butter soaps, creams, and balms by employing women in Ghana. How did that pivot happen?

10:02.51

Rahama:

If you told me in undergrad that I’d be running a skincare business, I would look at you like you were crazy. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine I would build a brand from scratch, and impact the lives of women within my supply chain. I thought I was going to work for the State Department and become a foreign service officer. That was the plan. I was going to finish the Peace Corps and take the foreign service exam. I had already interned at the State Department, and that’s the career trajectory I had plotted out. I’m sure you’ve probably guessed I’m slightly type A, so I had a detailed plan. Being in my community, being in the village and seeing, learning, and being able to connect the dots firsthand between a natural resource that grows in abundance right in the backyards of many women’s villages, and knowing that the product is generating billions of dollars or is a part of billion dollar industries. Whether it’s the confectionery industry or the personal care industry, realizing the unfairness that these industries would not exist without the labor of African women. You know when I say “industry,” I talk about specifically shea butter.

It made me want to do something. I can’t explain how I imagined I could do anything, but I felt strongly that women in Africa deserve to be at the table. Not only deserve to be at the table — but become leaders and beneficiaries of a natural resource that they created. That’s what created that pivot for me.

12:25.38

Doria:

You were so young. You were in your early 20s. Where do you start? You have the idea and it’s a big idea, so where did you start?

12:35.17

Rahama:

Google. I moved back to the U.S. I moved to D.C. I interned in D.C. my senior year and I loved the city and so I knew I wanted to move back, and I started Googling all my questions. 

12:55.13

Doria:

That’s honest and it’s something everyone can do, right? It’s heartening because it’s like, “No, you don’t need to get an MBA. You can go to Google University, find a good source, and figure it out.”

13:04.68

Rahama:

Yeah, I considered getting an MBA but I couldn’t get into any of the programs I wanted to so I was like you know what? I’m just going to try this out. I would Google everything and find as many free resources as I could. For example, the SBA Score program that connects you with a business advisor. I attended conferences, Meetups, and I would talk to people I don’t know whether it was at a bus stop or the grocery store. I would tell people, “Hey I just came back for the Peace Corps where I learned about this product. I want to create it into a social impact business.” I shared my vision to anyone who would give me the time of day. I started building my network and people would shoot me an email and say, “Hey Rahama, I remember that you wanted to do this. Have you learned about this program, this resource or have you talked to this person?” Oh my goodness, I had no money, so networking was key.

I didn’t have a friends and family route, or a seed round. I had $6,000 to my name. I used part of it to get an apartment and the other part to start Shea Yeleen. People helped me, and they pointed me in the direction that I needed to go. They introduced me to other people they thought could be helpful. Honestly Google and networking were the only things I had access to when I first started. I didn’t have access to anything else.

15:18.59

Doria:

Love it. That’s how the hustle is created right? You wanted it, you had a vision, and while it’s not easy to do — you did it. You also trained thousands of women to produce shea butter or learn business skills in Africa. Based on what you were saying before about both the positive and negative — how did those challenges impact your ability to train women?

15:58.30

Rahama:

So the training happens in a couple of different ways either through Shea Yeleen’s on the ground team or through partnerships and other organizations that have invited me to come do trainings or support business associations, women’s groups, etc.

Some of it was done through the State Department. They run programs where they bring American experts to various countries and do sessions, workshops, training, etc., so those are the three main ways that I’ve done these trainings, and it has been in several countries and yes thousands of primarily women but guys too.

My experience has always been positive. Whether it’s here in the U.S., Senegal, Ghana or Mali, one of the things I’ve observed is that, for the most part, people always want to be better people. They want to do better. They want to learn. They don’t want to stay in the same place they’ve always been. I think that’s a common human attribute and it’s incredible. 

I had this vision to start this company, but I also had access to more resources even though they were limited. I certainly see my entrepreneurial journey as one of privilege. It blows my mind. 

17:49.72

Doria:

Interesting. 

17:54.39

Rahama:

Other people who have even less can still dream and believe. It may have been audacious for me, but imagine not having your basic needs met yet you still believe and dream for more.

18:12.67

Doria:

I completely agree. One of the things I love and I want to highlight is the women that work for you earn $10 a day (U.S.D). I looked at a recent report — I don’t know if it was men and women — it didn’t specify. It said the average earnings in Ghana is $2.98 a day (U.S.D). You’re paying your workers a living wage. And in addition, I was really curious about this: Shea butter cooperative members are provided with health insurance and access to savings groups. Was that something that you implemented? Did they implement it? How did that come about?

19:00.86

Rahama:

Yes, let me say that they don’t work for me, meaning the cooperatives are separate entities from Shea Yeleen which is a U.S.based social business. The women are organized in cooperatives that are in line with the regulatory environment of their country, and they are required to meet certain standards, reporting and all of that. We support the relationships between the women-owned cooperatives that we work with and Shea Yeleen as a partnership.

We essentially bring our strengths together to create a more ethical and fair supply chain, centering on and supporting women’s work. A lot of the programs and the work that we do comes directly from the community whether we are enhancing something that they’ve already done, or adding an improvement. For example, providing the ability for women to access production equipment that reduces labor intensity and makes production more efficient. That’s an added improvement — a benefit but they were already doing this work. We come in as partners, as supporters, and help enhance and get them to the next level.

20:34.75

Doria:

Got it. It makes so much sense and it’s a win-win.

20:35.87

Rahama:

Exactly. We provide an entire ecosystem that supports them, and it also takes away this idea of a foreign entity coming in and making changes. Instead it creates more equity in the power dynamic because in reality it’s easy for a foreign entity with more resources in comparison to the local community to be the driver, to be in charge, be the boss, and replace local leadership. I want to create a partnership where the women in our community feel as important if not more so than this foreign entity. 

21:43.66

Doria:

I love that. Yes.

21:51.26

Rahama:

We do this by giving cooperative members opportunities to do reverse trade missions to the U.S.. This was before COVID-19, but we would have co-op members come to the U.S. and walk into a Whole Foods store, talk to the Whole Foods buyer, share their story, and see the product on the shelf. I cannot tell you how much that completely changes the power dynamic because now you’re not just talking about equality and fairness in terms of financial compensation, but now you’re transforming someone’s life based on experience, widening their perspective, bringing them all the way through the journey so they have full transparency and understanding. Then when they go back that’s shared among their community members.

22:31.30

Doria:

Yes. See it full circle.

22:46.12

Rahama:

Yes, I have to be careful in that I do have foreign privilege as an American when I travel. Most of the time, I have more money than the people in the local communities. Most of the time, I’m accessing things that people within their local communities don’t have the ability to do. I have to be careful and recognize that I can be put on a pedestal, and I don’t want that. Instead I want the community members that I work with to see me as their equal and vice versa. The trips create a level of confidence building for the women who are able to go and say, “Wow what I do matters. I have an understanding. I deserve this opportunity.” It’s not a handout. You know what I mean? 

23:47.23

Doria:

Absolutely. They see the full chain. Just as one can’t understand what it’s like being in a village in Africa without having been there. Likewise, it’s not possible to understand what their products are doing in the U.S. and how they’re helping people.

How do you choose the women and how many have come over?

24:09.93

Rahama:

Exactly. Oh, I don’t do that. That’s done within their community, and I try to be as hands off as possible. Instead I play the role of here are your options. What do you want to do? What do you think? Even when it comes to data collection because you talked about that multiplier against the local minimum wage that we provide to cooperative members.

That wasn’t a number that came out of thin air. It was a number that came from data collection, interviewing the women, asking them questions around cost of living, compensation, and expectations. These are conversations that the women in communities rarely have with partners. Instead people tell them, “I’m going to pay this and you should be happy.” 

25:14.00

Doria:

Right? That’s what it is exactly. I’m curious because I think women all over the world have a hard time negotiating their worth. But in that case, especially with the power dynamic: Is it that they’re told you’re going to work for X dollars and you either can accept it or I’ll go to someone else. Is that it?

25:51.57

Rahama:

Yes, that’s exactly what happens and here’s the thing: Imagine if you’ve worked hard at creating a batch of shea butter. You’re making it by hand. Walk out into the woods to collect the fruit, bring it in, so that could have been a five-mile walk, and you spend a day and a half making this product. A buyer shows up and says, “I’m gonna pay 25 cents for this product,” and even if you say, “No, I’m not going to sell it for that.” They’ll just go to the next community, and because there’s so much need, 25 cents is better than nothing.

That unfortunately is the power dynamic that continues to exploit the labor of women in these communities. There’s also the lack of exposure and awareness that you can get better pricing, because women are networked with each other. You’re talking about women in isolated communities. There may not be easy roads or an easy way of traveling, so you’re mostly in your community. That’s why for us exposure, widening the perspective, being able to teach and train around profitability and pricing and putting in the time. So don’t only calculate the raw material expenses, but how much time did it take and what should be the hourly rate you pay yourself for that time? Those are the conversations we have with women in our community.

27:39.72

Doria:

I love it. You are talking about opportunity cost. Shea butter: I don’t know how long it takes to produce it, or how long it stays fresh?

27:52.45

Rahama:

The shelf life of pure and natural raw shea butter, which is what the women make, is roughly 24 months based on keeping it in certain storage conditions. Making sure that it’s a cool environment. There’s low moisture all of that.

28:16.18

Doria:

And that it would be sealed. I got it. One of the things that I thought about your business was that I was thinking about producing shea butter. You’re presumably involved with shipping it to the U.S. or you have to understand the international laws about trade; you have to know about scaling all of it; and I thought my my God — I felt overwhelmed and had anxiety just thinking about the supply chain. Was it hard to figure out at the beginning? Was it Google? Was it experience?

29:00.49

Rahama:

The great thing was I was not even thinking about any of that stuff. I was thinking I need to take this product to help these women make it and bring it to the U.S..

29:15.20

Doria:

Brilliant.

29:18.17

Rahama:

Until I started down the path of trying to figure out how to do it, I was like, “Oh this is a lot harder than I ,” but at that point I had already made a commitment and my personality is type A. So you know I finished what I started. I just didn’t realize it would be 15 plus years of doing it 

29:41.93

Doria:

Right? That’s it. People see the overnight success quote unquote but they don’t see the 15 years of hard work. Yeah, and you’re being modest. You were also appointed by President Obama to sit on the advisory council doing business in Africa and you’ve been reappointed twice. What goals has the council achieved?

30:07.93

Rahama:

So the council was the very first in its time of its kind, and it was a way for the U.S. government to change how they interacted with the continent of Africa. Prior to this Council, it was always development aid driven, so foreign assistance was the primary way of seeing African countries instead of identifying and figuring out how to work with African countries from a trade and commerce perspective. During the Obama Administration, there was this realization that the fastest growing economies were in Africa, so these economies were growing faster than anywhere else.

30:56.42

Doria:

Yes.

31:05.18

Rahama:

Yet the U.S. had this old way of looking at the continent from an aid perspective. So they established this advisory council through the Department of Commerce to help the U.S. government learn and identify how to approach the content of Africa from a commercial perspective and identify ways to to better improve and engage on trade issues. I was appointed.

31:34.78

Doria:

Oh that’s so exciting.

31:41.66

Rahama:

It was and I truly did feel during my first appointment — what is it called what when you’re at the table and you’re like how did I get to this table — impostor syndrome. 

That’s how I felt so I have to keep it real. And way over my head because here I am the youngest member that’s running the smallest business with heads of Fortune 500 companies. I did feel initially, “What can I contribute to this?” These people have been doing business for decades. They work for incredibly large companies, and I’m here working at a micro level identifying how and it’s specific. The agricultural sector can benefit the lives of women in the most isolated communities. That was my focus and I soon discovered that my voice was important because it wasn’t only speaking on behalf of my journey as an entrepreneur, but

also these women who are often overlooked when policymakers are making decisions. So it turned into a very empowering experience for me where I doubled down on my perspective and my position.

I think that’s why I was reappointed additional times because I am offering an insight into an area that a lot of people haven’t thought holistically about, and the only reason why I think differently is because of the experience I’ve had in those communities.

33:39.20

Doria:

Yes, and I was curious when you mentioned Fortune 500 companies. Did they come to the table with the attitude that you were speaking of previously? I don’t want to say of exploitation but that’s the word that comes to mind. Or were they willing to listen and think about how to do business in an equitable way?

34:04.68

Rahama:

Yeah, I do think it depended on this sector and the company but one of the things that surprised me was there was always room for another perspective if you were willing to use your voice. There certainly were differences in terms of the larger companies could do things like host events and sponsor things because they have the budget for doing things like that so that kind of would give them a bit of a platform. But I think the way the council was managed created fairness in that everyone had a voice and everyone could use their voice. I also think the Administration wanted diversity in thought.The contributions that everyone was making were weighted the same. It was one of those things where we would deliberate on certain policy recommendations and it would be a democratic conversation in terms of is this something the entire group agrees on. I always would contribute though.

35:30.29

Doria:

I’m so glad you’re at the table.

35:39.69

Rahama:

I learned that some things are certainly — when it comes to inequality — intentional and systemic. Some things are simply because people are unaware, and I think that is part of bringing a more diverse group of people together is to be able to expose that lack of awareness and when that is exposed the real work becomes well then how do we correct it.

36:08.89

Doria:

Yeah I agree. The inherent bias that we have without realizing it, right? I think I cut you off. I’m so sorry.

36:17.40

Rahama:

Oh no, no no this conversation has fired me up.

36:23.49

Doria:

Now I’m getting fired up, too. What do you think is the biggest misconception about social entrepreneurship?

36:35.32

Rahama:

Oh that’s a good question. No one’s ever asked me that. I think the misconception is that you’re a nonprofit, and you can’t make money by doing good. 

36:43.73

Doria:

Right? That they don’t go hand in hand.

36:54.70

Rahama:

A lot of times, because I work in these rural communities with a segment of the global population that oftentimes we don’t hear much from, people frequently think it’s a handout, and don’t consider it a serious business model. Over the years there has been a shift. The shift has been: We can’t continue to run the global economy by leaving so many segments of the global population out and not creating business models that give everyone access to their basic needs.

37:50.77

Doria:

What do you attribute the shift to?

37:52.99

Rahama:

I think there are a couple of things: technology — the world has become a lot smaller with it. People can learn about shea producers in Ghana by going online. You can see stuff on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

The fact that you don’t have to board a plane and fly across the Atlantic to see things. I think that certainly has changed the way we view things. People from a lot of these countries are also sharing their voices and their perspective. I think the younger generation has just grown up in a world where we’re all much more closely tied and and looped in together and you can’t say things anymore. People have buildings in Africa. Not everyone is living in the jungle and swinging some from the vines. You can’t say that anymore because you can see the metropolitan areas of the continent that can compete with anywhere else. So I think technology for sure.

38:51.48

Doria:

Yes. It breaks down barriers.

39:07.13

Rahama:

People are traveling a lot more and traveling younger. People care. They care more because I do think when we can see what is happening, we now have a choice and we have more information — not only supply chains like shea butter but also chocolate and coffee. You know I think the Fair Trade coffee movement became popular because of the Lutheran Church. Churches would bring in coffee producers who would talk about how coffee was made and then they would partner because they would have to have their Sunday coffee hours. Certain movements like those you know that started decades ago. But now we’re reaping the benefits because suppliers, farmers, and cooperatives their language is more mainstream.

All the work was done decades ago, so I think all of the reasons are this shift. People care about knowing the ingredients that are in their food, body, and skincare. If you think about it, a lot of those ingredients come from these small communities around the world. You know we don’t grow coffee in America? 

40:54.40

Doria:

I don’t know. I am not going to say anything because I actually am not sure. 

40:59.90

Rahama:

I’ve never heard of an American coffee brand. We’re sourcing all of these things. I know we don’t grow chocolate here. 

41:08.91

Doria:

Okay, I’ll take your word for it. Honestly I don’t know and I feel terrible. I should know more about it.

41:15.79

Rahama:

They are already in these global supply chains. Most of our foods are coming from foreign places, so if that is the case we need to learn about how it comes from a farmer in this X country and then lands on a shelf. That has become a much more normalized conversation and because of the interest and curiosity in the shrinking world.

41:49.22

Doria:

Such a thoughtful answer. I’m so curious about this. Okay, you scored these distribution deals with Whole Foods and MGM Resorts. I wanted to ask how those came about. And did it require you to suddenly scale like crazy to meet the demand. Can you talk to us about that a little?

42:16.33

Rahama:

Yes, so with Whole Foods I have to say that I pitched my local Whole Foods several times and got rejected. At first if you don’t succeed, keep trying. That’s the advice, and how I was able to get into Whole Foods was through a program in the North Atlantic region that was spearheaded by a regional vice president who was trying to create a pipeline of socially conscious businesses that could be brought into the Whole Foods pipeline. And I applied to the program and I got into it. It connected me to a buyer who I could pitch to see if they’d be interested in bringing my products in. That was the journey, but prior to that program I would just walk in and say “Hey I have this product. Would you like to bring it in?” That’s how Whole Foods used to be where you could just go in and talk to a local buyer in your section and they could make that decision in the store.

Whole Foods was committed to the whole idea of buying local and supporting the local supply chains. It’s changed dramatically since then, but that was my experience, but I want to share that it’s not the same. They’ve actually become a lot more corporate and standard in the way that they bring brands into their distribution.

44:02.20

Doria:

Gotcha. For women who might want to do that, what was the name of the program that you used?

44:22.33

Rahama:

So the program doesn’t exist anymore, but it was called You Trade. It doesn’t exist, and it was only in one area. It wasn’t even like an entire global Whole Foods program.

That’s one of the things that was unique about Whole Foods is that they could launch kind of these like innovative new ideas regionally or locally, but that has been phased out now that they’ve become more corporate versus before where they had a very decentralized buying strategy or process. Now it’s incredibly centralized. There are a lot more systems in place, as they try to become more standardized throughout all of their locations.

44:57.85

Doria:

Gotcha.

44:59.87

Rahama:

But that was how I got in. But the good thing was that because it was a small program I didn’t have to increase production. I did increase my production, but it wasn’t going from a couple hundred to like 10,000 units, you know? 

45:07.77

Doria:

Right? Right. 

That’s what I was wondering. Did you have to raise capital or what happened? 

45:18.73

Rahama:

Yes, but I did raise some capital to help me grow because we launched in seven stores and then we grew to 24 and then we grew to 120 so my experience was it was a slow kind of scaling. It wasn’t this immediate “you needed to be shipping truckloads of your shea” across country lines. It was great in that it allowed me to understand the retail process because I had no business starting a beauty business, or even a product-based business. I mean everything from sourcing, packaging, designing, and production I learned by doing. I didn’t have any experience. It was my best guess. Let me try this, this might work, so the retail side was the same. I’d never gotten into a retail store. I knew how to talk to buyers or maintain a relationship with a buyer and thankfully having Whole Foods as the first retailer gave me the ability to practice without the tremendous pressure of having to scale quickly. I would do things like go into one of their newer stores and volunteer my time to help them set it up. By doing that I would learn. I would learn why they chose, why they would place a certain product on one shelf versus another. It’s because of sizing. 

47:13.68

Doria:

I’ve also been told that brands pay for placement on shelves. I don’t know if that’s true or not.

47:19.87

Rahama:

Some do, but some retailers don’t allow that and I don’t know if Whole Foods has changed. You can pay for end caps and the end of the aisle when you see all those beautiful displays. Those are a waste for promotions and things of that nature. The aisle on the shelf. That hasn’t necessarily been the experience I witnessed, but things do change.

47:39.84

Doria:

Interesting.

47:56.64

Rahama:

Folks do pay for certain placements. We did hundreds if not thousands of demos. But I myself did hundreds of demos and we had a demo team. So yeah, it’s probably a lot of demos.

47:58.13

Doria:

You were able to talk to your customer base, too. How would you recommend aspiring beauty entrepreneurs to approach distributors today?

48:21.54

Rahama:

Okay, with COVID-19 I think it would have been hard for me to launch my business right now because I focus so heavily on in-person sales, so I was in the store at the demo table selling my products. It was not, “Oh here are products on the shelf. Go check it out.” It was grueling talking to so many people, giving out so many samples and testers along the way. COVID made it hard to do that. I would advise a beauty brand in their early stages of launching to really look at digital and ecommerce, and use that as the starting point to building out and understanding what their customer will like. What is the product that sells the most? All that early data and use that as a guide to identify the best retailer for them because not all retailers are going to be a fit depending on what your positioning is, what your branding is, what your messaging is. Not every retailer is going to be a fit for you, and until you understand and have a clear sense of who your customer is it’s going to be difficult to align with the right retailer. 

49:57.81

Doria:

That makes so much sense. I was wondering — in terms of entrepreneurship — what would you say to date has been your proudest moment or accomplishment and what’s been the most difficult thing?

50:12.88

Rahama:

My proudest moment was when I had Gladys and Joanna from Northern Ghana come to the U.S. for three weeks and we did a road trip across 24 Whole Food stores in the North Atlantic region. We got into a little rental car and drove to New York, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. Honestly I wish I had videotaped the entire experience. It would have been a top reality TV show. It was amazing, so great to experience that with them when typically when we experience things it’s me in Ghana.

51:00.35

Doria:

I bet.

51:11.38

Rahama:

And now it’s them in New York, Boston, Portland, Maine, and that was the experience. I can’t describe how impactful it was to share that with them.

51:15.63

Doria:

Love it.

51:30.83

Rahama:

And how it even changed the way they viewed a lot of the requirements around quality. For example, we focused so much on quality. I know everyone says that their product is the best but our product is the best. 

51:36.35

Doria:

Ha!

51:48.63

Rahama:

And it’s because of the intentionality around everything that we do to ensure that women are working in safe environments. They have access to the tools. We do things like triple filtering. They ask “wWhy we have to do this step?”

And I say “Well, if you send a bad quality product it’s gonna be returned.” For them to be in a store and know satisfaction guaranteed is in huge letters. Now they get it. They point, they’re like, what does this mean, “Satisfaction Guaranteed.” That means if a customer doesn’t like it, they can bring it back. That’s unheard of in Ghana. People don’t bring stuff back. It’s different when someone tells you something.

Remember when our parents would tell us stuff and we’d kind of roll our eyes and be like “Okay, yeah yeah,” and then one day you are literally living exactly what your mom said would happen. 

52:48.95

Doria:

You blow them off. Yeah, I hate to admit it, but yes I have been there and I’m living it now as a mother. 

53:00.15

Rahama:

Yeah, it’s the same thing. It’s not just you know the parent-child relationship. It’s also the same when you’re working with your partners and you’re trying to get something off the ground. It’s much easier to buy into something when you can see for yourself exactly. I’m so proud of that entire experience. 

53:22.39

Doria:

Ah, 100 percent and I see the 360 of it. How long did it take you?

53:37.49

Rahama:

The trip itself is about three weeks, but planning and leading up to getting them visas, the documentation took several months so that was at least six or eight months of planning and pulling it all together. We thought about it in the fall and then we actually did it in the spring.

53:37.81

Doria:

That’s incredible. I love it. Are you going to do another one?

53:56.41

Rahama:

I wanted to do another one in 2020, but everything was canceled. COVID really impacted our business.

54:10.90

Doria:

I was going to ask that. I was wondering about a couple of things. I was curious about how your digital sales are compared to your in store sales because the women that I’ve spoken with on the podcast since COVID have mostly seen an increase in digital and I was wondering if you’ve seen the same.

54:34.85

Rahama:

Initially all of our sales were flat because we didn’t have inventory. Everyone did amazing on digital the first couple of months of COVID.

54:37.87

Doria:

Right? Then the supply chain issue kicked in.

54:51.49

Rahama:

I am sold out of everything.

54:51.77

Doria:

How long did that last for the supply chain issues? Are they still going on? 

54:55.84

Rahama:

We’re still dealing with it. For one, the huge one was that Ghana closed its borders for almost four months or just a little over four months and completely restricted folks coming in and out. They locked down fast because their health infrastructure could not bear it. What was happening for example in Italy like the infrastructure is just not there. So a lot of African leaders very quickly locked everything down.

That meant our processing centers closed down for a few months. They had a mandatory in- country shelter in place. People were restricted in terms of movement. It has since changed but initially those first couple of months were difficult and so inventory was a huge issue. We’ve now started getting all of our inventory back but getting access to our components is still a challenge because so much is imported from China.

You’ve seen the news in terms of freight hasn’t gotten back to normality. I will say this. We definitely shifted to online. Not only online on our website, but for example, this year we launched with Macy’s, and we’ve been doing well. We’ve been doing well on their platform. They’ve been an incredible retail partner. They’re doing some interesting things around supporting clean beauty brands as well as Black brands.

56:30.93

Doria:

Congrats.

56:49.10

Rahama:

Both have put me in a really nice place. I absolutely love working with my buyer. She’s phenomenal. She’s one of the easiest buyers I’ve worked with which you would find shocking because you would think Macy’s is so corporate that they’d make it difficult.

57:06.78

Doria:

It’s so nice when you have an ally on the inside right? I wanted to ask you because this is going to come out in February Black History Month. It’s another kind of two-sided question: Do you think Black women face unique challenges — I’m asking in the U.S. specifically you being a Black business owner and a woman or do you have unique opportunities, or both?

57:38.74

Rahama:

I would say it’s both. I would say that in my experience some of the things that I’ve faced are. It’s not obvious. Meaning that it’snot that someone is trying to hold you back physically, right? It’s the little microaggressions or you know people thinking that I didn’t start the business or having to jump through hurdles of is this person trustworthy?

Is she actually doing what she says she’s doing. Those type of microaggressions, which it’s not in your face discriminatory practices but it’s the mental hurdle of getting people to actually see you and believe.

58:26.11

Doria:

No, but it hurts.

58:37.19

Rahama:

Black women simply are not typically the ones that you see in positions of leadership founding businesses. Even though Black entrepreneurs have always been around.

59:04.22

Doria:

Yes, more and more.

59:11.41

Rahama:

But we’ve always been in the background. We’re not the ones that when you think about a successful businessperson. A Black woman is not going to be the first person you think of. It’s everything around how our society has been built, created, and who gets to be visible and who doesn’t so there’s that right? The unconscious bias. It takes a mental toll because I do feel that being a Black woman in business I always have to have my A game especially in the beginning. I was so young and people even thought I was still in college. I always had to feel like I was wearing the right outfit. Did my hair look right? My presentations always had to be stellar. I was constantly going above and beyond. I would do entrepreneurial events or business events, and I always stood out because I was so prepared, but it takes a mental toll on you. You have anxiety around perfection and not making a mistake and if I lose this opportunity is this going to ruin it for me. 

You have to get that dialogue with yourself and it’s fighting against the stereotypes and the perceptions that you’re not going to be good enough or you’re not going to be able to deliver. Not because you can’t, but because you’re Black. Unfortunately that is just the reality of society that has been created. Having to jump those hurdles has been challenging in terms of the mental exhaustion that you’re constantly going through. Then of course the fact that it’s much harder to gain access to capital. That’s, you know that’s, just women in general but then of course when you start breaking it down, you’ll see that Black women are all the way at the bottom.

01:01:42.64

Doria:

It’s terrible, unbelievable, and I know you know these stats that 2.3 percent of all women receive venture capital, which is nothing, and then Black women specifically it’s 0.4 percent. That’s the statistic I most recently saw, which is abysmal, and and it’s not a supply chain issue. It’s not a pipeline issue. To your point, right? It’s like you don’t fit the mold of who one thinks of as a company founder and I think that’s changing with more and more women being involved in venture capital or I hope.

01:02:27.34

Rahama:

Yes, part of the answer is it is changing. There’s a shift happening, and I feel like last year all of a sudden corporate America discovered Black-owned businesses. 

01:02:42.77

Doria:

Yeah, so true that they’re now woke.

01:02:45.57

Rahama:

It was like we woke up one day and it was like there are Black businesses out here. Let’s help everybody. I’m not complaining I’m just saying it was almost overnight all these programs appeared…

01:02:53.32

It’s so true. I’ve noticed it too

01:03:03.81

Rahama:

But what has happened though is this shift of acknowledgment and visibility and I think that is going to have a huge ripple and trickle-down effects for not only businesses that are going to be launched but businesses that are trying to scale right now. Because one of the the hardest things as a business owner, I think we all share this, is being able to get seen and heard and that amplification. The position that corporate America has taken in the past year to intentionally amplify and make visible Black-owned businesses I think has tremendously changed the trajectory of my business and will do so for so many others. I think it’s important that we acknowledge that we’ve always been here. Black people since coming to the U.S. have contributed to economic development first with free labor and then…

01:04:10.43

Doria:

Yeah, I don’t mean to laugh. It’s ridiculous. 

01:04:21.30

Rahama:

With all the renaissance that we had across this country where Black communities were building and growing spectacular businesses to the point where white mobs would burn down their towns because of rage and jealousy. That’s the reality right? We’ve always been here and to be able to live at a time where there’s acknowledgement and we’re being heard. I feel very blessed to be able to live through this experience, and one of the things that we’re learning is the systemic issues in our country around race, gender, and every single one of us has a responsibility to contribute to changing it. I think for the very first time because of the murder of George Floyd and so many others before were having a reckoning and it is it is both good and bad. But at the end of it, I believe America as a whole will be better for it because this is the fight for real inclusion.

It’s a fight to recognize that we are all Americans and we all deserve the fruits of being an American, not some of us — all of us — and that we all deserve to truly live this American dream. 

01:05:38.27

Doria:

Yes. Every one of us.

01:05:55.40

Rahama:

It’s going to take everything that’s happening right now and more, but I do feel fortunate that from when I first started Shea Yeleen to now I see so much more around for Black female founders and programs for Black-owned businesses. Funding that is specifically set up for our companies. Everything from banking to looking at how race has affected the way they give out loans. You know what? I mean people are actually paying attention.

01:06:24.32

Doria:

Yes, the Federal Reserve is doing a whole series on racism and I’m thinking, wow but I’m glad to see it. You know that it’s taken a long time.

01:06:31.70

Rahama:

Yeah, exactly. It certainly has and I think that the beauty of all of this can change and we have the choice.

01:06:46.31

Doria:

Yes, yes.

01:06:49.97

Rahama:

It feels different. It doesn’t have a handout feel. This is the right thing to do to me and I think there’s a difference. 

01:07:02.26

Doria:

Yes, absolutely It goes back to what you were saying early on about the women that you’re working with in the cooperatives. Having that equal power feeling. 

01:07:10.28

Rahama:

Yes, Yes, exactly.

01:07:18.99

Doria:

We are getting toward the end of her show. I could go on for… you’re so fascinating to speak with and I’ve learned so much. What is your favorite of your offerings?

01:07:24.20

Rahama:

Oh thank you. Oh it’s the balm. It will always be the balm because it’s the bomb and so the balm is just shea butter in its purest form, and we take that balm and we make a cream out of it.But my favorite product is our balm. Lavender honeysuckle is actually one of our top selling products as well.

01:07:52.28

Doria:

That’s the one that I tried. It is — if you have dry skin in particular — so incredibly smoothing and it has fragrance but it’s not overpowering. It’s perfect.

01:08:01.83

Rahama:

Yes, we intentionally keep it light, and it melts right into your skin. It keeps you hydrated and moisturized. Yeah, it’s my favorite product. Even though I shouldn’t have favorites. I should love them all. Equally.

01:08:20.77

Doria:

I know. What about your growth since you started to where you are today? Can you give listeners some idea of where you’re at?

01:08:33.29

Rahama:

How well I would say one clear indicator of our growth is we’re building a manufacturing facility in Washington D.C. So going from having a handful of products to now being able to set up an entire facility that we’re going to build on behalf of not only Shea Yeleen, but use it as a teaching lab for other early stage beauty businesses. Give them access to everything I didn’t have access to when I first started. The next generation won’t have to Google everything like I did; they’ll have a space.

01:08:45.74

Doria:

Congrats. Yeah. Right? To have someone help them.

01:09:29.75

Rahama:

To be able to do that and our D.C. government is a partner of ours for it.They’ve given us grant funding. I raised just under $2 million to launch this space, and I’m excited about it. It’s something that we will be launching next fall. It shows from going from a Peace Corps volunteer in a small rural village working at a community health center to now building out a manufacturing facility in our nation’s capital.

01:09:41.50

Doria:

So so cool. Yes, yes, Queen that’s right. You did it.

01:10:12.76

Rahama:

Ah, oh my gosh. This conversation has been fire.

01:10:20.79

Doria:

I love what you’re doing, and I didn’t know about Macy’s. Are there other places where listeners can find your product if you could let them know.

01:10:31.87

Rahama:

Yeah, so our business with MGM paused because they closed for several months but we will be relaunching with them early next year as well. 

We’re also trying to build our business on Amazon. So those are some of the areas that folks can find us in addition to our website.

01:10:50.91

Doria:

Nice. And what is your website url?

01:11:07.89

Rahama:

SheaYeleen.com and our social platforms are all Shea Yeleen.

01:11:11.80

Doria:

Follow them. Great product. It’s been inspiring hearing about your journey. I really appreciate you coming on the show.

01:11:20.50

Rahama:

Thank you so much for having me.