We caught up with the brilliant and insightful LaVonne Wallace a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, LaVonne thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

I knew absolutely NOTHING about maintaining healthy natural hair when I began my natural hair journey in 2014. After transitioning my relaxed hair for about 18 months, I did a “big chop” and the race began! I literally spent hundreds of dollars & switched from product to product, until I finally decided to do my own research, about what healthy hair needed, and created my OWN hair products. That is how Joeny was born!

Motivated by the rise in home-based businesses and the lack of healthy, hair products available to women, men and children with afro-textured hair during the height of the pandemic, I decided to form an online business and ship my products to anyone in the United States. I named it Joeny, after my two, wonderful children, Joe and Nylah.

I’m most excited about my haircare business because it is family-based, provides products for everyone in the family and is still expanding. Our latest products are specifically for men with beards, the Royal Beard products, and is doing extremely well!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

My story starts when I decided to go “natural” and chemical-free with my hair back in May 2014. I was no longer interested in relaxers or any other harmful hair products being marketed to women-of-color. My dilemma was that I did not know which products to use in my newfound journey. So, I basically did what most new “naturalistas” would do and spend an unnecessary amount of time and money on different products, trying to find what worked well for my hair. Most of them were a big fail for me. Eventually, I started to do my own research about what I needed to have healthy hair and experiment with raw ingredients in my own kitchen, until I developed an oil-based hair butter that moisturized my hair, and worked as a great styling agent, as well. I began to make this product for some of my family members and friends who were impressed with the health of my hair, as well.

During the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, many people relied on my products because they were not able to go to salons, etc. to get their hair done professionally. In addition to my hair butter, which I began to call Buttercream due to its creamy and smooth texture, I created another product, a blend of oils that promoted healthy hair growth. Additionally, I took to sewing headbands, turbans and hair accessories to give out as gifts for the holidays. The pandemic had started to take a toll on some folk’s hair. so the turbans and headbands were a great alternative. I was still working full-time from home, but I had much more time than I was used to having and appreciated the time to create.

There are many products targeted towards people-of-color that are being marketed as “all-natural” and safe for curly and afro-textures. However, these products usually contain only a small amount of nourishing ingredients, in addition to some unhealthier ingredients which tends to leave our hair dry, itchy and/or flaky. Joeny is unique and provides hair products that contain all-natural, organic ingredients. Each ingredient in our products is intentionally selected for its properties for promoting hair growth, as well as providing the proper levels of moisture and nutrients needed to reduce scalp irritation and flakiness for women with naturally curly and/or afro-textured hair.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

As I’d stated before, my business was started strictly as an online entity. However, when the world started to open back up, particularly this past spring, I had to think of more creative ways to revitalize my business and keep momentum in order to help make my brand more visible to the public. So, I began participating in “pop-ups” as a way to grow my customer base and network with other business owners. Unfortunately, these events weren’t happening locally, so I had to travel a bit. After participating in a few of these events hosted by other people, my sister and I decided to bring this opportunity locally, to support other business owners build their brands, specifically those who were people-of-color. By June, we’d hosted our first Lehigh Valley Melanin Market, a pop-up shop featuring local brands and brought together small businesses owned by POC in the Lehigh Valley area. We’ve had five successful events so far, were featured in the local news and plan to open back up this upcoming spring even better than ever!

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson that I had to unlearn was that you don’t have to have everything perfect in order to start you own business and be a successful entrepreneur, but you just have to start somewhere. Before I started my own business, I would not have considered myself as an entrepreneur. Like ever. But, I worked through that fear of failure and started my business, with just determination, passion and knowledge I’d accumulated from researching and building relationships with other business owners. Honestly, I continue to learn new ways to help my brand by building relationships with other entrepreneurs.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.joenyshop.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/@joenyshop
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joenyllc
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/Joenyshop
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@joenyshop3058