Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Fatima Toure. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Fatima , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s been the best thing you’ve ever seen (or done yourself) to show a customer that you appreciate them?
I write my customers personalized notes with each order. For new customers it’s a welcome letter to the brand. For returners it’s showing appreciation and sometimes offering unique discount codes. Sometimes I’ll upgrade a customer’s order.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
My name is Fatima Toure. I’m an educator by day but CEO all the time of a clean beauty brand, MOUSSÖU. Also known as Moussou Beauty. This brand came from my culture and my upbringing. Body care has always been a thing for my people. My mother always emphasized the idea of taking care of self. One way was keeping our skin moisturized. Shea butter was a staple in my West African home. It got us through many cold NYC winters.
It became a business once I seen the demand for it. I started hand-making whipped body butter for co workers, friends and colleagues and along with my mother I realized this could be a business venture. Who better to tell the stories and create natural products than a true descendant of the women who hand turn Shea nuts into Shea butter.
With Moussou Beauty I’m adding a authentic lens to body butters. I import my Shea directly from the villages in Guinea, West Africa and I hand make my products to emulate the same recipes taught by the women who came before me, my ancestors.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
I had to unlearn that things have to be perfect in order to be brought to fruition. I use to delay ideas and products simply because I thought it wasn’t perfect. I had to learn that it’s seldom things are perfect. Improvement is way better than perfection. So now, I give my best effort, ask for feedback and strive to improve. Not be perfect!
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
In 2021 I took a break from Moussou, to be honest, I was overwhelmed with my life as an educator and running a full time business by myself. That break only increased my hunger to return. Deep down inside I lost my direction for Moussou so I had to start from the ground up again. I revamped my mission, my vision and my target audience. I got super specific with what my goals were and who we were as a company. In 2022, I relaunched and we had a new look and meaning. The reception from the rebrand was amazing.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.Moussoubeauty.com
- Instagram: @moussoubeauty
- Facebook: Www.Facebook.com/moussoutribe
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/mwlite/company/moussou-beauty
- Twitter: Www.twitter.com/moussoubeauty