Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Doll Thomas. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Doll thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Everyone has crazy stuff happen to them, but often small business owners and creatives, artists and others who are doing something off the beaten path are hit with things (positive or negative) that are so out there, so unpredictable and unexpected. Can you share a crazy story from your journey?

I am launching an e-commerce business called CoilMeCrazie LLC. This idea came about back in early 2021 in a car ride on my way to Connecticut from Georgia. A close friend of mine was moving to Connecticut and I joined her on her trip so she did not have to take the drive by herself. While in the car, we were talking about our futures and our interests and how we can either profit from it or grow into it professionally. That is how the business NAME came about but the direction of the business came year later…

The end of 2019, I was transitioning from relaxers to my natural hair but I was wearing a lot of protective styles during the process. One day, I was washing my hair and my hair started breaking immensely from the ends due to the relaxer. I got frustrated, picked up a pair of scissors, and cut ALL the relaxed pieces off. Once I was done, I realized that I have never worn an afro before and I was unable to put my hair in a ponytail. I started to panic and I called several natural stylists I found on Google. One finally responded and just so happen to have an early opening for the next day. She evenly trimmed my hair and dyed it. I then put a protective style in but once it was time to redo my hair, COVID-19 happened and the world shut down…including the hair salons. I sat on YouTube for HOURS and days trying to learn how to do my hair. As I was learning, I was sharing snippets of my journey on my social media and eventually I had women and men reaching out for advice and product recommendations. I even started getting paid by hair brands to post reels and reviews of their products and that’s when it hit me. I decided to launch my ‘Five Essentials’. My Five Essentials will consist of 5 hair accessories (combs, detangling brush, etc.) that I use on my wash day and everyday routine to protect and style my natural hair. The mission of my business is to provide a safe space for anyone that is or wants to embrace their natural hair journey regardless of hair type, texture, or condition. I want to create a community that appreciates hair from different walks of life.

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?

Alongside being a business owner, I do a lot of corporate philanthropic work. My career allows me to not only engage in the community of metro Atlanta but to also fund, help educate, and expose the members of the community to healthy financial habits. I assist with facilitating financial workshops as well as help fund programs and events created by the nonprofits around us.

My brand is a representation of myself. I grew up afraid to embrace the hair that so freely and beautifully grows out of my head. I went to school in an area that lacked representation of people that looked like me. So naturally, I relaxed and straightened my hair all the time. This business is not just about me, it’s about any and everyone that feels uncomfortable stepping into the light of their natural selves, whatever that may look like. My brand does not discriminate, it is a community full of acceptance. Whatever your life path looks like, CoilmeCrazie LLC wants to be a part of your journey.

Fitness- My fitness journey started at a young age. I was extremely active growing up and then thrown into sports to create structure due to my “undiagnosed ADHD’ lol. I am a retired track collegiate athlete but started taking the gym more seriously at the end of 2020 when I started my weight gain journey. My fitness journey is another community I joined because I wanted to promote a healthy lifestyle and hopefully encourage at least one person to take care of themselves. Since then I became an ambassador for my trainer’s fitness brand ‘Prolific Fitness’ @prolific16challenge on IG.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I think my transparency is what helped me build my reputation within the markets of everything I am involved in. I don’t want people to look at my social media or meet me and assume I have it all together. I think there is a true gem in letting people know you’re human too. I get discouraged, unmotivated, scared, and all the above BUT the point is to take advice from Nike and ‘Just Do It.” I love bringing people along my journey, it keeps me accountable and it allows me to track my growth. The best part to me, however, is the testimony of my influence on someone else’s life. Just by sharing my story makes others comfortable enough to either share theirs or encourage them to start working on their goals whether that’s in corporate, entrepreneurship, or fitness.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Everyone has a story; a testimony is what I call it. Mine is rooted from being an immigrant and first generation for multiple things. My success story is happening as we speak. I got to a point where I decided to learn how to walk in my purpose and learning how to do that, I had to strengthen my relationship with God. I believe everyone can be successful no matter what you may believe in but MY values lie in the fact that God is my number one priority and I needed to make sure I am not making decisions solely from my own wants but to make sure that my life exemplifies who my God is. I want people to look at my life, read or hear my story, and know that I walked with God the entire time even when I was walking completely by blind faith. My pivot, you ask, is realizing that this life is not just about me but how many people I can touch positively.

Contact Info:

• Website: website coming soon…follow main page for announcements
• Instagram: doll_thomas
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/doll-thomas-5616ba137/
• Youtube: CoilmeCrazie

Image Credits
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