We recently connected with Emily Kenison and have shared our conversation below.

Emily, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What were some of the most unexpected problems you’ve faced in your business and how did you resolve those issues?

RobeCurls quickly became recognized as a leader in the heatless curling realm, racking up awards like the Beauty Innovation Award, and even making it to Google’s esteemed Top 100 Products of 2022. But the most unexpected recognition we won was being crowned the #1 counterfeited product on Amazon. And it nearly killed our budding business.

Within weeks of our launch, knockoffs started appearing, copying our photos and even claiming to be the founder of the cheap version. Initially, it felt like a dubious form of flattery, but soon it became a full-time job trying to police the issue on Amazon. The problem escalated, with thousands of sellers each week and significant financial resources dedicated to combating counterfeits. We reached a low point when sellers managed to be on our listing, diverting orders away from us and tarnishing our brand integrity.

As a lawyer with plenty of intellectual property protection, it was disheartening to experience the challenges faced by small businesses and inventors on Amazon. Surviving this ordeal required enrolling in Amazon’s Transparency program, utilizing brand protection software, and even pursuing legal action against counterfeit sellers.

While these measures have strengthened our resilience, Amazon’s implementation of the transparency program still has room for improvement. Despite the setback, we are grateful to have overcome this problem and are now stronger than ever. We have systems in place to protect us in the future, providing confidence as we prepare to launch more patented innovations in the heatless hair market.

Our focus on educating customers about the risks of counterfeit products and providing refunds and genuine replacements has fostered loyalty and support throughout this challenging time. The experience served as a testament to the strength of our brand and the unwavering commitment to our customers. We remain determined to do right by them and are excited about the future, knowing that we have emerged from this nightmare and are prepared for the next chapter of success.

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?

Emily Kenison is a first-generation Turkish-American and a trailblazing founder, redefining women-led product innovation with a mission to empower optimism through originality. A graduate of NYU Law and former AmLaw 100 attorney, Emily utilizes her background in law, to identify whitespace in the market and bring problem-solving inventions to life for women from head (RobeCurls) to toe (Straplets). Her most notable success has been the launch of RobeCurls, the brand that houses Emily’s groundbreaking heatless curling headband invention, which has pioneered the heatless curls space.

Since RobeCurls’ launch in 2021, it has swiftly become the leader in the heatless hair styling category. In its first year alone, RobeCurls achieved remarkable milestones, generating $1.2 million in revenue and securing its place as the top-selling product in its category at its first mass retail partner, Walgreens. The brand also received recognition as one of Google’s Top 100 Products of 2022 and has won seven prestigious awards. RobeCurls has garnered significant media attention, with regular features in top publications like Glamour, Cosmopolitan, BuzzFeed, and the Today Show. RobeCurls has achieved this growth without any external investments, bootstrapping its way to success.

Emily’s entrepreneurial journey has been truly dynamic, as she has also appeared as a contestant on NBC’s series America’s Big Deal and authored The Book of Women Inventors, championing the ingenuity of female creators. With over 10 patents to her name, Emily’s commitment to fearless originality remains unwavering. Her companies, including RobeCurls, are 1% for the Planet and Climate Neutral certified, reflecting her dedication to the environment and people. Additionally, all her ventures are 100% woman-owned and WBENC certified.

Emily’s focus on customer-centricity and advocacy for sustainable design from women inventors shape an empowered future, benefitting generations to come. To follow Emily’s inspiring journey, visit emikeni.com and join her mission of creating a world driven by care for the environment and the love of people.

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

I am a former lawyer turned inventor, and the Curling HeadbandTM is the second invention I have brought to market, the first being a footwear accessory that reinvents women’s shoes and their eco-footprint — Straplets®.

I built Straplets while working full-time job as a lawyer to self-fund its development. At the end of 2019, I quit my job to pursue Straplets full-time. It was a year after launching Straplets, and the business was at a point that I could financially support myself. At the time it seemed like a good decision, as we were scaling, were in final conversations with a mass retailer, and had just got accepted into the FIT Design Entrepreneurs accelerator. These were all incredibly opportunities that had I had a job, I could never have pursued.

However, a couple months later, the pandemic changed everything. Sales in the footwear industry completely stopped — down 70% — and with it so did all of Straplets momentum.

The silver lining was I had already been tinkering in the heat-less hair space out of personal interest. So while I never expected to launch a second invention, the pandemic pause in footwear gave me the opportunity to pivot to invent the Curling Headband, which has outperformed Straplets since day 1. And because of my years in the trenches building Straplets, I already had developed a strong foundation on how to build products, and so was able to go from idea to launch in a matter of months, and making us the first mover in these new heatless curler category.

Any fun sales or marketing stories?

This one time I proposed to Spanx CEO Sara Blakely lol.

Not exactly a marketing story… Although, I guess, in the end it did turn into one. Like many others, Sara Blakely, the founder/inventor of Spanx, has been a big inspiration for me and my journey as an inventor. So several years ago, when I had the opportunity to see her speak, I came prepared with a poster that I made that read “Sara, will you marry me?” with marry crossed our and mentor written over it. It was a goofy stunt, but I figured why not go for the ask?

The moment ended up going viral through a post by Sara Blakley, and in those days our sales definitely jumped up. But the most important part was she said yes! Sara’s been an incredible mentor throughout this entrepreneurial journey, and I am so lucky to have her by my said and so glad I took the risk.

Here’s the video of the moment: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6601128294597349376/

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.emikeni.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emikeni
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/emily.kenison/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-kenison
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@emikeni/
• Other: https://www.robecurls.com/