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

Gianni, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about your team building process? How did you recruit and train your team and knowing what you know now would you have done anything differently?

The pandemic made me realize the importance of hiring a team. I was up late at night fulfilling orders, creating social media post, and being customer service 24/7. It was draining. I soon realized the importance of balance and creating systems. I was devoting myself 100% into my business, and zero into my mental health, wellness and family. Being an entrepreneur is not about doing everything yourself, but being able to recognize your strengths so that you can delegate experts where you need help. Businesses are successful by creating a solution for their customer’s problems, which is what I needed, a solution. I first hired a Digital Marketing Strategist to help create my brand identity and manage all creative aspects of my business. Shipping orders was another draining task where I needed an immediate solution. It would take me 6 hours to pack 40+ orders and I was doing this multiple times a week. I later found a third-party logistics company and hired them to manage all inventory and fulfillment. They were able to provide my business with processing time faster than Amazon. I now make it a requirement to fill in at least one self-care task into my daily schedule. It puts my mental health and anxiety at ease, while I am able to spend more time with my family.

Gianni, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

After becoming a new mom, I was battling post-partum depression and hair discrimination in the workplace at the same time. Being miserable for over a year, pushed me to develop a plan and specific time frame to leave my job and move to a different state. When I arrived to Atlanta, I created Fro.ology, a holistic hair care brand that helps women embrace their fro by inspiring them through femininity, luxury and wellness. I researched the market and found that most hair companies and manufacturers were all using the same toxic ingredients. This caused me to make the decision to manufacture my own products when I struggled to find a supplier with my company values. I started Fro.ology, to not just create social impact through hair but to inspire women to put their inner health first before societal standards of beauty. I used my business as an outlet to pull myself out of depression. What started as a hobby soon became a source of income and developed into what my brand is today.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

My first year in business, I wanted to focus on the customer experience which starts with a great product first. It was important to develop a strategy of how we were going to wow the customer from beginning to end. You can have the best photos and packaging, but if your product is not good, then your customers will not come back. Next, we developed an effective marketing strategy that went outside of social media. A common mistake is to rely on Instagram which is good for aesthetic but has no strong ROI. I found Instagram as a strong networking platform to build brand partnerships, and then utilized other forms of marketing such as press features, TikTok, and Pinterest to reach our target consumer.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

Books that have helped me with my business, are Atomic Habits and Eat That Frog. Both focus on building systems, productivity and how to prioritize. I am currently reading Level Up by Lara Hodgson and Stacey Abrams, who I did not know was an entrepreneur as well. Level Up, talks about navigating through the struggles of scaling a business, funding, and getting your products into stores.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://fro-ology.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/fro.ology
• Other: https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheFroExperts

Image Credits
J Paul Ronnesha Jackson Jahi Gilkey