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

Judi, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

When I discovered that retail chains would throw their unwanted mannequins in the trash when they closed or remodeled their stores, even if they were still in good condition, it lit a fire under me.

Here is why – mannequins are made out of materials that do not biodegrade (metal, fiberglass, Styrofoam, plastic) so they don’t belong in landfills. I made it my mission to offer retailers an eco-friendly alternative. I offered to recycle their mannequins for free which saved them money on waste disposal fees they would have to pay if they put them in the trash. This was the incentive for them to use my services.

Soon I had more used mannequin inventory so I could now sell in addition to rent. Initially I was only selling to local customers. But then 9/11 happened which ended my day job at the dot-com. It was a fearful time in our history, but I chose to live more fearlessly. If this was going to be out last days and time, I wanted to spend more time doing something I enjoyed. So rather than look for a full-time job, I decided to bet on myself and work full time with the mannequins.

For this to be my main source of income, I had to reach a larger audience. The internet was still in the early stages and social media did not exist yet.. So, I started selling on eBay and quickly became a power seller. Then I became an early adopter with my own ecommerce website.

Just two years after operating the business full time, I received a special achievement award from the Environmental Protection Agency for recycling over 100,000 pounds of mannequins in one year. THIS brought us validation and attention so more retailers started calling us to recycle their mannequins, on a local and national level. Today we recycle about 1 million pounds of mannequins annually that we recycle on a national versus local level.

In summary, my small business is making a big impact environmentally, I enjoy what I do, and I have a wonderful team of people that I employ

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?

I am Judi Henderson, president and owner of Mannequin Madness, an S corporation based in Oakland, CA. I have been operating this business since 2001. I am the only African American person in the U.S. (and perhaps the world) who owns a mannequin company. Being in this industry is an unlikely career choice, especially for someone with no prior experience in fashion or retailing.

First, we rent/sell/recycle new & used mannequins, dress forms, body parts, etc. Most of our used mannequins come from retailers who offer us their used/unwanted mannequin materials in lieu of dumping them in landfills (as they do not break down environmentally). Used mannequins are recycled by selling them to small business owners, artists, makers, etc. or by donating to local schools. By recycling used mannequins, we are also contributing, in our very tangible and unique way, to the environment. We also sell new mannequins that we get from several mannequin vendors.

Second, we offer headdress-making classes in our showroom every OTHER  Sunday afternoon. It’s our version of “paint and sip,” but instead of making art for the wall, you make art for your head. Our used mannequin heads are the canvas, and colorful silk flowers and other sustainable materials are the crafting materials. Individuals can register as well as groups for celebratory events e.g., birthdays, weddings, holidays, etc. We also offer a mobile version to serve large groups that we contractually deliver at their location(s) to companies, non-profits, libraries, etc. for the purpose of team building, self-care…and sometimes just fun.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

There are always unexpected challenges in running a business, but I don’t think anyone goes into business expecting to encounter, no less survive, a global pandemic. And there were days when I did not know if Mannequin Madness would survive the impact of COVID.

AS A NON-ESSENTIAL BUSINESS WE WERE MANDATED to shut down for months at a time AND MY staff and I had to resort to unemployment pay for periods of time. Honestly, it was scary for many of us running a business but there was no alternative. FORTUNATELY OUR ONLINE SALES KEEP US GOING WHEN OUR STORE WAS CLOSED. I’m both stubborn and faithful in my attitude towards life so I knew they would have to take me away kicking and screaming before I ever abandoned my business. Still, after 20 years of running this business, there were days when I wondered if the business would survive.

Two things helped to both test and strengthen my resilience…

First, I sought every resource available to me to stay afloat. I looked for and applied to every grant, educational program and PPP program that were applicable to my business. I became better and better at describing my current business, my mission, my challenges, and my long-term goals. The applications prodded me to consider new revenue streams, growth strategies, and survival tactics and I did. COVID was forcing me to think way outside the box and it was good for my business growth and development. I became masterful at acquiring grants and other funds to keep my business going, pay my staff, and cover my bills.

Second, the George Floyd incident shed a light on the many injustices placed ON small Black-business owners. 40% of Black owned businesses shut down permanently during COVID.
Suddenly there was an interest by mainstream audiences to support Black owned businesses. But they did not always know how to find the Black owned businesses that were not in the food, fashion, BEAUTY or entertainment industries.

I wanted to make it easy for people to find all types of Black owned businesses to support. I knew there were other Black owned business owners like myself who operated niche businesses with products and services that would appeal to mainstream customers.

I convinced two associates to join me in compiling an online directory of all the Black owned businesses in the greater SF Bay area (SFBBB.com). We did not charge businesses to be listed or require them to be a member of the Black Chamber of Commerce. Besides creating the online directory, we also uploaded articles, blogs, websites, and other resources that might be of value to small businesses. I used my own funds to underwrite our website and software.

It’s ironic that I would expend all that energy for an altruistic cause but, in hindsight, I believe the result was both an achievement of which I was proud, and I learned many things in the process of creating the directory. I knew I was paying it forward.

My resilience to not only keep Mannequin Madness afloat but to support other Black-owned businesses made me feel even more empowered as a part of a larger small business community that I had not quite identified with before. Amid COVID and the racial tensions nationally, I garnered more strength and resilience than I had ever had

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

It had never been my goal to be an entrepreneur. It happened quite by accident because of my indirect connection with my “shero” Tina Turner.

I have always felt a six-degrees-of-separation connection with Tina Turner. First, I was born in Brownsville, Tennessee which is just 11 miles away from her birthplace of Nutbush, Tennessee. She is 18 years older, so our paths never crossed, but TWO OF MY UNCLES  went to high school with her.

When my family moved to Los Angeles, we lived in the same Windsor Hills neighborhood as Tina; her sons and I were in different grades at the NEIGHBORHOOD elementary school. As an adult, I converted to the same sect of Buddhism as Tina. In the fall of 2000, Tina’s tour was coming to Oakland and a group of my fellow Buddhist’s were planning on attending the show. Since I had waited until the last minute to purchase my ticket and the show was now sold out, I went looking for tickets on Craigslist.

While scrolling I saw a posting for a mannequin for sale. I had always wanted a mannequin for a mosaic project for my garden. Upon arriving at the storage unit where I met the Craigslist seller, I was surprised that he had not one, but 50 mannequins for sale. Although I had never worked in retail, never touched a mannequin, never even run a business, something in my spirit inspired me to buy all 50 mannequins. I thought a mannequin rental business would be a fun side hustle as my job at the time — at a dot-com — was showing signs of instability. Tina Turner had led me to those mannequins.

More importantly, there are many parallels between Tina’s career and my entrepreneurial career. Key life lessons that we both had to unlearn or learn.

Agents told Tina she was too old to make it on the music circuit, specifically after she got the courage to go out on her own. When she was 44 (the same age I was when I started my business), she released her breakout song “What’s Love Got to Do With it.”

Likewise, when I started Mannequin Madness in 2001, I was in my 40’s. It was an age that was considered ancient in the technology industry that I was working in at the time. We both had to learn that age was just a number. The term “girl boss” wasn’t a thing and it took me a long time to even consider myself as an entrepreneur. That was an adjective given to young male graduates of Stanford who had a tech business with venture capital. So, needless to say, I had to create my own definition of entrepreneur.

When Tina departed from Ike Turner’s “rhythm and blues” band, she moved into the “rock and rock” world. Today she is a “rock and roll” icon internationally. To get to that level of success, she had to ignore the nay-sayers who felt she was a “has been.” Tina had the persistence, strength, and ability to reimagine what she COULD be. She makes me believe in making the impossible possible. I love her for that.

People told Tina she was crazy, that she’d never make it. My parents, who had paid out of their own pocket every cent of my expensive education at the University of Southern California, were alarmed by my decision to give up a constant salary in a 9-to-5 job for a part-time hustle that eventually led to a full-time business. Everyone (EXCEPT FOR  my then-husband) called me crazy too — establishing the business far away from the fashion centers of the world, instead, in my backyard in Oakland, Ca. Surrounded by doubters, it seemed fitting to name my business Mannequin Madness.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.mannequinmadness.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mannequinmadness/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MannequinMadness/; https://www.facebook.com/groups/craftyfunwithmannequins;
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6902657071108489217/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvhXxYyzFIlvNS0T1KUai2A
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/mannequin-madness-oakland-3

Image Credits
Kyana Holman, staffer