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

Hi Katrina , thanks for joining us today. What can you share with us about the story behind how you found your key vendors?

We actually have a total of 5 vendors for everything we offer on our website. I have been with all of them since I started in 2019. They have not short cut me yet. I did have a 6th one but I dismissed them when I had my celebrity stylist re-test a product for me because I noticed a change in the lace. And sure enough the lace was plastic because it would not take the dye. This happened during the pandemic. So after this happened, I had a meeting with them and departed ways. They have came back to me several times to work with me again. However, I told them no flat out. Once a vendor or anyone burn me one time, I’m done with them. Because a bad vendor can taint your business with bad products.

Before I actually started the business, we tested so many vendors, about 10. And let me tell you, just because a vendor show you a picture of some cute hair, does not mean it’s good hair. I only trust the vendors I have and they all have non disclosures signed where they can’t share any information.

I’m friends with a celebrity stylist in LA and after I tested the hair and lace, I sent it to her and had her test it. And I mean test it over and over, color it over and over you name it. Let’s just say, I have tv/movie hair! Good Raw Hair!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

We cater to all Women. Majority of our clientele are older African American Women 35 and up, which is who we target the most. I wanted to be able to provide hair to all women so I went further on choosing the options of the hair. Our hair can easily blend with most hair types even our curly hair, which has been worn by BET Actress Stephanie Charles. Award Winning Actress Octavia Spencer wore 3 of our Straight Bob Wigs in her taping of Truth Be Told- Season 2 and people thought it was her natural hair.

There are a variety of hair selections we carry from, Wigs, Tape Ins, Clip Ins and more. We will be adding Men’s Hairpieces within the next few months. We are actually in the testing phase of the men’s pieces. I am really excited about that. And focused on how we will present it to the audience. We know men choose not to let people know when they have a hair piece on, so once we present the outcome, their face may be covered unless permission is given. So stay tuned.

We’d love to hear your thoughts about selling platforms like Amazon/Etsy vs selling on your own site.

I sell on my own website. I rather not sell on any of the other sites because I feel it devalues your product. And I don’t devalue my own product so why add it to a site just to make a buck. I want people to always know, they getting the best and it’s quality in what they are buying. I mean it’s nothing wrong with Amazon or Etsy. But come on now. We all know people run to those sites because they will find the product cheaper. It’s like this, you will never see the real Chanel, Fendi type products on Amazon. They started off small and was known after being in business for years. It’s like Michael Kors, they stuff has been devalued because they let it be sold in Ross, Burlington and other stores. So people who use to buy it, don’t anymore because of that reason. You have some people who won’t buy Beauty Supply hair because the quality is not so good. Even though people claim it’s the best and cheap. But in reality the hair is 6-7 grade, mixed with fibers, thin and can’t handle too much heat, let alone last years.

I’m sure people can’t understood what I’m trying to do. But in reality it’s for em to understand and just let them see the end result.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

The biggest lesson I had to learn in business is that, it is okay to say NO. When I first started, I did a lot of giving hair to different people who had some sort of platform to get my business name out in the public eye. They didn’t mind doing free promo because I was just starting and they had free good hair. Well once you do that once, they expect you to always give them free hair. And I at back one day and was like, they using my butt. So I started sending them the link to buying was left on read. That proved my point right there. At the end of the day I’m building and running a business, how dare you try to take advantage of me. Until this day, them same people went ghost and it is okay because I’m never down for anyone using me. I had actually thought they was really trying to help and was becoming cool with them. But it’s a lesson for me and I can share it with future business owners who buy wholesale from me to start their own business.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://shadesofmelaninhair.com
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Image Credits
Image Credit: Christal Clear Photography