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

Lauren, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Owning a business isn’t always glamorous and so most business owners we’ve connected with have shared that on tough days they sometimes wonder what it would have been like to have just had a regular job instead of all the responsibility of running a business. Have you ever felt that way?

Happiness and business owner are synonymous in the dictionary of my life. Honestly, I never knew I would become a business owner but once I did, it’s like when Cinderella placed her foot in her glass slipper, it fit perfectly. As a little girl, my whole family would tell me I was bossy and a tad bit controlling so becoming a boss, where I have full control over an entire company is very fitting! Before my business, all I did was work regular jobs and although I do not miss working for others, at times I miss the stability it brings. When you work for someone else, you know when you’re getting your paycheck and how much it’ll be. When you clock out of work, you do not dare think about it before you clock back in. It’s easier to have a work life balance because your schedule is laid out in front of you for weeks at a time. With starting a small business, it’s riskier. Not all paychecks look the same and the lines between personal and business life blur because there’s no one to tell you to lock up and go home. I was pushing myself to the brink of burnout because I was working around the clock, barely eating or sleeping, it was just as rewarding as it was grueling. But also, I can take sick days, I create my own schedule, I can travel whenever I want, I do not have to deal with or become a toxic boss, I get to help thousands people in a subject I am incredibly passionate about, I have an opportunity to build generation wealth for my family and to give back to my home country Haïti, and the list goes on. I am the happiest I’ve ever been as a business owner. There’s a saying that goes, Find a job you enjoy doing, and you will never have to work a day in your life. I disagree with Mark Twain on that one. I believe when you find a job you enjoy doing, you’ll work harder than you ever had in your life but it won’t burden you, it’ll feed your soul.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Hi, I’m Lolo the CEO of Lolo’s Bonnets! You need a bonnet? Lolo’s on it! Where I sell quality satin bonnets to all my beautiful kings, queens and everyone in between! I am a first generation Haïtian American so my business is Haïtian, black and woman owned! I will tell you all a Lolo’s Bonnets secret… I started my business completely by accident. I was trying to support another small black owned bonnet businesses but they were sold out! So I decided to make my own. My mom saw it and thought my bonnet was the cutest thing and insisted on posting it on her Facebook! Once she did, her friends and my family wanted me to make bonnets for them! I’m so grateful to my mom for encouraging me to start my business! When she told me to give it a shot, I literally thought “Who sells bonnets and why would they buy from me and not the hairstore?” Look at how a fixed mindset almost blocked one of the biggest blessings I’ve had in my life thus far. As a black woman with a thick head of 4C hair, I wanted to protect my hair with a bonnet that was made of quality materials and that would actually stay on! I use satin because it’s vegan and a cool agent, unlike silk which is not vegan and is actually a heating agent! I would pick the prettiest fabrics and make sure the bonnets were reversible so you can pay for one but can use it two ways! I created my business with black women in mind, I wanted to help them achieve healthy and or long hair that we would assume is not possible! As I continued and learned that satin helps every hair type because it helps preserve your styles for longer, keeps the hair moisturized, aids with split ends, hair thinning and hair loss, it’s beneficial for everyone! I am so grateful to have helped so many kinds of people from all over the world and am incredibly grateful to black culture for such an amazing tool. I always tell my nonblack customers to utilize bonnets in a culturally appreciative manner and they have all been incredibly respectful and incredibly grateful for the tool and how much it’s helped their hair! As the CEO of this company, I’ve been where a lot of my customers are when they come to me. In a state of exhaustion, they just want to throw in the towel with their hair and give up! But quality satin bonnets helped me and I want them to help you. I was my business’s first test dummy and my family followed suit. I like to say Lolo’s Bonnets is not animal tested but family tested! My point is, Lolo’s Bonnets is different because I started this after using the product, seeing that to worked and seeing how much this could help others. One of my proudest moments would definitely have to be having my first celebrity client in 2021, which was Lizzo! I literally told her I loved her hair and I would love to send her bonnets and she said yes! She literally replied, “Send me your Venmo” I had literally just relaunched my business two months before that happened! It was a sign to keep going and that I was on the right path! Recently I also got to work with Verizon to help other small businesses gain knowledge and apply for Verizon’s small business grants! My goal is to be a household name and a brand people love, trust and depend on!

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

Digital Marketing on social media! I had no clue how pivotal social media was going to be when it came to marketing my business. In two years, I’ve gained over 100 thousand followers on TikTok and almost 10 thousand Instagram! Digital marketing has allowed me to reach people that I could’ve never reached out to! I’ve had supporters and customers from all around the world! One of the greatest things about digital marketing is that because social media is fairly new, it’s not going anywhere anytime soon! And you get to constantly remind people about your business without it being annoying! They come on social media to see what’s going on and check in on friends and influencers and family! So it’s not that you’re forcing your business down their throat, so it doesn’t feel like an aggressive form of marketing, which can sometimes turn customers away! I’ve had customers that told me that they have supported me since the beginning, and are only able to place an order now! Which means that for the past two years, I’ve been consistently reminding them of my business, and then they placed an order, which not only allows me to gain supporters, I just gained a customer! Whenever people asked me what I do and how my business has been so successful in such a short period of time, I always tell them to get onto digital marketing because it truly changed my life! I wouldn’t have been able to have my first celebrity client in two months of relaunching my business if I had to use digital marketing! You never know who’s watching, you never know what video could blow up and get you thousands of orders! Digital marketing is the most effective strategy for me to grow my clientele and my business’s brand!

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I believe responding to emails and comments with genuine kindness has helped build my reputation within my market. A business is only as good as its customers say it is. If your customers do not feel valued, they will tell other people that they didn’t feel valued with placing an order and talking with you! The best way to build your reputation is to start in a good place and maintain that good place! It’s a lot harder to fix a tarnished reputation then maintain a good one. As a small business owner, it can be hard to wear a lot of hats! But customer service is such a vital part of owning a business, and if you make your customers, feel respected, and that they’re hard earned money that they spent while placing an order with your business, means the world to you, you’ll earn their trust and respect. That’s when you allow them to do your marketing for you! When you have a good or bad experience with the business, and somebody ask you about it, you tell them an honest answer. Whether or not, their experience was positive or negative, can impact how the next person sees your business. Your marketing can only take you so far which means your customers also market for you. If your business is solid in how it treats people and with having quality products, word of mouth will spread, and it’s up to you whether or not that marketing is good or bad, which is what builds your reputation as a business. That’s how I’ve built mine and that is how I will continue to build mine.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://lolosbonnets.com/
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/lolosbonnets?igshid=MmVlMjlkMTBhMg==
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@lolosbonnets?si=5o7ihBqj7MK_vQU1
• Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lolosbonnets?_t=8hC1vpUKIkY&_r=1

Image Credits
Brianna Eisman