We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Psyche Terry a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Psyche, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?
“At Urban Hydration, our motto has always been to help people have happier, healthier lives. We wanted people of all backgrounds and from all neighborhoods to be able to access clean, gentle personal care that was plant-based and felt like It was from an expensive spa. I realized that while having eczema all of my life, I was only able to visit a dermatologist when I was an adult living in Las Vegas. At that time we decided we wanted to help provide clinical like care that was made from the power and formulations of plant ingredients. We realized that so many people like us were thirsty for a brand to be real and honest about what wasn’t and what was in their product. We also wanted to be accessible making sure that we were priced right. Everything we sell is under $20 and available no matter what rural or urban community you live in. Now we get to hydrate people’s dry skin naturally in more than 32,000 stores across the United States. Thanks to Walgreens adding our collection nationwide we are widely accessible. We took it a step further and we now hydrate around the world with our mission to help solve the world’s water crisis. For every product we sell, we donate a gallon of water to building wells in Africa. This now makes our brand Urban Hydration truly mean what it says!
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I am Psyche Terry, Beauty Boss and Beauty Queen, most recently crowned America’s Most Beautiful 2022 Mrs. Texas. I’m a fashion and beauty expert and a co-founder and CEO of UI Global Brands, a global manufacturer and nationwide marketer of consumer products with its keystone clean beauty brand, Urban Hydration. I fund scholarship programs for students majoring in business at the Haworth College of Business. I also serve on the board of directors for the WMU Alumni Association Board. I’ve done countless local and national media interviews including being featured in Good Morning America, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The Steve Harvey Show, ESPN and Fox News.
I hold an MBA from the University of Nevada Las Vegas Lee Business School, and a BA from WMU Haworth. I’ve been married for nearly 20 years, and I’m a mother of three and fitness lover. In my spare time, I teach Zumba weekly and is also a certified fitness instructor.
Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?
When I was in college dating my now husband of 17 years, I had no idea he’d be my trusted confidant and business partner for more than 12 years. I think choosing business partners is no different than choosing a mate for life. They need to be reliable, have integrity, be smart as or even smarter than you, and have your back. Vontoba, my best friend and business partner, embodies those characteristics. We later went to market and we brought on business finance partners and they are the exact same way. Torii and Katrina Hunter are a 25-year married power couple that saw something special in us. We bring the best out of each other and we are proud to call each other partners.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
I like to say GRITS aren’t just made in the kitchen. I’ve had our products shipped to my warehouse and lost in the ocean during transit. I’ve had to start a factory from scratch when my factory that I had placed orders with cancelled my order 20 days before it was due to my customer. I had to hire a team of 42 people and deliver nearly 50,000 products in less than 6 weeks from this new factory – while 30+ weeks pregnant. My husband and I witnessed a hired truck driver coming to pick up our products have a heart attack right at our shipping dock. We’ve had all our orders for an entire quarter cancelled because of Covid and had to learn an entirely different business model for 9 months. We’ve definitely been able to show GRIT(S) throughout our entrepreneurial journey.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.urbanhydration.com
- Instagram: @urbanhydration
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/urbanhydration
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/urban-hydration
- Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/urbanhydration/with_replies
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/urbanhydration
- Yelp: https://m.yelp.com/biz/urban-hydration-frisco