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

Stephanie, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?

When I first decided that I wanted to make creating products my business I had written down and used a name completely different then Nourish & Love, but as I progressed along my entrepreneurial journey that name really didn’t make any sense and it didn’t fit what I had set in my mind that I wanted my brand to do for its customers. I wanted to give my customers (or curl friends as I call them) the information they needed not only grow healthier hair but move into healthier mindsets about their hair and their hair journey. I wanted my curl friends to love their hair and I wanted their minds to be nurtured as well.

The definition of Nourish is: to provide with the food or other substances necessary for growth, health, and good condition and we all know what Love means! I wanted my haircare brand to provide the products and the knowledge necessary so that women with natural and textured hair could not only achieve all of their hair goals, but reclaim their natural hair journey and become more confident in the beauty of their hair.

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

I am a Mom of two beautiful boys, 5 and 1.5 years old and they keep me extremely busy! Beyond that, I am a Healthy Hair Specialist and Licensed Cosmetologist and to be honest, to me it feels like I fell into the beauty industry because at the time when Nourish & Love was birthed in my parent’s kitchen, all I was trying to do was make a product for my perpetually dry natural hair and I made a balm for my dog’s hotspot. I was tired of having to make concoctions to keep my hair hydrated and moisturized. So I decided to try making a product of my own, and Youtube was barely a thing then, so it’s not like I could just type in what I needed into Youtube University. I had no clue that the two products I made that night would lead me to where I am today, headed into my 5th year in business.

After deciding that I wasn’t going to let fear of success and imposter syndrome hold me back from building and growing my brand I went back to Cosmetology School a few years after receiving my Bachelors Degree from Virginia State University. I felt that this would enhance my brand but I also love the science of hair.

During cosmetology school I got a job at a hair salon where I started as an assistant and worked my way to being a stylist on the floor. Even though working there inspired the type of haircare line I wanted to create, I lost sight of my goal to have a haircare line due the stresses and environment of the salon I was in. As a result I eventually lost interest in being behind the chair because of the unhealthy work environment. I had kept putting my haircare line on the back burner and continued to do so. I would just dabble in and back away. Never fully committing. Once I left that salon, I found another position but ended up being laid off. I was six months pregnant at the time. Disappointed and discouraged, I felt like maybe this is a sign that I really need to do my own thing. Being unemployed and working towards my dream is tough but I took the plunge and launched my business in December of 2017 two months after my first son was born.

Within Nourish & Love I handcraft hair care product range for textured and natural hair that brings spa therapy and rituals to everyday haircare practices through fragrance and performance. I also educate and empower women to shift their mindset and intentions around haircare so they can experience a healthier relationship in their haircare with less stress and frustration.

Being able to be an agent of change in a woman’s life through something as simple yet complex as hair care is probably the greatest opportunity and service one can have and I don’t take that lightly. Everything I do within my business I do with purpose. I show up by offering not only quality products but education for my customers, whom I’ve dubbed my curlfriends. Even if they don’t buy my products they still will be armed with the knowledge science of hair care and product/ingredient knowledge to make better informed buying decisions.

Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?

No, I did not have prior experience, which is so wild when you think about it because I formulate and manufacture every single product that is offered within the Nourish and Love Co range. Sometimes I am not even sure how I do it all, but I do and I’m proud to say that this brand is truly a labor of love.

Being a creator is something that I believe was born in me. I’ve always loved creating and always loved making something out of nothing. Looking back, growing up I was always reading the labels of shampoo, conditioner, lotion, any beauty product or cleaner in my home, I was always reading it, trying to pronounce the words. So I guess you can say making haircare products has always been in me as well as my love of hair.

I wanted was effective products. I played around with product making in college when I had locs as well but I can pinpoint the specific moment when my formulating passion was truly birthed. It all started in my parents kitchen when I decided to make two very different products. The two products I made was a whipped shea butter for my dry hair because store bought products weren’t enough to keep my hair moisturized and I made a balm for a hotspot that my dog had on his tail. It didn’t matter to me that I had never made a product before in my life. I could follow directions and I knew a little about ingredients and their respective benefits.

Well over the course of a week, my dog’s hotspot was healing and scabbing over and my hair was less dry, more moisturized and softer than I had ever felt it be before. I was hooked and I started learning everything I could about formulation, cosmetic chemistry, the raw materials that go into the products; from the oils, the plants, the seeds, the polymers. the gums, the surfactants, etc. I was already mixing ingredients from my cabinets to make store bought hair products more effective but diving into why those ingredients were effective pushed me into a new positive addiction.

There have been so many lessons that I have learned along the way, and I learn the most through my failures. I’ve learned that the slightest change in temperature can drastically change a product. I’ve learned that just 2-5% more of ingredient can change your formula. I’ve learned that too much of an ingredient isn’t always good thing as well as too little isn’t always a bad thing. I’ve learned that if the sciences were taught to me a little differently and that being a Cosmetic Chemist was an actual job I could have, I probably would have aced those courses in High School and been on a completely different career path.

I do not have a manufacturer yet but now that I am growing and I want to grow even more so I have reached out to some key players in the manufacturing space who actually let me know actual financial and production specifics of when I need to start having someone else manufacture product for me so that my brand not only grows but scales. So when that time comes, I will be well prepared.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

I am a certified book worm and I love learning. Books, podcasts, audiobooks, videos, you name it, I’ve used them all when it comes to learning how to build and sustain my business.

A few of my favorite books:
Profit First – Mike Michalowicz
The 10x Rule – Grant Cardone
The 1 Page Marketing Plan – Allan Dib
Eat That Frog – Brian Tracy
The Mountain is You – Brianna Wiest
Building A Storybrand – Donald Miller
You Are A Badass Jen Sincero
the 80/20 Rule – Perry Marshall

A few of my favorite resources:

Sidehustle Pro Podcast
Traffic Sales & Profit
The Boutique Academy

Contact Info:

• Website: www.nourishandloveco.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/nourishandloveco
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/nourishandloveco
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanieayler
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/nourishloveco
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCY77UW-ILD4WS8MwdsCGSjg
• Other: Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/nourishandloveco