We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Tenish Fordham. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Tenish below.

Alright, Tenish thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Parents play a huge role in our development as youngsters and sometimes that impact follows us into adulthood and into our lives and careers. Looking back, what’s something you think you parents did right?

Growing up having 5 siblings I was the baby. My parents raised us serving God. I can remember as a child we would all get on our knees around my parent’s bed to pray. My dad would start off and go around in a circle. Each of us had to pray. Threw out my career that is one thing that I have carried with me.

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

When I started out, I had a vision, and I knew what I wanted. I always felt and still feel that no one is above God nor are they beyond his reach. So, working with celebrities for me was no different from me working with anybody else. I know that God is my father, he is my source and I trust him for everything. Therefore, I knew that whatever I set my heart to do I could. In 2017 I was diagnosed with cancer. From that God gave me the idea to start a hair care line using healthier ingredients. In 2018 I launched my hair care line Fordham Hair Care. Since then, I have been working really hard to build a product line that will be healthy for my customers and myself. My biggest obstacle has been staying faithful. What I mean by staying faithful, is sticking to the ingredients that God give me. I have so many times wanted to use things in my products like sulfates, but I can’t because I know what it does to the body. Sulfates cause so many underlying issues within the body as well as external for some. So many African American women have been diagnosed with things like fibroid tumors, cancer, and other issues not knowing that some of the chemicals that we use in our heads are causing these sicknesses. What we are not understanding is that when we wash and relax our hair our pores open. Once your pores are open whatever it is that you are using is not only getting into the hair and its shafts it is getting into the blood stream as well. So, with that being said I am most excited about is that our products truly all natural and I’m putting out a product that not only promote hair growth but keeps us healthy internally as well as externally.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

Funding my business was the hardest part. When I got started, I went to several people to invest in my company, and nobody would do it. I can remember God speaking to me through my sister telling me that God was not going to let anybody else get credit for what he was doing in my life. To me at the time it was weird until a cousin of mine confirmed what she said not knowing that I had heard this before. It was the push for me especially when times would get tough, and sales were down. But I will never forget talking to my dad about it and he would always tell me not to throw in the towel. Even though it was hard I was making money doing hair and I would take every dime and invest into my hair care line. Now I sit back and thank God so because now I see how my hard work is paying off. I can remember telling my dad how all the people I went to for help came back to me later and wanted to invest. My dad looked at me and said when you first started, they thought you were crazy and a fool but look where God has taken you. He told me to keep going don’t look back and I haven’t. Over time I have learned that when you start a business it’s not easy. I have had many trials and errors even now, but you have to keep pushing. My advice to anyone would be to trust God and move at his pace not ahead of him.

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

I manufacture my own products. Two months has turned into years of researching and studying. I remember when I first got started, I lost so much money through trial and error. It took me almost 2 years to get the formulation right for one of my products. Even to this day I still work towards making them better for my customers. I have on several occasions thought about getting a vendor to manufacture my ingredients, but I want to ensure the healthiness of my products. The thing that I have learned over the years is when you put your products in mass productions, they begin to change the ingredients and sometimes you don’t really know what it is they are using in your products. So, I choose to be hands on and on a term basis with my customers helping them understand what they are using in their hair.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.fordhamhaircare.com
• Instagram: Fordhamhaircare
• Facebook: Fordham Hair
• Linkedin: Fordham Hair Care
• Youtube: Fordham Hair Care

Image Credits
Photos By: Christopher Paschal & Geeno Mizelli