We recently connected with Vanessa Faddoul and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Vanessa thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?
I discovered yoga later in life and fell in love with it. The practice of yoga improved my physical well being and more importantly, the principles of yoga broadened and enriched me on a personal and emotional level. Naturally, yoga became a very important part of my daily life, but it was beginning to take a toll on my thick and curly hair. I did not want to choose my hair over my yoga practice. I wanted to be able to practice everyday and not worry about having to wash my hair every time I stepped on my mat. I needed to be able to prep my hair in such a way that extended the life of my curls between washes.
That was the beginning of Ahimsa, marrying a need for haircare with the first Yama, or principle, of yoga, ahimsa meaning do no harm. A line of hair care products that I could use pre and post my yoga practice that was gentle enough for me to use daily, safe for my curls and my color, I created formulas with ingredients that were derived from nature, safe, effective and healthy for hair. Formulas and ingredients had to be vegan and cruelty free. I also looked to packaging that limits harm and avoided plastics in favor of recyclable aluminum. A line of products healthy for hair, free of bad chemicals with minimal impact on people, animals or the environment.
Ahimsa is born of the passion to bring to life the tranquility and balance of yoga through products that elevate the beauty experience for mind and body.
Vanessa, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
Starting a business, especially in beauty, was never on my radar growing up. I studied law and became an attorney, but I chose to put my legal career on hold and focus on family. Some 12 years later, I am embarking on a different career, as a business owner with my husband who has worked in beauty for over 20 years. Through our collaboration we created a unique concept in hair care that unites yoga and overall wellness with friendliness to animals and the planet. From this Ahimsa was born.
During my time as a stay at home mom, I discovered yoga and immediately fell in love. I devoted my time to learn all that I could about the practice and philosophy; the ancient texts resonated with me. Ahimsa means to do no harm and is the first of the 8 limbs of yoga philosophy, therefore, it was the perfect name for our products.
Why yoga and hair? I noticed that my intense yoga practice was taking a toll on my thick, curly hair. I am of Puerto Rican decent and my curls have a unique texture that requires gentle care. I could not wash my hair daily but I did not want to choose between doing yoga or maintaining my hair in good condition. Ahimsa was the way to balance my passion for yoga and the health of my hair. My goal was to create a line of products for when you work out that were gentle enough for every day use, safe (free of sulfates, parabens, etc) and healthy but also inline with the concept of no harm, being vegan, cruelty free and good for the earth.
Creating a brand, name and logo came quickly but it was challenging to make that come to life. First, finding a lab to work with a small company was not easy. Once we found the right lab, It took time and lots of samples to formulate new products using strict rules about ingredients and performance that honored our mission. Finding the right packaging that was environmentally friendly during a supply chain crisis was also very stressful. When we finalized the formula and packaging, we were ecstatic and eager to bringing our idea before the world.
We have solved the problem of haircare for those who enjoy yoga and fitness in general. Exercise can damage hair, both from sweat and friction, so creating natural, safe, clean and effective products that are still gentle and can be used by everyone has been very satisfying. Incorporating the standard of ahimsa or no harm has added to our unique brand story and position.
Do you sell on your site, or do you use a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc?
We have decided to exclusively work on our own e-commerce platform. Using our own platform affords us the ability to completely control the brand image and story. We control the images, colors, fonts and content on our pages. It is the best avenue to tell our story completely. That is something not possible on third party sites. The other issue with third party sites is margin. Those sites take quite a bite of the profits you get to keep when working on your own site. The biggest upside is of course traffic. Those third party sites have millions of eyeballs and that is something no individual brand site could ever duplicate. To start we found it best to control and establish our brand and story, build our identity and integrity before a potential move to other platforms in the future.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
The key to building an audience is patience and authenticity. The first followers will be family and friends, an easy audience to begin gaining some traction, but it takes quite some time to build beyond that initial phase. Buying followers is not part of our budget nor our ethos, so we have worked to build our following organically. One of the best ways is to reach out to like minded individuals and companies to tap into their audience by sponsoring contests around yoga and doing giveaways. We are still small but growing weekly.
To get people to not only follow but engage, we need to be true to our brand and consumers. Feature content that not only focuses on the products being sold, but also adds value to their experience. Maybe that is Tips on using the products, lifestyle related content (in our case about yoga) or even something just for fun. In all People want to see and learn about the people behind the brand and what it is about.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.ahimsahaircare.com
- Instagram: @ahimsahaircare
- Facebook: @ahimsahaircare
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ahimsa-haircare
- Other: Pinterest – ahimsahaircare
Image Credits
founder images – Julia Fox product images – Amy Hobbs