Ouidad hair products: Ouidad Wise

How I Built This · 8 Jul 2024 · 1h 04m

What this episode covers

Ouidad Wise, co-founder of the Ouidad curly hair care brand, explains how she turned a personal struggle with managing tight curls into a multi-million dollar business alongside her husband Peter. Starting with a specialized salon in New York City, they identified a gap in the market for curly hair products, leading to a direct-to-consumer mail-order line and later retail expansion with the help of private equity firms like JH Partners. Wise details the operational challenges of scaling production, the emotional toll of balancing family life with a 16-year long-distance commute, and her eventual sale of the company in 2018.

Mentioned

Companies
Condé Nast, L'Oreal, Chanel, Mac, Bumble and Bumble, Unilever, JH Partners, Ulta, Sephora, Hearst
Products
Ouidad, Climate Control Collection, Garnier

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