The founders of CurlMix have taken the phrase “know your worth” to a whole new level! Tim and Kim Lewis launched CurlMix in 2015 as a do-it-yourself (DIY) subscription box but in order to improve sales, they pivoted the concept into a haircare line that has been thriving ever since. “ CurlMix was birthed from our first business as a DIY box for curly hair, so think like Blue Apron, but for hair,” said Kim in an exclusive interview with AfroTech. “We were sending people raw materials to make their own kits or products at home and one box emerged from all 24 that we produced and that was our flaxseed gel.” After customers loved the box, the Chicago couple shifted their entire business to focus on their flaxseed gel noting that customers weren’t able to get the product in stores because most brands would never consider making real flaxseed gel because of the way that it is produced is like cooking. “You have to boil real flaxseeds and then extract the gel,” Kim explained. “Then you...
These entrepreneurs are reaping all the benefits from having turned down an offer during an appearance on “Shark Tank.” Kim and Tim Lewis are the founders of CurlMix, a haircare line geared toward all textures of our tresses! AfroTech previously reported that while on “Shark Tank” the couple turned down a $400,000 offer. Now they’re slated to make history in the equity crowdfunding space having already raised over $3.6 million within 30 days of launching their campaign, per Black Enterprise. To date over 6,000 investors have tapped into their campaign powered by Wefunder. “Anytime you have a community backing you and they are hype about [your brand], what you are doing will be successful,” said Tim during an interview with Black Enterprise. “I don’t have rich people [involved] who put in half a million dollars. About 90% of our investors have contributed less than $1,000 so it really is the people that are driving this campaign.” In just four hours of launching the campaign, the...
Black-owned parent company Listener Brands — which is home to award-winning textured hair care brands CurlMix and 4C ONLY — has just announced the launch of its new equity crowdfunding campaign for CurlMix to aid consumers in unlocking their chance to achieve generational wealth. The brand shares that the campaign aims to empower consumers to invest in the brands they already shop with and also contribute to Listener Brands’ future growth as they make noise in the beauty and wellness spaces. “Many of us spend years supporting companies with our hard-earned dollars, but we see nothing for it when the brand eventually sells, transferring the wealth outside of our community,” Listener Brands CEO and Co-Founder, Kim Lewis, shares in a press statement. “Our goal is to create opportunities for our community to increase their wealth. Our vision is to change the narrative on what ownership looks like. We aim to become the first Black-owned publicly traded beauty conglomerate.” As told to...
CurlMix founders Kim and Tim Lewis aren’t newbies to the startup game. Founded in 2015, CurlMix started as a do-it-yourself (DIY) subscription box, then later turned into a natural hair care line featuring their then best-selling product, Pure Flaxseed Gel. “I was seven months pregnant at the time, in my kitchen working on a recipe for flaxseed gel,” Kim said. The founder revamped CurlMix into a brand that natural hair care customers would see as a necessity instead of a one-time DIY project. “We were getting ready to close the business because we didn’t really grow in our second year,” Kim said. After consulting their advisor, Kim and Tim decided to bottle their best-selling subscription box and launch it to customers via pre-order. Within hours of announcing the release of the new and improved product, the company’s sales exceeded the success it had seen in its two years since launch. “I figured out how to make a batch of 60, but I was like, ‘I’m not going to make a batch and then...