Mahisha Dellinger is the founder & CEO of Curls, an iconic brand founded in 2002 with a vision to be the leading provider of healthy hair care solutions for the entire natural family. Mahisha discusses her journey to taking control of her own career path and finances, her intentionality, and the “why” behind her drive. Leading with that same intention, Dellinger founded an MBA style program, Black Women Making Millions Academy, that is set to help 25,000 businesses with over $450 million dollars’ worth of free resources.

 

Mahisha leaves us with several key learnings:

“Entrepreneurship is not for the weak of heart. You have to fight through the worst rejections possible, so many heartbreaks. It takes a special person.”

“Have some sort of council that can help you. Because investors are not going to come in with their highest. It’s up to you to know what your value is or EBITDA.”

On allyship & entering retail at Target: “I owe [Linda Sullivan] a great deal of support, acknowledgement, and gratitude. She took her chance on us when everyone else didn’t.”

“I see a different piece of me in all of [my children].”

“I had to be intentional about every single penny because it was coming out of the bottom line.”

 

Mahisha’s Word of 2023: Grace

 

Bio: Mahisha Dellinger's mantra is simple. Curly hair should be healthy, frizz-free, defined, and effortlessly fabulous. Consequently, as a beauty advocate and product innovator, Dellinger worked passionately to produce an award winning line of organic hair care products for women and girls with natural waves, curls and kinks. Frustrated with the lack of effective products for her newly natural, curly hair, Dellinger left her post as Marketing Manager at Intel Corporation to pursue her passion in giving consumers of naturally curly hair effective and eco-conscious products that are natural and safe for all ages to use. In 2002 Dellinger pioneered the newly natural market when she launched CURLS, a family of organic hair care products targeted for women embracing their natural textures ... a market previously unanswered by the beauty industry.

 

Dellinger's astute business acumen and natural talent for delivering market driven products gave way for an instant demand for her product line. Soon thereafter CURLS was available all over the United States, Canada, Brazil, Africa and the UK. As Chief Executive Officer and Founder of CURLS, Dellinger singlehandedly built a strong demand for her popular family of organic products. Soon Target, Sally Beauty, Rite Aid, Walgreens, Wal-Mart and CVS came knocking at her door. CURLS has been featured in a host of beauty publications including lnStyle, Essence, Glamour, Ebony, People, O Magazine, Shape, 

 

Cosmo,Vogue, Redbook, Seventeen, Forbes, Black Enterprise, Elle, Modern Salon, Woman's World, Parents, and a host of other hair and salon trade publications. 

 

The retail success and exposure of the CURLS brand has catapulted the business forward. Dellinger is a sought after industry expert.  She was appointed a Small Business Advisor for FORBES and is an official member their Business Council.  Entrepreneur named her 1 of 100 Powerful Women in the US. She served as a panel expert and keynote speaker for organizations across the nation including Black Enterprise Women of Power & their Vision 20/20 Entrepreneur Conference, Essence Fest, Fast Money, Entrepreneur Magazine.  Dellinger was the keynote speaker at her alumni school, California State University Sacramento's ""Make Your Mark"" conference sponsored by Target and Bishop TD Jake’s Woman Thou Art Loosed Conference & was invited back to speak at Jake’s MegaFest conference, to name a few. Dellinger has also been featured on several television shows throughout the nation. 

Dellinger is the star of “Mind Your Business with Mahisha” on OWN, Oprah Winfrey’s television network, as the expert helping other women based businesses reach the million -dollar mark.     

Follow @mahisha_dellinger and @curls or visit https://curls.com/!!

 

“The growth has been going on, but to say that you’ve made it…there’s always more to be done, there’s always more to do.”

 

Tune in to learn more from Kendra and Mahisha!

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