Bozoma Saint John wants no introduction, however her unbelievable accomplishments need to be rattled off. The seasoned government has held the very best advertising positions on the most influential corporations—together with PepsiCo, Apple, Uber, Endeavor, and Netflix—making an indelible influence on every model.
As her profession has soared, Saint John’s enterprise savvy has been acknowledged by essentially the most prestigious publications and establishments around the globe. In 2021, she secured the #1 spot on Forbes’ World’s Most Influential CMOs record. That very same 12 months, Harvard Enterprise Faculty printed a case research about Saint John’s achievements titled “Bozoma Saint John: Main with Authenticity and Urgency.” In 2022, she was inducted into the American Advertising Affiliation Advertising Corridor of Fame, one of many grandest recognitions for these in her business.
Two years in the past, on the peak of her company profession, Saint John determined to take a sabbatical and give attention to different soul-stirring initiatives. She completed writing a memoir, The Pressing Life: My Story of Love, Loss, and Survival, and commenced engaged on her newest endeavor, Eve by Boz. The latter—an extension and hair care model—outcomes from her lifelong affinity for switching up her look and the obtrusive gaps within the current market she observed. Forward, Saint John opens up her connection to her hair, the journey she’s been on as a magnificence founder, and what makes Eve by Boz distinctive.
Are you able to share some perception into your hair journey?
“My household moved round rather a lot throughout my childhood. We landed in Colorado Springs after I was 12, and there weren’t lots of locations to get your hair completed. Though my mom was a designer by commerce, she was additionally our hairdresser. For her, the expression of our hair was actually necessary. It will have been simple to assimilate and water down our tradition to slot in, however my Ghanaian mother and father weren’t about that. My Blackness and complete acceptance of myself had been birthed at house. I wore lengthy braids, cornrows, afro puffs, and so on as a baby. In our family, our hair, make-up, nails, and trend had been celebrated.”
Did your relationship along with your hair change as you entered the company world?
“Once I began entering into these company areas, I began feeling the strain. I used to be made to really feel like I wanted to tone it down—that I should not put on braids or coloured hair. I additionally obtained recommendation that I should not put on purple lipstick or purple nail polish. Once you hear messages like that, it seeps inside, and for me, it quieted my whole character. It was that form of suggestions that drove me completely off the ledge, although. I gave up. I simply determined to not pull my hair again anymore and to put on my purple nails and leopard shirts as a result of it feels good. If I wasn’t going to get promoted, so be it. Doing that allowed me to faucet into the fullness of myself and my creativity, and abruptly, folks needed to know what I believed was cool or fascinating.”
Was there an “aha” second that made you need to launch Eve by Boz?
“Once I began my sabbatical in February 2022 to complete writing my memoir, I believed I’d get one other CMO job elsewhere. I contemplated the wonder business as a result of I had by no means completed that earlier than. Nevertheless, I additionally began making wigs throughout that point. I by no means discovered hair with a texture, density, or lace I actually favored. Plus, while you order customized extensions or wigs, it takes eight to 10 weeks to get to you, and I am impatient. Sooner or later, my buddy was in Guangzhou, China, which is just like the capital of hair. He supplied to carry me again bundles, and whereas he was within the manufacturing unit, he gave the cellphone to somebody who labored there, and we began talking the language of hair to one another. My buddy later instructed me, ‘You understand manner an excessive amount of to not be doing one thing with hair.’ That was music to my ears, and I purchased a ticket to Guangzhou.”
Eve by Boz
What did you study whereas in Guangzhou?
“Once I went to Guangzhou final July, the biggest hair present on the earth occurred to be happening. At this occasion, hair producers from the Asia-Pacific market collect to wholesale their wigs, bundles, closures, frontals, and so on. I went there for 12 hours a day for 4 days and made so many pals. I requested one vendor, “Why is the lace at all times white?’ They stated, ‘As a result of no person requested us for the rest.’ Whereas there, I noticed it was doable to attain totally different lace colours and textures. That is what actually opened this door for me and made me need to create one thing intentional for us.”
What merchandise are you launching with?
“We now have wigs and closures in three lace colours (Chestnut, Hazelwood, and Mahogany) and bundles. Our hair is known as deliberately as a result of I really feel the present choices available on the market are named inappropriately. 80% of the customers are Black or girls of colour, so why are manufacturers utilizing phrases like ‘Burmese Curly’ or ‘Yaki Straight.’ As a marketer, I need to do my finest to vary the business, so I named my hair after individuals who embody these textures. We now have 5 textures to begin with, and our coily hair, for instance, known as Folake’s Coily Curls.”
Eve by Boz additionally features a hair care line. Why was it necessary to launch upkeep and styling merchandise as effectively?
“Once I began this journey, I believed I’d launch wigs and extensions. Then, I noticed I wanted hair look after the hair. I labored with a Black chemist, Gerri Watson, to create the hair care line and personal the formulation. I needed to create merchandise that improve the longevity of the hair and use elements from the African continent. We use shea butter, palm kernel, moringa, rosehip, and baobab. Of all of the merchandise, I’ve two crown jewels, the Hair Fragrance Oil and Goddess Paste.”
Eve by Boz
Are there different impactful touches you’ve got made to make sure Eve by Boz affords an elevated expertise?
“I needed the buying journey to really feel luxurious. Our photographs characteristic lovely fashions, and while you hover over a product, you will see a video highlighting how the hair strikes. On prime of that, our hair is packaged in a bonnet. Ghana Textiles, the nation’s oldest textile firm, made the bonnet material.”
Along with launching a magnificence model, you are becoming a member of the solid of Actual Housewives of Beverly Hills this season. Will we see some behind-the-scenes footage of your journey with Eve by Boz on the present?
“Since I am new, I’ve to determine myself first. Nearly all of this season will give attention to attending to know me personally. I am fairly open about my life on social media, however I noticed whereas filming that I do not speak a lot about my present day-to-day. Folks know my profession and previous however do not know me as a girl. So, I spent this season carving out area for this model of myself. You may catch sprinkles of my transition into entrepreneurship, although.”
What influence do you hope Eve by Boz makes on the business?
“I did not take a greenback from anybody to construct this model. I put my cash into this enterprise and each little bit of inventory I received from the businesses I’ve labored at as a result of I imagine in Eve by Boz. So, sure, I would like this enterprise to achieve success, however greater than that, I would like folks to acknowledge our purchasing energy issues. I’ll present the world that it is doable to construct an empire with Black girls on the heart.”