- 13 hours ago
On this episode of Shop Essence Live in partnership with New Voices Family, we interview Philomina Kane, also known as NaturallyPhilo, founder of Kin Apparel. She created KIN Apparel to make functional and inclusive clothing and accessories with an emphasis on haircare. Watch the episode as we hear about her experience on Shark Tank where they won over an investment by the first Black Female investor on Shark Tank, Emma Grede.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00Welcome to another episode of Shop Essence Live. My name is Noni. I am Vice President of Branded
00:06Content and Video here at Essence and you know the drill. Usually we're live every Thursday night
00:11but yesterday we're all gathering with our family giving thanks over some good mac and cheese and
00:17yams. I hope that is the case. So today we have a very special episode. We're going live on Black
00:23Friday and we have a deal for y'all. So I'm giving you a little preview to what we're bringing you
00:29today by Kin Apparel. We're going to be joined by Philomena and this is not a regular hoodie, right?
00:35It's the holiday season. We're looking for gifts. Look at the lining of this natural hair. Girls and
00:42guys, we know the struggle of having hats and headgear going into the winter. That's good for
00:48our hair. So we're going to be giving you some incredible styles from Kin Apparel. So Philomena,
00:55I see that you have requested to go live with me. Hold on, I'm bringing you because we got a treat
01:02and make sure when you shop here at Shop Essence Live, you are contributing and buying directly
01:08from these incredible brands. Philomena!
01:13Hey!
01:15Hey, I'm so excited we made it because I was like, let me check in front of my doorstep one more time
01:21and see if it got here. And it did. And when I tell you, oh my gosh, the luxury. First of all,
01:26look at the look of it.
01:27Okay, let them know. Because the fashion is not even the only amazing part. How about the feel,
01:35too? Talk about the feel.
01:36The feel is just, it's just luxury. But then it's also fashion. But then it's also function.
01:43Like, only Black women will do this. So Philomena, before we get into these incredible products,
01:49tell us about your story and how you got started with this incredible line.
01:55Yes. So this goes back to college. I was a college freshman in 2014. My hair was falling out because
02:03I was stressed and not taking care of it. And mainly because back home in the Bronx, my family is filled
02:09with hairstylists. They used to do my hair all the time. And at the time, my hair was relaxed.
02:15So I go to college and it costs like $100 to get a perm. And I'm like, okay, I don't got this type
02:21of money. So then I told my friend, I used to play rugby. I told my friend on the rugby team.
02:25Isn't it rugby?
02:26Thank you. I told her, just cut my hair. So she cut it all off. And I had like this much new growth.
02:33Yeah.
02:33So I had a little teeny weeny afro. It was so cute. And at that point, I just fell in love with natural hair care.
02:39Like I was obsessed. I was reading about it, became a product junkie. And that's really what
02:45started the whole thing. When I played rugby, we oftentimes wore hoodies in the cold. And I always
02:52found that I would put like a scarf on before putting my hood on, if it even fit my head.
02:57Right.
02:57So it was an afterthought. I was like, you know what? One day I'm going to create satin line
03:02hoodies. And I just like forgot about it. But then in 2018, at the end of 2018, I got the opportunity
03:09to create satin line hoodies. Because at the time, I had a really thriving YouTube channel
03:14where I did natural hair videos. And an agency partnered with me to make my first satin line
03:20hoodie for my audience. So that's really how it started. 2018, it was merch for my audience.
03:27And now it's a full business.
03:29Wow.
03:29It's a full business.
03:30And speaking of full business, before we get into your first product, Essence here at Essence,
03:36we're always reporting on greatness in Black women. And there was the first Black woman
03:41on Shark Tank. And you had an incredible experience on that. Can you tell us a little bit about what
03:47happened when you appeared on Shark Tank?
03:49Yes. So last October, we just celebrated a whole year. But last October, I was on Shark Tank
03:56with my brand, Ken Apparel. We were able to snag Emma Greed, who is the CEO of Good American
04:03and founding partner of Skims. So she is our investor. So that was awesome. It was literally
04:11like the one of the biggest moments of my life. Like it changed Ken Apparel. The exposure
04:18was amazing. And I would do it again if I was asked to.
04:22Wow. So this is the real deal, y'all. Because that woman is a smart woman. She didn't get
04:27to where she was by not being so. So I'd love to. And just a reminder, this is the Black
04:33Friday special of Shop Essence Live. And you know, with Black Friday comes discounts. Can
04:39you tell us a little bit when people buy from you today? What is the discount you're giving
04:43Shop Essence Live viewers?
04:44Yes, y'all. So today we are up to 50% off on the site.
04:5150%?
04:53Up to, up to. Let me explain that a little bit.
04:55Okay, okay, okay, okay. Let me not jump off the bridge. All right, all right.
04:57It means one of our collections is 50% off, which are our thin, colorful, summer slash spring
05:05satin line hoodies. But the one that you're wearing right now is our thick hoodie. So the
05:10thick hoodies are 25% off. And we call them thick because the inside is lined with blanket
05:18like material. So once you put it on, like it just feels so good on your skin. Yes, it's
05:26like a fluffy blanket. All right. And then like a little teddy bear.
05:31Exactly. Of course, you got the big satin line hood too. But I want to talk a little bit
05:36about the hood though. So as you can see, the hood is huge, right? One thing I had a
05:42problem was like my, I have a big head and I have big hair. Hoods never fit my head. Like
05:50imagine we always used to buy hoodies. They never fit our head. So we made sure that these
05:57hoods are actually big enough to fit your hair. So I know your hair is pulled back right
06:01now. But like my hair is out, right? Right. Let me put it in. Oh, by the way, this is the
06:06Kent, this is Kente set. Oh God. Go to their site for the full line, y'all. They got a lot
06:12of products. So as you can see, it fits all my hair. So great.
06:19Woo! Come on. So right now I'm wearing the Kente crop hoodie. So this is the black Kente
06:27state crop hoodie and it comes in a full set. So let me, can y'all see me?
06:32Yes. Okay. So as you can see, it's a full set. All right. It comes with the joggers and
06:39then you got the hoodie too. It's a crop. So you can get your family members and yourself
06:45full sets. Okay. Oh, hold on, hold on, hold on. The pockets are sat in line too.
06:53We doing luxury over here. Okay. Come on now. Yes. It's a do-rag and a hood all in one.
07:00Yup. And I took my hair out and as you can see, still looks good.
07:03Still look, still smooth, still smooth. Thank you. Thank you. I love it. All right. So you
07:10have a couple of more things and remember shop essence live. This is live. So if you're
07:15watching live right now, you can ask any questions that you want. Please do ask your questions.
07:20If you're watching on the replay, remember you go to the site right now. We are trying to
07:25fill our Christmas tree with nothing but black owned products. And this is great for the
07:29whole entire family. Yes. I'm seeing some questions right now. Yes, we do have stuff
07:35for kids. If you go to the website and you search kids, you see some stuff come up. A
07:41lot of it is sold out, but we are dropping new kids hoodies on December 9th.
07:47That is such a great point. As a black mom, you know, when we take those back to school
07:52photos and we send them off to school and we got their hair looking a certain way, you
07:57put the hat on and then they come home and it's like, what happened here?
07:59Yes. Noni, you mentioned that we have other products. So yes, we don't only sell hoodies. Did
08:09you get the beanies too? Did I? Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Did I? Yo, you too happy. I love it. I love the excitement.
08:25This is nice. And it's also big. Completely sat in line. And the satin is beautiful. Like,
08:34oh my goodness. This satin ain't like, you know, there's levels to satin. There's different types
08:39of satin. And you're going to see that this one in our bean. Okay. Smooth, luxurious, quality. We don't play.
08:47So yes, we have a variety, a variety of satin line beanies on the site too. So you can shop
08:56online. You can also go to our Instagram or our website, KenApparel.com. But one beanie that I
09:03did want to show is our puff beanie. Did I say do that? Oh, the puff beanie. Wait. Okay. This has been
09:12the problem. Natural hair girls, when it's cold outside and you want to wear your hair natural,
09:17but you got to keep your head warm, whether it's out or in a puff. She got you covered.
09:23Yo. So let me, let me put my hair up and show how it's done. I got a puff, but let me,
09:29let me make a puff real quick. Go ahead. Remember guys, this is Stop Essence Live Black Friday
09:38special, bringing you these incredible black owned companies. Today we are here with Ken Apparel,
09:44hooking us up. Look at this puff bean. Look at this. I don't got my F road today, but
09:51all satin line. What? Okay. I just put it on.
09:57All right. Y'all see it? Yes. All right. Super cute for my people who want to wear their puff,
10:11but also protect their ears, keep their ears warm, their head warm, like legit. We got you.
10:19We sell everything. Okay. And today our beanies are 20% off. So this is usually 25.
10:27It's 20 today. So make sure you snag your puff beanies, your regular beanies. We have other ones
10:33too. Your thick hoodies, your crop hoodies. Man. All right. We did not come to play.
10:41So fly and taking care of in these cold winter months that are upon us. It's cold right now.
10:47All right. So you want to make sure you guys are, I see you adding it to the cart. I see you adding
10:53it to the wishlist. Reminder, when you shop at Essence, shop Essence Live, this is going straight
10:57to Philomena over there and her business and helping expand her business. We love this mission. Weekly,
11:03we are live with black owned businesses, bringing you these incredible products. Not only are they great,
11:09but they're made for us by us. Like who else is taking care of our edges? Like Philomena,
11:13getting apparel. And we're not only taking care of your hair, we're also keeping you
11:19comfy. It's so comfortable and calming. So people, I know some people shop with us, not just for hair
11:26care, but also like sensory issues too. So, hey, it's beautiful. It's comfortable. It's going to keep
11:34you warm and protected. Wait a minute. When you say sensory issues, I'm sensories. What I just realized
11:43with this amazing thick hoodie that is on sale right now, you get 25% off if you're watching live
11:50on the replay, go to their website. I put my hand in this little pouch and it's furry on the inside.
11:56Yeah. Guys, this is just too, too incredible. It's too good. And they have so much more than
12:06what we've talked about today on their site. Make sure that you follow them, Ken Apparel underscore,
12:11and go look at their full, full site. Philomena, before I let you go, you're a part of the New Voices
12:17family. This show is done in partnership with our New Voices Foundation. Can you talk a little bit about
12:24the benefits of what it's been like being a part of such a great community?
12:27Yes. So I recently became part of the New Voices family through being accepted into the PACE program.
12:37It's an annual boot camp. It's like a six week boot camp, teaching me all the ropes of
12:43entrepreneurship, just making me a better business owner and entrepreneur. I'm incredibly grateful
12:50because every session, we have three sessions a week. Every session, I'm learning something new,
12:55writing it down. It's going to better my business, grow it, and scale it. So big ups,
13:01New Voices. Thank you so much for the opportunity.
13:03So great. So if you guys, if you're watching live or on the replay and you're a small Black-owned
13:08business, make sure you give yourself a shot. Go follow at New Voices Family. Click the link in the
13:14bio. They're in the comments right now telling you how you can become a part of this great community.
13:19I've seen it before. People in the comments, they join in and I'm talking to them weeks later up in
13:23your products, which I absolutely is one of my favorite things to do in the universe. I do see
13:29some questions still coming in. When are you going to release things for men? But I believe your
13:33products are all unisex, no? Yes. And my friend, my friend performance in the comments. Thank you.
13:38She's yeah, she's like, let them know. Love you. But yeah, they're unisex y'all. So the crop hoodies,
13:45the crop hoodies are female sizing. It's the only hoodie that we sell that are female sizing.
13:50Everything else is unisex. So the beanies, the thick hoodies, the thin hoodies,
13:54and the joggers too. They're all unisex. It's so great. And you want to talk a little bit about
13:59the different colors you have available and what we've talked about today. Oh, we got every color.
14:05Y'all, I urge you to go to the site because go to our Instagram and click the link in bio or
14:13google kinapparel.com. We have literally every color. So great. You can have the whole family
14:22just fitted from top to bottom, taking care of their hair, getting them comfortable. These hoodies,
14:28they feel like, you know, getting, hugging a teddy bear from the inside out. It's so incredible.
14:33Also, can we take the hood off so we can see that your hair is still intact?
14:38I want y'all to see. Okay. And I've been dancing around like a fool this whole entire time. And yet,
14:44we're still intact. So for the skeptics, satin does help. Satin helps. Can you talk a little
14:51bit about the benefits of having your hair natural and wearing hoodies and beanies and your
15:00your puff thing that has satin and what could potentially happen if you wear those harsh
15:05wools against your natural hair? Yes. Let me let me bring in the science. Okay. So traditional
15:14hoodies are made with cotton, right? And cotton is a very rough material. When two surfaces collide,
15:21they want to move together in a sliding motion. But you have this opposing force called friction
15:26that is acting against it. So imagine like a very rough material cotton coming in contact with your hair.
15:34It's not sliding well enough. So what it leads to is breakage, dryness, frizz, and cotton sucks the
15:43moisture out of your hair. And dry hair breaks, right? That's a fact. So what we do is we line
15:51everything with satin, right? And satin is a smooth, soft material that when it comes in contact with your
15:58hair, it's not gonna act against it, right? So you're the moisture in your hair stays intact. Your hair
16:06is frizz free, and it's not going to dry out. Okay.
16:13Yeah, so that's Kim Apparel.
16:16Sounds ingenious nemesis. It is ingenious. Okay, scientists, we see it. Okay, you have been so
16:23incredible. And I know you guys definitely follow Kim Apparel underscore, get the full array of their
16:30products. Philomena, there are a lot of entrepreneurs that watch this show as well as consumers.
16:36If you have to give them one piece of advice to keep going to follow their dreams, if they have a
16:40great idea, they're sitting on it, they're like, ah, I see other people do it, but it couldn't be me.
16:45What would you tell them? Yeah, I think, well, it's very easy to say, do it now. It's very cliche,
16:54but it is true, like start now. Because for every idea that you have, literally, there's other people
17:00thinking of the same idea, and they might be first to market before you, right? But I also want to say
17:06that a quote that keeps me going, one time I sat in a panel, not a panel, I was in the audience,
17:13and one of the panelists said, don't go through life trying to prove people wrong, go through life
17:20trying to prove the people that believe in you, right? So, so maybe both both statements can lead
17:27to the same outcome. But it's how you get there that matters. So in one is a very pessimistic view,
17:35right? It's like, I'm gonna do this to prove you want, but it's like, nah, you don't gotta do that.
17:39There are people that support you that love you. I have the kinfolk behind me, my friends, my family.
17:46So all of these, all of this support just makes me have a positive outlook on everything I do.
17:52So when I see the reviews coming in, when people, you know, say all these great things, I'm like,
17:57yes, let me keep going. Let me keep going. Because there's people that really support me out there.
18:02So that's, that's really the energy that keeps me going too.
18:07That is so incredible. And when you think about that, what's the thing that's going to keep you
18:12from not quitting? You don't want to let the people down that have always been there for you. If you
18:16lead with, oh, you know, I'm going to prove the haters wrong, one day you're going to be like, oh,
18:20maybe they're right and let me quit. So I love looking at it from a positive angle.
18:25Philomena, incredible. Remember, Shop Essence Live, we have kinapparel underscore with us right now,
18:33giving you up to 50% off on all of their products. Go to their site. This hoodie that I'm wearing right
18:39now, it's got fur on the inside, y'all. So I might live in this for the whole winter.
18:46So incredible, up to 25% off right now on this hoodie. Make sure you go and check out their full
18:52list of products. Thank you so much for watching us live. Thank you so much for watching us on the
18:56replay. Philomena, thank you so much for creating this for us and our edges and our cut and our curls.
19:03You are incredible. Get this under your tree, the whole family. There's something for everybody.
19:08And we'll see you guys again next week, next Thursday at 6 30 p.m. for Shop Essence Five.
19:13Yes. Thanks for having me. And thank you so much for this opportunity. I love y'all.
19:18Bye.
19:19Bye.
19:19Bye.
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