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00:00hello and welcome to essence's virtual entrepreneur summit um welcome back if you were joining us
00:27early this morning my name is shawa evans i'm the associate beauty editor here at essence
00:32and i have the pleasure today of speaking with simone jordan the global head of community
00:38commerce at sundial brands a unilever company and the maker of shea moisture amongst other brands
00:45and she's going to be speaking with us today about an initiative that they have going on that
00:49really truly truly gets to the heart of how larger businesses and larger brands can really support
00:55these smaller businesses in times like today simone jordan oversees the company's corporate
01:00social responsibility strategy and advises executive leadership on long strategy and creating
01:06sustainable impact simone leads her team in designing community-driven programs particularly
01:13focused on women's entrepreneurship education and empowerment welcome welcome simone
01:19hello hi thank you for having me here yes hello it's such a pleasure how are you right now that's
01:30i'm doing good to ask that yeah i am doing good i think that's an important question right uh yeah i'm
01:37doing good everything's been good we've been doing something exciting and powerful work so i can't
01:42complain at all wonderful well let's dive right in um because you guys have some really wonderful
01:49initiatives happening right now and i've always known shea moisture to be a brand that has been
01:55about supporting the community uplifting the community and giving back through scholarship funds
02:00fellowship funds um even through your fair trade program so tell us a little bit more about what you're
02:06doing right now and how this is different and how this is special just given the times that we're in
02:13yeah so shea moisture has always been a purpose-driven brand um you know we start the dennis family i think
02:21it's right to shout out uh rich lou dennis and his family when they started you know we have to um so
02:28when we started the brand it was about giving back it was about meeting an unmet and underserved need
02:35and we're continuing to evolve that purpose so originally you know when they thought about um creating
02:40shea moisture it was about treating the woman of color black women with textured hair really
02:47understanding their needs and seeing what in beauty um could be provided in products and natural products
02:53that were good for you and we've seen it evolve now that we still need to keep the needs of women of
02:59color black women at the forefront of our business and we're seeing now that that unmet need is in
03:04financing it's in how you know as a business they're not getting the resources that they need so
03:10this has always been core um and true to our brand and we're continuing to live with that purpose and so
03:16for us yes we've always had programs that existed around our supply chain um our shea butter is sorts from
03:22africa from the women in ghana i'm the beautiful women in ghana and you know the motherland and so uh you
03:30know we've been empowering them there to get fair and unfair wages to really think them think of
03:34themselves as entrepreneurs as business women and then we have programs in the u.s with our partners
03:41like dartmouth college um where we send women of color entrepreneurs to get education um because we know
03:47it's about funding but it's also about having education pairing the two together so that you can
03:52really optimize that funding that you're receiving and so it only made sense that we created this one
03:57million dollar relief fund you know it's a bit different from what we've done because we are not
04:02we're not a fund um you know and what we decided at this time is this was beyond just programs while
04:09we're still going to be true to programs making sure that we have programs that have education and gives
04:15women of color access to mentor and coaching um it is about that financial relief because there's not
04:21enough of it for small businesses right now right was there anything specific that you were
04:27seeing right now with this you know covet 19 pandemic that the businesses were in need of
04:34they weren't getting that they weren't seeing happening yep money so i think you know they've been
04:44money so they've been locked out of a lot of loan assistance programs right and as more banks these
04:51programs are you know the the funding the loans they're coming from banks where they haven't had
04:57success before and so when this time is very critical you know and this is a group of people
05:03who are resilient small minority businesses women of color businesses we know they have historically
05:08withstood a lot of different shutdowns and not having funding but this is critical and what we saw
05:15um which we see all the time is that these businesses are not stopping just because they don't have the
05:20funding they're still showing up they're still using a little bit of funding that they have not only just
05:25to protect their families um not just to you know keep employees in business um and make sure that they are
05:32paid but to really support their community so they're pivoting the way that they do business they're
05:38showing up they're showing up at doors you know at the houses of their community members and really saying
05:44how can we give you food how can we be of service to you and that's without funding so what we've seen
05:49um just really stressed that right now if those businesses were to go away if they didn't have the
05:56critical funding that they needed it leaves not just businesses um in a point of devastation but it
06:02leaves communities of color also to be devastated that's interesting you say that because as you're
06:10saying that i'm thinking back at that's kind of always been the model black women have done that
06:15ever since madam cj walker you know we take our products we go door to door we find it and we keep
06:22it in the community though we make it very rooted in community there's so many brands that started in
06:27their kitchen um you know a hundred dollars and now they're worth a hundred million dollars so um it's
06:33truly amazing it really shows um our fight and right now i think a lot of these brands were probably
06:41looking to the state and federal initiatives to support them because it was put out there right
06:47hey guys got this money for small businesses you can get a piece this is how um but we're finding that
06:53a lot of black businesses are being shut out of that so what does this one million dollar fund really
06:58do for them and how does it reach those businesses specifically where they're not getting that
07:03support federally or on the state level so i think it does two very important things um the first
07:11one again is give them access to funding um so that they can keep their doors open so that they can
07:16keep employees on staff um and you know we we've had two programs within the fund that we kicked off
07:23the fund with these two programs one in partnership with we buy black um and we were we we created with
07:30them co-created a black relief fund for uh black owned businesses which are critically in need of
07:37support right now and then we had another uh award for unsung businesses those that are using their
07:44businesses and doing something that is really supporting their communities through this time um even
07:49without funding and so we recently have gone through the applications which have all been very moving
07:56because i think what people are not actually seeing um from the news is that not only are black people
08:04you know disproportionately impacted with the virus but they're twice hit so there were businesses who
08:09said they had to shut down because they had to take care of their families family members who actually
08:15you know were struck with covet and so they're paying medical bills they're do you know they're
08:20they're having to be twice hit by this one um pandemic and so that's really important to note is
08:27that these aren't just businesses these are people and these are family-owned businesses and these are
08:32black-owned businesses that are dealing with the disproportionate health crisis but then also dealing
08:37with not having funding so i think it's just really critical to note that because that's what i was
08:42seeing through these applications and when we had a call with businesses um last night it was such an
08:48honor and privilege to talk to some black-owned businesses and knowing that they would receive
08:53you know relief they said that this was the glimpse of hope that they needed and that was emotional for
08:59me because they said they felt like you know they they were just shooting in the dark they were locked
09:03out of other loan programs they haven't heard about anyone else supporting them and then shea
09:08moisture came through with this funding for them and they felt like you know what everything's
09:12going to be okay and that's a small amount of funding and they still said everything's going
09:17to be okay and i think that's just realizing the strength of our businesses to see something
09:21that is like five thousand dollars and realizes that they can keep going so it's been really important
09:28um to really highlight that this is a community that needs it when you close down a business you're
09:33shutting down critical services to those that they serve yeah and i think the biggest thing too is that
09:41it's that there's that trickle down right and i sort of saw that with sephora they had those massive
09:47layoffs and the the employees these were part-time and seasonal employees they took to twitter they
09:53went off you know but um it's it's kind of that understanding right that it's a larger community that's
10:00at stake here um and i think that when we saw that happen my first thought was oh my goodness this is
10:07these are scary times because when you have big brands like sephora uh laying off that many
10:12employees and brands furloughing employees then you think well what's going to happen with our brands
10:18you know because they are so much smaller and i can imagine that a lot of the brands as well were
10:22sort of scrambling and kind of wondering what they would do as well yeah and i think that's really
10:29um insightful is that you see big businesses that are furloughing and laying employees off and so if
10:36they're having to do that then what is the state of small minority businesses and you know i can't
10:41emphasize enough that you know some of the bigger businesses maybe they've never gone through something
10:47that's critical to their business that has you know hit their business so hard but small minority
10:52businesses women of color entrepreneurs they've had this happen to them and historically over and over
10:59over time and so i think it's to you know it's to really understand that like if big businesses have
11:06to do this then where does that leave a really small businesses and then pay attention to what they're
11:11doing a lot of them as owners are saying we're not even going to get paid we're just going to make
11:16sure that we pay our employees and this is coming from a small business others are saying how do we pivot
11:22how do we ensure that you know if we are bringing money in through loan assistance through donations
11:28whatever it is that they're keeping their employees first so i think there's a lot that you know big
11:32businesses can learn by looking at what small businesses are doing and putting their employees
11:38putting their families and putting people first
11:42it's i love that you said that um you know my friends and i we always joke we say if you want to
11:47learn how to turn something into nothing nothing into something talk to a bunch of black women
11:54you know that's our jam that's what we do
12:00so um from a brand perspective we've been seeing a lot of um social media and how that's sort of
12:07played a role has that been and and sometimes we can get social media wary especially right now when
12:12everyone's on and everyone's live and everyone's got a tutorial
12:16um but has that been more helpful than hurtful for from a brand perspective and kind of connecting
12:22people but also getting the word out it's been amazing um because not only you know i'll talk
12:29about what shade moisture is doing but i do want to shout out those businesses that were providing therapy
12:34that were providing fitness um things that our community need for their mental health and their
12:39physical health they've converted their services to online services so it's critical that they
12:46become accessible and social media has helped these online platforms have helped um even with essence
12:51studios like this is amazing you're connecting people still without being in physical spaces and
12:56these conversations are critical so we really have to understand and appreciate how technology is really
13:02serving specifically our communities that still need access to a lot of the services that you know that
13:08existed uh you know offline and so with shea moisture we built this brand on the voices and interactions
13:16with our communities so it's been critical that we stay on our platforms like they talk to us they tell us
13:23what to do um and so it's been important as we're building out this really fun um you know that we're still
13:30hearing the voices of our community that they still can use our platforms to connect to each other
13:34um that they don't feel abandoned by the brand so social media has really helped and i have to shout
13:40out you know some of the social media influencers that we've you know engaged with for the relief fund
13:46they've been phenomenal and we made a very conscious choice to work with partners and work with
13:52influencers who are you know also business owners have already been trying to figure out how they can
13:58impact their communities and so they're using their platforms to raise awareness about the fund and
14:04you know the resources that shea moisture has so i really want to thank all of them too you know
14:08some of them angela ye um yandy smith miss tina mr richard lawson um they've all been really critical
14:15to ensuring that we as a business are reaching beyond just our platforms but to all communities of
14:22color that are following them and you know we could be of service too so yes shout out to those who are
14:27pivoting their businesses and figuring out how not to be shut out by your doors closing but instead
14:33using social media to continue um to reach those who need you shout out indeed yes yes and now if i'm
14:41a small business what do i have to do i i want to be a part of this fund um what are kind of the steps
14:47that i need to take yes so um opportunities again we started we kicked off the fund um and had an
14:55application process for unsung businesses and black owned businesses that application is closed right now
15:03but opportunities are evolving so one thing that we you know very we did consciously was not to put the
15:09million up front because we know the needs are going to continue to evolve and we want to hear from our
15:14community so you know putting all of our money into one basket um in a sense that that doesn't allow us
15:20to really pivot when we see that there is another area needing our support and so another part of the
15:26grant that if you go to shea moisturefund.com um that was really critical for us to stand up was our
15:32education programs for women of color entrepreneurs so there is a way to register now um for our e-lab
15:40and with the e-lab there's going to be a you know funding opportunities there so be sure women of color
15:46entrepreneurs my sisters please go to shea moisturefund.com right like make sure you're there and
15:55continue to follow um especially shea moisture on instagram on facebook because we're going to
16:01continue to announce programs and one of the things that are you know was really important to us along
16:07with funding along with education was bringing awareness that your businesses are out there
16:13doing amazing things so this is also an awareness um effort to ensure that you know we're seeing
16:19a lot of heroes i don't know how many heroes we're seeing um that are really showing the rate at
16:25which people of color are on the front lines are essential workers um and i think a lot of people
16:31are just looking at like that's what they do and so what we're trying to ensure with this is to
16:36say we know it's what you do but you've gone beyond to support your communities and we want to raise
16:41awareness to that because when there's awareness i think there comes more funding there comes more
16:46visibility and we have to be very visible about what our businesses and people are people of color
16:51are doing right now yes ladies you heard it go do not hesitate i think that's what you said is so true
17:00you know it obviously that funding part is important but that community part is one of the biggest things
17:06and then being able to put yourself out there and make sure you're being seen and make sure folks know
17:12that's huge so please if you are a small business minority women get on that platform make sure you
17:19are out there um and now i want to i want to think on the consumer end because you know i'm a beauty
17:25editor i get to have wonderful conversations with people like you um but but for the folks who aren't
17:30who are at home and they want to do something to help they see things happening but they're not sure how
17:35to really support their community especially right now where you know finances are a little questionable
17:41what can they do to support these brands that are in the community yes so you know we know a lot of
17:48people are cash strapped but you're still having to shop for your essentials so i'll start at like big
17:54business um i would say shea moisture we're using our proceeds this is a proceed model where when you
18:00purchase shea moisture we're taking funds we're taking money from your purchases and putting it back
18:06into the community so i think it's today if not any other day it's very important during these times
18:12that you use your money and you shop with purchase with purpose so put your money into those that are
18:18supplying like you know the beauty uh products that are essential to you during this time the you know
18:26paper goods that are essential during this time make sure that they're doing something to support
18:30your communities so be very intentional in your shopping and then i carried it through to small
18:35businesses um you know make sure you're researching and seeing who can still fulfill you know some of
18:40these essential items that you need that are black owned businesses that are small businesses and shop
18:46with them if they have e-com but also get gift cards you know some of your nail salons your beauty
18:52salons or you know support them by doing gift cards now um and then really pay attention continue to
18:59watch their sites their instagram this has been a way for us to really connect with the businesses that
19:04we've um supported to see what they're doing and then put money into those efforts so even when
19:09you're supporting their meal programs when you're supporting donations to their business so that they
19:14can support their community it's keeping employees staffed so you know continue to like put money into
19:21their you know meal drives and into where they're creating mass make a donation because they're doing
19:26it for free but when you support them when you donate it's actually going back into not just their
19:32businesses but into the community so really my biggest message would be shop with purpose
19:36i know that's right yeah and we have all these holidays and um because we have mother's day is
19:43coming up and we have this new normal we're living there are a lot of celebrations to be had and they
19:48are being had at home so i love that idea and then also with these beauty challenges as well you know
19:55putting them to a bigger purpose and kind of asking people to be of service that's amazing simone thank you
20:01so much for joining us this was so dope again um where can they go just to find out more about the
20:07initiative and to get involved and if there's business to get on the platform so again continue
20:14to follow us um at shea moisture across your social media channels but also shea moisturefund.com
20:21will continue to be updated and i just want to thank you shawa i want to thank essence you guys have
20:26been amazing partners to us beyond just the entrepreneurial summer but yeah all together
20:31you guys are always there with us and we share our commitment to women of color and so thank you
20:37thank you thank you absolutely that's what we do here essence all day so thank you guys for joining
20:44us stay tuned for our next segment it's going to be another dope one have a good have a great day
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