- 8 months ago
Connect with successful founders and parents building business for and with their families. Join us as we explore balancing family and business, strategies and communication.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00All right, great afternoon! Happy Sunday, Essence!
00:06It is time for us to kick off our 1 o'clock panel.
00:09We are talking about family.
00:11So coming to the stage, I want to invite two CEOs,
00:15one from Cosmology and one from Young Kings Hair Care.
00:20Come on up, ladies!
00:30And we also want to invite to the stage one of our CEO's sister, LaTosha.
00:45All right, folks, again, let's give them a big round of applause
00:49coming to this stage this afternoon.
00:52So before we get started, just tell me, how are y'all feeling?
00:55How are y'all feeling with Essence Fest this year?
00:58How are you feeling?
00:58So good, so good.
01:00It's always a good time, so we're just glad to be here in the streets.
01:03She said, I'm glad to be outside.
01:05Anybody else glad to be outside?
01:08Yes.
01:08Yes, we are glad to be.
01:10And what about you, young lady?
01:11It's a good time.
01:13Look, it's the last day.
01:14It's been a fun, packed weekend.
01:16It's been a good look, good experience.
01:19Awesome, awesome.
01:20So in that same vein, she said it's been a good time with family, right?
01:24That's what Essence is all about, black family, right?
01:26We are family.
01:29Y'all hear me sing.
01:31I got all my sisters with me.
01:33That's what this is about, right?
01:35And even this afternoon, that's what the panel is about.
01:38We are talking about being a black business owner and also incorporating your family.
01:44Somebody say, ooh.
01:47Yes.
01:47This is going to be good.
01:49This is going to be good.
01:50So start off just by telling us who you are and a little bit about your business.
01:54Awesome.
01:54You want to go first?
01:55Yes.
01:55So again, I'm Cora Miller, co-founder and CEO of Young King Hair Care.
02:00We are a multicultural grooming company for young men.
02:05And I started this company because of my son, Cade.
02:09And for me, it was all about representation in the beauty industry and the textured hair
02:14care space.
02:16I was looking for products for him to help me style his hair.
02:19And I recognized that there wasn't anything available specifically for young men of color.
02:24And I just believe that representation is so important and that you should be able to see
02:30yourself in the products that you use.
02:31And so for me, I'm a forever do-gooder.
02:34I'm always like, we're going to change.
02:36We're going to shake it up.
02:37And so that's why I decided to start Young King.
02:40I love it.
02:41Thank you so very much.
02:43And what about you, Cosmology?
02:45Yes.
02:46So we are Cosmology, a sister-owned brand.
02:50And family-owned brand.
02:51So we started Cosmology to really reinvent the wash day experience.
02:55We were tired of long detangling, unnecessary breakage while detangling your hair.
02:59So we designed hair tools that feature teeth that mimic your fingers.
03:03So they're completely round and smooth.
03:05They're not going to snag and pop your hair.
03:06And we're sold in Target.
03:08We're also launching on Walmart.com.
03:10We're on HSN.
03:11And it's been a fantastic ride.
03:13I love it.
03:14Did you hear it?
03:15Find her dot, dot, dot.
03:17Amen for that.
03:18It's Sunday.
03:19Did y'all go to church with Reverend Jamal Bryant?
03:22Some of y'all didn't.
03:23Even if you didn't, we're going to give you a little sermon here.
03:25You know, there's a great verse that says,
03:27Where there is no vision, the people perish.
03:32So talk to us about your vision for your company.
03:36And your vision not only just for your company,
03:38but bringing family with that, right?
03:41What were your thought processes on starting it
03:44and then incorporating family as well?
03:46Yeah, for me, because I started this company for my son,
03:52he is my Y and he drives everything that we do at Young King Hair Care.
03:56And in doing that, it only felt natural to bring my husband
03:59alongside this journey with me.
04:01So he's not here right now,
04:03but he is our CMO for Young King.
04:07And utilizing his expertise, his background, his experience,
04:13coupled with my experience and skill set,
04:15we just felt like we were a powerhouse
04:17that we could really drive this business forward.
04:20And so for us, it was just important to build this together
04:24and build it with our son at the core.
04:27And so that literally drives everything.
04:28Oh, you are here.
04:29Hey.
04:30Hey.
04:30That's him.
04:31That's him.
04:31He made it, he made it, he made it.
04:34So that's what drives everything that we do.
04:37I love it.
04:38So any other black moms of sons out there?
04:41She just said something that was very important,
04:43because even with me, right,
04:44I'm not doing the natural hair.
04:48I struggle, okay?
04:49It's okay.
04:50I'm just looking at me,
04:51y'all see me looking at me, I struggle.
04:52No pressure.
04:53My son, right, he has this interesting hair.
04:56Like it's an interesting shade of brown, almost reddish.
04:59It's hard to look moisturized, right?
05:02And I don't think we always think about that.
05:04We always are talking about girls and women,
05:06but our young guys and our young kings
05:08do need amazing haircuts.
05:10I want him to look great too, right?
05:12He walking out with me, I want him to look great.
05:14So thank you so very much for that.
05:15What about you?
05:16Vision and family.
05:18Vision and family.
05:19So family legacy is a huge part of who we are.
05:23It's been in our blood since our great-grandparents.
05:25And having that blueprint of what it looks like
05:28to be a family-owned business is what we grew up with.
05:31So it made sense for us, especially being in hair
05:34and having three different textures of hair
05:36between the three of us.
05:37It just allowed us to really kind of innovate,
05:40ideate within ourselves early, early in the business.
05:43So it made it really easy.
05:45I love it.
05:45Okay, this is Real Talk.
05:47Okay, that was the name of it, Real Talk.
05:49Yeah.
05:50Real Talk.
05:51We ready?
05:51Real Talk.
05:51Are we ready?
05:52Do I have permission to lean in?
05:55Yeah.
05:55Okay, here we go.
05:57So there is a saying sometimes that we say in our community,
06:01we're going to keep this in the family, right?
06:03And that actually has a negative connotation at times, right?
06:06Right.
06:07But in keeping it in the family,
06:09have there been some trials?
06:11Have there been some struggles?
06:13What have been those things?
06:15And then more importantly,
06:16how have you navigated through those things successfully?
06:18Yeah, I mean, let's be very clear.
06:21Anything that touches entrepreneurship on this journey
06:24is always going to be a struggle.
06:25Like, let's be very clear.
06:26But I think with family,
06:29it's just this delicate balance of respecting one another
06:32and making sure that their opinions are heard and received, right?
06:37Yeah.
06:38And communication is a big piece of that.
06:40I think, you know, with any team,
06:42communication is always very important,
06:46but especially when it's your blood,
06:49it's your husband,
06:51and just making sure that you are very intentional about what you say
06:55and very thoughtful.
06:58Even if you disagree,
07:00really trying to understand one another
07:02and making sure at the end of the day, it's dead
07:05and that we're not bringing that with us
07:08and how we conduct our personal lives.
07:11So I love that.
07:13So one of the things that y'all,
07:14I don't know if you,
07:15y'all, I love Oprah.
07:16I love Oprah.
07:17Were y'all in the session with Oprah?
07:20Gave me life.
07:21Do you hear me?
07:22So one of the things that she talked about over and over
07:25was the importance of intention.
07:28Like, even before we begin with action
07:30and thought like, no, the intention behind it.
07:33So I think that's important.
07:34And even on the stage yesterday with our millionaires,
07:36that was one of the things that, you know,
07:38one of the entrepreneurs noted as a CEO, like intention.
07:41I want to be intentional about, you know,
07:44putting out a good product, right?
07:46So even intentionality and communication.
07:49Clarity is king, right?
07:50Clear is kind.
07:52Clear is kind.
07:53It's so very important that we have that.
07:55So what about you guys?
07:56What has been, and I want to hear from her.
07:58I want to hear from you, sister, sister, sister, right?
08:02No, I think what Cora was saying hit it spot on.
08:05I think for us, it was important for us to get that communication down
08:08and for any disagreements to kind of be left there.
08:12Because we can, you can take stuff, you can harbor it,
08:14you can hold those grudges,
08:16and it'll affect not only our relationship, but the business as well.
08:19And so we had to move past that and understand that
08:21we're working for something bigger.
08:23So you have to keep your eye on the prize and be like,
08:25look, we disagree, but we can move on.
08:28And we still going to make this money and get this done.
08:31Exactly.
08:32And I want to add really quick, I think, too,
08:34having clear roles and like how we operate.
08:37So for instance, Latrice, who has the camera in the audience,
08:40she actually does like, she did our fulfillment
08:42and all of our like customer support.
08:45Tasha really kind of like own like influencers and marketing,
08:48and then I did production stuff.
08:50So we all kind of had our lanes,
08:52which made it easy to kind of like be in this together.
08:55Yes.
08:55I love it because that was one of the questions
08:57I was going to go into,
08:58but you guys have kind of touched on that blurred lines.
09:00What happens when you blurred lines?
09:03And I'm still going to go there because this is real talk, right?
09:06We're trying to help people today.
09:08What does that look like?
09:09Have you had that happen where you have these blurred lines
09:12where work bleeds into home and home bleeds into work
09:16and then we just, we working all day from 6 a.m. to 1 a.m.
09:20And there is not this time for actual family.
09:24Like we're only doing business.
09:25Talk about that blurred lines.
09:27How do we make sure that we create boundaries
09:30so that we are not living in a blurred line space?
09:33Yeah.
09:34I mean, that is a thing.
09:36And we, it's something we're still working at,
09:38to be completely honest,
09:39because it's just so easy to fall into talking about the business.
09:42Like we could be watching TV.
09:44Oh, y'all, you remember to do that?
09:45Email that person.
09:46So it's so easy to do that.
09:48But one of the things that we've been more intentional about now
09:51is after we pick up our kids from school and daycare
09:54and all the things, it's like we cut everything off.
09:57And so then that's our intentional family time.
10:00But we're not talking about business,
10:02that we're with our kids, we're having dinner, doing bedtime,
10:05and then after that it's, you know, back to business.
10:07But at least we can say this is our dedicated time
10:11that we're cutting all things off.
10:13And then one thing that Rich Dennis said yesterday
10:15that I thought was really God
10:16about this whole idea of like work-life balance
10:19and that not really being a thing.
10:21It's more just like harmony.
10:23Like how do you find the harmony between work and life?
10:27And seeing how those things intersect and not,
10:29and being okay with that,
10:31as long as you find the harmony in the situation of it.
10:34I love that.
10:35Put that in your palm palette.
10:36Find the harmony.
10:38I like that.
10:38It's going to go in mine.
10:39Find the harmony.
10:40What about with you?
10:41So I would say, so for me, I have two boys.
10:48I have an eight-month-old and a six-year-old.
10:50So my lines are really blurred.
10:53Because I'll be nursing and then on the Zoom
10:56and the camera's off.
10:57It's a lot that happens in my day.
10:58So it's harder for me right now
10:59to really have clear boundaries.
11:01But I have to be open to the experience, right?
11:04And I can't put up resistance to it.
11:05I can't be very rigid.
11:07Because it's not going to be that easy
11:09to have those clear lines.
11:10So I think right now it's all about that harmony
11:12and finding the flow of it and being okay with it.
11:15And knowing that if I didn't finish it today,
11:17I could do it tomorrow.
11:19And then I have a team to delegate things to as well.
11:21So just being okay with where things are
11:25and giving yourself grace.
11:27I love that.
11:27So yesterday we talked about on the panel,
11:30so I'm an educator at heart.
11:32Like that's what I am.
11:32I'm a teacher, right?
11:33So we talked about even yesterday,
11:35that word came up yesterday.
11:37That to be a successful business owner,
11:40you need some God,
11:42you need some grit,
11:44and you need some grace.
11:46So we talked about that yesterday.
11:48So thank you for it.
11:49It's a word.
11:49Listen, I told you,
11:50I didn't go to church.
11:51You were going to get it anyway today.
11:52I told you that.
11:54So along the lines of education, right?
11:57I believe that education and exposure,
11:59it's the game changer for our generations that are coming.
12:03It's the game changer for our community, right?
12:06So along those lines,
12:08what are your thoughts on,
12:09because you got an eight-month-old.
12:12You have eight.
12:13Tell me how old your baby is.
12:1518 months and six and a half.
12:17Oh, y'all got babies, babies.
12:18Y'all say, oh.
12:19I got a 10-year-old going on 85, right?
12:23But even with that,
12:24what are your thoughts on bringing them in early,
12:28exposing them early to the business,
12:31exposing them early to the possibilities?
12:33What does that sound like and look like for you guys?
12:36Because business is at your core,
12:38but so is family.
12:39So what's your thoughts and encouragement
12:41to those entrepreneurs who have family,
12:44who, you know what,
12:45they need this education,
12:46they need this exposure?
12:48Yeah, I firmly believe in exposing our children
12:51to everything that we do, right?
12:54I didn't necessarily have that exposure growing up,
12:56so I didn't know even what entrepreneurship was,
12:59what it looked like,
12:59and what it could be.
13:01And so for my children,
13:03and especially my son,
13:04who literally this company was created for,
13:06oh, you got to be a part of all of this.
13:08That means he was packing boxes at four years old.
13:11He was up in the warehouse
13:14when we were sending out stuff.
13:15I mean, even now, the other day,
13:17my team asked him,
13:18could he come shoot some content?
13:20He didn't want to,
13:21but he powered through to make it work.
13:23So he's definitely a big part of this business,
13:26and I want him to understand
13:28and recognize that it's his,
13:30that we're doing this for him,
13:32and that he can so choose
13:34to carry on this legacy if he wants to,
13:36but he understands it because he's seen it
13:39and has been a part of it.
13:40I love it.
13:42Speaking of content, y'all,
13:43so I put out videos in the morning
13:45to encourage people to inspire them, right?
13:47And so my baby who was 10,
13:49like, he gives me feedback.
13:51He can shoot it for me.
13:53Like, he, so children are so impressionable.
13:58And we, you know, we at church, right?
14:01Oh, be careful little eyes what you see.
14:03Oh, be careful little ears what you hear.
14:06We need to make sure that we're feeding them
14:08all of these amazing things that we're learning
14:10so that they're starting young,
14:12stronger, wiser, and better.
14:15And so this is our last question.
14:17This has been amazing, right?
14:20Thinking along the lines of family, right?
14:23In the media right now,
14:25we know that black families can have a negative,
14:28like, there is negative light on the black family.
14:31There is also so much negativity
14:34around being a black owner, black entrepreneur.
14:38But we know that those things
14:41are not the reality of what always is happening, right?
14:44Look, wait a minute, do a 360 check real quick.
14:47Look at all of this beautiful black excellence right here, right?
14:51So along those same lines, let's talk about legacy.
14:57Let's talk about legacy for your families,
15:01legacies for your businesses.
15:03What is that?
15:04And then what's your encouragement still,
15:06last words, to these folks who want to lean
15:09into blending family and business?
15:11Love that.
15:12You want to start?
15:13Sure.
15:14So as my sister mentioned earlier,
15:17entrepreneurship has been a big thing in our family.
15:19Our great-grandfather was a pioneer
15:22of where we came up in Coconut Grove in Miami.
15:25He was big into real estate.
15:26So we've always held that and been really proud of that
15:29and always wanted to carry that forward.
15:32So by us going into business together,
15:34that's a part of us kind of carrying his legacy forward
15:37and then starting to build our own
15:38and creating something where you can see that,
15:40one, you talk to people and they're always like,
15:42don't go into business with your family.
15:44Don't do it.
15:45Don't do it.
15:46And so a part of what I want to leave
15:47is our legacy is you can do it.
15:49It can be successful.
15:50And you can create generational wealth
15:53with your siblings and your family.
15:55Absolutely.
15:56Say that one more time and loud for the people in the back.
15:58You can do what?
16:00You can do business with your family.
16:02And you can create what?
16:04Generational wealth.
16:04Okay, generational wealth.
16:05You heard it right here on this stage.
16:08I would say, to echo on top of what Tasha was just saying,
16:12for me, having little boys,
16:14I also see how this is influencing them.
16:16Because just like Cora said,
16:18Takari was born the same year
16:20that we incorporated Cosmology.
16:22So he was there from the beginning.
16:24He saw when we were packing our pallets,
16:25shipping to HSN,
16:27and having all the things,
16:29and doing hair demos,
16:30and using his hair for demos.
16:32So he's been there through the whole thing.
16:34And now Amari, who just came into the world,
16:36he's now seeing this evolution
16:38of the brand and the business.
16:40And so Takari already has in his mind,
16:42like, he wants to be a mogul.
16:43He wants the brand.
16:44He wants merch.
16:46And he wants to show up in a very big way.
16:49And I love that what we've done
16:50gives him other opportunities
16:52and ways to think about
16:53how to move forward in life.
16:55He doesn't just have to go to college and get a job.
16:57Yes, of course, we want him to go to college.
16:58But I'm just saying,
16:59there's other opportunities.
17:00You don't have to go work for someone else,
17:02get a corporate job.
17:04You can go into something
17:05that you're passionate about
17:06and make money doing it.
17:08So I'm super happy
17:09that he was here to see everything.
17:10And I just love that for us now,
17:13we're able to show this to our children.
17:16Unlike your family, which is so dope.
17:18I love your family's history.
17:20I never saw that.
17:21I come from a single mom.
17:23My husband comes from a single mom.
17:24Yes.
17:25And so we never were exposed
17:27to those type of opportunities.
17:29So for us to come together
17:31and actually build something
17:32from the ground up,
17:34literally with our hands, child,
17:36build it from the ground up,
17:38bring our son, our daughter into this mix
17:40so they can see,
17:42they can actually touch it
17:43and know what it looks like.
17:44For us, that's just everything.
17:46That we're able to create this legacy
17:48that now can live on
17:50for their generation
17:51and generations to come.
17:52I love it.
17:54So again, exposure, education
17:56is so very important.
17:57The more we allow
17:58our young kings and queens
18:00to see the possibilities,
18:02we are setting them up
18:04for so much more higher levels of success.
18:07So how do we find you?
18:09How do we follow you on social media?
18:11Because you know we want to find you.
18:12Everybody's interested now.
18:13So tell us,
18:14how can we find you guys?
18:16Yes.
18:16So Young King Hair Care,
18:18we're at youngkinghaircare.com.
18:20You can find us on Instagram,
18:22on TikTok.
18:23We're in Target,
18:24we're in Walmart,
18:24and we're on Amazon.
18:26So please-
18:26Walmart, listen, I'm sorry.
18:27I am such an old lady,
18:29but say it one more time.
18:30Where are you located?
18:31Well, we're in Target, Walmart, Amazon,
18:34and you can find us
18:35on youngkinghaircare.com.
18:39So for us,
18:40we are Cosmology,
18:40and I'll spell it for you.
18:41It's K-A-Z-M-A-L-E-J-E.
18:44It's spelled phonetically.
18:46And we're in Target.
18:47We're also on Walmart.com.
18:49We're launching on Amazon
18:50very, very soon.
18:51And we're also on HSN.
18:53Awesome.
18:53So give it up one more time
18:55for this beautiful family
18:56as we've discussed
18:58being black in business with family.
19:01Also, you can follow me
19:02on social media too.
19:03I'll get you ready in your mornings
19:05at The Boss Educator.
19:07We'll be back right here
19:08on this panel, 1.30.
19:10Come right on back, y'all.
19:12Thank you, ladies.
19:13Give it up one more time.