Hey Curlies,
Remember the interview with Richelieu Dennis, CEO of Sundial Brands and A’Lelia Bundles, great-great granddaughter of Madam C.J. Walker I mentioned a couple of days ago on the new hair care line inspired by Madam CJ Walker? Well…it’s here! I apologize for the delay. Last week was interesting…but that is a story for another post.
I got a chance to catch up with both Rich and A’Lelia while they were in LA to talk about the new the Madam CJ Walker Beauty Culture hair care line. To learn even more about this line, click here.
Hope you enjoy!
ClassyCurlies: When was the idea brought to the table to introduce a haircare line inspired by Madam CJ Walker?
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| Madam CJ Walker Beauty Culture |
Dennis: This has been a journey of mine for about 10 years. We were able to make a deal about four years ago and we’ve taken our time to think about what the 21st century Madam CJ Walker Enterprises would look like as a business and what the product would look like and it’s how we ended here. The idea didn’t just come up, it’s evolved for us for over a decade.
When you think of Madam Walker and what she did, it was amazing but when you think of her business and what she created it’s astounding. When you think about what she should mean to the beauty industry today, we have more work to do. She should be right up there with Estee Lauder, Coco Chanel and others who changed the beauty landscape.
What type of products can people look forward to? Are they made for all hair types?
Dennis: Yes. It’s a holistic line focused on the needs of today’s women. There are four hair collections. One is a coconut collection made for curly hair, Dreams Come True is made for scalp treatments, the Jamaican Black Castor Oil collection is about softening, and repairing the hair and the Brassica Seed & Shea Oils Collection, which is broccoli oil, is for styling and shine.
Is this brand directly produced by Sundial Brands or under its own entity?
Dennis: You can think of Sundial Brands as the parent company but it will be under Madam CJ Walker Enterprises and the haircare brand is Madame CJ Walker Beauty Culture. We really want to build under the entire legacy.
When the ideas were coming together initial, being the great-great granddaughter of Madam C.J. Walker, what were your emotions like?
Bundles: I was glad we created this partnership because I’ve been researching and speaking about Madame CJ Walker for quite some time but the piece that was not fully formed was the haircare products being in the 21st century, so for me it was such a pleasure when Sundial inquired about Madam Walker’s name so they could launch it into something worth the legacy. We are both playing the roles we are best at. I’m good at telling the historical story and Sundial brands has already developed highly-successful haircare lines and it’s an honor to have Madame CJ Walker among those brands. The packaging is gorgeous and the products smell great, which go with all types of hair.
We hear there is a philanthropic aspect of this new line.
Yes. In addition to just the products, I’m excited about the community commerce Sundial Brands does to make sure women on the African continent are getting fair wages and fair market value. That idea of philanthropy will find its way into the Madame CJ Walker Beauty Culture line. Its continuing her principle of not just making money, not just having great products but giving back to the community as well.
