Today we’d like to introduce you to Stephenetta Harmon.
Stephenetta, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Well, that’s a story filled with lots of twists and turns! I fell in love with hair while visiting family-owned salons in my New Jersey hometown and taught myself how to braid my own hair. This turned into a side hustle of braiding family and friends’ hair, but I never thought of the beauty industry as a career. There weren’t many people who looked like me or had hair like mine on mainstream television.
So, growing up in Minnesota, I went from doing hair in college to pay rent to starting a career in journalism and communications. I soon moved back East to New York City and landed work as a coder and contributor for a series of entertainment magazines.
My passion for hair and beauty eventually led me to a position at Hype Hair, where I led the website’s redesign and served as its digital editor for five years. I covered not just hair trends, but the politics, economics, health issues, and biases connected to Black hair and beauty. I also served as editor-in-chief for MN’s oldest Black newspaper.
In all of these positions, across the country, I saw a common thread of invisibility for Black women. We build, lead, innovate, and are ignored, especially in the realm of beauty where Black women outspend every demographic in beauty. We drive markets as loyal trendsetters who are willing to spend top dollar to feed our beauty fixes. Yet, we are the least considered and the least visible when it comes to resources, product choices, services, and marketing. We don’t even own most of the brands that are directly marketed to us.
This led me to start building Sadiaa Black Beauty Guide in 2017 as a directory to help consumers find Black-owned hair and beauty brands. It has since evolved into a platform for those brands and beauty bosses (that often pitch to me) to access resources, share their stories, network, and amplify their reach.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Of course not, lol! When Sadiaa launched in 2018, there were no directories in the U.S. focused specifically on Black-owned beauty brands. I built the entire digital ecosystem from scratch (because what budget?) while working full time. So the biggest struggle for me has been personal. I questioned my consistency and ability to be laser-focused while juggling multiple projects, including my current position as digital media director for Hype Hair. I worried about how to build something that could grow into something bigger than myself. Those challenges led me to focus more time on marketing and creating authentic partnerships.
Finding and marketing to brands was also difficult, at first. Many burgeoning Black-owned brands didn’t list themselves or want to be seen as Black-owned as they feared it might limit their marketing reach. Thankfully, that has changed tremendously in the current climate.
It also means I am in a room that was once empty now crowded with folks looking to cash in on a demographic they had no interest in just a few months ago. But, it is encouraging because it means I have been on the right track all along and I am grateful for not giving up.
And, since relocating to Dallas last September, I’ve connected with some incredible people and platforms that have also been encouraging in this process.
Please tell us about Sadiaa Black Beauty Guide.
Sadiaa Black Beauty Guide is a searchable beauty directory of nearly 1,000 highlighting Black-owned beauty brands and businesses. Users can search the growing directory by name, city, zip code, and category. Categories include hair, body and skincare, makeup, fashion, health & wellness, nails, and more.
What sets Sadiaa.com apart is that it is a 360-degree beauty ecosystem celebrating Black-owned beauty brands that are navigating an industry that was built around and on the backs of Black women, but not for them. The site offers both free and paid listing options for businesses, as well as advertising options and access to BlackBeautyWire.com, a press release wire for Black beauty announcements. It also features breaking news and brand profiles, a live interview series, business resources, networking events, and a soon-to-launch marketplace.
Right now, I am most proud that the site is fully built and functional! I am encouraged by the growing number of businesses that are listed right now. I am finally in a position where I can look for interns and contributors to help share brand stories and increase our audience.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
If I had to start over again, I would definitely ask for help sooner! No one thrives on an island alone (which was made even more apparent during the recent shutdowns!). We truly are more productive, powerful and purposeful with the right people and networks on board.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.sadiaa.com
- Phone: 347.708.2829
- Email: sharmon@sadiaa.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/sadiaabeauty
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/sadiaablackbeauty
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/sadiaabeauty
Image Credit:
Michael Letterlough, Jr. (Orange blocked jacket and first horizontal image)
Michael Grayson (Seated during Denton Black Film Festival presentation)
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