Today we’d like to introduce you to Malcolm Coley. Them and their team share their story with us below:
LocNationTM (The Movement) is a support and celebration of the natural hair movement with a focus on locs. LocNationTM was started in 2012 by two men (Malcolm Coley and Standley Charlescar) who just wanted to change the narrative of natural hair, specifically locs.
This digital brand started out as a simple Facebook page that just wanted to engage with people who have locs, which meant, every day there were multiple postings of people who wanted to showcase their locs and loved what it meant to have locs.
The Facebook page started to grow and grow whereas, we understood it was time to take this a bit more seriously. The Facebook page amassed about 7500 followers around 2014 and that’s when we decided to make an Instagram account that really took off.
In the midst of that, we traveled everywhere to attend hair shows across the country where the brand became stronger and stronger and our names were beginning to be more well known. We were featured in the Bronner Brothers’ show and the world’s natural hair show as special guests. We have now amassed over 320,000 followers on Instagram, over 70,000 on Facebook, and over 100,000 on TikTok. We are one of the Loc’d brand throughout the world. When talking about natural hair and how much of a global phenomenon it is, you MUST mention locs, and when you mention locs, you HAVE to mention LocnationTM.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Being an entrepreneur is NEVER straight forward thing, so the road has been extremely tumultuous. Some of the issues are just growing pains. It’s so difficult understanding how to manage your money as an entrepreneur because you never know when it’s going to come. That was one of the first things that we struggled with because it was new to us.
As we progressed, other things started to become apparent to use, literally things we had to realize, in the moment whereas we had to manage new relationships, making sure that the people we brought on our team was legit, and managing our personal brands in order to make sure we managed ourselves correctly. This is all while managing and continuously building our brand. I’m sure we have a pretty good handle on it now though!
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
So, I’m a trained chemist, I got my Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Seton Hall University in 2008. So, I’ve worked in all types of big pharma companies, manufacturing companies, doing analytical chemistry, and formulations, all the way to research and development. I’ve had the opportunity to work for Merck, Pfizer, Shchering-Plough, and Dupont. My love for science didn’t stop there as I shifted into technology with a three-year stay at apple on the retail side. Understanding all of Apple’s products, systems, and resources it helped to strengthen my love for tech.
Fast forward to today, I’m proud of what we started with LocnationTM because it taught me a skill that has walked me into many doors. That skill was digital marketing. Understanding that skill for digital marketing led me to create a Marketing company called “Influencers Lab Media” with my good friend and business partner Newdy Felton and a Gaming company called “Futures First Gaming” where we are bringing the black and brown community into technology and entrepreneurship through gaming. I’m the Chief Technology officer there along with my guy Stephen Sye. I’m so proud of all these businesses because each one I’m passionate about, each one I’m making an impact, and each one I’m shaping the world the way that I see fit.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
Technology is one of the great equalizers in every single industry I’m a part of. I’m learning and grown in technology every day which is innovating these industries. So, what I see in the next 5-10 years is a BOOM in how technology will empower people to execute, do more, and make more of an impact in these industries that I’m currently in.
Contact Info:
- Email: locnationtm@gmail.com
- Website: www.malcolmcoley.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/Locnationtm
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/locnationtm
- Youtube: www.youtube.com/c/locnationtm
