Today we’d like to introduce you to Frankesha Watkins.
Frankesha, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
My story is kind of crazy in the sense that I never in a million years thought I would be in the retail industry with a niche in beauty supplies. Actually, entrepreneurship was never really in my forecast until a few years ago.
I have an undergraduate in Computer Information Systems and a Masters with a concentration in Strategic Leadership. Over the last 11 years, I have had a successful career in the Human Resources field. And although I have had a successful career there was something always tugging at me, and this unfulfilled feeling. I wasn’t quite sure what it was, but I knew it was there.
So, how did I get here? Well, I have always had a love for hair, and haircare in some capacity, but never wanted to be a hair stylist. As a young girl, my mother would make sure my hair was ALWAYS combed, and she made sure I took really good care of my hair, so haircare was something that was ingrained in me at a young age.
Fast forward to when the natural hair movement took off in the 2000s. This is when I became completely engulfed with hair, natural hair, haircare, all of it!
I remember I would spend hours on YouTube watching popular influencers videos that would be covering DIY recipes, hair tutorials, and pretty much all things hair! I joined several chat forums that solely focused on growing natural hair and all the things that came with it. Let’s not talk about how much money I spent testing every new product on the market, lol.
Fast forward to last year, the thought of opening a beauty supply store entered my head. I will have to say this was a God thing because this was NEVER on my agenda. What was on my agenda was creating my own personal hair care line (still is). However, the thought of opening a beauty supply store came, and it wouldn’t leave. It wouldn’t be until the end of last year that I actually verbalized it to someone else.
Interestingly enough, once I said it out loud to someone else the doors began to open immediately and unexpectedly. Now here I am almost one full year later, about to open BPolished Beauty Supply!
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The opening process has been smooth SO FAR, and I contribute that to God and walking in my purpose. I firmly believe when you begin to walk in your purpose things are aligned and just work!
Now, do I think this journey will continue to be a bed of roses? Absolutely not, lol. I fully expect there to be up and downs in this journey. I can’t predict what they will be just yet, but I do fully expect there to be some once I get open.
Please tell us about BPolished Beauty Supply.
BPolished is a beauty supply store, in Arlington, TX, offering affordable beauty supplies for women, men, and children.
What sets apart? BPolished will be a safe haven for our customers. Our customers will be serviced by a knowledgeable, yet professional staff, who will be able to provide tips for healthy hair care, speak to the products in the store, and offer product recommendations. Ultimately, our customers will be able to shop in an environment that understands their personal hair care needs. The beautiful thing about shopping at BPolished is that we are our own customer!
Another thing that sets us apart is that we are 100% Black Owned.
Did you know black women spent $54 Million dollars in the black haircare industry last year? Did you know there are 35,000 beauty supply stores in the US, and roughly 3000 of those are black owned? Black women are spending an enormous amount of money in the black hair care industry, however, WE only hold roughly 7% ownership. There is a growing need for more black-owned beauty supply stores to close the gap between dollars being spent and ownership, there is also a need as more black consumers are wanting to shop with companies who can identify with them.
BPolished Beauty Supply primary customers are black women however we will meet the needs of all residents in the community by diversifying our product mix. While the store will be based in Dallas, we will have an eCommerce experience for customers to shop online.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
No, this ride has gone exactly the way it was supposed to go.
Contact Info:
- Address: 6407 S. Cooper Street Suite 135
Arlington, TX 76001 - Website: www.bpolishedbeautysupply.com
- Email: info@bpolishedbeautysupply.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bpolishedbeautysupply
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BPolishedBeautySupply/
- Crowdfunding Campaign: https://ifundwomen.com/projects/bpolished-beauty-supply
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