Monrovia – Initially the plan was not to start a business but a girls group. Satta Nagneen Wahab, CEO of NazNatural, started a project called ‘Elevate Girls’ in 2015 but could not generate fund for the project. She reached out to people but still could not generate fund to sustain the Elevate Girls Project.
Report by Henry Karmo – [email protected]
In her creative and innovative mind she thought of so many ways and started doing natural hair. According to her, she had had two opinions – negative and positive; some people thought that her hair was beautiful and natural; others thought it was ugly and not conducive for certain occasions.
Wahab is one of the many young Liberians who believed that growing out in a society where the standard of beauty is already being set by having relax hair to be beautiful.
“I had some feedbacks from my community and most people are not aware that the only way you can feel confident believes in who you are and by believing in who you are, that also include knowing that the texture of your hair is beautiful,” she said.
She also comes from a background of believing that the beauty of a woman is her head and that includes her hair and her brain.
“So, if you are not going to school you are not going to feel as confident as you supposed to. The product is pure organic purely sheer butter base, what most Liberian refers to as ‘donor grease’”, she said.
Her motivation of wanting to extend her business came when people said her hair was beautiful and they wanted the products she used.
According to her, she thought it appropriate that instead of giving the product out for free, she could sell the product to them and use the proceeds help other young girls to feel beautiful.
“The product is made of coconut oil, honey, olive oil and water that help to nourish, replenish and restore the natural hair to how it is supposed to be,” she stated.
Wahab: “It depends on the kind of hair you have to prescribe the usage. Some used it as a daily moisturizer while other used it by-weekly.
“So, far so good, we have had positive reaction. I can see the natural hair community in Liberia is growing.”
“We don’t have products to fit. Products that come from outside Liberia are a bit expensive; at the end of the day people run for our products that make their hair look beautiful.
“Business is a competition and for every business we all have our unique ability and ours is that our products are organic, no chemicals no side effects.”
Letitia Gibson is the head of marketing.
She played down concerns about competition she might encounter from other bigger companies who might also be producing similar product and expressed confidence that if empowered, they are prepared to supply the Liberian market with the natural hair product.
“Right now our strategy for selling it out is through social media and personal contacts.”
“We plan on selling it out to stores and supermarkets. It started in June. It is impressive by the way people are running for our product,” she said.
Natural is a Liberian cosmetic company producing hair products for natural hair, mainly to help young girls empower themselves and feel confident about their natural beauty.