How One Man Hustled His Way to $100 Million
For Diishan Imira, hard work and hustling has helped him turn a side profit into a business worth $100 million. Raised in Oakland, CA by a single mother, he went on to attend Hampton University at the age of 18. Unsure of what his future would hold and the direction he wanted to take, he moved to China to teach English to 4th and 5th grade students. It was here his entrepreneurial journey began.
To make money, Imira started importing sneakers, sending his profits home to his family. After seeing how profitable his side business was, he made the decision to move to Miami, traveling back and forth to China importing furniture. He also began selling locally, converting his condo into a showroom for the couches and sofas he’d sell on Craigslist. This didn’t last, as the market crashed he moved home to California, and was back home living with his mother.
Despite this, he remainded determined, this time with his eyes set to Silicon Valley. To learn more about business, Imira went back to school to earn his MBA, supporting himself with various side jobs from valeting to yard work. His newest venture was born when a family member asked him to get hair extensions from China.
What began as selling imported hair from the trunk of his car turned into a full time business. Imira noticed that 95% of black owned and operated hair salons did not sell profits, with the majority of customers going online to purchase hair and beauty supplies. In 2013, Imira launched Mayven with Taylor Wang to fill this gap he was seeing. An Oakland based company, Mayven provides real human hair to salons and partners with the ones that rely heavily on styling with extensions.
Since its launch, the Mayven network has grown to over 50,000 stylists with a net worth of $100 million. The company has also raised over $36 million in capital, with investments from people such as Serena Williams, Jimmy Iovine, and Anderseen Horowitz.
As Mayven grows, they continue to launch new features that will help both their customers and stylists. With their current business model, Mayven has drastically reduced the cost of getting your hair done. When you buy Mayven extensions, the hair is essentially installed for free, and the customer can their stylist from the network Mayven has built.
What started as a side hustle quickly grew to be a game changing company in the beauty industry. Imira’s innovative entrepreneurship shows the value of determination and passion, and with this, it is clear Mayven will only continue to flourish.
