Clear communication and transparency with customers — at the start of COVID-19 retailers had to quickly update refund policies to reflect the changing state of retail, logistics, and deliveries. Clear, transparent communication not only kept anxious customers in the know, but built trust by showing that we were all in it together and navigating new circumstances.

As part of our series about the future of retail, I had the pleasure of interviewing Pallavi Kuppa-Apte.

Pallavi is the Chief Operating Officer at Chargehound. She focuses on strategic and operational initiatives to expand Chargehound’s foothold as the only fully-automated chargeback solution on the market. After starting her career in management consulting, she moved to San Francisco where she thrives on the hustle of startup life. …

Hydration starts from within! Drink lots of water for your skin and hair.

Pay attention to your scalp. Give yourself head massages in the shower. This promotes circulation while helping to exfoliate and lift any dead skin cells or any possible build up.

Watch tutorials. Don’t get stuck in your styling ways. Experiment and add a new style to your repertoire every few months. It helps keep your hair exciting, and people will notice!

As part of our series about “Five Things Anyone Can Do To Have Fabulous Hair”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Lynne McNelis, founder of fave4, a hair care and lifestyle brand based in Texas. Lynne got her start in corporate America working on major beauty brands and has years of experience in product development. …

…Well, beauty is an idea in and of itself, right? So the first thing I would suggest is ask yourself, “Who told me what beauty was?” Was it what I saw on television and magazines growing up? You have to deconstruct that because it is way too limiting. Then I would say reflect on your childhood and think about the person who always made you feel good about yourself. Maybe it was your grandmother or mother or big cousin. You probably thought they were beautiful and they probably looked like you. For me, growing up dark skinned with short, tightly coiled hair, I didn’t see a lot of things that made me feel beautiful. But my grandmother would always make the extra effort to make me feel special, and it really gave me a foundation of confidence. …

I feel Diversity & Inclusion policies have been a failure to the Black community. It’s failed because you can’t be who you are. You must put up with racism to keep your job and you own nothing. The industry can help by partnering with Black-owned and controlled businesses. We suffer due to not controlling and owning what we consume. If a company is serious about adding Black Americans then they must be on the board or CEOs, upper management, and a great percentage of the workforce.

I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Phillip Scott.

Phil as his audience knows him is a Texas native graduate with a Bachelors in Theology. Throughout his life, he has amassed a diverse following where he has successfully delivered messages of: inspiration, knowledge, and optimism with a realist point of view. …

I would start a movement where we remove the word “small” from small businesses. There is nothing small about being an entrepreneur. This movement will support and market new businesses that may have only been operating for a short period of time, and we treat them like “major” corporations. This will change the narrative and give others the confidence to go into business, as well as, allow them to provide better services to their customers.

As a part of our series about women who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Coffe’ Summers.

Coffe’ Summers is a rising journalist and media enthusiast from Joliet, IL, whose goal in life is to wake up every morning doing what she loves and helping others do the same. She has an affinity for the arts, and creativity has always helped her move through the world with love and confidence. It drove her to pursue an artistic avenue, but she didn’t know where to start exactly. She did know that whatever it would be, it would be centered on media and entertainment. …

It is not your responsibility to make others feel more comfortable with YOUR hair. Whether it is family, friends, coworkers, or strangers your hair journey is YOURS.

Your natural hair is professional and you do not have to straighten it to meet someone else’s standards of beauty. Complying with systematic racism and discrimination allows it to continue. Your hair is not a political statement it is you in your most natural state.

As a part of our series about “Five Things You Need To Understand About Hair Discrimination”I had the pleasure of interviewing Pametria Dominise , The Empowerment Expert. She is an author and natural hair advocate. After creating the Natural Cutie platform to celebrate and promote black women and children embracing their natural hair; she decided to obtain her natural hair license in an effort to properly educate her audience. …

Remote Consultations.

At LaserAway, we now have the ability to do all our sales consultants and medical telehealth consults remotely. Doctors and hospitals are operating in this manner. Now your favorite beauty brands can have you speak to a virtual skin care expert, without needing to leave your home.

As part of our series about the future of retail, I had the pleasure of interviewing Camille Morgan, Director of Skincare Sales and Education for LaserAway Beauty. …

Keep it simple. This particularly goes for the young and new entrepreneur. I have a whole line of devices and complimentary products that I want to develop. I even went as far as getting patents on them but, the reason that I began with the FasciaBlaster, and I’m so glad that I did, was because it had a low cost of goods sold and it had a very simple message. One thing I learned a long time ago was that if you can’t explain your product in three seconds then you’re going to lose the attention of your audience. I took that to heart, and I can say “rub this stick on your body and you will look and feel better” in 3 seconds. So, I think that your product or service needs to be very simple to make, to manufacture and to explain. When you can keep it really tight and narrowly focused that is the best way to launch a business. Once you get that message solid with your customer base then you can branch out. I definitely see young entrepreneurs making the mistake of coming to the market with a whole line of products and a whole bunch of messaging. So, my advice is to keep the ideas simple. …