Delilah Orpi of The Holistic Enchilada: Five Things Anyone Can Do To Have Fabulous Hair

I would love for women to embrace what they have right now and stop striving to change the way they look. It’s part of the reason I blog about curly hair. I don’t want little girls to feel the way I did growing up with curly, frizzy, wavy hair. If people could just embrace what they have and learn to flaunt it, it would create a more positive attitude towards body image.

As a part of our series about “Five Things Anyone Can Do To Have Fabulous Hair”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Delilah Orpi.

Delilah Orpi is a Curly Hair Consultant, blogger, and the founder of The Holistic Enchilada, an educational blog about curly hair and clean beauty. She has been following the curly girl method and living a clean lifestyle for many years. Delilah has been featured in CURL Magazine and writes to create awareness about the clean beauty movement and embracing your natural hair texture.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I started blogging as a hobby in late 2017, mainly to share things I found myself repeating to friends and family. They were always asking me for product recommendations for skincare, makeup, and hair, so naturally that’s what I started writing about. Since then, curly hair has really taken over as I have found a need for this content in the curly community. I work with a curly hair stylist and have received training to become a Curly Hair Consultant, so I can help as many other wavies and curlies as possible. I really enjoy learning and writing so I’m constantly working on something new for my blog, and as a natural teacher it’s the perfect fit for me.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

The most interesting thing that has happened since I began my career is writing for CURL Magazine. I was thrilled to be chosen to write two articles for them in 2019. Becoming published is a dream I have had for a long time and it feels surreal that it actually happened.

Are you able to identify a “tipping point” in your career when you started to see success? Did you start doing anything different? Are there takeaways or lessons that others can learn from that?

In my second year I started to see a lot more traction. My website views were steadily increasing and so was my income. I decided to use that year to learn as much as I could about monetizing and scaling my blog. Investing more time and money were the 2 aspects that really set me on a path of continuous growth and increasing income. My third year has far surpassed my expectations, and I attribute it to all the work I did in my second year. I treated my blog like a business and that made a huge difference.

In your experience what were the most effective ways for your business to generate leads and sales? Can you share a story or give an example?

Being found online is key so any method that you can use to send traffic to your site or program will work. You have to find a formula that works and go big. For me that has been SEO and creating lots of great content. The content on my blog is found by people searching for curly hair concerns on Google, and from there I nurture them with all the solutions I have for their problems. Aside from SEO, Pinterest is another big traffic driver, and more recently targeted social media ads. Once I know a funnel or sales page works, I can invest in ads to get more leads.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person to whom you are grateful who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

That person is definitely my husband. He has supported me from the very beginning, and has been helping me with my business more recently. He always pushes me to continue working towards my goals, even when I am not feeling motivated. He will help with any aspect of the business, and is quick to get me back on track when I need it.

Can you share a story with us about the most humorous mistake you made when you were first starting? What lesson or take-away did you learn from that?

I used to be totally clueless about photo editing and just used whatever app I heard about from others. One time I used Facetune to whiten my teeth, but I didn’t realize that I had gone a little overboard. I posted the pic and didn’t think anything of it until one day months later as I scrolled through my feed, the white teeth just stood out so much that it looked fake. I also had forgotten to whiten my eyes so you could instantly tell the photo was edited, and done poorly. So I learned I had to be more careful and not concerned about something so insignificant like how white my teeth are. It’s better to look real in my photos so I keep that in mind when editing, and do a lot less editing now.

You have been blessed with great success in a career path that many have attempted, but eventually gave up on. Do you have any words of advice for others who may want to embark on this career path but know that their dreams might be dashed?

First off, you have to offer content that people either need or want. That’s how you can get their attention. Then you have to stick with it for the long term. Treat it like a business and after some time it will flourish. It’s a lot more work than people realize and you have to be ready to put in the work and time it takes.

Ok super. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion. Can you please share “Five Things Anyone Can Do To Have Fabulous Hair”. Please share a story or an example, for each.

5 things anyone can do to have fabulous hair are:

1- Use products that are matched for your hair type.

I often speak to women who have wavy or curly hair and are trying to embrace it, but struggle with product choice. They go to Target and grab a few “curly hair” products that are really heavy and targeted more towards thick, tight curls. On their next wash day they slather it on then wonder why their hair is flat, stringy, and greasy looking with droopy curls. You have to understand that not all hair products will work on all hair types, and not all curly hair is the same. There are lightweight products, heavy products, light hold, hard hold, and so much more. It’s a bit of a learning curve at first but it makes a big difference when you use the right products that will enhance your hair. My hair does much better with a thin gel than a curl cream, but that’s not the case for everyone.

2- Style your hair to work with your natural texture, not against it.

Constantly fighting the natural texture of your hair causes a lot of damage. I straightened my hair for over 10 years with a dryer and iron, and it was in bad shape. My hair was dry, rough, frizzy, and was somewhere in between wavy and curly, but very unhealthy looking. Once I stopped mistreating it, it quickly started to rebound. It curled more, it had more shine and softness, and after a few years I had curls I never even knew were there.

3- Understand how the environment affects your hair so you can use the right products.

Mainly I’m referring to humidity and dryness. There are certain ingredients you should avoid in these conditions because they can cause frizz, tangling, dryness, and other problems. If you live in a humid or dry climate, research humectants to learn if they are unknowingly wreaking havoc on your hair. Since I live in Florida, I learned to avoid glycerin which was making my hair extremely frizzy and flat.

4- Maintain the health of your hair with regular clarifying and conditioning treatments.

Healthy hair is hydrated and moisturized, and doesn’t have buildup. Our hair gets buildup from hair products and hard water, even if you only use salon quality brands. It’s important to remove this buildup so that your products, water, and moisture can actually be absorbed by your hair. And in addition to keeping it clean, it needs to have enough moisture to be soft, shiny, and manageable. Conditioning is such an important step in your hair care routine that should never be skipped. Deep conditioning is often very beneficial for those with curly hair, providing the extra moisture curls need to have less frizz and more definition.

5- Good hair starts with a healthy scalp, so don’t ignore your scalp.

If your scalp is suffocated in buildup, it can block new, healthy growth. With regular clarifying treatments and scrubs you can ensure new healthy growth is always coming in. When using a clarifying shampoo, focus on your scalp more than the lengths of your hair. I have clients who notice a big difference in the health of their scalp by adding a little sugar to their clarifying shampoo for a quick scrub.

Can you share 3 ideas that anyone can use “to feel beautiful”? (Please share a story or example for each.)

3 things anyone can do to feel beautiful are:

1- Find something you like about yourself and remind yourself about that when needed. You can put post-it notes on the mirror or in your closet for these reminders. I have positive affirmation quotes posted all over the walls of my closet to help me with this.

2- Wear something that makes you feel beautiful. Sometimes you just need to force yourself by dressing up or doing your hair and makeup.Whatever it is that makes you feel more beautiful just do it even if you’re staying home. I work from home and still do my hair and makeup on most days, because it makes me feel better about myself.

3- Smile and laugh. Everyone feels and looks more beautiful when they’re smiling. I used to listen to funny podcasts on my drive to work and it really made a difference.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

I would love for women to embrace what they have right now and stop striving to change the way they look. It’s part of the reason I blog about curly hair. I don’t want little girls to feel the way I did growing up with curly, frizzy, wavy hair. If people could just embrace what they have and learn to flaunt it, it would create a more positive attitude towards body image.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“You get in life what you have the courage to ask for.” ―Oprah Winfrey

I was always the quiet kid, never speaking up or asking for anything. But I dreamed of being an entrepreneur. The problem is to be a successful entrepreneur, you have to put yourself out there and ask for what you want. I had to overcome that part of my personality and now I rarely hesitate when it comes to trying something new and asking for exactly what I want. I would not have a successful blog without asking for readers, clients, projects, relationships, and so much more. Sometimes you have to do what you’re scared of to get what you want.

We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world with whom you’d like to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this. :-)

My answer is always Jameela Jamil. I think she’s such an awesome person, fighting for everyone and using her platform for good. I’d love to meet her and talk about our passions.

How can our readers follow you online?

You can follow me at www.holisticenchilada.com. On social media, my handle is @holisticenchilada on Instagram and Facebook, and my YouTube channel is Holistic Enchilada.

Thank you so much for this. This was very inspirational, and we wish you only continued success!

About the Interviewer: Jilea Hemmings is a staunch believer in the power of entrepreneurship. A successful career revamping Fortune 500 companies was not enough for her entrepreneurial spirit, so Jilea began focusing her passion in startups. She has successfully built 6 startups to date. Her passion for entrepreneurship continues to flourish with the development of Stretchy Hair Care, focusing on relieving the pain associated with detangling and styling natural black hair. For far too long, people with tender heads have suffered in pain. Until now.