When Wezizwe struggled to find hair care products that suited her coily-textured hair, she did the unimaginable and created the perfect product herself. Starting out of her mother’s kitchen, without any previous production or business experience, this is the story of the proudly Eswatini hair care brand, My Coils.
Inside Biz: Hi Wezizwe, thank you for chatting with us. Please introduce yourself to our readers.
Wezizwe Ginindza: Hi Phesheya, thank you for the opportunity. My name is Wezizwe Ginindza, the Founder of My Coils: a natural hair care brand currently based in Eswatini. I was born and raised in Eswatini.
If I had to introduce myself, I would start with what motivates and inspires me to be who I am and do what I do: my belief system, my love for academia, and my interest in African hair textures. I love meeting new souls and having meaningful conversations.
IB: How did the idea of My Coils come about?
WG: As a child with coily-textured and dry hair coupled with scalp issues, I used a variety of products to help make my hair more manageable and lustrous. I was uncomfortable with the side effects of using synthetic products.
I started experimenting with various natural ingredients when I was in university and in my mother’s kitchen over the holidays to create the most effective, harmless, and organic mixtures to use on my hair.
I have come to learn that hair is such an important part of how African women show up in the world and I wanted to equip them with knowledge on how to take care of it and create hair-care products that make taking care of coily, kinky, curly and afro-textured hair much easier.
IB: When did you start the business and, how challenging has it been?
WG: I started the business straight after completing my Master’s degree. I was applying for jobs at that time as any graduate would, but I actually had the desire to start my own hair care brand for a while.
So, I wouldn’t say that the decision to be a business owner was difficult, because of how certain I was that this was it for me. However, the uncertainty and the financial risk that came with a start-up were daunting.
However, I was determined to make it work. It had to work. I also believe that seeing my mother run her own company as a young girl made me believe that a woman as young as I am can actually take the necessary risk and be successful.
IB: How did you fund your business start-up?
WG: My Coils was funded through my personal savings and angel investors.
IB: What makes My Coils special as a product?
WG: My Coils is a grassroots development business, built on 3 pillars; Product, Masterclass, and Community Development. First, we use unique ingredients to make handcrafted hair care products that are easy to use, safe, and effective for our consumers.
Second, we pride ourselves in educating our consumers and the businesses we partner with on what goes into taking care of natural hair.
IB: What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced thus far in running a business?
WG: Providing top-tier customer service is one of the most basic and effective ways to manage sales and growth in the business, but it isn’t always easy.
Currently, my biggest challenge is keeping the cost of production as low as possible to ensure that our retail prices remain consistent.
NB: Full interview available in Inside Biz Issue 1 – Available for Free Download at https://www.insidebiz.co.sz/issue1/
