Funlayo Alabi, CEO and Co-Founder of Shea Radiance, wants to see women win. The founder, who was born in Manchester, England, and raised in Nigeria, moved to the United States at 17 to attend college. But she brought with her a strong sense of beauty implanted in her growing up in Nigeria, which included gleaming skin.
After realizing that following in her father’s footsteps by studying accounting, she settled on international business. And ended up with a career in coding and software by happenstance. Funlayo and her husband knew they wanted to create a business that allowed them to access resources on the African continent but little did they know that their search for a solution to treat their son’s eczema and find an effective body moisturizer led them to explore shea.
After mixing up products in their kitchen, their local Farmer’s Market became their testing ground, and they refined their formulas from there. The duo also traveled to Nigeria to connect with the women who were harvesting shea, eventually traveling to and supporting women in several countries and banding with a few others as founding members of the Global Shea Alliance.
Funlayo shares her thoughts on ashiness, why shea has gotten a bad rap, and how she got her brand into Whole Foods and took it from a local to a global offering with the retailer. In addition, she shares how the brand’s first foray into a big box retailer didn’t work out and what she learned from it.
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