We had the good fortune of connecting with Ameka Coleman and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ameka, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
The most important factor behind the success of my brand has been faith and work! I am a firm believer that in order to reap the rewards from the harvest you have to put in the work. Faith alone won’t do it!

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
My business is Strands of Faith! We are a clean and conscious beauty brand that formulates cruelty free products for textured hair to increase moisture-length retention and overall healthy hair.

Our products not only provide long lasting hydration and moisture for days at a time but it also helps reduce the amount of hours it takes to wash the hair each week due to minimum product build-up. Our products help to grow longer hair by retaining length through moisturized strands. I like to say that Strands of Faith is more than just a beauty brand. We aim to not only focus on making the hair strands healthy but also the soul.

I launched the business in 2018. Prior to this, I never thought that I would one day own a business. I was in a career, Clinical Research, that I loved. It was truly a scenario of passion meeting purpose. Starting in 2006, I developed a passion for loving and embracing my natural hair and I was equally passionate about making progress in the field of clinical trials. Eventually, my science background and real life experience merged into one to make a beautiful faith walk with purpose!

The journey has not been easy but it also has not been too hard! I credit this to faith and purpose. Life is all about perspective! Starting out, I had limited resources. I funded the business with a small personal savings and a few personal credit cards until I was able to streamline revenue to support the growth. I would say that the most challenging parts in the beginning were wearing many titles. I was handcrafting and shipping the products along with doing the revenue generation activities such as marketing and advertising along with other duties like customer service. However, I appreciate the process of first getting the experience in each role because over time it built me up to be an efficient business owner. I have learned that entrepreneurship is not just a journey by itself but instead it is also a personal healing journey! You are forced to level up mentally in an unlimited amount of ways. I would even go as far to say that your mental growth has a direct correlation with the positive or negative outcome of your business growth/journey. There will be many times where the journey may feel lonely but this is when it becomes super important to lean on your self-confidence and focus on the past wins to get you through and of course God’s given strength!

When the world hears the words Strands of Faith, I want these words to signal to you that you can do anything that you put your mind to! Faith and work is all that is needed! It is a heck of a combination. Strands of Faith can simply signify that no matter what you are going through in life, no matter what your visions and desires are, even if it takes building your faith strand by strand you have already put a foot forward at doing the work..all that’s needed next is a little action! If you never hear it from anyone else, just know that I BELIEVE IN YOU!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Work life balance: how has your balance changed over time? How do you think about the balance?

Balance in the beginning wasn’t really a thing. It was mostly about priority. It was tough because there were times when I had to temporarily put the building of the business before time spent with my family. I know that this can be something so easy for someone to judge but if I am being transparent it is simply part of the beginning process that one cannot get around unless they have unlimited resources such as capital and a team to start with. Building a business from scratch, the reality is that some things will take priority over others. However, the key component in this is to have a vision to go with it. Setting a goal for each season.

I did the groundwork in the beginning and worked super hard to lay a foundation that I now have a team who has helped tremendously with taking off some of the workload. Now, these days, though the business still needs much of my time to run, my priorities have shifted and it is all about family first! Business now comes second to my family. I intentionally did the ground work in the beginning when my kids were younger. Now that they are older, I am super intentional about being present for them!

Life in general has cycles. Cycles to where some seasons will require more or less of you than others. The key is to be honest with yourself and your goals and make a plan accordingly!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
This one is sooo easy! Everytime I am asked this question, I am always inclined to shoutout my amazing husband! He is absolutely phenomenal. When I first decided to take the leap of faith and travel the journey of entrepreneurship, he was the first person in my corner with prayers and encouragement. He has been a key and critical part of the success of my journey because he is so super supportive. Entrepreneurship is not easy. It can take a toll on you mentally especially when you are building a company from scratch. In the beginning, when I was making products in my kitchen, he would wash the heavy duty buckets that were filled with dried product goo, he would always make it a priority to go out of his way to make sure that my workload was as easy as possible.

All of the physical help was a plus but the main things that he did to lighten the load was caring for our kids. He was and has always been super hands-on with them but in the beginning stages of brand building, I would say that this was the most helpful. Being a mom and wife are already full time jobs but when you add bootstrapping a company to the mix it takes things to a new level. So, having him in my corner is a huge reason why I can say that I have found success along my journey!

Website: https://strandsoffaith.com/pages/our-story

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/strandsoffaith/?hl=en

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ameka-coleman-ms-mba-ccrp-451a883b/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/strandsoffaith/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVC0JIcsmeOmTo9zUSkNnvA

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutAtlanta is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.