We had the good fortune of connecting with Dacia Petrie and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Dacia, what is the most important factor behind your success?
The most important factor behind the success of my brand is passion & authenticity. The connection built with my clientele and followers happened so naturally. To go viral is one thing, but to retain immense trust and support from the entire natural hair community with zero initial intention of selling a product or expectation of my videos to reach such a vast global audience is another story. The public trusts me because my brand was built on this pure innocence and authenticity, some people were even worried that large companies would start stealing my hair care formulas, but I just wanted to share my formulas with anyone I could help. The Pigmented, unlike most brands, was founded as a result of the demand of the public’s interest, which means the brand’s marketing has been all organic since launching, with over 3 million impressions across 2 social media platforms,Tiktok and Pinterest. Passion is key. Experiencing texturism, the discrimination of tighter, afro-textured hair since I was a child and growing up with a mother who did not know how to take care of my hair led me to pursue a devoted interest in haircare from a young age. Instead of internalizing the negative beliefs about curly hair, I decided to turn my wounds into wisdom and my misery became my ministry. I learned to formulate products from my own personal research during my early teenage years and even took a 3-year dual-enrollment cosmetology course in high school. Someone was always asking me for hair tips, and but I didn’t realize how “profitable” my knowledge was because it was just a cool hobby I enjoyed doing for free.
Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
The Pigmented is a vegan, cruelty-free haircare line formulated with science and ancient herbs from around the world. The Pigmented believes in the healing power of herbs. Our products are curated to provide women and men with a fresh, alternative solution that has proven to thicken, strengthen and lengthen hair of all hair types. Our brand dares to break barriers in the beauty industry, as our products offers a combination of trichology (the science of hair and the scalp) and ancient herbal remedies in all our products. Our unique system is nothing like the conventional ingredients in most commercial hair products. As a young woman who was born and raised in the Caribbean island of Jamaica, using herbs to treat symptoms and alleviate issues is a common practice in my culture and its something that I continue to study to this day and plan to continue conducting extensive market research to determine the specific needs of our target audience, and develop our products according to the needs of the public. The Pigmented commits to introduce the world’s abundance of herbs to the cosmetic industry which has caught the eyes of millions of people already, especially marginalized beauty remedies that have been used throughout history in many cultures in the Caribbean, Latin America, Africa, and Asia.The sad truth is, the hair care aisle in your favorite retail store is filled with products that reuses identical formulas ran by the same 7 mega-companies in the cosmetic industry, just packaged in different containers. This leaves no room for further research on hair, and other possible solutions to problems millions of women and men face today, particularly with tighter hair textures which is immensely understudied and people suffering from scalp disorders such as alopecia and scalp psoriasis. We currently only sell one product, but We offer our products online, allowing customers to easily purchase them from the comfort of their own homes and though we only offer one product at the moment, we plan to provide a range of products that cater to all hair types, porosities, densities, and other needs. In fact, hundreds of thousands of people are already waiting on two unreleased products at the moment. The Pigmented is in high demand and the people want to see it in stores, especially since there isn’t a brand on the market like ours, where pigmented babes come first.
I am proud of my business, one, because it happened on what Iike to call “accidentally, on purpose.” I decided to face my fear of uploading my craft on the internet, and just overnight, my entire life changed. The video surpassed 1.6 million views and over 400,000 likes in less than 72 hours and to my surprise, more people were interested in the product itself than my film skills, even though I received hundreds of compliments on that too. The rest was history. The biggest accomplishment of The Pigmented was being able to generate a revenue of over $10,000 by August 4, less than two months of launching the brand. Today, the Pigmented has earned a revenue of over $20,000 before our 5-month anniversary. The Pigmented, unlike most brands, was founded as a result of the demand of the public’s interest, which means the brand’s marketing has been all organic since launching, with over 3 million impressions across 2 social media platforms,Tiktok and Pinterest. My personal brand was able to attract a following of over 65,000 people on TikTok from simply posting videos of my homemade haircare formulas, which captivated a potential clientele (shares & saves) of over 100,000 people, just from the analytics of two videos.
The Pigmented’s vision is to become a household name in the natural hair community, and secure notable stature within the cosmetic industry. Our primary goals are to touch (not reach, but touch) global audiences with our brand’s mission, expand access to our products internationally, become a supplier at major retail stores such as target, Walmart, CVS, etc., serve our local community, keep our employees happy, and offer exceptional customer service to our pigmented babes.
It hasn’t been easy, especially since I am a full-time college student running this business with only one partner. I’ve learned that I can’t do everything by myself and to seek mentorship in the startup process. Keeping my customers happy and being encouraged by them is what keeps me going, but prayer is the the #1 way overcome my challenges.
Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If my best friend was visiting the area, I would take them to several places in Georgia.
1. First, I would take them to the Georgia Aquarium, the largest in the world. Seeing the marine life is always so refreshing, and it’s my favorite aquarium to visit.
2. Next, I would take her to my favorite restaurant in Atlanta, Nan Thai Fine Dining, the number one 12 year award winning restaurant in Atlanta. I love Thai Food in general , but every dish at Nan Thai is heaven.
3. On Sunday, I would take her to the Botanical Gardens , especially to see the Christmas lights.
4. On the weekend, I would take her to Blue Lagoon, an after hour Afro-Caribbean lounge. The food is good, the music is good, and so are the vibes.
5. But before we go to The Blue Lagoon, I would take her to LOA, )Leave of Absence) rooftop, bar, and restaurant to give her a feel of Atlanta with a splash of Miami Vibes.
6. I’d visit the Fox Theatre with her to watch a Christmas/Holiday play
7. But early in the morning, I would bring her to Stone Mountain Park for a workout.
8. For a fun evening, I would take her to an upscale bowling alley called Painted Pin.
Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My mother, Dahlia Petrie.
Website: www.thepigmented.com
Instagram: https://instagram.com/pigmentedbabes?igshid=Zjc2ZTc4Nzk=
Other: Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@daciapetrie?_t=8XYxYJuJuRv&_r=1