Meet Paris Vapaille-watson | Mister US United 2024, Small business owner, Actor, Model, and Entertainer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Paris Vapaille-watson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Paris, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
My thought process behind starting my own business was helping my community feel confident with their hair. My business is a haircare business that makes products for type 3 and type 4 hair textures and everyone else.

I wanted to feel confident in my own skin and started creating products in my kitchen for my skin and hair. Once I received compliments from strangers, I thought this could help others also achieve what I’ve achieved.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
After receiving my AA in Theater Arts and graduating in 2005 from Solano Community College.
I pursued an BA in Ethnic Studies and graduated in 2010 from UH Manoa. I’ve been acting since I was 5, in theater and dance and have continued my passion for the entertainment industry since then.

This has now led me to applying to graduate school for a double Masters in Business and Nursing. I currently work as an Certified Nursing Assistant. I also model, act and coach in the entertainment world and pageant industry. I also have a up and coming YouTube channel called the pageant aficionado where I review various male and female pageants.

My business is called Vapaille Naturelles Hair Care. I started my small business in 2017. What sets it apart is that I use natural and organic ingredients to achieve healthy, beautiful hair and a confident person. I also focus on ingredients that do not cause cancer or other health issues.

What makes me most proud of my products is how they work with type 3 and type 4 hair. My conditioning gel helps to keep curly, coily hair defined, health, shiny and beautiful. It also promotes growth and length retention.

My hair serum and hair oils help with growth, length retention, styling and health.

I got to where I am today, by believing in myself. It was not easy, I started from the ground up and I am still building the business. I started learning about being an entrepreneur by watching small business owners I worked for. And watching families that I knew in my communities that owned businesses.
Once I learned there is no one way to build a business, I let go of my what ifs and just starting doing! I learned how to apply for a business license, what was needed for collateral, how to write down and data entry my products cost, cost of labor, ingredients, etc. how to write a business plan and seek investors. All of this came to me from seeking it out. The knowledge. Ask questions and answers will come.

I am now at a place where I want to have a degree in business so I can be in control of what happens and know the processes of running a business from an education standpoint.
Right now, I sell my products to a small base and I’m planning to expand and do more.
I remind myself that my business will one day have products being sold in stores. That motivates me to continue.

My journey has been filled with ups and downs, more downs than ups, but I want to be successful so I continue to try.

I have overcome many challenges with a strong support system and prayer.

One important lesson I have learned along the way, is that to build a business you must have collateral. If your already working for someone else or an entity. You must take some of the money from that job and save it for your own business. You should never spend 8 hrs a day working for someone else and you didn’t do anything for yourself. If you don’t try to do something for yourself, your not lazy, it means your not motivated.

What I want the world to know about my brand and my small business is that I am a hard working individual with big dreams. That I am talented, capable, available and excited to grow.
I want to act more, host more and be available to share my expertise with the pageant industry and fashion industry. I also have a pageant page called The Pageant Aficionado on YouTube and social media-FB and IG.
Becoming Mister US United 2024 will help my pages to grow with more content as I learn how to use social media in a more in-depth way.

My small business, Vapaille Naturelle Haircare will one day be a successful company that provides natural, high quality haircare products to all, with an emphasis on care for Type 3 and Type 4 hair. The products focus on ingredients like flaxseed, rosemary, aloe vera, castor oil and other natural ingredients known to the world and various ethnic groups for their abilities to keep hair long, strong and healthy.

I am currently looking forward to working with cosmetic chemist and other companies that help small businesses like mine become established.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
What a great question! Well I represented Hawaii at Mister US United and I am hoping the organization, comes to tour Hawaii.

I live on the island of Oahu and when friends or family come to visit. I take them to certain popular spots in Honolulu. Bishop Museum, Iolani Palace, Waikiki. I also take them to the town I live in Makaha, on the Waianae Coast. They experience the beaches. For the next few days, we would experience great hikes, such as Mt. Keala and may fly to the islands of Maui, Kauai and/or Big Island.

To eat they most definitely would come with me to Scratch Kitchen in Honolulu, Doraku Sushi, and Korean BBQ.

For me the most beautiful part of Hawaii is the scenery and being able to fly to the other islands. The state has 7 inhabited islands. With 6 being available to visit. Kauai is my favorite and I love visiting the island every year for my birthday in May.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would have to give a shout-out to my family, friends, black women, and the communities I have lived in, in California and Hawaii.

I give a shout-out to my family and friends for their undying support. All the encouragement, the help, the care, the concern.

I give a shout-out to black women all around the world. As a child I was always inspired by strong black women and watching their successes in the professional world and the world of Pageantry. They have inspired me to become more and to do more. In America black women hold more graduate degrees than black men.
Their constant movement and motivation to do more, keeps me inspired to meet them at that high level of success.

And a shout out to California and Hawaii. I am a C&H Boy! Born and raised in California and my college years and young adult life in Hawaii. Both States have a diverse population and history. Being able to come from these communities is wonderful. I am from two great states of very hard working individuals, regardless of race and/or color. Coming from two states that once were their own independent self governing entities gives one a sense of strength, individuality and a different way of learning how to become a great and successful person.

Instagram: @parisvapaillewatson @thepageantaficionado

Facebook: Mr. US United, The Pageant Aficionado

Youtube: The Pageant Aficionado

Other: If your a male and interested in pageant coaching please email me at thepageantaficionado@gmail.com

If your interested in booking me for acting, modeling please message me on IG

Interested in booking me for appearances as Mister US United 2024 please message me on IG or email thepageantaficionado@gmail.com

Interested in my haircare company
email VapailleNaturelleHaircare@gmail.com

Image Credits
Carrie Abernathy Photography
Marikit Fashion Show Photographer