Connie Johnson

Rooftop Candle Co. | Written by: Phil Roberts

On a typical day, Connie Johnson and her team diligently prepare hundreds of orders for her brand scenting company. Then, on an overwhelming version of one of those days she received an email that changed her business forever.

The email said, “Hi, I work for O, The Oprah Magazine, and I want to feature your candle.” At first, Johnson thought it was a scam, but once she researched the person who sent the email and corresponded some more, she realized it was the real deal. A week later, she received another email congratulating her inclusion to The Oprah magazine article of 25 Best Candles from Black-Owned Companies. Rooftop Candle Co. was the first brand featured in the article.

“I lost it,” Johnson laughs, “I could not believe it.”

Just like the attention her business got from being featured in O, her participation in the Goldman Sachs One Million Black Women: Black in Business initiative helped her place her company on a more focused path.

“At the beginning of OMBW: Black in Business, I knew that this was something that was going to change the trajectory of my business,” says Johnson. She received advice on how to scale, how to organize her inventory, and how to hire her first income producing employee. “It’s not just about having a name and a logo, but you want to make sure that you have the right vendors and processes in place for your business.”

During an OMBW: Black in Business module we learned about the importance of hiring employees who not only assist the founders with daily tasks, but bringing employees with differentiated skillsets that address specific business gaps.

What really changed her business was understanding how to do market research. Prior to learning this critical skill from OMBW: Black in Business, Johnson thought she knew her target market. She assumed her clients loved candles and their scents like she did, but she discovered she wasn’t asking targeted questions.

“Where does your customer shop? Where does your customer like to eat? What is your customer’s world? What language does your customer speak? Are you speaking to a purchaser? Are you speaking to an influencer, meaning the person who influences the purchase?” From there, she learned to dig even deeper and be even more specific. “Are you selling your products to the father of a candle lover? You can’t talk to everyone. So often they say in business that if you’re talking to everyone, then you’re talking to no one.”

When she determined who her real target market was, Johnson structured her business around one core group: candle lovers who like luxury, exclusivity, and elevated scents. The Rooftop Candle Co. product line offers scents that you would find in luxury department stores, like red currant, santal, neroli, and rose centifolia. Johnson’s relationship with her customers is so strong, that one time when her company experienced supply chain issues and she couldn’t find a wax supplier within her budget that could help her fulfill her orders, she offered refunds and discounts to her customers. “They understood, because we were going through a difficult time due to a nationwide crisis,” remembers Johnson. “But nobody complained. Nobody wanted a discount. Nobody wanted a refund.”

With OMBW: Black in Business, Johnson learned to organize her inventory many weeks in advance to mitigate supply chain issues and learned to not always rely on one favored supplier. Now she has cultivated relationships with multiple suppliers.  “When one (supplier) doesn’t have it, I’m always able to go to another one. And I know that I will never have to worry about sending those oops emails out to customers anymore.”

Johnson is proof that a life as an entrepreneur can start from any position, no matter how far away from your goal you think you are. She started with no network prior to opening Rooftop Candle Co. All she had was a desire to create scented products that were elevated versions of what was already on the market and to attract a clientele who loves them as much as she does.

To this day, she never found out who told The Oprah Magazine about her company, but knows it had to be a customer who loves her product.

“I always tell people, I love and stand by my products, but my attention to customer service is my number one pillar. Without my customers, where would I be?”

You can follow Connie’s journey with Rooftop Candle Co. on Instagram at @RooftopCandleCo or by visiting the website www.rooftopcandles.com

Joy Hankins

The Joy of Curls | Written by: Phil Roberts

When Joy Hankins stood before 150 business owners at the Goldman Sachs One Million Black Women (OMBW): Black in Business initiative to pitch The Joy of Curls, the plant-based natural hair care company she founded in 2020, she was timid. Now she wins pitch competitions so often that her husband jokes that she should focus on pitching and less on selling products at pop-ups.

“If you look up introvert in the dictionary, you will find a picture of me smiling,” admits Hankins. “I do not like speaking in front of people. It’s difficult for me to walk into rooms when I don’t know anyone who’s there. I shy away from opportunities to speak so pitching was not at all on my radar as something that I should do for my business.”

Prior to OMBW: Black in Business, the only thing Hankins knew about pitching was what she saw on Shark Tank. That changed with the OMBW: Black in Business program’s mentorship and instruction. She realized that sharing her story was pivotal to scaling her business and taking it to the next level.

“On the final day of our orientation, every table voted one person from their group to pitch and my table voted for me,” recalls Hankins. “It was an amazing experience, because I was in a room with over 150 business owners who were cheering for me.”

Hankins was one of at least 20 people who pitched that day. She overcame her inhibition, but the feedback from OMBW: Black in Business taught her a valuable lesson: “Be memorable. That one pitch helped me tremendously, because all the things that I can pull out of my story, all the things that set me apart, all of the things that are just genuinely who I am, I need to bring that to my pitch.”

When Hankins started The Joy of Curls she thought it would only be an ecommerce brand and eventually be in retail. As a self-proclaimed introvert, that seemed like the best path, but she had no idea how to get there. Similar to what OMBW taught her about pitching, she was encouraged to focus on in-person opportunities to sell as a way to find her market as a new business owner. When Hankins started going to pop-up shops and farmers’ markets she found a whole different customer segment that she hadn’t considered.

“I made my products for women and girls with textured hair, who typically are Black women like me. But in Iowa, there are a lot of women who have wavy hair or their hair is turning gray and tougher to manage.” explains Hankins. “It’s very humid here, so many customers are having problems with frizz. Since my products are plant-based, they work for different hair types.”

From her OMBW: Black in Business cohort, Hankins found two partners to help her scale her business. One is a chemist and manufacturer, who can produce large batches of conditioner and shampoo for wholesale customers. Another, who gave her one-on-one mentoring during the initiative, is now her financial advisor. With the extra volume of product and business counseling she was finally able achieve her goal of selling her products to retailers in November 2023.

“I always say when I talk about OMBW, to people who aren’t familiar with it, that it projected my business a good three years ahead of where I would have been trying to figure this out on my own,” declares Hankins. “I started a business, learning about what it meant to be in business. And when you do that, mistakes cost you money. It’s very painful to make mistakes, to not quite have direction on what to do and where to spend your money.”

With her newfound confidence for speaking to investors, retailers, and meeting people in person, Hankins has intentionally used video as a way to build her brand. Whether it’s on her Instagram and YouTube channel or on local TV news shows, Hankins is out there showing people the face behind the brand.

You can follow Joy’s journey with The Joy of Curls by joining the online community on Instagram or Facebook @thejoyofcurlsbeauty or by visiting the website www.thejoyofcurls.shop

These stories were made possible with support from OMBW: Black in Business.