Diva By Cindy Launches At Sally Beauty And Creates First Natural Haircare Vending Machine

Sometimes teacher knows best. As a 16-year-old student at Achimota School, Cindy Tawiah, a native of Ghana who emigrated to the United States in 1993, was struggling through chemistry class, to put it mildly. Her teacher thought she’d be encouraged to learn it if her lessons involved nail polish and lipstick, so he taught her how to make them.

“It won me over because he asked me to participate in the school science fair, which was reserved for the top students of the class. During the science fair, he presented me as a cosmetologist and a chemist. I had never heard such big words before and I thought, ‘Wow, that’s what I want to do when I grow up,’” she recalls. “When I got home, my parents said, ‘You will have no part of that.’ They wanted me to be a doctor.’”

Tawiah went on to become a registered nurse and worked for 13 years at Bon Secours Hospital in Baltimore, but she never had the passion for nursing that she had for beauty. In 2004, at the age of 35, she stepped away from nursing and opened the hair salon Shades of U in Owings Mills, Md. Simultaneously, she established Sunshine Promises Inc., an entity supporting The Diva Project, an initiative to provide wellness services, informational sessions and counseling for the homeless, and victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse.

Operating a salon wasn’t easy. Tawiah was denied loans to finance it because she was considered a business risk, and staff turnover was a constant predicament. Down to a single stylist in 2007, she invested roughly $2,500 to start the haircare brand Diva by Cindy with a complete range of products to serve her salon and others. In six months, it had 13 stockkeeping units, a total Tawiah advises no beauty entrepreneur emulate. She suggests four to six max. Today, there are 11 SKUs, and the bestsellers are thinning hair antidote Super Gro Hairdress and shine-boosting Leave-In Detangling Conditioner.

“When people ask what we are doing, I always tell them, ‘People don’t care how much you know unless they know how much you care,’” says Tawiah, a survivor of physical and sexual abuse. “When I say haircare, people think, ‘OK, styling and what not,’ which is great, but our emphasis is really on women who have lost their self-esteem as a result of losing their hair from pulling, tension, thyroid issues and alopecia.”

“Our emphasis is really on women who have lost their self-esteem as a result of losing their hair from pulling, tension, thyroid issues and alopecia.”

In 2009, Tawiah closed Shades of U to focus on placing Diva by Cindy in salons. In 2011, she highlighted Sally Beauty on her vision board as a dream retailer and, in 2013, she shifted her focus to build Diva by Cindy via retail distribution. Annually, she would pitch Diva by Cindy through Sally Beauty’s online portal and send samples to the retailer. No dice. Then, in January last year, she called James Hughes, director of sales and brand development at the distributor First Choice. He told her he could slot her in for a meet-and-greet with Sally Beauty. A year later, Diva by Cindy rolled out to 1,500 Sally Beauty doors.

“That for me was the pinnacle. I’m 50 years old, and I had to wait until I was 50 for it to happen,” says Tawiah. She recommends distributors for beauty brand founders striving to get an in with retailers. Tawiah says, “What you are paying for is relationships and expertise. You are paying for experience. Trying to do it on your own, it’s like you are fumbling and stumbling in the dark. You don’t understand how the process works and the paperwork involved.”

In addition to Sally Beauty, Diva by Cindy is available at Giant, Giant Eagle and Tops. It’s on Walmart’s website, too. Tawiah’s ambitions are to strengthen Diva by Cindy’s partnership with Sally Beauty, which has around 3,200 locations in North America, and launch the brand at Ulta Beauty. Diva by Cindy has branched into body care with Body Lotion, and Tawiah outlines her aim is to expand its selection to include a “healing system for women” with more body care products such as scrubs, skincare and oils. She says, “People want to feel good. They don’t just want to look good.”

Diva by Cindy isn’t fully dependent on third-party retail. It’s been doing its own. In 2016, the brand premiered a storefront at BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport in a first for a natural haircare brand. Due to TSA regulations prohibiting full-size haircare products in carry-on luggage, Tawiah figured women would be interested in buying full-size products while they were waiting to hop on planes. She was right. Diva by Cindy’s haircare sold briskly at BWI, and Tawiah enjoyed manning its shop. She says, “I’m a high-energy person and, to me, it was like a trade show every day.”

“People want to feel good. They don’t just want to look good.”

MAC Cosmetics coveted Diva by Cindy’s BWI spot, though, and Tawiah was forced to hand it over. “When my unit was reclaimed at the airport, I had to let my staff go. It was like my legs had been cut off, and I had to learn to walk again,” she says, “I was just sitting when this wave of inspiration hit me. I kept hearing automatic and automated. I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, a vending machine!’ I Googled natural haircare vending machine, and nothing came up.”

In another first for a natural haircare brand, Tawiah created a vending machine containing her brand’s Body Lotion, Stimulating Shampoo, Stimulating Conditioner, Leave-In Detangling Conditioner and Super Gro Hairdress. Customers can use Apple Pay to purchase the $10 items. The cost of the vending machine ranges from $10,000 to $15,000. Tawiah controls a vending machine she dubs Heaven 1 at the shopping center Westfield Annapolis, and franchisee Yolanda Brown manages Heaven 2 at the mall Arundel Mills in Hanover, Md.

Stores were shuttered until recently in Maryland because of COVID-19 and Diva by Cindy had rent for its vending machines waived, but, under usual circumstances, rent would run $500 a month, and it takes 50 haircare products to reach that amount. Tawiah says Brown has been able to sell over 500 products a month. Having a representative at the site to guide people through the vending machine process is a big help in driving sales. Diva by Cindy is also back at BWI. Since February, franchisee Sequoia Thompson has helmed a small branded storefront at the airport.

The pandemic has strained Diva by Cindy. Prior to it, Tawiah’s goal was for the brand to hit at least $800,000 to $900,000 in sales this year. She’s not sure what it will hit now. Brick-and-mortar stoppages have been difficult, and Diva by Cindy’s online sales have dipped 15%. Despite the challenges, Tawiah’s enthusiasm for beauty hasn’t dimmed.

“I feel hopeful because I’m still alive. I’m a survivor of domestic violence. I am a woman who has faced turnover in her salon business. I have had a unit reclaimed from me, and I bounced back. I think, ‘OK, what’s next?’ My product and my whole life is a journey of restoration,” she says. “We always keep moving forward. We can’t look back.”