When Ooume founder Briana Davis was pregnant in the midst of the pandemic, she turned to her community for advice on what diapers to buy, proper bathing protocols and, most importantly to her, the baby haircare products she should use. “I’ve been natural for 10 years, so I’m real big when it comes to products,” she says.
After receiving recommendations, Davis plunked down for baby shampoos from SheaMoisture and Aveeno. At first, they worked fine for her son Amir, but things turned in the opposite direction when his newborn hair began to fall out and his texture changed to become curlier. Curious about the products and pressed for time in the shower, she grabbed one of them to try on her own hair, and the results weren’t ideal.
“It left my hair so matted and dry,” recalls Davis. “And I remember thinking, ‘If it’s doing this to my hair, what’s it really doing for him?’”
Prompted by that question, Davis decided to create products herself. To do so, she reached out to contract manufacturers. However, they depended on ingredients she wasn’t comfortable putting in formulas. Disappointed, she hit pause on her idea in 2022, but following the death of her grandmother a year later, she picked it up again, and DIY’ed shampoo and conditioner inspired by her heritage.
“My grandmother’s death jogged my memory back to my great grandmother who was known for making different concoctions like hair grease,” she says. “That came back to me and I’m like, ‘Well, it seems like it’s in my blood, so it shouldn’t be too hard.’”
Davis took to Google and YouTube to research ingredients and learn about the process of making haircare products. Once she figured out a formula effective for textured, curly baby hair, she dispersed it to friends and family members and conducted a broader survey to obtain feedback. She says the final iterations of the formula “underwent rigorous testing and refinement to ensure they meet our high standards for safety, effectiveness and gentleness.”
Launched in January, Ooume’s two debut products priced at $22 each are Detangle & Hydrate Baby Conditioner and Cleanse & Hydrate Baby Shampoo. In the brand’s early goings, customers have been gravitating to its $44 Hydrating Baby Bundle with both products. The fragrance- and phthalate-free products contain glycerin, sodium pyrrolidone carboxylic acid, propanediol, rice quat and baobab.
Davis invested $12,000 to get Ooume underway spread across product development, packaging, public relations and marketing. She handled the brand’s packaging design and branding internally. To cover the cost of launching Ooume, Davis ran up her credit cards.
The brand is starting off slow to gauge the market. Last month, it had 50 units on hand to test interest. This month, it’s planning a larger restock of 75 units. Davis is interesting in applying for accelerator and grant programs and hopes to raise capital in the future to fund restocks.
To keep manufacturing and fulfillment in-house at Ooume, Davis’s goal is for it to assemble a production team and open its own warehouse. “This would not only streamline our production process, but also create employment opportunities within our community,” says Davis. “Ultimately, I envision Ooume having the capacity to mass produce products for both direct-to-consumer sales and distribution to larger retailers.”
Davis operated several businesses before Ooume. She launched two e-commerce fashion websites in 2016 and 2018, which have since closed. Today, she runs a marketing agency, Alex & Brie Creative Marketing Studio, where she handles brand and web design for beauty and fashion companies. It’s currently undergoing a rebrand.
Davis admits she’s still finding her footing when it comes to Ooume’s marketing. She’s building community on the social app Geneva, where she runs a private moms’ group made up of about 30 Black mothers. Davis says, “We talk all things parenthood, events, self-care, postpartum resources, mental health resources and all things entrepreneurship.”
At the moment, Davis is less focused on selling Ooume’s products than she is on connecting with people on social media and sharing her motherhood journey, which she believes will later generate sales. She says, “It’s just the very beginning of something greater to come.”
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