“I actually tried to get a business loan and if I have an exceptional personal credit, I cannot get a loan to save my life. That was why I started small. I thought I was going to launch big, go grand and then hit retail quickly. I’m glad it didn’t happen, because starting small let me number one, learn mistakes that I made on a small scale.” – Mahisha Dellinger, Founder of Curls
What does it take to go from growing up in poverty to running a multi-million dollar business and having a TV show on The Oprah Winfrey Network? Our guest today knows all about this.
Mahisha Dellinger had a very tough financial upbringing but she was determined to succeed. After college, she graduated and began working in marketing at Intel. While it seemed like a great job, the dream job, stable company with a lot of perks, a big part of her always wanted to strike out on her own. She got the idea to begin an eco-friendly line of hair products for naturally curly hair, and we’ll talk about how she transitioned from corporate America to taking the leap to ultimately start Curls. It was an idea that has in five years scaled BIG.
Curls has now teamed up with Target to bring her products into their stores. Mahisha is also the author of the book Against All Odds: From The Projects to the Penthouse. Her business has even caught the eye of Oprah, and Mahisha has had the opportunity to have her own show on The Oprah Winfrey Network. Mahisha talks about not really being able to secure a small business loan, despite having good credit, despite having good sales, and why that served her well in the end.
Learn more about her business at curls.biz and follow her on Instagram @mahisha_dellinger and twitter @mahishadelling1