By Sarah Chase
Owner of LAID Hair Care, Kaylah Joseph always loved her natural hair. She embraced her curls and chose not to manipulate the natural state unless she wanted to, not because of the societal pressure to fit her natural hair into a certain box. Joseph, however, did have one struggle and that was finding the right products for her natural hair. The products Joseph saw on the market were “too heavy and greasy” and did not provide the actual ingredients that a healthy hair routine should include.
Joseph resorted to protective styles such as braids or extensions so that her hair could grow without the daily maintenance. Joseph shared that she has always loved protective styles and the versatility they provided. She felt each look brought out a different “energy or persona.” But she faced another issue that motivated her to begin her own hair care brand. Her hair had started falling out in clumps and she could not figure out the reason behind the damage.
“I would find clumps of my hair in the shower and bald patches all over my scalp,” Joseph said. “After reviewing my hair with licensed professionals, I realized that the key ingredients my scalp and hair were missing were multivitamins. So, I decided to create my own personal line of wash day products to initially just help myself grow back my hair. When my hair started thriving, literally blossoming like never before, I realized I was on to something and out of it, LAID Hair Care was born.”
LAID Hair Care provides a shampoo, conditioner, heat protectant and shine serum and an anti-itch scalp soothing and growth oil. With clinically proven ingredients, Joseph takes pride in her creation and ingredient process.
“I spent a lot of time on researching the best ingredients that are vegan-friendly and known to provide the most nourishing scalp and hair formula; however, I had to get innovative because I knew that something was missing. I explored new avenues for product formulations and created a proprietary process for formulating and that has made all the difference. Our hair needs vitamins and essential oils and most of our ingredients are found directly in nature and mixed in small batches to ensure product consistency. LAID Hair Care products are known to help achieve longer, thicker, fuller, and healthier hair by balancing the scalp by creating an optimal environment for hair growth. Our ingredients are known to improve blood circulation that is essential for delivering oxygen and nutrients to the hair follicles thus strengthening the hair shaft, reducing hair breakage, and improving the overall quality and thickness of hair,” Joseph said.
When it came to sharing her product message and goals with potential customers, Joseph recalls being riddled with anxiousness because she wanted to make sure that she shared her message with clarity and creativity. Although Joseph was doubtful of her ability, she still managed to pitch Laid Hair Care and land retail distribution in Walmart stores.
“There’s a saying that perfect preparation leads to perfect performance and that saying has never been the case for me. I can practice something for months, weeks, days, and hours and still experience a moment of extreme anxiousness and onset trepidation,” Joseph said. “I’m an empath, for sure, so I over-care and am very concerned about the feeling that others experience after communicating with me, on any scale. I’d gotten rejected from every beauty accelerator program that I’d ever applied to, but I knew God had given me a vision of LAID Hair Care products being on shelves so I knew I couldn’t let the rejection stop me. I doubted my own ability so much that I paid a professional company to help me create a pitch for retail, then 24 hours before my pitch, I hated the pitch so much and worked through the night to recreate my entire presentation to where it felt more authentic to me, my brand and my customers. The next morning, I said a prayer and thanked God for even allowing me to get to this point and I promised Him that day that if LAID Hair Care earned placement because of this pitch that Him and I crafted, that I would allocate 20% of profit directly back into causes that helped my community.”
Joseph worked hard to pitch LAID Hair Care to press outlets, but after being ignored she took matters into her own hands and has been able to turn it into giving back to her customers.
“I decided that my customers would be my biggest press and that they would get the word out about LAID Hair Care in a more effective way than the large media companies who kept ignoring my emails. Now, we have a weekly giveaway where our customers can enter to receive a paid bill from us or we make a donation to the charity of their choice. It’s a win-win for everyone,” Joseph said.
LAID Hair Care was also awarded the 2023 Nielsen IQ Beauty Trailblazer. She gives all credit to her faith. Without, she feels that she would be anxious all the time.
“We are the only salon-quality, multivitamin formula on Walmart shelves. Some people say we belong in higher-end stores but the goal of LAID Hair Care is to be accessible to all. We want you to be able to receive the best hair formula at a price you can afford and thankfully, Walmart understands the importance of providing this experience to customers on a daily basis. Nielsen IQ has paired me with a crew of mentors in my field who checks in with me weekly so that I can learn from their years of experience and industry knowledge. I am so immensely grateful and so humbled to Kymberly Graham, VP at Nielsen IQ for spearheading this inaugural program and helping to eliminate a barrier to data access and data understanding,” Joseph said.
Joseph’s personal goals for her business begins with having one million customers switch to using LAID Hair Care. She believes that if one million customers switch to a sustainable brand, then there will be a positive impact on the environment as well as the community.
“LAID Hair Care is committed to each of you,” Joseph said. “Please tag me in your pictures and send me videos when you see us on shelves in Walmart. Please support our brand with a purchase and a review. I really appreciate the churches, sororities and friendship circles who order our products from Walmart in bulk so that they can support our brand and the mission.
