Healthy Root Dolls

Healthy Roots Dolls is an inspirational movement designed to help young women of color love their curly hair the way that it is and to ultimately love themselves. "I never had a doll that looked like me growing up, and the one time my parents gave me a black doll, I instantly started crying because to me, it wasn't a pretty one," confessed founder and creator Yelista Jean-Charles. "I was often shown that the standard of beauty was long straight hair and light skin."

- Tiarsha Harrison

From Yelista’s experiences, that is how the company began. The original concept started while she was studying Illustration at the Rhode Island School of Design. “I was tasked with redesigning Rapunzel and I chose to turn her into a little brown girl with kinky curly hair to showgirls like me that we can be princesses too.” Once the idea of Healthy Roots Dolls was accepted to the Brown University Social Innovation Fellowship, Yelista researched children’s products and learned that toys also influence how kids think, act and in turn, see themselves. “Zoe is more than just a doll; she teaches girls to love their hair and her own hair is a unique fiber that can be washed and styled with hair care products just like real hair.”