Work Culture

More and more entrepreneurs are launching businesses that celebrate their heritage. These are just a few of the people helping others feel seen.

- BAZE MPINJA

The Beauty Pro Packaging an Ancient Hair-Care Ritual 

Back in her native country of Chad, Salwa Petersen's mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother performed a beauty ritual called Chébé, grinding the seeds of an African shrub into a fine powder and applying it to their hair for growth, protection, and strength. "My family's been doing it for at least several centuries," Petersen says. "I learned it pretty much from the day I was born." She went on to graduate from Sorbonne University (in Paris) and Harvard Law School, but she harbored a passion for all things cosmetic, so she pivoted and started working in product development for some of the world's largest beauty brands. Over time, though, she grew frustrated by the lack of high-quality hair-care options for curls and coils in America. "Between 75 and 80 percent of the world's population has textured hair," she estimates, “and that's not reflected on shelves." Petersen decided to fill the gap in the market.

In 2017, she launched her eponymous beauty line, beginning with a high-end hair cream-the first and only authentic Chébé product in the mass market, Petersen says. Her line honors African beauty customs and features Chadian ingredients, sourced from her family's land. And it's a hit! The brand recently unveiled seven new lower-priced care and styling products for textured hair, each for less than $20. "Chadian women figured out thousands of years ago how to make coily and curly hair long, strong, soft, and healthy," Petersen says. "I like letting people know that we don't need to reinvent the wheel-our ancestors had the solutions all along."

The Chef Dishing Up a Fusion of Flavors