It’s no secret that Boss Women Media is all about supporting Woman-Owned Black businesses throughout the entire year. We recently held our first Building Women for the Future tour where we hosted live pitch competitions in three major cities: Atlanta, D.C. and Dallas. Women from around the country gathered together to support and celebrate so many woman-owned Black businesses as we helped create opportunities for women to learn, lead and leverage tools from brands that are making impact within their communities.
We know that when it comes to creating a business and ensuring it is flourishing as women of color, it’s more critical than ever in today’s world that we support each other. This is because we are faced with particularly unique challenges that impact our ability to build long term wealth and entrepreneurial resources.
In honor of November being National Entrepreneurship Month, we’re highlighting our 5 Building Women for the Future pitch competition winners throughout the entire month. Be sure to support these Woman-Owned Black businesses just in time for the holiday season as we continue to do our part in helping solve the gaps for women around the US to be impacted with resources that work and help businesses grow.
This week’s highlight is the founder of WellCapped, your wig rental service made easy! Keep reading to find out more about her story and how she got started.
Shante Frazier, Founder of WellCapped
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Can you start by telling our readers a little bit about yourself and your background?
I’m from Canton, Ohio, a city known for having the best Pepperoni rolls and also being the home of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. I’m a proud graduate of Spelman College and I served as an Intelligence officer in the Army National Guard prior to going to business school at NYU Stern. I started WellCapped while working as a consultant and asked my cousin, Lauren Grant to join me in building the company by focusing on the marketing component. Lauren is an LSU graduate and has worked for companies such as Deloitte and most recently, Grant Thornton as a Strategic Account Marketing Manager. Lauren is also the founder of My Lo Budget, a blog that focuses on finding luxury goods for affordable prices.
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When and what motivated you to start your business?
I always knew I would be an entrepreneur. I grew up watching my Father run his own lounge in Atlanta and I spent my high school summers in the DJ booth. In 2020, I joined a Gener8tor accelerator that invests in people who they believe would be great entrepreneurs. They give founders capital to build and validate a business idea and they hold your hand throughout the process of building a company from the ground up. The first four weeks are ideation, where you have to pitch a new idea each week. One week I was stuck on what to pitch, so I called home to vent to my aunt. She gave me the idea to create a business “similar to Rent the Runway but for weave”. At first, I hated the idea but then I started to think about my own journey as a consumer and how much I was spending on hair extensions and wigs and I knew that this was the perfect opportunity to use my merchandising background to create something that could really help women and also make the hair industry more sustainable.
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When you first started your business, what were the 3 initial thoughts that pushed you forward to decide “yes this is what I want to do?”
My family, my customers, and my intuition. I come from a close knit family (#brantleystrong) who have been my rock during this process. They are constantly motivating me to continue and sometimes it feels like they believe in me and this idea even more than myself. I have great siblings who are constantly rooting for me, praying for me and cheering me on. I’ve been really blessed. I also love my customers. I feel like overnight I suddenly had 50 new best friends. They are constantly texting us their photos in their wigs and giving us suggestions on new inventory. We love them. Lastly, my intuition. I’ve always been an intuitive person. I trust my intuition and intuitively I feel like I’m building something that can really shake up the hair industry.
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What is your business mission?
We are here to demystify and simplify the beauty industry. Our long term vision is to be a one stop shop for all things beauty. We don’t want you to have to spend hours on YouTube researching what setting powder to buy to give you a matte finish. We want to use technology to offer you a concierge experience so product recommendations are fed to you.
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What does your everyday “workday” look like?
This is such a funny question because there is no typical day. No two days look alike. One day I am driving around, picking up wigs – the next I am on investor calls all day. We get asked this question a lot so Lauren and I are thinking about shooting short clips on TikTok to show a day in the life of an entrepreneur (quick plug to follow us on Instagram and TikTok @wellcapped).
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Describe what you felt when you found out you were one of the Building Women for the Future pitch winners?
That win meant a lot to me. I’ve won a few pitch competitions in the past but this was probably the most meaningful one because September had been such a rough month. I had went into a space of wondering if I was on the right path so winning this competition was the confirmation that I needed at the time I needed it the most.
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What does winning the Building Women for the Future pitch competition mean for you and your business?
The best part about winning the pitch competition was being accepted into Amazon’s Black Business Accelerator. We have a dedicated account manager who has been awesome in helping us get our listing set up. This allows us to sell NEW wigs to women who are not quite ready to rent yet.
Shameless plug: if you’re interested in buying, check us out on Amazon here
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What’s one thing many people may not know about your business?
A lot of people do not understand our sanitization process. All of our wigs are sanitized with hospital-grade solutions before being washed and restyled. Wigs are shipped out plucked, bleached, and styled so it’s a convenient option for our go-getters who do not have hours to spend in a salon. Our memberships are also only $100 a month so it’s also affordable for the trendsetters who want the Megan thee Stallion inches without spending over $800 on one hairstyle.
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What advice would you give someone who is currently trying to navigate entrepreneurship?
Trust the process.
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What’s one piece of business advice someone has told you that’s stuck with you?
Nora Roberts once said that when it comes to balancing your personal life and your career, know that some of the balls you have in the air are made of glass and some are made of plastic. If a plastic ball drops, it will bounce. No harm done. If you drop a glass ball, it shatters.
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Where can our followers connect with you/your business on social media? @wellcapped on Instagram and TikTok
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Any additional information you’d like to add?
Yes – If you are interested in keeping up with our progress as we build WellCapped, sign up for monthly updates here
