Husband and wife entrepreneurs Kim and Tim Lewis funded CurlMix in a most unorthodox manner. Tim was on the TV show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and brought home $100,000. He used those funds to help Kim start her first business – an online social network for women with curly hair.
That venture didn’t work out as Kim hoped. She claims she didn’t know how to monetize properly and she spent too much money on things like web design and photographers. This led her to reevaluate her business goals. One thing she did was get a good camera and teach herself how to take studio quality pictures. This helped when she started CurlMix.
Initially, CurlMix sold ingredients to mix your own natural hair care products at home. Customers got a monthly subscription and things were rolling smoothly after a somewhat bumpy start, but her customers kept requesting ready to use products, so in the spring of 2018, she came out with Curl Mix branded hair care products.
Curly hair has its challenges and you need the proper products to keep it from being an unruly mess. CurlMix has a four step Wash and Go System that keeps your curls groomed and healthy. With ingredients like avocado and Shea Butter, the products are all natural and wont harm hair. They’re premium priced at $18-$25 a bottle (unless you buy the Wash and Go System) and available online at Amazon.
The Lewis’ have found a lot of success with Curl Mix. In less than a year, thanks in part to media exposure from Refinery29, Essence Magazine, Ebony Magazine, and ABC TV, CurlMix sales skyrocketed to over $1 million. Kim and Tim employ ten people and have big plans for growth. They’d love a Shark to join them on their journey.
My Take on CurlMix
When I had hair, I had THICK curly hair. Alas, those days are gone, so I won’t be a customer. I do, however, remember the challenges of curly hair and understand the need for the products. One quick look at the “before and after” pictures on Amazon will give you a good idea of what folks with curly hair go through. It can get quite unruly.
My wife has fine, straight hair. All she needs to do is shake her head, and her hair’s done. One of my daughters inherited her dad’s thick, curly hair (hopefully she doesn’t go bald). Her bathroom looks like a hair salon with all the gels and moisturizers in it. She’d want to try Curl Mix. I think Kim and Tim are going to be millionaires.
Do Sharks Gel with These Products?
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that CurlMix is appearing when Alli Webb is a guest Shark. Webb made her fortune in the hair salon business. Drybar, Webb’s company, sells its own line of hair care products. While she may be able to offer some advice, I’m not sure she’d invest in a competitor.
Mark already has an interest in Hot Tot, so it’s unlikely he’d bid. Robert and Kevin might bid if the valuation is right. Kevin can probably find room in his “Something Wonderful” platform for CurlMix. The most likely bidder is Lori. She generally shies away from these products because of the testing involved, but if Tim and Kim did things the right way (I think they did), Lori could jump in.
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