In 2019 Malaika Jones, Nia Jones, and Tai Beauchamp founded Brown Girl Jane, a luxury beauty and wellness brand with CBD as its hero ingredient. The brand’s product portfolio includes a facial serum, a body butter, and a collection of both ingestible and topical oil bends for balance, sleep, intimacy, etc.
And this past June, Brown Girl Jane launched its #BrownGirlSwap pledge. The social media campaign asks beauty consumers to pledge that they will replace 5 or more of the products they use in their beauty or wellness routine with products from brands owned by Black women.
Unilever partners with Brown Girl Jane to expand #BrownGirlSwap
This week, the brand announced a partnership with Unilever’s Shea Moisture and Vaseline brands to further benefit Black women brand founders.
The team at Brown Girl Jane shared news of partnership on Instagram saying (in part), “we are launching an unprecedented initiative between a Fortune 500 and Indie brand supporting #BlackWomenFounders in beauty and wellness.”
“This program will provide a dynamic platform to help amplify Black women-owned businesses, offer them entrepreneurial training and mentorship from industry titans, and, through the support of @SheaMoisture and @Vaseline, receive business grants totaling $250,000!!!”
The initiative is essentially a competition and qualifying brands can find complete rules and a link to enter here.
Beauty brands big and small are working together to support Black women in business
“It’s important for us to create and partner on opportunities and spaces that encourage the growth of women of color in business,” says Cara Sabin, CEO of SheaMoisture, in a statement to Dana Givens, who covered news of the Brown Girl Jane – Unilever partnership for blackenterprise.com.
And she continues: “Our Community Commerce purpose-driven business model enables us to invest in Black female entrepreneurs around the world. As a brand, we have always invested in the underserved, by providing access to opportunities and resources which help to create lasting value for entrepreneurs and their communities.”
The partnership itself as well as the mentorship program are meaningful for both businesses but also for the beauty and wellness industry at large. As Cosmetics Design has recently reported, things are changing; but there is still a lot of room for progress in the cosmetics and personal care industry when it comes to true inclusion and diversity.
With that sentiment in mind, Brown Girl Jane’s recent IG announcement also stated that, “We are SO thrilled that this collaboration with SheaMoisture will expand the [#BrownGirlSwap] campaign and provide women the vital tools needed to not only grow their business, but also enable their business to thrive! As a company founded and led by 3 Black women, we are so honored to support our sisters and larger community.” ⠀
