My sister reminded me today that almost three years ago I had a look of anxiety on my face sitting on the metro in Paris. I had just left my stable job in advertising, moved to France and started my own company. For the two years that led up to the actual move, I felt not one ounce of fear. But once I took the plunge and the reality of it sank in, I had an ‘Oh Sh**!’ moment. What if all this doesn’t go according to plan? I carried a ball of fear–a huge knot–in my stomach for about six months after that.
Two years and ten months later, it didn’t go according to plan. But I don’t think I could’ve imagined what lay ahead. When I gave notice at work back in New York (I remember the moment vividly), there’s no way, I could’ve imagined the things that this choice would lead me to create, the people that it would lead me to meet, the hurdles that I’d have to jump over, the fears that I’d have to face, the heights I’d have to climb and the genuine satisfaction that I would feel from doing it all. I wake up every morning (well almost every morning) wanting to do exactly what I’m doing right now–building a place where Black women can connect and feel good about who. they. are.
I wake up every morning wanting to do exactly what I’m doing right now–building a place where Black women can connect and feel good about who they are.
Un-ruly is not every single thing that I want it to be… yet. But it’s pretty close and I know that anything worth doing takes time. I remind myself that by thinking about Paris’ Notre Dame, which took 200 years to build. And I’m sure in those two hundreds years, there were likely some major milestones–major parts of it that were completed and ‘lived in’ and appreciated. I think Un-ruly’s certainly hit a pretty major milestone. We’ve sunk our feet firmly into the online beauty space. We know more about who we are, what we plan on achieving and in what manner. And all of that is reflected in our new look!
We went through a little rebranding. We have a new logo, new colors… and a slightly different spelling: we’re no longer Un’ruly… we’re Un-ruly (in URL and in spelling :-). Our site’s more robust to accommodate our growth. We’ve expanded into video and we’re dabbling in a little commerce. More on both of those fronts to come. Our team’s a little bigger and global (meet #TeamUnruly on the about page). But I think most importantly, we’re more certain about how we approach beauty. We’ve always taken an in-and-out approach to beauty, looking at it on both a surface and profound level. We kind of did it in the beginning without knowing, but now this approach is more conscious, more deliberate. And that will be reflected more and more in our content. We’re a place for Black hair and women. I love exploring identity as much as I love finding a new way to wrap my scarf. (BTW, I was wearing a towel underneath the yellow scarf to make it ‘plumpier’). So there’s going to be a lot more of all of that to come and I just. can’t. wait!
It’s funny; I’d say now that the fear and anxiety that I initially felt when I jumped into this journey has gone, and has been replaced by certainty and anxiousness. I’m certain about what we are and what we’re creating and I’m excited and anxious to put it out there, like, I really, CANNOT. WAIT!
Stay tuned!
