410: This Side Hustler Created a Curated Beauty Supply Store and Community In Ann Arbor
Side Hustle Pro
Nicaila Matthews Okome | Side Hustle Pro Media
4.7 • 1.8K Ratings
🗓️ 26 June 2024
⏱️ 63 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week I’m excited to chat with someone I go way back with, Sheena McCullers. Sheena is the founder of Della’s Beauty Supply. Della’s was launched to bring a much-needed sense of belonging for BIPOC beauty lovers in Ann Arbor, MI. After moving from Brooklyn, Sheena saw a need for a place for people who look like her and took a chance on opening a storefront.
In this episode she shares:
- How intentionally creating a community through word of mouth was the foundation to building her customer base
- The startup costs and how she’s been able to be profitable in the first year
- The importance of working a full-time job where she was supported enough to be transparent about needing space to focus on expanding Della’s
Highlights Include:
00:00 Intro
08:16 Exploring different side hustles
14:16 Navigating a new city
18:43 Filling the need for a beauty supply
23:18 Startup planning and costs
27:55 Creating a community
30:01 Curating events and collaborations
35:02 Running a storefront as a side hustle
41:20 Expanding and creating a cultural hub
46:43 Setting the tone for the future of the store
56:19 Tips for entrepreneurs
Check out episode 410 of Side Hustle Pro podcast out now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube
Links mentioned in this episode
- Auntie Della’s Website: https://auntiedellas.com/
- Auntie Della’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/auntiedellas/
- Auntie Della’s TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@auntiedellas
- Virtual Assistant: https://theindemandva.com/
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | You're listening to Side Hustle Pro, the podcast that teaches you to build and grow your Side Hustle, |
| 0:08.0 | from Passion Project to Profitable Business. And I'm your host, Nakela Matthew Zakome. |
| 0:13.8 | So let's get started. |
| 0:17.0 | Hey, hey friends, welcome, welcome back to the show. It's Nakela here back with another awesome episode and today in the guest chair I have |
| 0:29.3 | Sheena McCollers. Sheena is the founder of Delas in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Now, Sheena grew up in |
| 0:35.8 | Toledo, Ohio watching the women in her family do their hair in kitchens, beauty salons, |
| 0:41.1 | basements, and sometimes the church bathroom. |
| 0:44.0 | She watched in awe as family members of all beautiful brown shades shaped shifted with every hairstyle, |
| 0:51.0 | weaves, finger waves, texturizers, blowouts, pressing curls, box sprades, vibrant |
| 0:56.0 | hair colors, and more. |
| 0:58.2 | With a gang of sisters, countless aunties and cousins, there were plenty of styles to go around. And Sheena saw this work up close when her eldest sister became a |
| 1:06.8 | beautician at a local salon. Every time her school offer take your daughter |
| 1:11.4 | to workday shena begged her sister to spend the day at the salon. |
| 1:15.2 | She loved Beauty Shop Life watching her sister crank out style after style, |
| 1:20.1 | listening to salon gossip and observing the business and fun of black beauty. |
| 1:25.0 | So it's so serendipitous that she's doing what she's doing now. |
| 1:29.0 | Never in a million years could she not have imagined that she would take all of her |
| 1:34.5 | experience including a few stints at entrepreneurships she has had five |
| 1:39.0 | side hustles we can't even get into all of them and turn it into a platform that would have a big |
| 1:45.2 | impact in the world of beauty she grew up loving. Shena created Delas to |
| 1:50.5 | bring a much-needed sense of belonging for Bipoc beauty lovers in Ann Arbor, Michigan, |
| 1:56.0 | where she, her husband, and her son moved from Brooklyn, New York for her husband's PhD program. |
... |
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