Letumile’s dedicated to helping women embrace natural hair
Inspired by her childhood struggles with dry hair, Letumile Malandisa found a solution and turned it into a business dedicated to empowering women to embrace their natural hair.
A young woman Letumile Malandisa is on a mission to transform how women view their natural hair through her product.
The 20-year-old founder of Natural Black Beauty has set out to provide natural hair products while championing self-love and confidence.
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Malandisa’s story begins with her battles with dry, brittle hair that left her insecure. “Growing up, I used to struggle a lot with my natural hair. My hair used to be so dry, leading to hair breakouts… I was very insecure about that, and it got worse,” she noted, adding that it started to affect her modelling career. Refusing to give up, she said she conducted her research and created hair food. After three months of testing it on herself and her sisters, she noticed the results were remarkable. “My hair grew faster and became a bit richer.”.
After finding a solution to a problem that almost crushed her dreams as a model, she thought the product could help a lot of women battling with the same issue. She said her goal was to change people’s lives so that they could feel good about their natural hair. She noted that feeling good about one’s natural hair boosts self-confidence and how women see themselves.
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For Malandisa, launching a business at 15 came with hurdles, particularly funding. “I was struggling to get funding for my business. My mom saw passion and supported me throughout by saving up money for me so I could get the equipment.”
She added growing her business in South Africa’s saturated hair care market remained a challenge, but that had not deterred her.
She said five years after starting her business, her goal was to see Natural Black Beauty on the shelves of major retailers such as Clicks and Dischem, and to collaborate with models such as Zozibini Tunzi.
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