Successful business owner Courtney Adeleye is contributing $30M to a fund that will help female entrepreneurs.
The Mane Choice CEO started the Generational Advantage Fund to help women entrepreneurs of various backgrounds in the areas of financial literacy, community support, mentorship, resources, capital, scholarships and housing.
The fund has been a part of Adeleye’s vision for six years and is now coming to fruition. She posted about the new venture on Instagram.
More information about the fund will be updated on the website.
Adeleye started her business as a YouTuber documenting her hair growing experience on the platform. She would create products in her kitchen and try them on her hair. When she started seeing results, her viewership grew immensely.
Adeleye’s fanbase started demanding her products. With just $500, she was able to create her first Mane Choice product. She did all this while raising a family and working as a nurse.
A year and a half into selling the product, The Mane Choice began to see substantial gains in sales. Eventually, the hair line, which consists of hair care and body care products, ended up in over 20,000 stores across the nation. Within five years, Adeleye made $50M in sales.
Adeleye’s success story is very inspiring considering she was able to take a social media side hustle and translate that to a full-time career as a boss. Even more fascinating is how she was able to elevate to that point despite the oversaturated market that consists of so many DIY beauty consultants on YouTube.
“I think we look at other companies and other brands and we say ‘Hey I want to do that, I want to mimic it just like that,'” she told CNN early in 2019. “But, that’s not the way to go. When you’re already entering an oversaturated industry, you have to bring an innovation. You have to infuse yourself into it because that’s the only way, that’s the only thing that they cannot copy and that’s you.”
She continued, “The dreamers are the ones who actually change the world. So, you have to go after your dreams. You have to trust your gut, trust your instinct. Literally, not listen to anyone, any naysayers because there’s going to be people out there that can’t see your vision.”
