By: Auz Momin
Hair is an essential part of self-identity for people across the world. Whether it is through length, style, or colour, hair choices are an extension of one's self-identity. This makes places such as barber shops and salons sacred places where people put their hair in the trusted hands of professionals. Unfortunately, not everyone has this luxury, as Black women suffer from the lack of access to who know how to work with afro-curly hair. “I walked into 15 different hair salons and all of them turned me away,” explained Aileen Agada, Co-Founder and CEO of BeBlended. “From my own experience, I could not find a hairstylist because they did not know how to work on Afro curly hair texture.”
Aileen is a Grebel Peace Incubator participant at the Kindred Credit Union Centre for Peace Advancement and a University of Waterloo Environmental Engineering graduate. She is now completing her Master of Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology degree at the Conrad School of Entrepreneurship and Business at the University of Waterloo. After working in several business and technical positions, including a co-op at a Belgian startup, the entrepreneural spirit in Aileen compelled her to found BeBlended, an online marketplace which globally connects Black clients to hairstylists specializing in afro-curly hair textures. BeBlended acts as a marketplace that focuses on user experience with reviews, security, and an integrated platform where hairstylists can schedule, chat, and manage finances. Hairstylists also receive access to a tailored client base, hairstyling gigs, and an online platform to manage all back-office business operations. To date, BeBlended is currently onboarding more than 1,300 clients and over 100 hairstylists onto their new platform, with this number growing larger by the day.
Recently, Aileen has been participating in various pitch competitions to help launch BeBlended to a larger audience. Two weeks ago, Aileen traveled to Fredericton, New Brunswick and competed in the BMO Apex Startup Challenge at the University of New Brunswick. BeBlended placed first out of more than forty startups, and received the Entrepreneurial Powerhouse Award that was presented by Ignite & New Brunswick Innovation Foundation. “This experience allowed us to remind ourselves yet again that the problem is still very active and present and that there's a large portion of awareness that BeBlended brings when we pitch at these competitions,” Aileen reflected.
Currently Aileen is competing in the Odlum Brown Forum Pitch for up to $30,000 to fund her business vision. Aileen pitched at the first part of this competition in Vancouver and out of the 386 applicants, Aileen moved onto the semi-finals, with nine other startups. “The top 10, they're high caliber. Like I would say, the best of the best and I'm so grateful to be involved in that amazing group of people,” said Aileen. With multiple years of entrepreneur experience under her belt, Aileen offered advice for aspiring entrepreneurs: “We like to have instant gratification, but entrepreneurship is not that at all. Be consistent, but also patient with yourself as you are growing to becoming a founder and be open to learning in your progress as you are moving forward.”
BeBlended is based in Canada, but as a software focused tech company, it has huge potential to grow to a global scale. Aileen would like to eventually expand to the USA, then the UK, and eventually across the globe. Aileen is also planning to expand in other areas like makeup, wedding, and events industries, TV and film, and men and barbers. Check out BeBlended to find a hairstylist for you.