How I found footing in hair business

“Genuine virgin hair extensions were in the past difficult to find in the country. Where one could access them, they were overpriced and were not offered professionally. Those who travelled abroad sometimes came back with a few pieces and offered them from their suitcases, which was very juakali. Others who claimed to offer virgin hair extensions only offered high quality synthetic fibre hair or what they call ‘semi-human’ hair,” she explains.

Zero resistance According to Georgina, hair extensions in Kenya back then were offered as a mass product.

“There was no sparkle and they all looked the same and were all low quality with no resistance to heat styling tools. They couldn’t be manipulated in terms of colour or style and most of them could only be used for a very short time,” she explains.

“Whenever I travelled to some countries abroad, I noticed women with a different style of hair extensions. Those that flowed like natural hair and could be manipulated in to different colours and styles, high quality hair extensions that could be used for more than three to four years. This suddenly ignited my mind,” she adds.

From that point, Georgina embarked on carrying out research and learnt about virgin human hair and hair extensions sourced from countries of origin.

“I spoke to experts in London who had been sourcing for virgin hair for decades and created networks. I saw a gap in the Kenyan and African market as a whole, and created the right business relationships with different sources across the globe. And that is how Nywele Creative was borne.”

She adds, “I found a need; Kenyan women wanted the full experience. Their hair is their crowning glory. They wanted to feel special; they wanted good quality products and were willing to invest in themselves. The synthetic hair extensions available were not satisfying a certain niche market of women who wanted the best. With my sources, I was able to order for some virgin human hair extensions and introduced the product to the market. The response was amazing. Many women loved the product and through referrals I kept on getting more orders.”

Nywele Creative was officially launched in February 2012 as a small online business and within six months Georgina had acquired her first flagship store.

High demand “The demand for our product was very high and before 2015 I had opened five branches in some of the largest malls in Nairobi through profits alone. The brand was very well received by the Kenyan market and remains a household name within the hair and beauty industry. We were the first to bridge the disconnect between where clients could purchase hair extensions and where they could have them installed,” Georgina says.

“We created the all under-one-roof concept when it came to hair extensions. Clients can purchase and have their hair extensions installed in the same place, saving time, money and give them the confidence they need in the product,” she adds.