Mahisha Dellinger is dominating the natural hair industry and is a business and branding leader. Her memoir entitled Against All Odds: From The Projects to the Penthouse, details her difficult upbringing in Sacramento: “I’ve never settled for the norm. Even as a little girl from a broken home, I knew that my destiny was greater than my existence. After all, I’d survived abuse, and my life had been spared more times than I can count.”

Today, her company, CURLS, is now one of the leading suppliers of best quality curly hair products. We had the pleasure of getting to know a little bit about Mahisha and her journey to being a game-changer in the marketplace. And, she has some great hair care tips to achieve healthy curls – which she believes starts with healthy habits.

What inspired you to put your life on paper in your book Against All Odds: From The Projects to the Penthouse?

My journey was filled with so many issues, road blocks, and obstacles once I “made it” through it all AND succeeded, I knew I must share my story so that my testimony could inspire someone else.

The standard for beauty has long been skewed by mass media. How is CURLS reshaping the perception of beauty among people of color?

By offering organic products and solutions for women embracing their natural, God given texture  CURLS empowers women. We empower, encourage and enable women to love themselves just as they are.

What were some obstacles you faced while turning your $30,000 savings investment into the multi-million dollar empire that we see today?

My biggest challenge was getting funding to launch CURLS. Despite having exceptional personal credit. I wasn’t able to secure funding of any kind.  I wanted to launch on a larger scale, instead I started on a smaller scale, reinvested every dollar earned and grew the business over time.

Some of your most tried and trusted products include the Crème Brule whipped curl cream and the Lavish Curls Moisturizer 2nd curl refresher/daily leave in. Why do so many curly girls find success with these products?

Simply put…they were created for us, by us. I am the consumer so I understand the needs of today’s natural consumer.