Sundial Creations softens skin, builds businesses

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Thursday, 22 July 2010 00:00

Richelieu Dennis, CEO of Sundial Creations

Grandma's kitchen recipe cooks up community wealth

By Ricki Jae Morris, My Salon Scoop writer

From his grandmother's kitchen in Liberia West Africa to the department store counters in the U.S., Richelieu Dennis is walking proof that all-natural products aren't just healthy; they also generate economic independence.

"(We are) focused on building wealth in the community. (That's) basically our mantra," said Dennis, CEO of Sundial Creations, Inc. "It's not about extracting. It's about creating."

With 15,000 independent retailers all over the country and more business-minded individuals and stores joining the Sundial Creations bandwagon, Dennis knows this model works.

Personal financial freedom
But before it became a business model, it was his personal roadmap to economic independence.

About 20 years ago, Dennis found himself facing a major crossroads in his life. His country, Liberia, was embroiled in a raging civil war that tore at the heart of the economic fabric of many of those whom he loved. Unable to go home to physically help, Dennis was determined to create continual wealth for himself, his family and his people.

It was the early ‘90s in New York City. Street vendors populated just about every neighborhood street corner. As he studied what they sold, he realized the one thing he had that many of them were unfamiliar with-shea butter and organic skin care.

In West Africa, Dennis explained, making shea butter products is a way of life. His grandmother Sofi Tucker worked in the fields gathering shea nuts, cleaning them and

Sundial Creations began with shea butter skin care products.

grounding them into butter and soaps. She then sold them at the village markets. Dennis brought his country's biggest selling product overseas and created a viable entrepreneurship.

"We were basically doing a lot of educating," said Dennis about how he and his business partners captivated people's interest in New York. In the early ‘90s, he said, people there didn't know much about shea butter and its benefits. Though hesitant to buy, he said, they were curious about the organic product.

"It wasn't that we were selling shea butter, but it was that we were...selling all-natural (products)...and educating (customers) on the differences and what that means (to their) health," Dennis said.

Through word of mouth, his Sundial products became a big success. The company went from selling its product on street corners to selling the product in major retail stores such as Macy's, Target and Whole Foods.

No health hype here
"It was an extremely rewarding experience to give people something that was so different from what they were using," said Dennis, adding that the company is not just promoting something new; it is promoting good health.

Consumers love the Sundial Creations product brands: Shea Moisture, Shea Moisture Organic and Nubian Heritage. On Target.com, clients sing Shea Moisture praises.

"It was the most moisturizing, most reasonably priced treatment I've used on my skin. And the smell!!! The fragrance is nothing less than true aromatherapy," wrote a customer in Houston about the Shea Moisture African Black Soap Bar and Lotion Combo, which is only available on Target.com.

Not only do customers enjoy the products, but Dennis and his product brands also have been mentioned in the New York Times newspaper and Black Enterprise magazine.

Independent retailers cash in
Dennis said the company helps many in the U.S. and Africa become financially independent.

"We do our part, as best as we can (to help), not just the women in Africa that we buy our raw materials from and our ingredients, but the people (in N.Y.), that need additional income," he said, adding that there are many success stories. Several people have joined his company as entrepreneurs and have later opened their own retail stores. "We are helping people improve their economic situations."

New hair care products extend Sundial Creations line.

The 16-year old conglomerate includes four retail stores and state-of-art 50,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Amityville, N.Y. The company's products are made with natural oils such as agan, jojoba, tea tree and shea butter.

"We service thousands of small mom/pops directly," Chief Marketing Officer Emmet Dennis stated in a recent e-mail. "We service a few thousand through (about 30 distributors) and we service a few thousand doors through our mass retail partnerships."

Currently, the company is launching a new hair care line called SheaMoisture Organic Hair Care exclusively at Target.

Ricki Jae Morris is a freelance writer in Los Angeles.