We recently connected with Kay Cola and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Kay, thanks for joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?
My journey with haircare started from a very personal place. As a Black woman, hair has always been deeply connected to identity, confidence, and culture. I went through something many women experience but do not always talk about openly. I had a bad haircut, and my hair had been damaged from extensions, coloring, heat styling, and products that promised healthy hair but were filled with harsh ingredients. My hair began breaking, thinning, and it completely lost its natural texture. I remember looking in the mirror and feeling like my hair no longer represented me.
Around that same time, my daughter was beginning to embrace her natural curls. Watching her made something very clear to me. I did not want her to grow up believing she had to damage her hair to make it manageable or beautiful. I wanted her to grow up loving her natural texture and having healthy hair from the beginning.
That realization led me into years of research. I began studying ingredients, scalp health, hair science, and porosity. I started experimenting with plant based ingredients and creating formulas in small batches. At first it was just for my family. My goal was simple. Repair the damage and restore our hair’s health.
As I continued learning and formulating, I noticed something missing in the industry. Not many products were truly designed with textured hair in mind or focused on long term hair health and scalp care. At the same time, I realized something even more important. Healthy hair principles apply to everyone. Hair porosity, moisture balance, and scalp health affect all hair types.
That discovery led to the creation of OrganiGrowHairCo in 2016. I wanted to build something different. A line that is vegan, organic, non toxic, and formulated to support real hair health from the scalp up. While our journey began with textured hair in mind, our products are designed to support all hair types and textures because healthy hair science is universal.
That is why we say we are Hair Healers. Our mission has always been to help people repair damage, understand their hair, and bring it back to its healthiest state.
When people began sharing their results and telling us their hair was finally growing again, their texture was improving, and their confidence was returning, I realized this was bigger than a product line. It became about helping people reconnect with their natural hair and feel empowered in their own beauty.
Today, OrganiGrowHairCo has helped thousands of people experience healthier hair growth and improved texture. What started as a personal solution has grown into something much bigger. We are now more than just haircare. We have expanded into skincare and wellness as well, because true beauty and confidence begin with overall health and care from the inside out.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
My name is Kay Cola, and I am the founder and formulator behind OrganiGrowHairCo. I am an entrepreneur, researcher, and creative at heart. Before entering the beauty industry, I built a career in music as a Grammy nominated songwriter and recording artist, and over the years my work has been featured in publications such as Forbes and on television programs like Good Day LA, along with many other media outlets. Creativity and storytelling have always been a part of who I am, and that same passion eventually carried over into building my own brand.
My journey into the haircare industry began from a very personal experience. As a Black woman, hair has always been deeply connected to identity, culture, and confidence. Years ago, I experienced significant hair damage from a combination of a bad haircut, extensions, coloring, heat styling, and products that promised results but were filled with harsh ingredients. My hair began breaking, thinning, and losing its natural texture. It was frustrating and discouraging.
At the same time, my daughter was beginning to embrace her natural curls. Watching her made me realize I wanted something different for the next generation. I wanted her to grow up loving her natural hair and understanding how to care for it in a healthy way.
That realization led me into years of research. I began studying ingredients, scalp health, hair science, and hair porosity. I spent countless hours learning how hair actually functions and how certain ingredients either support or damage the hair and scalp over time. I started experimenting with plant based ingredients and creating small batch formulas at home, initially just to repair my own hair and help my family restore theirs.
Through that process, I discovered something important. Many products in the beauty industry focus on styling or quick cosmetic results, but very few focus on long term hair health and scalp care. I also noticed that not many brands were truly designing products with textured hair in mind. At the same time, I learned that the fundamentals of healthy hair apply to everyone. Hair porosity, moisture balance, scalp health, and ingredient quality affect all hair types.
That discovery led to the creation of OrganiGrowHairCo in 2016. I built the brand around a very clear mission: to create clean, non toxic, vegan, plant based products that support real hair health from the scalp up. Our philosophy is simple. Healthy hair begins with understanding your hair and nourishing it properly.
At OrganiGrowHairCo we offer a full line of haircare designed to support different hair textures and porosities. Our products are formulated to strengthen the scalp, restore moisture balance, encourage hair growth, and improve overall hair texture. While our journey began with textured hair in mind, our formulations are designed to support all hair types because healthy hair science is universal.
One phrase we often say is that we are Hair Healers. That philosophy reflects the heart of what we do. Our goal is not just to sell products but to help people repair their hair, understand their hair, and build routines that support long term hair health.
Another thing that sets us apart is our commitment to transparency and real results. We do not pay for testimonials or influencer promotions. The reviews, before and after photos, and stories shared by our community come from real customers who have used the products and experienced transformations themselves.
What I am most proud of is the impact the brand has had on people’s confidence. Over the years we have helped thousands of customers restore their hair, improve growth, and bring their natural texture back to life. Seeing people regain confidence through healthier hair has been one of the most rewarding parts of this journey.
Today, OrganiGrowHairCo has grown into something much bigger than I originally imagined. We are now more than just haircare. We have expanded into skincare and wellness as well because we believe true beauty begins with overall health and self care from the inside out. Our mission continues to evolve, but the heart of the brand remains the same: helping people feel confident, healthy, and empowered in their natural beauty.
Can you talk to us about manufacturing? How’d you figure it all out? We’d love to hear the story.
Yes, we manufacture all of our products in house and have done so from the beginning. Maintaining control over every step of the process has always been very important to me. From formulation and ingredient sourcing to production, filling, labeling, and fulfillment, everything is done by our team in the United States.
When I first started creating formulas, I did not begin with the intention of building a manufacturing company. It started from a personal need. I was dealing with significant hair damage from extensions, coloring, heat styling, and products that were filled with harsh ingredients. My hair was breaking, thinning, and losing its natural texture. That pushed me to start researching ingredients, scalp health, hair science, and porosity so I could understand what my hair actually needed to recover.
Through years of research and experimentation, I began creating small batch formulas using plant based ingredients. At first, the products were just for me and my family as I worked to repair the damage and restore our hair’s health. Over time, the results became noticeable, and people began asking what I was using. Friends and family started requesting the products, and that is when I realized there was a real need for formulations that focused on true hair health instead of just temporary styling.
As demand began to grow, many people suggested outsourcing manufacturing to a contract manufacturer. However, I decided to continue producing everything ourselves. Keeping the process in house allows us to maintain full control over the quality of ingredients, the consistency of each formula, and the integrity of the brand.
Our first manufacturing and warehouse location was in Los Angeles. As the company continued to grow, we eventually expanded and moved our larger manufacturing and warehouse operations to Las Vegas. Today, we continue to manufacture everything ourselves and handle every step of the process in house.
One of the biggest lessons I have learned about manufacturing is the importance of quality control and patience. Creating products that truly support healthy hair requires careful formulation, proper ingredient sourcing, and attention to detail in every batch. Another important lesson is that staying hands on with the process allows us to innovate, improve formulas, and respond directly to customer feedback.
Manufacturing in house has allowed us to stay true to our mission of creating clean, vegan, plant based products that support real hair health. By keeping everything under our roof in the USA, we are able to protect the quality, transparency, and consistency that our customers trust.
We’d love to hear your thoughts about selling platforms like Amazon/Etsy vs selling on your own site.
Our primary ecommerce platform is Shopify, which powers our official website and allows us to maintain direct relationships with our customers. We chose Shopify because it gives us full control over the customer experience, from how the brand is presented to how orders are processed and fulfilled. It also allows us to manage inventory, shipping, and global orders efficiently while continuing to grow the brand online.
Selling directly through our website has many advantages. It allows us to communicate our brand story, educate customers about hair health and porosity, and provide detailed information about our formulations. Because our products are designed to support long term hair health, education is a very important part of the customer experience. Our website gives us the ability to share that knowledge directly with our community.
Another major advantage of selling through our own platform is that we can build a stronger relationship with our customers. We are able to connect with them through email, educational content, and direct communication, which helps us understand their hair concerns and continue improving our products based on real feedback.
In addition to selling through our website, OrganiGrowHairCo is also available across multiple ecommerce marketplaces and social commerce platforms. Our products can be found on Amazon, TikTok Shop, Meta Shop, and Instagram Shop. We are also available through select online retailers such as Target.com and Vegan-America.com. Being present on these platforms helps us reach new customers who discover products through different shopping channels.
Beyond ecommerce, OrganiGrowHairCo has also expanded through retail and wholesale partnerships. Our products are carried by multiple stockists around the world, including salons and beauty supply stores. Many professional stylists choose to carry our line because they see the results on their clients’ hair and appreciate the clean, plant based formulations.
Wholesale has been an important part of our growth because it allows salons and beauty retailers to introduce our products to their own communities. These partnerships help us reach customers who prefer discovering products in person through trusted beauty professionals.
We also ship worldwide, which has allowed our community to grow internationally. Healthy hair is something people everywhere care about, and being able to reach customers globally has been an exciting part of the brand’s expansion.
Overall, our approach combines direct to consumer ecommerce through Shopify with marketplace distribution and retail partnerships. This allows us to maintain a close connection with our customers while also making our products accessible through multiple trusted platforms around the world.
