EP. 107 - Lessons learnt from Google, Changing The Hair Industry With Tech & More! ft. Antoinette Ale
Episode description
Joining us in the booth this week is Antoinette Ale, the founder of Tressly which is a Website builder & booking software for hairstylists.
In this episode we discuss:
- Life growing up in Ghana and the difficult of transitioning to the UK
- Tressly & how it seeks to disrupt the hair industry and support hairstylists to grow their business
- Why getting customer feedback on your product is vital to it's success
- Lessons learnt from doing accelerators with Barclays, Sky & Google
- The importance of knowing the future of the industry
- The decline of the salon model
- Lack of formal education on diverse hair
- Debate: Natural hair vs Non-natural hair
- Pro's and con's of having a co-founder
- How to stop getting distracted and much more!
Follow Antoinette on Instagram here
Follow Tressly on Instagram here
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Check out: https://www.youtube.com/savvywallet for the video version
TIMESTAMPS
00:00 - Preview
00:58 - Intro
01:33 - A lot of effort, a lot of emotional exhaustion
04:00 - Meet Antoinette Ale
05:06 - I grew up in Ghana: Life was sweet!
07:57 - At school I was two levels above!
10:11 - I was good at finance but I found it boring so I pivoted!
15:37 - At the time not much in the media about afro hair car
19:07 - The next big problem in the hair care industry is tech
21:20 - How Tressly helps hair stylists to grow their business
23:55 - The first version of my app was patchy..!
25:39 - Entrepreneurs: focus on testing & getting feedback
27:32 - If you care about something you’ll listen
31:51 - Sky’s pledge to the black hair industry
35:04 - Is it worth delaying your dream further?
37:06 - Launch date for the release of the app
38:04 - We want 1000 paying users by the end of 2024
39:29 - The one thing I learnt from Google, Barclays, Sky
41:19 - Why we’re not bootstrapping…we want to raise…!
42:53 - Most businesses are forcing the SaaS model
43:57 - How to prepare for investments
45:57 - Business nowadays: it’s a niche within a niche!
48:27 - You need to know the future of your industry
50:41 - Tressly’s vision
53:12 - Tressly Gala: Highs and the Lows
57:27 - Debate: Natural hair vs Non-natural hair
01:02:45 - The relaxer hair debacle
01:05:27 - Pro’s and cons of having a co-founder
01:08:16 - How to stop getting distracted…!
01:11:14 - Why 2024 is the best time to start a business
01:14:08 - Final words
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