“We created our own.”

Welcome to Free Radicals — a collaboration between Every, Sherrell Dorsey, founder of The Plug, and writer and editor Annaliese Griffin. Each edition features a conversation between Sherrell and someone who embodies leadership, focusing on equity, expansive thinking, and progress. 

In 2019, Black consumers spent an estimated $1.75 billion on hair care products. Less than half of those products were created specifically for Black people, and even fewer were made by Black-led companies. 

Ciara Imani May, the founder and CEO of Rebundle, is changing that by bringing plant-based, biodegradable hair extensions to a market in need of innovative thinking. May joins a growing wave of Black entrepreneurs who are giving the beauty market a makeover to better meet the needs of Black women. According to the Black Owned Beauty Supply Association, out of more than 35,000 beauty supply stores in the U.S. only about 2,500 are Black-owned—though that number is on the rise. 

For May, economic equity could not be separated from sustainable practices. While researching the supply chain for Rebundle, May looked at import records and calculated that about 30 million pounds of synthetic hair are imported to the U.S. each year, and the only place it could all end up is in a landfill. The extensions that she developed with the help of Jessica Sanders, Rebundle’s resident scientist, can be composted, and the company offers recycling for the synthetic extensions their customers are replacing.  

There’s also a very real question about the health and safety of synthetic extensions, which are notorious among wearers for being incredibly irritating to the scalp. They are often made from PVC plastics, which can contain phthalates, chemicals that have been linked to a variety of negative health effects, and that consumer advocates have called for banning from household products. May sees plant-based braiding hair as an issue of environmental justice as much as a higher quality, more comfortable alternative in an outdated market. 

In October, May got into a program at Arch Grants, a St. Louis-based start-up fund that provided her with $50,000 in equity-free funding. Though part of her team is still in Charlotte, May relocated back to Missouri to set up the manufacturing for Rebundle in her home state.

Sherrell Dorsey spoke with May about Rebundle’s supply chain, how knowing to ask for help makes her a better leader, and why 2020 was the right year to quit her job and start something new. 

It was very bold to build a company in the middle of a pandemic. There's a sense of fearlessness here. Tell me about your vision for both yourself and your company.