*Frisky*
Well-Known Member
I think some of you ladies use her products and might be interested in this.
http://www.gofundme.com/afroveda
My name is Mala Rhodes. I am the owner of AfroVeda Hair Products in Los Angeles, CA and I am here to ask for your help. I've been active in the natural hair care community for over a decade and specifically in the natural haircare business for the past 6 years. It has been quite an intense labor of love, and I'm grateful to have found my calling. But in the 6 years that AfroVeda has been open, things have never looked so bleak as they do right now. Business has been devastatingly slow for the past 6 months of 2014 since moving from Dallas to Los Angeles in February, causing tremendous shipping delays that I have not yet been able to overcome. A perfect storm of bad luck, bad economy, divorce and, yes, bad decisions have left the company on a terrible financial footing.
After running up my credit line during the move the bank decided to review my account and decided that the balance on the credit line was too high and, in their infinite wisdom, demanded immediate repayment in the form of a high-interest loan. This created a domino effect where, when reporting the change in my credit status to the various credit bureaus caused them all to cut my credit and in a couple of cases close my accounts. Once that started taking its toll on my business, I began to lose accounts with both retail and wholesale accounts.
Because of the nature of my businesses all of my debt was secured through personal guarantees and now I am in a spot where not only am I unable to get my business righted, but I have blown through all of my personal assets other than the home I live in to keep things going.
A simple bankruptcy for me is not an option as everything comes back to me anyway, so as much as this pains me to go this route I am asking for people’s assistance in helping me and my company get back on our feet. I am still in business right now, still trying to make products and ship orders to keep the business going. However the revenue from product sales is not enough to keep AfroVeda open AND pay down debt. I have exhausted all of the typical means of raising money, including offering pretty decent discounts on the website. I am now at the point where the GoFundMe approach is a last resort.
As the sole owner/manager, the responsibility for the health of the business lies squarely on my shoulders. My current challenge is coming up with $7,520 in loans and over due debts that must be paid by the end of the first full week in August in order to keep the business open. That's the immediate challenge. I am also hoping to be able to purchase the necessary supplies to complete all of the backorders that are still pending and create a bit of stock for future orders.
I have vowed to all of those in the natural hair care community who have already shown their unwavering support, to do everything in my power to keep AfroVeda operating. I wouldn't ask unless the situation was dire and all my other resources have been exhausted, hence my plea to you all. AfroVeda is not a fraudlent business, and I am doing all I can to get back on track so that I can once again earn your trust.
On a positive note, the news isn't all grim. I just need some financial support to be able to hang on a bit longer while business begins to rebound.
Please help me help others and take this to the next level. There is also an oportunity to work with homeless women who are re-entering the workforce. This would be the next level for AfroVeda. The Gourmet Hair Cafe™ would provide free hair care services for women on the day (or day before) their job interview to help augment the core services provided through One-Stop Career Centers. The money that you donate will also go towards purchasing some of the necessary supplies for the free services, as well as raw materials for the products and rental space for the pop-up shops.
As part of your donation, I am offering you the opportunity to enjoy our conscious hair care products as well. Receive a gift certificate or schedule a party of your own to experience the Gourmet Hair Cafe™ for yourself. Your help is greatly appreciated, and I promise you will not be disappointed.
Many people have told me that it's important to have a company focused on conscious haircare, providing natural products that are not harmful, and based on the holistic principles of Ayurveda. It would break my heart to disappoint all those who believed in me and have entrusted me with their support. Hair care is my art, it is my passion, and it is the expression of my love to others. Please help me save AfroVeda and keep that light burning brightly. You can read below to give you a little more information about what AfroVeda is and the direction I am trying to go. Thank you!!
**************************************
For so long we have used over-the-counter products that only gave us the illusion of healthy hair, while all the time those same products were actually wreaking havoc on our scalps and in our bodies. To remedy this, I created the Gourmet Hair Cafe™ to give you the chance to select your own "blend" of natural herbs and botanicals for a conscious hair care experience (meaning no chemicals, parabens, SLS or other harmful ingredients).
The Gourmet Hair Cafe™ is a brand new concept in hair care where we custom-blend conditioners using the most potent ayurvedic ingredients, along with natural botanicals, to create hair conditioners specifically for you. These conditioners are made "on-the-spot" and given to you to take home. It's YOUR custom blend, and it's only for YOU!
Studies show that custom-blended skin/hair care products may be up to 400% more effective than traditional off-the-shelf products.
Why? Since a custom-blended product is made on-the-spot it has never sat on the shelf, losing its potency. Off-the-shelf items are sometimes made months or possibly even years before you finally buy them. In addition, since its shelf life will be only as long as it takes you to use it, your Custom-Blended product will contain the highest level of active ingredients and the lowest practical level of preservatives. And since it is made only for YOU – it will contain only those ingredients that YOU need, only those ingredients that will benefit YOU – only those ingredients that will deliver results for YOU.
Your product will be only yours and no one else's.
So often we (mainly women and young girls) suffer with hair breakage and hair loss as a result of bad products and improper hair care practices which leave us with low self esteem. We all are well aware that how we feel about our hair can affect more than just our day, it can in many cases, seriously affect our lives and our children’s lives. I am amazed everytime I speak with a parent who is seemingly unconcerned with how her child's hair is cared for, and the comments from the child showing this same mentality being passed down. This is just not cute (see pic above). It is high time we educate our mothers and daughters and teach them that there is a much better way.
Helping people understand the benefit of being conscious of what we use on our hair and skin may seem small, but it is a huge undertaking and I am devoted to spreading the message. I love hearing that someone benefitted from one of my hair sessions, and it just lets me know that I am on the right track.
Thank you!
http://www.gofundme.com/afroveda
My name is Mala Rhodes. I am the owner of AfroVeda Hair Products in Los Angeles, CA and I am here to ask for your help. I've been active in the natural hair care community for over a decade and specifically in the natural haircare business for the past 6 years. It has been quite an intense labor of love, and I'm grateful to have found my calling. But in the 6 years that AfroVeda has been open, things have never looked so bleak as they do right now. Business has been devastatingly slow for the past 6 months of 2014 since moving from Dallas to Los Angeles in February, causing tremendous shipping delays that I have not yet been able to overcome. A perfect storm of bad luck, bad economy, divorce and, yes, bad decisions have left the company on a terrible financial footing.
After running up my credit line during the move the bank decided to review my account and decided that the balance on the credit line was too high and, in their infinite wisdom, demanded immediate repayment in the form of a high-interest loan. This created a domino effect where, when reporting the change in my credit status to the various credit bureaus caused them all to cut my credit and in a couple of cases close my accounts. Once that started taking its toll on my business, I began to lose accounts with both retail and wholesale accounts.
Because of the nature of my businesses all of my debt was secured through personal guarantees and now I am in a spot where not only am I unable to get my business righted, but I have blown through all of my personal assets other than the home I live in to keep things going.
A simple bankruptcy for me is not an option as everything comes back to me anyway, so as much as this pains me to go this route I am asking for people’s assistance in helping me and my company get back on our feet. I am still in business right now, still trying to make products and ship orders to keep the business going. However the revenue from product sales is not enough to keep AfroVeda open AND pay down debt. I have exhausted all of the typical means of raising money, including offering pretty decent discounts on the website. I am now at the point where the GoFundMe approach is a last resort.
As the sole owner/manager, the responsibility for the health of the business lies squarely on my shoulders. My current challenge is coming up with $7,520 in loans and over due debts that must be paid by the end of the first full week in August in order to keep the business open. That's the immediate challenge. I am also hoping to be able to purchase the necessary supplies to complete all of the backorders that are still pending and create a bit of stock for future orders.
I have vowed to all of those in the natural hair care community who have already shown their unwavering support, to do everything in my power to keep AfroVeda operating. I wouldn't ask unless the situation was dire and all my other resources have been exhausted, hence my plea to you all. AfroVeda is not a fraudlent business, and I am doing all I can to get back on track so that I can once again earn your trust.
On a positive note, the news isn't all grim. I just need some financial support to be able to hang on a bit longer while business begins to rebound.
Please help me help others and take this to the next level. There is also an oportunity to work with homeless women who are re-entering the workforce. This would be the next level for AfroVeda. The Gourmet Hair Cafe™ would provide free hair care services for women on the day (or day before) their job interview to help augment the core services provided through One-Stop Career Centers. The money that you donate will also go towards purchasing some of the necessary supplies for the free services, as well as raw materials for the products and rental space for the pop-up shops.
As part of your donation, I am offering you the opportunity to enjoy our conscious hair care products as well. Receive a gift certificate or schedule a party of your own to experience the Gourmet Hair Cafe™ for yourself. Your help is greatly appreciated, and I promise you will not be disappointed.
Many people have told me that it's important to have a company focused on conscious haircare, providing natural products that are not harmful, and based on the holistic principles of Ayurveda. It would break my heart to disappoint all those who believed in me and have entrusted me with their support. Hair care is my art, it is my passion, and it is the expression of my love to others. Please help me save AfroVeda and keep that light burning brightly. You can read below to give you a little more information about what AfroVeda is and the direction I am trying to go. Thank you!!
**************************************
For so long we have used over-the-counter products that only gave us the illusion of healthy hair, while all the time those same products were actually wreaking havoc on our scalps and in our bodies. To remedy this, I created the Gourmet Hair Cafe™ to give you the chance to select your own "blend" of natural herbs and botanicals for a conscious hair care experience (meaning no chemicals, parabens, SLS or other harmful ingredients).
The Gourmet Hair Cafe™ is a brand new concept in hair care where we custom-blend conditioners using the most potent ayurvedic ingredients, along with natural botanicals, to create hair conditioners specifically for you. These conditioners are made "on-the-spot" and given to you to take home. It's YOUR custom blend, and it's only for YOU!
Studies show that custom-blended skin/hair care products may be up to 400% more effective than traditional off-the-shelf products.
Why? Since a custom-blended product is made on-the-spot it has never sat on the shelf, losing its potency. Off-the-shelf items are sometimes made months or possibly even years before you finally buy them. In addition, since its shelf life will be only as long as it takes you to use it, your Custom-Blended product will contain the highest level of active ingredients and the lowest practical level of preservatives. And since it is made only for YOU – it will contain only those ingredients that YOU need, only those ingredients that will benefit YOU – only those ingredients that will deliver results for YOU.
Your product will be only yours and no one else's.
So often we (mainly women and young girls) suffer with hair breakage and hair loss as a result of bad products and improper hair care practices which leave us with low self esteem. We all are well aware that how we feel about our hair can affect more than just our day, it can in many cases, seriously affect our lives and our children’s lives. I am amazed everytime I speak with a parent who is seemingly unconcerned with how her child's hair is cared for, and the comments from the child showing this same mentality being passed down. This is just not cute (see pic above). It is high time we educate our mothers and daughters and teach them that there is a much better way.
Helping people understand the benefit of being conscious of what we use on our hair and skin may seem small, but it is a huge undertaking and I am devoted to spreading the message. I love hearing that someone benefitted from one of my hair sessions, and it just lets me know that I am on the right track.
Thank you!
the base fiasco and other issues really ruined her business. Her products are too expensive I wanted to try them but couldn't justify the price.
