Female Founders: Lois Hines of Tropic Isle Living On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder
An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
Find your ride or die person or group: It is important to surround yourself with people who will hold you accountable and provide a sounding board. This is not about validation, but about having someone who will keep your attitude in check or encourage you to pick yourself up, dust yourself off and keep going when you get knocked down.
As a part of our series about “Why We Need More Women Founders”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Lois Hines of Tropic Isle Living.
In 1992, Lois Hines co-founded Tropic Isle Living, a line of natural hair and skin products made with castor oil and other organic ingredients. Since then, the brand has grown into a multimillion-dollar business that has helped shape the natural hair movement.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?
As a young child, I was always interested in hair and fashion. When I graduated from college, I thought I would be a fashion designer. I was with an amazing man at the time, my first husband Michael, who was into holistic health. I married those two interests in a creative way. I know that women often express their confidence through their hair, and haircare is a means to an end — it helps women feel beautiful. Once your hair is right, everything else falls into place.
And, by the way, I’m about to launch that fashion company. Stay tuned!
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?
In 2019, I was invited by Target to speak on its Black History Month panel. Target also included me alongside Michelle Obama and comedian and television host Trevor Noah in an in-store advertising campaign featured prominently throughout all Targets in the country. It was such an honor, but also surreal to see my mug up on the wall when I would pop in the store to pick up groceries!
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
Years ago when we were still doing this out of our house, our kids, who were young at the time, wanted to help. So we decided to put them to work labeling bottles. The labels turned out so crooked, and we wasted so much, but we lied to them and told them they did a wonderful job. It was one of those times we needed a good laugh because we were struggling and did not know if the company would make it. It is a great example of pausing in the moment to take stock of everything around you. Sometimes, you need to be able to laugh through the mistakes.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
The first person is my grandmother Ansa, who taught me about Jamaican bush medicine, something I am extremely proud of. The second person is my late husband, Michael. He helped me see the world in a different way and made me believe I could do anything I put my mind to. He also taught me to look at my mistakes as lessons learned. The third person is my father. I remember a very specific time he looked at me and said, “You are going to make it.” That confidence and encouragement carried me through so many trials as an entrepreneur. And the fourth is my mentor who told me to always use my voice to speak up and educate and encourage others. I am the person I am today because of these amazing individuals who helped me learn and grow as a business leader and a mother.
According to this EY report, only about 20 percent of funded companies have women founders. This reflects great historical progress, but it also shows that more work still has to be done to empower women to create companies. In your opinion and experience what is currently holding back women from founding companies?
I believe society as a whole views women owners differently than men owners. As a Black woman in business, it is much harder to get funding or business support compared to white men. But that does not mean we should give up. I am not complaining, these are just facts that should make any woman or black founder want to fight harder. I certainly did. It took 30 years before someone invested in my company.
We have made progress, but there is still a lot of work to be done. You can believe in your work and be able to sell yourself and ideas, but at the end of the day, it is about access to capital and support — you can only grow so much without help.
Can you help articulate a few things that can be done as individuals, as a society, or by the government, to help overcome those obstacles?
I am fortunate to be part of a group of women entrepreneurs who are all in the beauty industry. Even though we compete in business, we support each other. Sometimes, I wonder if there are other similar support groups for women entrepreneurs in other industries. In terms of ownership, the beauty industry is male-dominated even though so many of the companies cater to women. That is one reason I believe we need more groups for women entrepreneurs. Groups where you can not only find financial support to help grow your business, but also mental and physical health support.
Generally, for women entrepreneurs, regardless of color, there needs to be dedicated well-funded programs that actually deliver, from early angel investors up through the SBA and other branches of the government. We can row upstream, but we do need a paddle. Women have been doing the work of business for a long time, now business needs to work FOR women.
Can you share a few reasons why more women should become founders?
Because women understand women. We have purchasing power because we buy for the entire household. We know what customers want. Some people do not do their market research, but we know how to market to each other and what works.
Take a look at the research on effective leadership styles, and you will see that when companies (or nations) are led by women, they perform better for everyone. Really.
What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a founder? Can you explain what you mean?
When you are a woman founder, a lot of people assume you are a bitch, and I believe that is a double standard. Just like any other founder, you are trying to steer the ship and have to set aside emotion and use logic.
When you remove emotion, you are seen as a shrew. But when you do not, people say “you are too emotional.” It is damned if you do, damned if you don’t. We have feelings too, and as an entrepreneur you have to make tough decisions. We are responsible for our employees’ livelihoods so we must take it seriously. Not only are they dependent on us, but so are their families, so we cannot afford to fail.
Is everyone cut out to be a founder? In your opinion, which specific traits increase the likelihood that a person will be a successful founder and what type of person should perhaps seek a “regular job” as an employee? Can you explain what you mean?
You have got to have it in you. Anyone can learn to be a good leader, but not everyone possesses the mind, creativity and fortitude to be an entrepreneur. It is certainly not for the faint of heart. It is not for you if you cannot take no for an answer. You must have gumption and grit and be able to carve out your own path without needing validation from anyone. When people say, “you are not going to make it,” that is when you have to put on your big girl britches, and say, “watch me succeed.” You also need patience. Being an entrepreneur does not mean being an overnight success. Oftentimes, it takes years. Most “overnight successes” are based on decades of hard work and lessons of failure. Look at Colonel Sanders, he started KFC when he was 62 years old.
Based on your opinion and experience, what are the “Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder?” (Please share a story or example for each.)
- Believe in yourself despite what others say: When I was young, I did not know I had dyslexia, so my grades were not good. I was always compared to my twin sister and called a “dunce,” which in Jamaican patois means, “hard to learn.” But deep down, I knew I was just as smart as she was. I finally figured out in college I was dyslexic, and once I figured it out I began making the dean’s list.
- Don’t be afraid to think differently: When I was 18, I permed my hair. Then, I cut it off and went natural because people said I was not “natural enough.” People may judge you for not being “natural” or in the case of business, doing the safe or expected thing. Use your mind and talents and think beyond where you are about where you could go, then you can do great things. I am dyslexic, which might be an excuse for some. I say take what you have and do the work to exceed expectations. What you think are your limitations may be the very divine power to get you to fulfill your purpose.
- Find your ride or die person or group: It is important to surround yourself with people who will hold you accountable and provide a sounding board. This is not about validation, but about having someone who will keep your attitude in check or encourage you to pick yourself up, dust yourself off and keep going when you get knocked down.
- Never hire family: More times than not, it damages the relationship. There are several instances where I hired a family member, and it went south. They will come in with good intentions, but money changes a lot of things.
- Have faith: It is important to have a good spiritual base and believe in something bigger than yourself, whatever that might be. Sometimes, answers come to you in strange ways, but the universe does listen.
How have you used your success to make the world a better place?
I am a firm believer in, “to whom much is given, much is expected,” and there are two areas I am particularly passionate about.
The first is empowering women. Tropic Isle Living is fortunate to be able to donate our products to women’s shelters and places of worship across Atlanta. I believe one of the greatest needs a woman has is to feel beautiful, and by donating products, we are able to help instill confidence in women, especially when they are seeking employment.
The second area I am committed to is education. We established a fund at Tropic Isle Living and have helped our employees access educational opportunities by paying for tuition and other expenses. When schools closed because of COVID-19, we converted a conference room into a safe space and hired a teacher so our employees knew their children were learning in a safe place. We have also adopted three schools in Jamaica where we help provide much-needed school supplies, such as books and computers, as well as funds for facility maintenance and building upkeep.
We may be the smallest manufacturing company in Cobb County with real employee health insurance, retirements and other benefits. That is expensive, but our purpose is large.
If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be?
I would love to create a place where women can go to find their own family or support base. It is not because your blood family is not good enough, but sometimes your kinfolks are not kindred spirits, and they can dim the light of your spirit. The movement would be a safe place for all women leaders to find their like minded sisters in war and peace, and a space where all women would be able to find the resources they need in that moment.
We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.
Michelle Obama, because behind every great man there is an equally great woman. Can you imagine the gusto and courage it takes a First Lady to weather all the twists and turns that come with being married to the President? She did that impeccably as a mother, daughter, wife and role model to the nation.
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this!
Female Founders: Lois Hines of Tropic Isle Living On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.