After seven years on Wall Street, Nancy Twine learned a lot about self-discipline. Having rode through some of the financial industry’s wildest years on record, “taking the time to think things through and gather perspective from others” have become two of her most important skills, just as crucial as a sharp numbers analysis or product quality upkeep. Every move for Twine and the hair product company she founded after she left Wall Street, Briogeo, has been carefully calculated and planned out before they were made. So far, they’ve all been winning ones.
Briogeo makes shampoos and conditioners. Some are volumizers, others work on improving curls, some are for textured, thick hair and others are for hair that could be defined as oily or with significant buildup. These are highly specific products which makes sense considering how they stem from the creations of a highly specific person: Twine’s West Virginian grandmother, who made products at home simply because if she didn’t make them there, she wouldn’t have them. “It first started when my grandmother was swayed to create her own products out of necessity to provide for the large family she raised on her farm”, Twine says. “From there, my mother learned the craft and growing up we would make a wide assortment of homemade products ranging from soaps to hair care products”.
It’s a family tradition, but Twine has gone into business as an entrepreneur. It’s an environment, where, Twine notes, “you don’t have the same internal resources to help you balance the day-to-day and intricacies of running the business as you would working in a corporate setting. As a founder, you wear many hats to pick up the slack and keep the company moving forward, which can be very challenging”.
All those hats haven’t resulted in any hat-hair, though, and Briogeo’s biggest moves to date have been getting inside big names stores like Sephora and Urban Outfitters, essentially taking her grandmother’s homemade recipes nationwide. A coup for her small brand, Twine describes a consistent, thorough approach towards the larger companies: “I met the buyers of Sephora and Urban Outfitters at a trade show last year and developed relationships by keeping them in the loop of the progress of my brand. Every time I received noteworthy press or reviews from customers, I’d compile them into a presentation and I’d send it to the buyers at the stores I was aiming to partner with. Over time they were able to get a real glimpse of the hard work I was putting in to build the brand and the great feedback we were getting on the products. From there, I was able to build a solid case on why my brand deserved a chance in-store”.
It’s been a steady, not-exactly-slow, process. Briogeo has seen solid growth and now Twine is using her corporate experience to move the company into a permanent place on the shelves of its customers. Given her recent record, Briogeo will likely shine as brightly as hair using avocado, shea, aloe and quinoa extract.