Afripreneur
Célia Just Valerius: Beauty Entrepreneur Inspired By Basara Group Of Chadian Women
Célia Just Valerius, CEO at ChebHair (Image: Supplied)
At the head of ChebHair is Célia Just Valerius, an ambitious young woman with a passion for natural cosmetics who has always wanted to be an entrepreneur. At the age of 3 her parents separated, then her father was mentally handicapped and she grew up in the 91st, alone with her mother and sister.
Her mother took charge of their education based on human, ambitious and feminist values; in order to make them strong and combative women. Thanks to her maternal grandmother, Célia discovered her Afro-Caribbean culture and history, which made her an educated and committed young girl at a very early age.
In France, Célia has always found that there was a lack of effective hair cosmetics for the Afro-Caribbean community and all people with textured hair. In addition, it is true that people with textured hair have long lacked knowledge about their beautiful, frizzy, curly, curly hair.
It was at the beginning of summer 2017 that the company ChebHair was born. A visionary brand of natural hair products based on chebe, born out of Celia’s passion and love for the beauty of wavy, curly, frizzy and frizzy hair. By offering a range of products such as oils, chebe powder, accessories and other upcoming treatments, Célia highlights the value of our hair.
“Our hair is our crown, the one we never take off. Be proud. To love our hair is to love who we are. Love our history, our heritage, our excellence! So take care of yourself and your crown,” she said.
Today, Célia Just Valerius is a holder of a double Bachelor in Management & ICT and in Digital Marketing & Communication and a Master in Strategy and Entrepreneurship in the Digital Age from the Grande École de Commerce. She puts all her knowledge into action to respond to the needs of all people with textured hair.
Maelle CABARRUS is a hair coach and hair youtuber since 2010. She is the founder of À La Folie, a research company on textured hair, beauty and self-esteem coaching for black and mixed-race women. Maelle started researching frizzy hair extensively pretty quickly, from the moment she became a youtuber. Her goal is to always better understand textured hair and to provide women with this texture with the tools, keys and methodologies to enhance their hair, themselves and restore the bit of self-esteem.
Her motivation didn’t just come from a desire to share and make the best videos possible. It was also, and in large part, a determination on my part to have the longest, most beautiful hair possible. Kind of like a revenge on life, or a slightly childish attempt, to repair all the anger and resentment she had built up towards my hair.
“I want black women to love their hair and think they look beautiful with it. I want wigs and weaves to be for us first and foremost a means of fantasy, not a default option every other month to “take a break”. I want our hair to be “natural” for us. That wearing them is obvious and natural, that it flows naturally, without any fuss”. says Maelle CABARRUS Founder À La Folie
À La Folie have supported more than 3,500 women in our online programs and served a clientele of more than 8,000 people through our various ebooks and coaching services.
Oumy Saran Keita is a Senegalese entrepreneur with a passion for African art. In 2021, she decided to step out of her comfort zone to launch a project that was close to her heart, Kalifa design. A brand that specializes in the design of handmade art objects, with recycled materials.
Having been fortunate enough to grow up with a father who was a visual artist, she has always had a rather special relationship with art. In December 2019, tired of the cold of Paris, she decided to make her first lamp sketches, to give more warmth to the decoration of her office. A dozen sketches were made from it, carefully preserved.
3 years later, back in Senegal, she launched Kalifa Design, an eco-responsible interior design brand offering products designed mainly with recycled materials. All items are handmade and made in Senegal. The name “Kalifa”, which means heritage, symbolises his entire project. The logo features an outstretched hand towards a symbol used by the Adinkra, a West African people.
Oumy Saran Keita uses recycled materials to make papier-mâché which is the basis of all lighting fixtures and works with local artisans to create wooden plates, mirrors, storage boxes and textiles. Kalifa has allowed her to return to the things that are essential to her balance: painting, sculpture and drawing.
Lamine Ndiaye, a young entrepreneur of Senegalese origin who is passionate about fashion. A costume designer in audiovisual production, Lamine is the founder of the Yelloow brand, which specializes in the design and sale of 100% African bags. A great defender of local consumption and his goal is to promote all that Senegal has to offer in the field of art and creation. Since Lamine was a child, he has been passionate about fashion. It is therefore quite natural that he chose to undertake this field, while seeking to stand out from the others. For him, entrepreneurship is a factor of development.
Yellow is a brand that offers accessories such as backpacks, travel bags, shoes, computer bags, fanny packs, handbags etc. To successfully promote local consumption, Yellow brings out the originality and quality of its products by using very stylish, colorful and rare African raw materials such as wax, woodin, or upholstery fabrics patched with leather or suede, which makes the products chic and stylish with sustainable use.
Yellow aims to be a brand committed to showcasing African potential in all its artistic variations. The know-how of an Africa that restores itself in its dignity and honour through the creativity of the African.
