“Executive Promotes Hair Wellness for Black Women”
“Executive Promotes Hair Wellness for Black Women”
By: Ari Christine
Black girls and Black women have never truly had the luxury of completely carefree hair. Some of the most innovative hairstyles, be they circumstantial, trendy, attempts at simplicity or more permanent commitments – they all take so much effort, patience and money.
But Black women do it and tend to make processes that are indeed very strenuous look so effortless.
Autumn Brown Yarbrough is the heir of a hair dynasty. While she could simply spend her life reaping the benefits of her family name – she is doing the work to educate and make sure people don’t have to be dependent on financial needs to take care of their hair.
Some 40 years ago, her grandfather, the late Comer Cottrell moved his African American hair-care company, Pro-Line Corp., from Los Angeles to Dallas. While he was faced with adversities in business, the mission to serve the Black community remained the clear objective of this Black-owned business.
The triumph of Cottrell propelled Pro-Line to multimillion-dollar status, which afforded him opportunities to invest in various businesses and sports, while pressing for more minority involvement in the city, state and throughout the country. Cottrell also used his wealth to preserve a bankrupt historically black college as the new home of Paul Quinn College.
Cottrell’s hard work and dedication to growth are not lost on his granddaughter, the new face of the company.
“My grandfather’s efforts built in an immediate opportunity for me to be taken seriously,” acknowledges Yarbrough. “People are willing to listen to me because of him, but I still must do the work. His legacy allows me to get in the room and I don’t take that for granted. Whether you’re the first generation or the fifth generation – remember how powerful that is for those who don’t exist yet. I’m so thankful.”
Yarbrough spends her days working to provide innovative products that require less effort and are backed by the science and technology available. Immediately after ensuring such, she works tirelessly to provide access to communities that need it most.
“Having a product that performs but doesn’t require a lot of time and effort has always been my goal, along with making sure that the product can perform in communities that have been ignored,” Yarbrough says. “A lot of our pain as women are the efforts that we must invest in – time and money to get the results that we feel our accepted by society and that manage the health of our hair.”
In 2020, Yarbrough established Nu Standard, which serves to close the inclusivity gap in haircare. She started this during the pandemic and believes working virtually made her efforts so much more deliberate. She was able to find help all over the world while working and researching from home.
Her job as founder and CEO is not about issuing marching orders. Yarbrough is very much hands on in the day-to-day production of her products. She is as involved in the formulation as a chemist. Yarbrough and her team are members of the Society of Cosmetic Chemists. It excites her to understand the supply chain of her ingredients and the origin of the raw materials. Yarbrough also prides herself on being accountable for the safety of the ingredients.
“When the product is created, we make sure we can deliver on our promise on what the consumer is expecting,” Yarbrough ensures. “I’ve done my research and truly over three generations - the challenges have remained the same: dryness, breakage, hair loss, challenges of detangling and wanting to retain moisture and less shrinkage.”
According to Yarbrough, hair is a biomarker of what is going on in the body. “It is your DNA. It can tell you about your cholesterol level. It can tell your cellular activity. It is a way to learn about your health.”
Each week, Yarbrough and her associates work closely with internal medicine doctors, trichologists, endocrinologists and other experts to learn and enhance the products that she shares with the world. Not only does she realize that certain communities are ignored, but she also understands the importance of educating communities about the many contributing factors to both health and unhealthy hair.
As we grow older, the way we process food changes. Water consumption will always be a necessity, but some people will simply absorb water better than others. Genetics will impact hair and there is no denying that. Nutrition, however, can influence the way hair combats genetics.
Yarbrough has what is called androgenetic alopecia, so this continued journey in haircare is both personal and purposeful for her. The happily married mother of two attributes the resurgence of her hair to healthy habits, the correct products, sunlight and good circulation from getting in 10,000 steps per day.
“Good hair is hair that’s there,” Yarbrough says. “A lot of the things we do as black women to our hair serve as celebrations. But they all have ‘wear and tear’ on the hair. If we understand that – we can have longevity. For example, our Hydrasilk treatment really helps with the “celebrations.”
Yarbrough always knew that there was something in her that she wanted to pursue beyond myself. She could never take for granted the beautiful work her family has done, but she knew that she could and should expand. Once she realized how proper information about hair was not being articulated to the Black community, she knew what she had to do. Hair health and wellness has since become her love language.
“We get distracted by short term opportunities with hair and there are companies that prey on women because they know this,” Yarbrough explains. “Let’s break barriers and pull away from the instant gratification. Being an entrepreneur – you really need to have passion and purpose first, with profit being your fourth or fifth piece if you’re really trying to deliver to your community.”