Meet Deidre and James Norville of Our Essence Beauty Supply in Long Beach

Today we’d like to introduce you to Deidre and James Norville.

James and Deidre Norville have a background of over 25 years of being pillars within the inner cities of Los Angeles.

James, born and raised in Compton, recently retired after 27 years of service with the Threat Interdiction Unit for the largest law enforcement agency in the world.  James also served as a Trainer and an Instructor in the Academy for aspiring professionals. As for Deidre, she was born on the East Coast, but her family moved to Carson when she was 13 years old. In 1999, she earned a Master’s degree (MSW) and has work that spans more than 15 years of service with DCFS, Managing Homeless Shelters, Domestic Violence Programs. She has remained on faculty for the past 7 years with USC’s Suzanne-Dwork School of social work training future generations of Master Level students (MSW’s) to serve some of our Nation’s most vulnerable populations.

The Norvilles have nurtured their entrepreneurial spirit in many endeavors including championing One Church One Child, an Adoption Program for African American Children through Black churches, Parolee Re-Entry Programs in South Central Los Angeles, A Faith-based Community Center and Safety Programs for church congregations at the National level. James and Deidre have also served in numerous capacities of leadership, including The Policy Panel for the Council to End Domestic Violence, The Diversity Committee for a local Christian School, Leadership Council for Light and Life Christian Center and currently for Chapel of Change Christian Fellowship. Additionally, and for more than 10 years, James served as the Chief Safety Consultant and Deidre as the Chief Operations Officer in building their maternal family’s government contracting firm still in existence to date.

Their purpose is to provide transformation by increasing outcomes of wealth in the Black community. They aspire to help build prosperity by exhibiting, inspiring, educating and being a part of the movement to operate Black-owned beauty supply stores across the nation.

Has it been a smooth road?
No, it has not been a smooth road at all…lol! But we learn, continue to grow, have faith and embrace the hard work that comes with this journey!

Some of the struggles we have faced have been related to navigate the black beauty industry because it has historically been controlled and dominated by Asians Americans. It was difficult communicating with these large suppliers. Most were even blatantly unwilling to work with us. We were forced to buy all of our products upfront without any extension of credit or arranged payment processing terms. Even with capital, some suppliers increased their minimum purchase requirements to astronomical amounts and that locked us out of getting specific products.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
Our Essence Beauty Supply is purposed to nurture, inspire, and educate, while providing a safe space in which the community can purchase an eclectic array of bath and beauty supplies.

We don’t make the products we provide, but we support the provision of an unparalleled personal shopping experience to assist customers find chemistry with the right match in products. We do this by providing access, in one location, to all genres of beauty supplies.

The comprehensiveness of our stores sets us apart from the competition. Our specialty is the variety of offering natural, vegan and commercial beauty supplies in the same location. Traditional beauty supply stores have tons of commercial products, natural stores have the vegan and organic supplies, those specializing in extensions may often only carry that brand or style of hair, and smoke shops carry oils and burning incense.

Our Essence Beauty Supply carries varieties of all of these products in one location; Natural, Vegan, Organic and commercial soaps, bath, beauty, hair, and authentic essential oils and incense. Providing access to these varieties in one location allows consumers to bypass the delay in on-line orders and running around to several specialty shops on different sides of town. This coupled with customers receiving an unparalleled shopping experience that is safe, friendly, supportive and informative so they have space to create their perfect chemistry as it relates to their bath and beauty preferences, is what sets us apart from the competition.

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Yes, we feel like Long Beach is a good city for a business like ours. It is a one of the more diverse cities in the South Bay area of Los Angeles County.

If someone was just starting out, I would advise them to complete their research before deciding on a city of location.

Contact Info:

• Address: 3253 E. South St., Ste#J108,
  Long Beach, CA 90805
• Website: www.ouressencebeautysupply.com
• Phone: (562) 470-6820
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/ouressencebeautysupply
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ouressencebeautysupply
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/our-essence-beauty-supply-long-beach?utm_campaign=www_business_share_popup&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=(direct)

Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.