Meet Destiny Hagood of yourDestiny Essentials in Inglewood

Today we’d like to introduce you to Destiny Hagood.

Destiny, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
My story starts when I first transitioned into “going natural.” By natural I mean, wearing my natural hair out and not wearing anything that covered up the natural beauty I already possessed. I knew that I wanted to live a healthier lifestyle, inside and out. In order to do that, I had to work on self-care and self-love. During my transition, I started conducting research on many types of ingredients that I could use on my hair to ‘tame’ it. The first ingredient that popped up was shea butter. I didn’t really know what shea butter was, how to use it or where it even came from. I had an idea on how BIG it was in Africa, but in my community (Compton, California), all we had were the local beauty supply stores that carried VAST amounts of processed and synthetic hair care products. Not saying these are bad, but I needed a fresh start with my natural journey. I stayed on Pinterest and YouTube to learn all I could to make my own products with ALL of the natural ingredients and benefits of my choosing.

I made my first hair butter and it did wonders for my natural 4a-4b hair. I continued making these for myself, until some of my fellow church members found out, (we all know church folk). A couple of members wanted to try and pay me for making their hair products, as well. I never thought of turning my new hobby into a business for myself, but with enough love and support, I JUMPED in. Two months later, I had my first vending event and SOLD OUT. My emotions were all over the place and I knew that this was something I could carry out and create generational wealth for my family and future children. yourDestiny Essentials was born!! One year later, I have a name, ten products for hair & body, my certification in natural skincare, a trademark, an LLC, a variety of vending events under my name and the self-love I had been seeking since college.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It has not been a smooth road. Some of the struggles that I’ve faced along the way was loneliness. There came a time when I moved too quickly. I started to create lots of products, my logo while learning how to run a business and longing for someone to help. The most challenging aspect was the business. I didn’t know which programs to use, how to keep up with ALL of my expenses or how to create a DBA. I felt as if I wasn’t good enough to succeed.

Another challenge was learning how to price my products in a way for me to earn a profit. When I first started, the whole ‘idea’ was to create products that are affordable. But, by pricing them too low, it caused my spending to become too much of a burden on my pocketbook (if you know what I mean)

Please tell us about yourDestiny Essentials.
My business stemmed solely from my lack of knowledge on being natural during the beginning stages of my newfound natural hair care journey. yourDestiny Essentials (BODY, FACE, & HAIR products) represent every part of myself that I had to not only learn to love but to also learn to take pride and care for the skin I was in.

I specialize in Health & Beauty products. What I am known for are THE customer favorites, MOIRAI (mango buttah) and FACE, which is the Rose oil.

yourDestiny Essentials represents a fresh perspective on the beauty industry by instilling the love of self behind our products and branding. Yes, I am African American, but everyone of all races, ethnicities and demographics DESERVES to feel what I feel when using these ESSENTIALS (products)… LOVE…Love for themselves, self-worth, self-acceptance, and a genuine love for one another, wanting to see each other excel and prosper mentally, spiritually, and physically. They are well-rounded and versatile for every skin type, and they FEEL so good.

The logo represents my self-worth, love, and value for myself, and that’s what I want people to experience when they use these ESSENTIALS. I want them to know that your Destiny Essentials represents them along their fellow journey back to being and feeling ESSENTIAL. I want others to feel the love and passion I have for sharing natural hair and skincare products and regimes, along with the foundational message of learning to “Be Essentially You” in the process.

What I am MOST proud of as a company, is the willingness to not give up and to keep pressing forward! I DO have help, I AM worth it and I AM creating something that will be talked about and used for generations to come.

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
If I had to start over, I would use the resources around me more efficiently. That way, I can save time and money and focus more on creating instead of worrying.

I would ask for help FIRST! I would seek out small businesses of color, ask lots of questions, find a mentor and learn from their mistakes.

Pricing:

• MOIRAI – $12 for 4 oz & $16 for 8 oz
• FACE – Rose oil – $14 for 1 oz & $16 for 2 oz

Contact Info:

• Website: www.yourdestinyessentials.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/yourdestinyessentials
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/yourdestinyessentials
• Twitter: twitter.com/Xpressitdezz

Image Credit:
Destiny Hagood, Squat photo: Christine Bryant

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