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Meet Diann Valentine of Glow + Flow Beauty Supply in Inglewood

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Diann Valentine.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I am a lifelong entrepreneur! Creator, Innovator, Game Changer, Pioneer and Wow Factor best describes me. I am an intrepid traveler with connections all over the globe and the mastermind behind The Venus Affect, a matchmaking company for women looking to date internationally. I started visiting Italy 25 years ago and fell in love with the country, but it was visits with girlfriends who were interested in testing the international dating scene that sparked my idea for a business. It was a natural evolution in my career, given my unique insight into Italy from years of travel and my experience with women in love—and with women who often make bad decisions when it comes to love.

I have been in the relationship business for a long time but I’m more than just a love expert. Most known for my jaw-dropping celebrity and television weddings, I’m an industry veteran that has expanded my array of clientele across four continents through servicing corporate clients and high net worth individuals. Be it designing fish tank dance floors, custom hand-painted tent murals, elegant oversized pearls dangling from the sky or suspended cakes, I’m always providing new visual adventures for my clients while pushing the industry forward creatively.

In the event design world, I have brought genius to ignite consumer experiences with Nike, Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton Family of Brands, NBA All Star Weekend, HBO and the Los Angeles Lakers. As if being a renowned event producer and designer sought after by top celebrities wasn’t enough, I’ve hosted the wedding shows “Wedding in a Week” and “Wedding Day,” as well as being the host, designer, and executive producer for the reality series “I Do Over” and most recently Bravo TV’s “To Rome For Love.” In 2019, I entered the beauty space with the opening of Glow + Flow Beauty Experience, a luxury hair extensions studio that also offers nails, waxing, eyelash extensions and a boutique beauty supply store. In late 2019, a second location opened as Glow + Flow Beauty Supply in Inglewood bringing hair, beauty supplies and cosmetics to urban communities in Los Angeles. I am also in escrow on a commercial location that will be our 3rd location.

In 2018 the Black hair care industry raked in an estimated $2.51 billion, as Black consumers have progressively made the switch from general products to those that specifically cater to them. In 2017 African-Americans captured 86 percent of the ethnic beauty market, accounting for $54 million of the $63 million spent, Nielsen reported. In 2017 we also spent $127 million on grooming aids and $465 million on skincare. Black women built the black beauty industry that has been dominated by Koreans given their access to product development and production, the supply chain, the distribution channels and the locally owned black beauty supply stores. Well, those stats are changing and black women are taking back our rightful share of an industry that we built.

I am proud to be carving out my own place in the industry by establishing a community based retail location that provides job opportunities and will serve as a platform to teach black women the path to ownership. COVID-19 through all of us for a loop but thankfully, our beauty supply store has remained open because we sell essentials including natural and holistic ethnic products that our customers typically cannot find at the big box stores. As we continue to grow and expand, I am most proud of knowing that I am building a legacy that empowers black consumers to be conscious about their spending while recognizing our buying power that fuels so many industries. It’s about time we start fueling our own community.

As an entrepreneur, I am relentless in my pursuit of business ownership and financial freedom. As a designer, I am the Creative Director of Exhilarate Experiential, a luxury event, wedding and interior design production company. As an author, I released Weddings Valentine Style and Going the Distance for Love. As a matchmaker and champion for women, I curate bespoke, luxury international dating experiences. As a speaker, I am electrifying, inspirational and insightful. As a visionary, I am constantly moving forward always open to new adventures that inspire and delight. With many titles, roles and responsibilities, I am just getting started, but my favorite role is wife to Damon Haley, mother and Lola to three adorable grandsons and one granddaughter.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Definitely not. There have been many challenges throughout my career but I will focus on the two toughest areas:

(1) Finding business and clients as a black creative and event designer. There are so few opportunities in corporate events in Hollywood despite the huge entertainment industry and black people remain shut out of even the bidding process of all of the big activations in this city. I had to decide very early in my career that I was going to be everything to black people and thankfully was adopted early on by Black Hollywood. If it were not for the many conscious black talent that believed in me, I would not have been able to build a career. Despite my tenure and long list of wins – the opportunities remain difficult to secure which is what lead me to search for expanding my portfolio of businesses into another industry while staying true to the client base that I have always championed.

(2) Finding access to enough capital has been another huge challenge. Sure, I’ve had great clients and great opportunities in the event world but none of them have generated the kind of money I need to launch something big. I’ve had to build this piece by piece, project by project and risk everything entering into a new industry. Even now, opening a 3rd location is a great fete but I wish I had a clear pathway to our 10th location. There are some companies that do it big and fast like Pinkberry but my journey has been quite different. Ultimately, my hard work will make my growth that much sweeter.

Glow + Flow Beauty Supply – what should we know? What do you do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Glow + Flow Beauty Supply is a full-service beauty destination that offers the best in human, braiding and crochet hair as well as wigs and ponytails. We have a wide array of hair and beauty products to serve an array of customers both young and old and all walks of life. We are committed to carrying as many black owned products that we can find. Regardless of your beauty needs, WE HAVE IT ALL. We honor your beauty. We celebrate individuality. We are here for your journey to unlock and uncover your best self today and moving forward. We are Inglewood’s newest and largest black-owned beauty supply store. We are most known for our connection to the community that we serve. We are a place where black women feel safe and welcome. Where they can find a Beauty Advisor to assist them with their personal beauty dilemmas everyday.

I am most proud of the fact that we are positioning ourselves to be a company that teaches black women the path to ownership on their own. We are building our brand to ensure that we are mentoring and passing along opportunities that will create generational wealth not only for my family but so many other black families that will be impacted by what we are building.

Our service is paramount as a brand. We are new to the market and I know that we might not always be able to compete against the big brands on price but we can definitely beat them in service and our genuine care for the people that we serve. We are also launching curbside pick-ups for online orders, same day shipping and complimentary deliveries of orders within a 20-mile radius of our Inglewood location.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
My most profound professional moment is how I was able to transition into television as a TV Host. So many people told me I would never do it because I was just a designer or a celebrity wedding planner on TV. I have beat the odds and have now hosted 5 network TV shows and I’m a bonafide working TV Host and Personality. My television career has been an extension of my personal brand in that I am always a champion for women while helping them share, navigate and celebrate monumental moments in their lives. The trajectory of black women in reality TV is typically not positive but I have remained true to myself and my quest to only engage in television opportunities that inspire, uplift and celebrate women. There are not an abundance of television opportunities that deliver this kind of programming but I believe goodness and love will prevail and know that there is still more television in my future and I’m sure the Glow + Flow brand will be weaved into that.

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Image Credit:
Robert Ector

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