Joyce Adom created her own hair and skincare line called Simply Go Natural after her son experienced a health situation with eczema. With the help of FACE, she was able to incorporate her company.
A Halifax-based entrepreneur is helping people stay moisturized and feel good about their skin and hair, especially in Canada’s harsh climates.
Joyce Adom is the founder of Simply Go Natural, an organic hair and skincare company which she started in 2016.
Originally from Ghana and living in the UK, Adom at first didn’t have the intention of moving to Canada. But after her son had faced a health scare due to asthma, she decided to get the support they both needed and moved to Canada to be with her husband.
Her son then developed another health situation with eczema flare ups which sparked her curiosity of using natural products.
While visiting Ghana, she met a vendor selling body butters and serums, and the effectiveness of the products inspired her to launch Simply Go Natural, envisioning him as a producer and collaborator for the brand.
However, Adom encountered a major setback when her vendor abruptly ended the partnership, leaving her with a product that failed to match the quality of his earlier work.
“I had literally developed everything because he was in Ghana, I was here. When I tell him to make the product, what we talked about versus what I actually received was totally different products,” she told The Brandon Gonez Show.
But from there, she didn’t let this bump in the road stop her from creating her own business. With determination, she was able to make her own batch of the product.
After gaining exposure through a television appearance with her products and a visit to observe a pitch competition two years later, led to her next success.
“A person in charge of Sobeys happened to be there, and he was a judge. So during the networking, I approached him,” she said.
By putting herself out there and highlighting the fact that she made her own product, opened the door to having Simply Go Natural sold on the grocery store shelves.
“Getting to Sobeys made me realize that okay, I’m doing something that people want,” said Adom.
Adom also spoke about the significant contribution from The Federation of African Canadian Economics (FACE) and how they helped at a critical time when she was working to get her business incorporated.
In order to be incorporated, Adom shared that she needed a professional accountant, but at the time she wasn’t sure how to go about it.
“It was a game changer for me. It was. I didn’t have the money. That was the key thing. It costs money to hire this consultant or this accountant, and I didn’t have the money, so they were really critical. So they helped me a lot,” she shared.
FACE Coalition is a non-profit that supports Black entrepreneurs, helping provide financing for their innovations.
Her goal for the next five years is to hopefully go national and to continue to grow her business.
“And the whole point of doing this is to get away from chemicals, but then have product that actually works that you don’t have any guilt or worries about toxins in them,” she said.
Simply Go Natural products include shampoo, hair serum, conditioner, body butters and skincare items all made with natural ingredients.
One of her bestsellers, the lavender body butter, absorbs well by the skin and repairs and heals it so it doesn’t go dry because of the organic ingredients and not containing water.
Products are currently available at Sobeys across Atlantic Canada.
Click here to watch the full interview with Joyce Adom on The Brandon Gonez Show.
