A Beauty service e-commerce marketplace with a focus on inclusivity in tech.

Between 2016 and 2022, I co-founded and ran a SaaS with a passionate mission: Make an app that was really suited to the specificity of the professional African hair braiding niche.

Many women in my life and family are hair stylists specializing in African hair braiding. Many of them were clients of mine. Over time, I had noticed that the Black hair professionals and their clients had several unique challenges when it came to finding, booking and even payments. Most of the issues stemed from the fact that existing technology was simply not fitted for their business model compared to conventional hair salons.

When some friends with various competencies reached out to discuss the issue I was already passionate about, we discovered a unique opportunity to provide a solution that was pretty much non existent at the time. It was a really a no brainer to join forces and start a new venture into a business that expanded my horizons and dreams about tech, diversity as well as marketing and user experience design.

After an MVP, great reception we were able to build a beautiful community. Listening and researching the needs of our community led us to make dramatic changes and create a brand new product we named Smartbook by Ebena; a beauty service marketplace with booking and e-commerce tools to help solopreneurs, small businesses and their clients connect  using tailored technology, payments and marketing.

Menu as viewed by business account owner.