Alumna Kadidja Dosso Takes the Beauty World by Storm

Kadidja Dosso ‘18, founder of Dosso Beauty, discusses her journey from being a student at Hampton University to becoming a successful entrepreneur in the beauty industry. She shares how her business idea was born out of a personal need for hair products that catered to sensitive scalps and skin.

Kadidja Dosso, founder of Dosso Beauty, discusses her journey in the beauty industry in a quick chat with the Office of Alumni Affairs & Parent Relations. Dosso Beauty started with four styles of eyelashes and expanded based on customer needs, eventually becoming a popular seller of braiding hair. Dosso touched on her experience as a black CEO in a predominantly white and male-dominated industry. “The whole business is dominated by people of white and or Korean descent who are males,” Said Kadidja. Kadidja explains how she started Dosso Beauty, which offers hair care products for people with sensitive scalps and skin. She shares that her passion for hair care began when she was a child and started braiding hair. She also mentions that she was a dorm stylist during her time at Hampton University, where she studied business administration. Kaddija dives deeper into her discussion on the challenges she faced as a black woman founder in the beauty industry. She talks about the difficulties of finding mentorship and the lack of support she initially received from beauty supply stores and black-owned beauty supply stores. “As a founder in that space, even getting started, I would walk into different beauty supply stores, and they literally would tell me, I’ll be like, ‘hey, can I learn, or can I put my products on the shelf? Or whatever?’ And they would literally tell me no. Everybody, even I, would walk into some black-owned businesses, and they would not; they were not trying to give me the keys.”

Despite this, Kadidja emphasizes the importance of perseverance and betting on oneself. “I already have known and been taught by my family, you know, very early on that, like, you’re going to have to work twice as hard to get half as much. And so I think I’m a ‘smarter, not harder girl,’ especially since Hampton taught me that, right? But I, I’m willing to take, you know, the shots if it allows for me to grow the business and also to inspire others to, like, just not worry about, you know, whatever industry standards that like people or society has placed on us, that you can do whatever, you know, you put your mind to.” Said Dosso

Kadidja also highlights the significance of finding a niche and differentiating oneself in the oversaturated beauty industry. She later goes into her experience as the 2021 Black Ambition HBCU Grand Prize winner, where she shares how winning the grant and being part of the Black Ambition network helped elevate her brand and expose different audiences. The financial investment she received allowed her to leave her full-time job and focus on growing her business. Kadidja credits Hampton University for playing a significant role in her entrepreneurial journey. She mentions that she wrote her business plan in one of her classes and utilized her network of classmates and Alumni to grow her business. Kadidja expresses her gratitude for the support she has received from the Hampton University community.

In conclusion, Kadidja offers advice to aspiring beauty industry professionals. She emphasizes the importance of finding a niche and differentiating oneself in the industry. Kadidja encourages individuals to learn from larger corporations and gain transferable skills before venturing into entrepreneurship. She advises aspiring beauty founders to understand their uniqueness and leverage their network to grow their brand.

For more info, visit dossobeauty.com