Michelle Breyer, Kami Smith, Evelyn Ngugi, Nikki Johnson
17 years ago, you could not find products, blogs or information for curly and natural hair. Michelle Breyer and the team at TextureMedia Inc. have changed the hair care landscape by turning their small niche website, NaturallyCurly.com, into a major media platform for women with textured hair. Join them as they share their story on how they did it, and how you too can position your niche to mainstream audiences.
Panelists:
Michelle Breyer | President and Co-Founder, NaturallyCurly.com
Nikki Johnson | Email Marketing Manager
Evelyn Ngugi | Social Media Manager
Kami Smith | Integrated Media Account Manager
Moderator: Cristina Cleveland | Senior Content Editor for NaturallyCurly and contributing writer at Camille Styles
Bios
Michelle Breyer
Michelle Breyer is a co-founder and president of TextureMedia Inc., a 16-year-old Austin-based social media network platform for people with curls, coils and waves. The company’s mission is to empower, inspire and connect millions of consumers, thousands of stylists and hundreds of haircare brands.
Breyer spent most of her career as a journalist, winning numerous awards during her 20-year career as a business reporter. Growing up curly, she had long been frustrated by the dearth of information on curly hair and the lack of curl-specific products and stylists who understood how to work with curls and kinks. NaturallyCurly was launched in 1998 with $200 and the help of a 13-year-old Web designer.
Today, the texture segment is considered a staple for most hair-care brands, and many credit that to NaturallyCurly’s influence.
Breyer lives in Austin, TX with her husband, Jody and 13-year-old curly daughter Emma
Nikki Johnson
Nikki is a lifestyle and hair blogger at NikkiChanel.com and an Email Marketing Manager at TextureMediaInc. She was named one of Austin’s Rising Stars by Tribeza magazine in 2014. She has worked with brands like SheaMoisture, L’Oreal, Carol’s Daughter, and Refinery29 to create one of a kind content and marketing campaigns for natural hair consumers. Originally from Houston, TX she moved to Austin to attend UT. When she’s not creating content you can find her running Town Lake or carefully curating the perfect Instagram photo. Follow her @nchanel.
Evelyn Ngugi
Evelyn Ngugi is the Social Media and Community Manager at TextureMedia Inc., in addition to creating original videos and partnering with influencers to boost NaturallyCurly's YouTube presence. In her free time, Evelyn produces her own Youtube channel as "Evelyn From The Internets". She travels to Nigeria annually as the Social Media Manager for Social Media Week Lagos, and is the producer of the web series Austin While Black.
Kami Smith
Kami Smith is an Integrated Media Account Manager for TextureMedia, Inc., a social platform with the goal of empowering women to love their curls, coils, and waves. She consults with brands on the best ways to position themselves amongst the curly community to maximize impact and ROI. Kami previously worked with Greenleaf Book Group, Vendini, and ArtsBoston. She lives in Austin, TX.
