116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Kiva Iowa: Rosie Daniel, fearless hair care entrepreneur
Owner: Our hair is our crown
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For the past few years, fearless hair care entrepreneur Rosie Daniel, 50, Evansdale, IA, has been making waves in her Iowa community and beyond with her company, Lulit’s Hair Essence. She makes 100% natural products that strengthen and stimulate hair growth for restoration.
During the pandemic, Daniel developed her own natural hair oil business of eight products that help with hair or beard growth. From her original Lulit’s Hair Essence — made from 11 different organic herbs that have proved to spur regrowth or repair — to her Goat Milk Hibiscus Shampoo and Hibiscus Deep Conditioner, beard oil, and sugar scrub, her products have helped men, women, and children of all ages, including babies.
Customers with cancer hair loss, eczema, psoriasis, dandruff, cradle cap, or hair thinning, have discovered life-changing results from Daniel’s homemade formulas including her own family. After Daniel and her daughter discovered that both had alopecia (Daniel since childhood), she decided to research natural ingredients, educating herself on herbal solutions. Tired of dermatologic alopecia injections on her head that didn’t work, and tired of being depressed about it, she created Lulit’s Hair Essence Growth Oil and found her hair regrowing as she had hoped.
“I wanted to quit camouflaging my hair loss and stop chemicalizing my hair,” said Daniel. “In the last eight months, I let my hair grow out and now it’s shoulder length! You wouldn’t know I had a bald spot.
When your body is dealing with something internal it shows on the outside. For instance, if your diabetic levels are high, it lessens the oxygen getting into the body for hair follicles, which can cause thinning or shedding of hair. Too little iron in the bloodstream can also contribute.”
“My family — husband Lawrence Daniel and children Aariona and Archie — as well as my community and my customers always show up for me,” she said. “The customers are always sending me testimonies, which is what brought me out of my depression.”
A former trust administrator for Cedar Falls banks and administrative assistant for Hawkeye Community College, Daniel was coming off a shoulder injury when she decided to start her own business. She is now growing her wholesale contract, with products sold in Hy-Vee Cedar Valley and Cedar Rapids, the Hair Loss Center in Des Moines, Greenwood Pharmacy plus beauty and barbershops in Waterloo, Namibia, and other African countries. She created her website using online tools.
She also has been a business mentor for the Mandela Washington Fellowship Program, and she’s a mentor for Central Middle School’s “Recharge You” program for students in 6th — 8th grade helping with health care, natural hair care, and leadership. Providing her hair care products to the students is her way of giving back.
On July 12 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Daniel is hosting her first big event, “Sista SoulFest25,” in Waterloo at the new Gates Park with numerous vendor booths and activities. This event began in Des Moines five years ago, but this year she partnered with the founder, Loretta Terell, to hold it in Waterloo. So, Rosie Daniel and Lulit’s Hair Essence are sponsoring it.
“I love what I do because my products help so many people of any age or race. It’s a household item that is building relationships. If someone buys my oil, everyone in the household can use that product. If you can find a natural way to heal, wouldn’t you prefer that? It boosts your self-esteem and motivates you.”
Daniel has applied for a $9,000 Kiva microloan, a crowdsourced loan of up to $15,000 at zero interest, and zero fees. New Bo City endorsed Lulit’s Hair Essence to make them a gold star level with Kiva. The loan will allow Rosie Daniel to expand her business. Last week she integrated her hair product into an all-white beauty salon for the first time, and immediately the inventory was out of stock after being snatched up, especially by the stylists there.
To learn more about Lulit’s Hair Essence: www.lulitshairsessence.com; email, lulitshairessence@gmail.com; Facebook/Instagram, Lulitshairessence. To learn more about Kiva Iowa, visit newbo.co/kiva.
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