Wendy L. 00:09

Hello everyone. I'm Wendy Liebmann, CEO and Chief Shopper at WSL Strategic Retail, and this is yes, Future Shop. This is where I talk to innovators, disruptors and iconoclasts about the future of retail. I am delighted to have with me. April Showers. Hello. April Showers, welcome.

April 00:29

Hi, Wendy. How are you?

Wendy L. 00:32

I am absolutely fabulous today, especially for seeing you. Everybody, just before we begin, don't forget, please subscribe to this podcast. It's great to know you're behind the scenes. Good for our KPIs. So if you wherever you get your podcast, Spotify Apple, our website anywhere else, just click subscribe and you'll be on the list. Thank you for that. And now on to my interview.

Wendy L. 00:56

All listening how, how April and I met. I had heard a lot about her as we were planning an event in Boston this summer, and somebody said, we need to have April in this a month or so earlier, I was at Cosmoprof, which, as many of you know, is the leading beauty show in the US and actually around the world. And I was moderating a panel with CVS and Ulta and Beauty Space. And by chance, I looked into the audience, and there was this person, and I thought, Oh my God, that's April Showers. So fan girl that I am, I went and introduced myself to her. It was lovely to meet you there. And the lovely Selena Cox from CVS. And then April spoke at the Future of Commerce 2030 event that we co-hosted in Boston, and was on the stage with Mousab Balbale talking about being a purpose-driven person. So I thought immediately, you know what? When we think about the future of retail today, we really do have to talk about those businesses, whether they're retail or brands who are very focused on having a legitimate and inspiring purpose. So after that big, long drum roll, welcome to Future Shop again. I'm delighted to have you.

April 02:16

That was an amazing welcome. Thank you.

Wendy L. 02:18

you've had an extraordinary journey you began in the 2012 ish, not began, but you opened your own insurance agency, or branch of an insurance agency, and then 5, 6, 7 years later, you went from that to Afro Unicorn. So tell me a bit about the background of that journey.

April 02:38

I've always had an entrepreneurial spirit. I actually launched a brokerage in 22,009 I was a real estate broker. So before I even got into the insurance space, I was in real estate because I believed in helping people realize their financial dreams. Like that was a passion that I had for my life. So at 29 years old, when I was fully into real estate, and I actually started on the loan side of it when I was 22 years old, again, helping people realize their financial dreams. Once I got the opportunity for the insurance agency, I really looked at it as it doesn't meet my actual needs. I looked at them like used car salesmen, until I really thought about what it means to protect your loved ones. And even with car insurance, life insurance, home insurance, there's always that liability of the What If. And then, as I became a mother, I realized that going into insurance was just like a segue from real estate, and that it all was about helping others and protecting what you have, and it also allowed me the flexibility to spend time with my two young boys. Once I opened my agency, unexpectedly, I went through a divorce, so it was a lot, but to be able to set my hours, to be able to not miss any games, to show up, to be there, to bring in birthday cakes and do all the things with my children, made me really, really want to keep pursuing more on this entrepreneurial Journey. And then I wanted a little bit more

Wendy L. 04:22

So tell us about Afro Unicorn, what it is, and then we can talk about how you've gotten there so far.

April 04:28

So a friend kept referring to me as a unicorn because I only operated my insurance agency. I was a licensed real estate broker, a mom was the two amazing honor roll student boys that I had, and then I was coming out of a bad relationship, and so during that relationship, my friend would tell me, April, you're a unicorn. You're an amazing girlfriend to the guy who doesn't appreciate you. You know, I'm your agency. So well, you help people in real estate. You're raising your boys. You're a. Unicorn. He told me this over and over and over for about two years, and then finally, when me and the other guy broke up, I asked him. I said, his name is Cortez. I said, Cortez, why do you keep calling me a unicorn? He said, well, April, I already told you why. I said, well, there's a lot of women that do what I do. He goes, April, you do it at an extraordinary level. That's what makes you a unicorn. So over a period of time, I would actually use the emoji of that we're in, that that's in our phone whenever I would text anyone or post any copy like, say on Facebook, until one day I looked at it and I said, it doesn't resonate with me. The unicorn, as we knew, it was just a plain white unicorn. Sometimes we might have found pink unicorn, but if we're talking about me, I wanted a unicorn that looked like me, and so that's when I went out to go find a unicorn that looked like me. I already knew that they were unique. They were mystical. I said, I'm definitely unique. I'm definitely magical, and so I wanted it to look like me, and then creating a unicorn to look like me, I realized that there are probably so many other women like me who did not realize that they had a unicorn within them, who might have been dealing with imposter syndrome, and I wanted to create and find my tribe of other unicorns, and that was the initial start and push on why I created Afro Unicorn. And then it really started to unfold.

Wendy L. 06:32

Yeah, so it's amazing to have friends around us, right? Business friends, personal friends, who see us for what we probably are, but don't realize it, and inspire us in that way. So great to have a friend like that one tell us today, what's in the in the line that you have, because it's really an extensive line, and that'll give people a context.

April 06:53

When I first launched, it launched just as a t shirt brand, a print on demand t shirt brand. And going back to the reason of why I launched the brand to help other women entrepreneurs, I would go on social media. If you wore this Afro Unicorn shirt, I would speak highly of who you were and your business and why people should support what you were doing, why people should follow you. That became a whole movement, until we got the likes of like Tiffany Haddish, Alicia Keys, Sherry Shepherd, all of these women wearing the unicorn shirt, because it represented who they were on the inside. Then children started to wear the unicorn shirts. And then from there, there was a viral video, the little girl who held the unicorn shirt, and someone said, I love your hair. She had a big afro. And so she said, thank you. It's an afro. That video went massively viral. Viola Davis, Beyonce’s mom, Tina Knowles, all the way up to Oprah, and then the biggest retailer in the nation, Walmart, saw that post, they saw all the comments that said, that's Afro Unicorn’s baby, that's Afro Unicorn shirt, and it made them, the buyer, say, well, what is Afro Unicorn, and why is the support so strong? And so then she went and looked at the brand and decided to reach out to bring me into her category, which was celebrations. So it was party supplies. So we launched in party supplies, and she made me the first black woman to have a fully licensed character brand and major retail. And from there, there are so many products, apparel, toys, bedding, fruit snacks, the list just keep going on, books. I've written eight, eight books that that we have under the Afro Unicorn umbrella.

Wendy L. 08:43

Did you ever do something with hair since that little girl said I have this big afro?

April 08:48

Yes. Interestingly, two retailers reached out to me one day apart, Walmart and CVS reached out via email with the same type of email saying or subject, we would like for you to create a magical wash day for our stores. And I did not have a clue on where to even start with with hair care. So the same event that you saw me at Cosmo process, really, I started three years ago there, and that's how I got my partners to move forward with Magical Tresses, which is the number one selling um black owned for kids in the textured hair care category. Yeah.

Wendy L. 14:56

it feels like a very modern, contemporary way of beginning a business today, building credibility, Building Trust behind you or with you before you even got to launching products. So I find that so timely in terms of what we're thinking about about here. So what I also find fascinating, and we've had some other people on this as we think about the future of retail, is that the retailers were obviously. Keeping an eye out on social media to see who was resonating and where the opportunities were. How do you see that that relationship, when the buyer from Walmart came to you or the buyer from CVS came to you, how did you how did you collaborate in the party supplies, for example, to create something from basically nothing, from T shirts, from community,

April 16:30

right? Because we did not have party supplies. I did have other items, because we people would reach out to me after just having a t shirt, and they'll say, do you have this on the backpack? Do you have this on a plate? Do you have, like, they would just all these different things. And I'm like, as long as the printed on demand, company where I'm working with has it, we can give for you supplies is one of those categories where I just could not find it to be affordable. I was having a difficult time identifying party supplies. And they were asking the people were saying they wanted to have African Unicorn party. Some of them were just trying to take the image and create their own. So I knew it was important, and it was actually on my goal list. At the top of the year, I write down goals every single day, and one of the goals for that year was to identify a party supply company. Fact that we manifested it and Walmart reached out. We were ecstatic. Our community was our community was ecstatic because it literally was something that they've been wanting to happen. There were so many bakers that were making these beautiful Afro Unicorn cakes. The year that I launched, I had a big Afro Unicorn, a big Afro Unicorn cake. So I just knew that it was destined for us to be in that category. When I think about I take a step back, we launched in May of 2019, we did our first birthday party for someone. They wanted us to do a custom banner, and that was in the end of June, when people saw it, they immediately jumped on the fact that this needed to happen in the party supply space. So working with the my licensing partners, and working with Walmart was pretty, pretty easy, because they knew that they had a community that was ready for this.

Wendy L. 12:17

Do you know what's interesting, too, is that building, creating that demand, a legitimate, passionate demand for the brand, whatever form that took, and then reaching out to you, I don't mean the retailer. I mean people reaching out to you and saying, Could I have this? Could I have that? That the power of that, the power of the of the relationship of the community is is so extraordinary in terms of building that. And I think that says a lot about how do you build a modern brand today in whatever category? Because clearly, you've done it in a variety of them, from what I celebrate, how I celebrate, and how I look when I'm celebrating, which I think is really, which is really interesting. Sarah, was there as you thought about something like as you went to as you went to Cosmoprof, how was that as a vehicle for you to tell your story is that was that the next level when you went from sort of community based to business to business based?

April 13:18

Well, remember the first time that I went? It was because two, two of the largest retailers, wanted me to find a partner. So I so literally, made a phone call to someone that I knew that was in the space, who was actually a broker, and I asked them, like, hey, I need to find a partner. What should I do? It was on, like, on a Wednesday, Thursday, and they said, well, there's a session on Sunday. Can you get to Vegas? And that literally, like, I went to Vegas. I met my partners on the floor, and we went into development. So That's July 2022, the product hit the shelves, October 2023

Wendy L. 14:02

Yeah, I get it that, you know, it's nice to have, you know, the two of the largest retailers, two of the largest companies in the US and the world behind you in that it does certainly open doors or gives you the incentive right to get on with it. But the fact that you either jumped in the car and drove, because you're in California, right, drove to Las Vegas, or whatever you did, flew to Las Vegas to be there. There is that sense of urgency and timeliness, and how do we get on with it that often big companies don't have the don't have the flexibility, shall I say, nicely, to do that. So as you moved into that next step, as you got to 2023, you launched. So that was party you launched first, or did you go into in hair?

April 14:42

Party, 2022, was a 2020 category that we launched.

Wendy L. 14:48

Yeah, so how did you learn? I mean, it's quite different to think about. I think it is to do party supply. I mean, you did T shirts on demand. Did party and then to go. Go to things like hair care, for example. I mean, I get and somewhere in between bedding and other things, right? I mean, how different are those businesses, and did you have to find the right licensee partners to do that with you? How does, how does that work when you're so diverse in categories?

April 15:18

So, like you said, when you have a big retailer like a Walmart who is seeking after your brand. The licensing community, they start talking, and the person who has the bedding license also knows the person who does the underwear, and the underwear knows the sock guy, and they are having the conversations, and then I was very proactive on LinkedIn, looking for the different categories that I wanted to be in. I would go inside the stores. I would flip over packages to see who was manufacturing, and then I would reach out to those manufacturers. I will also reach out to a publicist that was in the licensing space to make sure they were posting articles about our brand and what was coming up next, so that the partners would actually find me as well. So that is how we started to build this Rolodex of partners. But it is very different to sell party supplies, and then the hair care line. But I do remember my buyer that originally brought me in, she told me, because, again, I don't know if I said it, but I'm the first black woman to have a fully licensed character brand in major retail. There are no other black owned, female led brands that sit in the entertainment character space. So initially, she found that I might find some difficulties of my customers finding me because they weren't finding me on television. Just think about it. All the characters that I sit next to, they all have shows. We're talking about, Disney princesses and Spiderman and Batman. There's all content out there. But she brought me from social media. So she said, April, you have to get into the hair category space. You have to get into the hair because your customer is going to discover you first at in the texture hair category, and they see it there. Then they'll start to see all the other categories that you have. So I've always been playing catch up when it comes to this licensing space, like right now, we're working on the content, which that should probably have been before, and hair care came a year after. So it's been a journey, but I'm definitely up for the challenge.

Wendy L. 17:40

Yeah. Well, also, you know, I understand the sort of more formal content of the shows and all of that, but you have in your own way, and I know it's a bit of a naive view, but you have, in your own way, created content with your community. I've heard this before, if you've got a great retail partner, and in this case, it sounds like your your buyer at Walmart, was that their knowledge of the business and their ability to guide you is is really helpful. We heard that with Mindy McKnight at Hairitage, as she went from sort of a YouTube star again, social media into the hair business and now to the skincare business, but that having that relationship with the buyer, who can help guide you with that. So the other thing that's interesting to me, and you said, you know, you're up for it. I have no doubt about that when I think about, you know the difference when you're selling hair care, which has a greater turn and party, which, hopefully there are lots of celebrations all the time. But then you talk about bedding or apparel or other things, different turn rates, all of that. That's complicated. That's very complicated. How do you juggle all that in the middle of the night? Of course you are. How could you do it?

April 18:58

That's why I juggle it. It's really with me being just really thrown into this licensing space. It's really been trial, trial and error. It's really been understanding and learning the game, and yes, we do have content with the community that we built, but it's very difficult to compete when there is a billion dollar production movie out and you have millions of dollars being flooded into marketing. Yeah, you get into the screens of millions and millions of children. I'm just not able to do that right now with just on a controlled algorithm social media platform. So it's been extremely important for us to work on getting an actual show out there. Unfortunately, like many people, because of the buzz and Walmart coming to me first, a lot of people were after me. Like to get the business right, and so. I ended up entering into a not so good production deal from the beginning, and was stuck in it for about two and a half years. And so I was able to get out of it, and now we just found a new partner. So it's really about just hanging on and hanging in there, because I know I we've tested and we proved the market. They know. We know that Afro Unicorn is needed. We know that it's love. So now I just need that force of content to come while I continue to build a community.

Wendy L. 20:32

Yeah, yeah, and yeah. As I said, I'm probably being naive in that, of course, knowing that, you know, every year, every other year, there's another place, children's program or content that that generates lots of buzz and dollars. So, yeah, I get I get that. So, but the other thing you've you've talked about here, which I think is really interesting, is that, yes, you need endurance, yes, you need trust from the people who believe in you, as in the people that in your community, but you also need, or if you have a good relationship with a retailer that can help on that journey, which it sounds like you, you have had several of those. So when you think about retail today, I mean, I think about lots of challenges that are going on in general as people try to save money, whatever. Where are they spending? What are they not spending on? But also some of the new policies that are coming to bear, the DEI policies, and whether it's the government or whether it's retail or one impact in the other. How is that? How do you think about that? And getting your story across in this environment feels like it's more important than ever for people to feel like they're seen and included. How do you think about that when you think about both your community but also the commercialization of the of the brand? Yeah.

April 21:51

Yeah. Wendy, first and foremost, I have to thank you, because you answered. Part of it is giving the platform. So the fact that you reached out and felt that this is a story that needs to be told. So although we talk about, I was just talking about the social content and on these platforms with me, now reaching millions. The more interviews that I do, the more the message gets to get out to the masses of that this brand is here, what it stands for. So for me, knowing what's going on in the DEI space, I know it's needed. I literally just traveled to Cape Town a week or so ago to attend Africa, which is a marketplace for entertainment content. And I was my first time going to Africa. I was very excited to want to go to Cape Town, because about five years ago, well, I could go back 1992 I saw a show called Serafina, and when I saw Serafina, it just made me really open my eyes to Africa. But I was only 12 years old at the time, but all my life, only thing, only images, that I've seen of Africa, were starving children poverty and that we and that they need our help. That's the only image and messaging that has. That I was able to see. But when Netflix started their South African sitcoms and drama shows. I got to see the coastlines of Cape Town, and I got to see the nightlife, and I got to see how people really, really live, and they really have Range Rovers and Mercedes. They do. It's

Wendy L. 23:32

It's an exciting place, right? It is a buzzing city. That city on the, there it is, on the on the on the on the water.

April 23:41

So when we don't have representation there, on, on screens, on shelves, we don't know what's possible. So I was naive to think that Africa was just this desolate place and no one needs or wants to go there, but because of the films and the television shows, it made me want to see it. So if we pull back on diversity, equity and inclusion, it's not going to be good for our children's children, yeah, like, our children need to see themselves as if we're going to talk about like, how do we keep crime down. How do we, you know, just make this world a better place. People need to see themselves in a positive light. If you're constantly showing them negatively, they're going to assume that that's all that they can do, that's all that they can be. But when we start showing them that they can be unicorns, they can be superheroes. Shout out to Black Panther and Wakanda. That made me, even though it was imaginary, imagination starts from somewhere. So I'm like, for someone, think of a land like this, it has to be there, and Cape Town is pretty it's pretty close. Yeah,

Wendy L. 24:57

Yeah, yeah, no, it's absolutely true when you're just talking about. Black Panther. I immediately, sort of thought of these amazing places and people and jewelry and clothes and, you know, all those extraordinary things, very inspirational. So that that inspiration, that you want to bring, that excitement, that purpose. You know, we hear a lot about brands and retailers talking about purpose. And, you know, sometimes I feel it's just a word that gets tossed into the pot. You know, we are purpose driven. And here's, you know, our two or three things, but as you look at it and you think about the opportunities for you and the business and the people, the communities and people who buy your products. What are the lessons that you can share for both, you know, for the retailers today, because that's who we're talking to in lots of ways. What are the what are the lessons that you can share, aside from working very hard and staying up at night, all night?

April 25:56

Well, well, a lesson that I would like to give to the retailers are, don't forget your heart. Like you said, purpose. It shouldn't just be a word. Think about your why. Like, I tell entrepreneurs all the time, like, we have to always know our why, because our Why is going to is going to be what's going to keep us going. So as a retailer, I know there's a lot of demand from your bosses and your superiors, but at some point you have to be that merchant that brought me in through for party supplies, because she looked at her category and she saw that there was zero representation, and she saw that was being a problem. So at some point you have to be a disruptor. So I would ask retailers, merchants, buyers, to really think about, why are they in this space, and not to just close it as they're trying to do, as most as, I don't know what's going on in this country right now, but with this whole you don't need any like, This is crazy. Like we don't need diversity. Who cares about equity definitely don't give us any inclusion. I mean, it just sounds so silly. It sounds very, very silly. And so I just, I really want retailers in particular to remember their why? Why are they in this?

Wendy L. 27:17

Yeah, well, also, I'm going to be really crass and say, if all they think about is, you know where to grow, how to grow, how to bring new business in, how to think about the people that are in your neighborhood, and and, and growth is such a critical factor these always, but particularly these days, when it comes to retail, that that ability to see any kind of diversity as an opportunity to grow and reflect your neighborhood, your community, as I say, and make sure that you've got the right product for the right audience, in your stores, online, in the community. But that, to me, seems like a no brainer, but you know, there you go. So hopefully there are other buyers out there as yours, as several of yours were, who see the opportunity and then advise and help build businesses for their community. What are the pitfalls? What are the things that you've learned in this last few years, that that are things that, you know, you said, Okay, I learned that. Okay. Now moving on to something, you know, I've adjusted. What are the things you've learned there that you say, oh, not, I'm not going to do that again.

April 28:30

Well, one of the biggest things, and this is to brand owners, when you get in retail, you are still responsible for your own marketing. The retailers are really there as a shell for you to house your products. They do have marketing to pull and foot traffic to their stores, but not necessarily to your products. So you have to make sure that your packaging stands out on the shelves, and then you have to make sure that you have your own marketing campaigns around the retailer's campaigns. A lot of brand owners, and probably me just not knowing when I first got into it, you're thinking that the retailer is going to roll out this red carpet and do this major push for your brand, and nine times out of 10. That's not the case, but I've been fortunate to connect with buyers outside of just the daily business. You know, we I built friendships with buyers, and I'm just fortunate to be able to lean on them for advice on what opportunities do you all have? How can I maximize the opportunities that you have. So I would tell like, my advice, and what I've learned is that when you get in this game, you have to learn to build relationships.

Wendy L. 29:50

Yeah, and I think that's such good advice. I have to tell you for anybody. I mean, we're at, you know, WSL, with great believers in the power of the relationship. To to to not, you know, you ask about why, what's our purpose? And I think about so often, it is the people who meet along the way and how together you can collaborate and build, you know, solutions and and bring joy. And I think what you've just said is incredibly wise, because it isn't just about here. I've got something you now, you sell it, but it is about building those relationships with the people you either work directly with or in the companies that can advise. But I think that's also very good advice about just because you've got your product listed at that retailer doesn't mean that you are not responsible for marketing it and put your name all over it you Afro Unicorn, you so you know that ownership of what you built and created. So as we wrap this up, I guess we got to keep an eye out for an Afro Unicorn show. We're going to be seeing new things. All of this is exciting. So Is that what's next here?

April 30:59

That is what's next. Yes, the show is all we're like. Everyone knows all the focus of the management team. We all know it's the entertainment. And once we get this show green lit, then we're going to take it on the road. So hopefully you'll see a live show for Afro Unicorn very soon, it's

Wendy L. 31:21

Oh, that's exciting, all right. Well, we'll keep our our eyes and ears peeled on that. Thank you for being with us today. I think that it is a great there's a great learning here, but also it's, it's great to have a joyful representation in times of challenging times at retail and in lots of other places. So April, thank you so much for joining me on Future Shop.

April 31:43

Thank you, Wendy

Wendy L. 31:44

So here's the thing, you know, listen to April and you know the passion she has behind her business. I think what she was telling us, from a retail and brand perspective, is this is a very modern approach, not that atypical these days, but where a brand or a business or a concept builds its audience from a social community first, which is exactly what she did, and it was a community that was very passionate. She saw an opportunity. She saw a need. She didn't actually define it in anything more actually, she wasn't even sure to define it. A friend defined it for her. But then she saw this opportunity, and began in a very simple way with T shirts on demand, but then she listened in again, in informal ways, listened to her audience, who told her what they really wanted, what they knew they responded to her message, and then they told her what they were looking for, what they saw in the brand. And then, of course, as that built, the retailers came to her. Now that sounds like a magical as she said, a magical opportunity, and it's not so simple, but it really is the way modern brands often develop these days. We've seen it time and time again, but what's been really true to her is this passion about learning, passion about listening to the retailers, taking guidance from them, and passion about what she stands for, the why, as she said so, whether you're an established brand, whether you're an upcoming brand or a brand that is just a white piece of paper at the moment, there are lessons to be learned here, and if you are a retailer, of course, we know most of the retailers that we know are always listening today, always looking for an opportunity to engage and expand. So this is a story. It's April Showers story, but it is not a an unusual story in the days of what I would call modern retail. That's the future as we see it today. So thank you for that. Thanks for joining us. See you in the future. Here's the now. You you.