BraidBabes

Meet braidbabe #1: founder + CEO Emmily.

Fresh out of school with a math degree, I was working a 9-5, and, while I was excelling in my role, I found myself becoming less of my happy, fun, self. So, I left my comfy job to do technology consulting. Since I now could make up my schedule, I had time in the morning to do whatever I wanted. I pulled out this braid book that had been under my bed for years and honestly I didn’t even open it. It was by Abby Smith and I thought to myself, I bet she has an Instagram. Sure enough, she did and in five days she was starting a 30-day braid challenge. So for 30 days before I went to work with clients, I braided my hair and posted on Instagram. Suddenly people were starting to know me for braids and my Instagram was organically growing. 

One important, pivotal day, I was on a camping trip and every girl there asked me to braid her hair. This is when I realized 'this is really a thing'. that day I change my Instagram to Buffalo Braid Babe. Not too long after that, Blush Boutique asked me to set up a Braid Bar at their grand opening. From there a complete stranger booked an appointment to have me braid her hair. This felt so wild and exciting that a stranger wanted to pay me for braiding. It’s all so exciting, and I have so much to learn but Buffalo Braid Bar has been growing quickly and I feel so grateful to have found this path and this career that I enjoy so much.

Think bachelorette parties, sports events, date nights, holiday events. We also partner with local businesses to offer braidbars at their brick & mortar locations.

Why our customers love us... 

We deliver a unique experience.

Here's a video that walks you through the braidbabes experience.

Our bootcamp grows our team, adds revenue & creates community.

Market demand is there.

We are unique in the market because we are providing a consistent, quality, convenient service. We've seen this trifecta catapult companies like Glamsquad & Drybar to success. As a mobile braid service delivering consistent, excellent braids, we're applying this same formula to the braiding niche.

Our multi-pronged, organic marketing strategy gives us an edge.

We've got 17.1K followers on Instagram, 29.7K followers on Tiktok & # of members in our private Facebook group. Our reviews also speak for themselves.

We have an ARR of $55K. 

We use a monthly subscription model.

Each option includes more than just a single braid session. We keep churn rate low by offering multiple different services/styles. We get paid upfront so cash flow is strong. Also, the hourly wage pay plus tip makes it an attractive gig for our braiders.

We're growing organically & fast.

Q3 of 2020 = all of 2019 with $0 in adspend. Appointments, parties and bridal appts. are used for discovery' they're meant to convert customers to subscription usage. Our subscriptions are increasing both in # and in % of revenue.

We plan to expand to 5 more cities next year.

... And be in every top 50 metro area by 2025.

Meet the braidbabes team.

Clark is a serial entrepreneur with extensive experience in early stage startups & currently works for TechStars. Jordan is a startup and business attorney with experience with fashion, influencers, and intellectual property. Chirag (not pictured) is a growth and tech strategist for small and medium sized businesses. Kevin is a seasoned startup operations executive.

We are currently raising 200K in a friends & family round which will be mostly used in marketing. We're confident that flipping the switch from 100% organic growth to marketing will give us a huge bump in visibility & subscriptions.