Submitted by Ashley Cox on | 0 Comments
Recently, a good friend came to visit after spending the week assisting Paul Mitchell and James Vincent in the NY Fashion week. The best part of her visit is, other then seeing her beautiful face, I hear about the new functional and beautiful accessories. That is when Pulleez Ponytail Holders first entered my life. I was more then thrilled when I realized I had the privilege of speaking with creator and designer Diana Wright, in this week's #SmallBizSpotlight.
As featured on the Today show, Pulleez simply do as they advertise; make ponytails pretty! The functional but simple design, eliminates hair snagging and minimizes creases that happen with conventional elastics. Wright first introduced the luxurious hair accessories to models and designers backstage and on the runway. When, however, they all wanted to bring one home to share with a friend, her brand became born. She shares with us not only her inspiration but, also her experience balancing family life with making her brand a success. Do check out her new affordable line of acrylic charms available in Nordstrom stores and online. And don't miss Diana's dark secret confession in our #SmallBizDiary series, where she claims she can't do her own hair...
What inspired you to get started?
I was inspired to start my business when I was freelancing as a producer at NY Fashion Week. I saw that makeup artists were using traditional black elastics to hold up models hair while they worked on their makeup. They were the same elastics that got stuck in my hair day in and day out when I wore my hair in a ponytail. I knew there had to be an easier way to hold hair up, and I wanted to make something that was beautiful enough to wear to work or out to dinner.
What was your background? Was it in what you are doing now?
I owned my own production company for many years that focused exclusively on producing fashion shows for New York Fashion Week. I "retired" to focus on raising my 4 young children, but always kept one foot in the industry by helping friends during fashion week. I never created a product before I decided to create Pulleez, and aside from raising my kids, the experience has been the most challenging and rewarding process of my life.
What challenge have you had to face that led to a big growth for your company
The challenge that we have had to face is fulfilling orders for larger retailers. Once we were able to get a handle on barcoding, packaging and shipping it started to look like a viable business. But we are still learning!
What do you have going on in your business right now that you're excited about?
We are very excited about a new line of acrylic charms that we are manufacturing here in the U.S. The new beads are colorful and easy to wear, and will be affordable enough for women and girls everywhere.
Where would you love to see your business in 5 years?
I would love to see Pulleez become the mainstream way women wear their hair in a ponytail. That would mean that in 5 years we would not only sell our product at luxury retailers as we do now, but at mass retailers as well. We are unwavering in our commitment to produce a quality product, so we will only make an affordable product that meets the same standard of fashion and function as our current Pulleez that sell at Henri Bendel and Nordstrom.
