La La Anthony has enjoyed a career in media, the film industry and television, but she is also the owner of a hair care brand called Inala.
Inala is a line of cruelty-free products made with one-hundred percent rice water to repair damaged hair.
Anthony opened up about the obstacles she overcame to develop a winning hair care brand.
As the owner of your hair care brand Inala, what has been an obstacle and how’d you overcome it?
I think anytime you’re starting something from the ground up, there are challenges, there’s a lot of money that can be invested in the beginning, you’re trying to make that back, make people aware, and make people understand that you’re passionate about it. Such as, this is a product that works, and the same challenges I think all brands go through when they’re starting, but you have to kind of push through and know that when you start anything there’s going to be ups and downs.
It’s not just, you launch it and it just goes up. I mean, there are probably some brands that have happened to, but that’s not the norm. You have to be able to go through, the downs and the ups but with Inala, we’re getting to a great place. A lot of people use the product, which is amazing, love the results, and people are really into the product which makes me happy. Most importantly it’s seeing the results of people who felt like their hair was done, they couldn’t grow their hair, or their edges were completely done. It’s seeing before and after pics, and people saying I regained my confidence, I feel good about myself, and I feel beautiful again.
Those are the things that matter to me more than how much I can sell or who’s buying it. Being able to change someone’s perspective on themselves or being able to give someone that confidence and self-esteem; that to me is how I measure the success of my brand.
What would you tell your younger self?
I would tell my younger self that “no matter what you do, everyone’s not going to like you,” which is a lesson I had to learn as I continued going through my career. I used to be like, “Well, they don’t know me, why would they say that? I’m this and that, why are they talking about me?” But my mom always says, “Get worried when people aren’t talking.” Even negative talk can be a benefit because at least you’re on people’s minds, and they’re talking about you. So to my younger self, I would say, “Everyone’s not going to like you and that’s okay.”
