With the recent news that Sundial, the company which owns and produces SheaMoisture, was acquired by Unilever, CEO Richelieu Dennis says he is looking forward to creating a legacy of Black excellence.
The news of the acquisition was announced last month, along with the development of a New Voices Fund, which will donate $50M to empower women of color entrepreneurs. It’s a move that both Dennis and Esi Eggleston Bracey, EVP & COO of Unilever North America Personal Care, say will help to ensure that the brand will be able to create new opportunities, as well as deliver the products so many have come to love from SheaMoisture, and their sister brands including Nubian Heritage and Madam C.J. Walker.
It’s also a move that will allow Sundial to operate as a standalone unit, with Richelieu continuing to lead the business.
In a candid sit-down with veteran activist and cultural critic Michaela Angela Davis, Richelieu said, “What I would want to have my children see, what I would wish my grandmother could have seen is that we built something and we’re putting it back in.”
The merger with Unilever not only gives Sundial a chance to expand, Richelieu noted, but also has Esi Eggleston Bracey poised to be one of the most powerful Black female executives in the beauty industry.
Bracey added that the massive investment in women entrepreneurs of color is “going to feed generations and generations and generations to come, based on the businesses that come out of that. That to me is the ultimate legacy and it creates a foundation for these amazing products to continue to exist and expand. And that’s a whole other level of legacy.”
Catch more of the interview in the video above.
