Today we’d like to introduce you to Kenneth Scales.
Hi Kenneth, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
When people ask, where are you from? I affectionately say CaliYorkaSota. I am the second oldest of 4 children and was born in San Diego, CA. I remember taking long walks with my mother to the welfare office to get our beard… oops I meant bread lol, milk, and a big block of cheese. Growing up my brother and I have always looked for ways to make money. We would often go to the local grocery store and buy a case of soda so we could sell the cans individually to make a profit. What we eventually found out was that we were coming up short because we weren’t charging enough per can. Needless to say, that was our very first risk and lesson in business.
As times got more tough in California my parents could no longer rob Peter to pay Paul. They were too tired to have these money months. You know, where you have a lot more months than money left over. So my mom decided to drop me and my brother off to my grandmother’s house in NYC, while she and my 2 sisters relocated to Minneapolis to reunite with their dad and to start over. After 3 years of living in NYC, it wasn’t long before I made the long trip to the midwest. I have always had an interest in entrepreneurship. I loved the idea of looking fresh in a suit while making big decisions. After a while, I wanted to reinvent myself so I decided to grow my facial hair out in 2014. At that time I was already making my own hair pomade because the items on the store shelves didn’t meet my needs.
In 2016 I decided to go back to school for business entrepreneurship. I didn’t know at the time what business I wanted to start. One of my professors tasked the class to create 10 business ideas and narrow it down to one. Men’s grooming has always had a special place in my heart. Now with a flowy beard which itched I asked myself a simple question. How many other men I know with beards experience the same challenges? Boom! I found my business idea. As I researched Men’s grooming products. I made another discovery, I didn’t see companies in the grooming industry that advertised their products to black men. I didn’t see us in the marketing, social media, not even in videos. I knew then that there needed to be a change in the marketplace. I needed a proof of concept. I did lots of research on DIY beard oils and even leaned on my grandmother. She is so full of knowledge and lots of wisdom. I asked her what natural products she used back in the day and the #1 product she said was castor oil. Which by the way is our main ingredient in all of our products. With many trials and errors, I landed the perfect combination of ingredients and sealed the deal with a name that resonates with how we want our beards to feel. Like a Billion dollars, The Bowtie Billionaire was born. A dynamic men’s personal care brand designed to empower the gentleman within through all-natural grooming products.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I wish I could say that the road was 112 (R&B group from the 00’s), was all peaches and cream but it surely has been a great journey. It was a slow start of building our customer base here in the twin cities. Going door to door to many barbershops and co-hosting parties with local promoters. Building awareness was a rock climb. In 2017 a social media boom happened with a group call Beard Game Matters. In the group, men would showcase their beards and get lots of attention. It also sparked many questions around beard growth and products. I am glad we were in the right place at the right time to gain more followers and business. Scaling up has been a challenge for me. With the increasing demand for great quality products as well as moving our units from local to national, I needed a sidekick. So I enlisted a great friend of mine Brian Bogan to partner with me to increase our in home operation to meet the demands of our great product to consumers. We currently manufacture our products in house. We also researching a co-manufacture to produce our product so that we can continue to build the business and scale up. Another major challenge for us was 2020. Covid-19 wasn’t easy, especially with a lot of our barbershop and beauty supply partners having to close their doors. We have pushed through.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
The Bowtie Billionaire is a men’s personal grooming company that specializes in all-natural products that addresses the healthy growth of beards. Our product are hand made in small batches to ensure high quality and consistency to moisturize, shine, and smelling good to promote a healthy growth of the beard.
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
In the next 5-10 years I see the health and beauty industry continuing to grow, no pun intended. I see this as a space for many more Bi-Poc entrepreneurs to break through the industry creating top notch products that serve many cultures. According to www.Savemycent.com currently, the beauty industry is worth over $530 Billion dollars and it’s expected to grow to over 750 Billion by 2025.
Contact Info:
- Email: info@[email protected]
- Website: www.TheBowtieBillionaire.com
- Instagram: @Bowtie_Billionaire
- Facebook: @BowtieBillionaire
