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The seeds for these entrepreneurs were planted during their time as students at schools like Spelman, North Carolina A&T, and more, which is why xoNecole caught up with Look Good Live Well’s Ariane Turner, HBCU Buzz’s Luke Lawal and Morehouse Senior Director of Marketing and Comms and Press Secretary Jasmine Gurley to highlight the role their HBCU roots play in their work as entrepreneurs, the legacy they aim to leave behind through the work that they do, and more as a part of Hyundai’s Best In Class initiative.
On Honoring HBCU Roots To Create Something That Is For Us, By Us
Ariane Turner
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When Ariane Turner launched Look Good, Live Well, she created it with Black and brown people in mind, especially those with sensitive skin more prone to dryness and skin conditions like acne and eczema.
The Florida A&M University graduate launched her business to create something that addressed topical skin care needs and was intentional about its approach without negative terminology.
Turner shared that it is important to steer clear of language often adopted by more prominent brands, such as “banishing breakouts” or “correcting the skin,” because, in reality, Turner says there is nothing wrong with the way that our skin and bodies react to various life changes.
“I think what I have taken with me regarding my HBCU experience and translated to my entrepreneurial experience is the importance of not just networking,” Turner, the founder and CEO of Look Good, Live Well, tellls xoNecole.
“We hear that in business all the time, your network is your net worth, but family, there’s a thing at FAMU that we call FAMU-lee instead of family, and it’s very much a thing. What that taught me is the importance of not just making relationships and not just making that connection, but truly working on deepening them, and so being intentional about connecting with people initially, but staying connected and building and deepening those relationships, and that has served me tremendously in business, whether it’s being able to reach back to other classmates who I went to school with, or just networking in general.”
She adds, “I don’t come from a business background. As soon as I finished school, I continued with my entrepreneurial journey, and so there’s a lot of that traditional business act and the networking, those soft skills that I just don’t have, but I will say that just understanding how to leverage and network community and to build intentional relationships is something that has taken me far and I definitely got those roots while attending FAMU.”
On Solving A Very Specific Need For The Community
Luke Lawal Jr.
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When Luke Lawal Jr. launched HBCU Buzz, his main focus was to represent his community, using the platform to lift as they climbed by creating an outlet dedicated to celebrating the achievements and positive news affecting the 107 historically HBCUs nationwide.
By spotlighting the wonderful things that come from the HBCU community and coupling it with what he learned during his time at Bowie State University, Lawal used that knowledge to propel himself as an entrepreneur while also providing his people with accurate representation across the internet.
“The specific problem in 2011 when I started HBCU Buzz was more so around the fact that mainstream media always depict HBCUs as negative,” Lawal says. “You would only see HBCUs in the mainstream media when someone died, or the university president or someone was stepping down. It was always bad news, but they never shed light on all the wonderful things from our community."
So, I started HBCU Buzz to ensure the world saw the good things that come from our space. And they knew that HBCUs grew some of the brightest people in the world, and just trying to figure out ways to make sure our platform was a pedestal for all the students that come through our institutions.”
“The biggest goal is to continue to solve problems, continue to create brands that solve the problems of our communities, and make sure that our products, our brands, our companies, and institutions are of value and they’re helping our community,” he continues. “That they’re solving problems that propel our space forward.”
On How Being An HBCU Alum Impacts The Way One Shows Up In The World
Jasmine Gurley
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Jasmine Gurley is a proud North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University alum. She is even more delighted with her current role, which enables her to give back to current HBCU students as the Senior Director of Brand Marketing and Communications and official press secretary at Morehouse College.
“It was a formative experience where I really was able to come into my own and say yes to all the opportunities that were presented to me, and because of that, it’s been able to open the doors later in life too,” says Gurley of her experience at North Carolina A&T. “One thing I love about many HBCUs is that we are required to learn way more about African American history than you do in your typical K through 12 or even at the higher ed level."
She adds, “It allowed us to have a better understanding of where we came from, and so for me, because I’m a storyteller, I’m a history person, I’m very sensitive to life in general, being able to listen to the stories and the trials that our ancestors overcame, put the battery pack in my back to say, ‘Oh nothing can stop me. Absolutely nothing can stop me. I know where I came from, so I can overcome something and try anything. And I have an obligation to be my ancestors’ wildest dreams. Simultaneously, I also have a responsibility to help others realize that greatness.
Gurley does not take her position at an HBCU, now as a leader, lightly.
“People think I’m joking when I say I’m living the dream, but I really am,” she notes. “So I wake up every day and know that the work that I do matters, no matter how hard it might be, how frustrating it may be, and challenging it. I know the ripple effect of my work, my team, and what this institution does also matter. The trajectory of Black male experiences, community, history, and then just American advancement just in general.”
On the other hand, through her business, Sankofa Public Relations, Gurley is also on a mission to uplift brands in their quest to help their respective communities. Since its inception in 2017, Sankofa PR has been on a mission to “reach back and reclaim local, national, and global communities by helping those actively working to move” various areas of the world, focusing on pushing things forward for the better.
“Through Sankofa, we’ve worked with all different types of organizational brands and individuals in several different industries, but I would think of them as mission-based,” says Gurley.
“So with that, it’s an opportunity to help people who are trying to do good in the world, and they are passionate about what they’re doing. They just need help with marketing issues, storytelling, and branding, and that’s when my expertise can come into play. Help them get to that moment where they can tell their story through me or another platform, and that’s been super fulfilling.”
Join us in celebrating HBCU excellence! Check out our Best In Class hub for inspiring stories, empowering resources, and everything you need to embrace the HBCU experience.
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That said, still, whether you’ve got B-type hair or some level of 4, if long locks are what you are after, with some consistent nurturing and patience, you can have exactly what you desire — and batana oil just might be able to help you out…on a few levels.
Since banana oil is also an all-natural oil that can make your skin glow naturally, I wanted to take a moment or two to share with you why the next time you see a post about batana oil, you shouldn’t ignore it; invest in a bottle or jar and see why so many of us adore it just that much.
Batana Oil: What Is It?
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If you were to ask a group of Batana oil users what the oil smells like, most of them would probably say something like smoky coffee. Well, interestingly enough, the oil originates from nuts that come from a certain type of palm tree in Honduras. Although it’s thicker than, say, coconut oil, something that it has in common with it is the fact that it will solidify in cooler temperatures and melt into oil in warmer ones.
Anyway, a part of the reason why batana oil is becoming such a fan favorite within the Black community is because it is thicker and “richer” in its texture, that makes it a wonderful complement for hair textures that are curler or coarser. And since it’s also full of antioxidants, fatty acids, and vitamins A and E, it is something that can both restore and maintain the health of your skin as well as your hair.
And just how is it able to do this?
Batana Oil Benefits for Hair, Skin & More
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Batana Oil Benefits: Deeply Moisturizes Your Skin
One thing that batana oil is able to do is work as an emollient on your skin. What this basically means is it’s the kind of moisturizer that can help to hydrate and even soothe your skin. Another cool thing about emollients is they are automatically able to “seal your skin” with a protective layer of hydration.
So, if like me, you’re someone who likes to apply an oil to your skin after getting out of the bath or shower in order to maintain moisture for a longer period of time, batana oil is one of the best types of oil to apply.
Batana Oil Benefits: Fights Off Free Radicals
If, whenever you read a skincare article, it says something about free radicals and you’re wondering why you should even care about those, probably the quickest explanation that I can give you is they can cause oxidative stress, which can ultimately accelerate the aging process of your skin. So yes, you want to do all that you can to keep them “off of you.” Something that is able to do that? Yep, batana oil.
Because it contains the kind of antioxidants that help to keep UV damage from impacting your skin on a significant level, that is another reason to consider adding it to your skincare beauty regimen. Just make sure that you don’t substitute it for sunscreen. You will definitely need that as well.
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Batana Oil Benefits: Great for Scalp Health
Okay, so one of the things that turned me into a superfan of batana oil is how well it moisturizes my scalp. Dry scalp is something that I deal with pretty often, and since that not only can lead to itchiness and irritation, it can also have my hair looking dry and brittle, I want it to be lubricated on a consistent basis. Batana oil is able to do that, in part, thanks to the carotenoids that are in it.
Carotenoids are pigments that convert to vitamin A. This is great, as far as your scalp is concerned, because it helps your scalp to naturally produce sebum, protects your hair follicles, and ultimately encourages hair growth.
Indeed, a healthy scalp is the foundation for healthy hair (check out “Your Scalp Ages Six Times Faster Than Your Face. Why It Matters.,” “10 Things Your Scalp Has BEEN Waiting For You To Do” and “Treat Your Scalp To A Little Bit Of Detoxing This Weekend”).
Batana Oil Benefits: Helps to Prevent Hair Breakage and Reduces Frizz
As I already mentioned, something else that batana oil has in it is vitamin E. That makes it good for your skin because it contains anti-inflammatory properties along with compounds that help to protect and even repair your skin’s cells. As far as your hair goes, vitamin E increases blood circulation to your scalp so that your hair follicles are able to get even more of the nutrients that it needs (in order to improve the quality of your hair strands); plus, vitamin E add shine to your hair.
Also, since vitamin E can literally help to rebuild the structure of your hair too, that’s why many users say that batana oil has caused them to gain more inches as far as lock length is concerned. Oh, and since vitamin E also helps to smooth out hair cuticles (which is the result of hair dryness, too,) that can decrease the amount of frizz that you have, which can reduce breakage while defining your natural curls so much better in the process.
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Batana Oil Benefits: Enhances Dark Hair Color Hues
Although batana oil cannot “dye” your hair (because it doesn’t contain deep pigments or chemicals), if you’re looking for an all-natural way to enhance the appearance of your dark hair, it may be able to do that too. Thanks to the dark tint that batana oil has (which is one way to test the integrity of the oil, by the way), it’s been known to bring about the best in darker hues — which will make the color look even richer thanks to the sheen that it also provides.
Batana Oil Benefits: It's an Excellent “Product Enhancement”
I’m someone who applies the oil to my scalp, straight out of the jar that I purchased it in. However, if you’re someone who wants to “ease into” the batana oil or you simply would like it to complement some of your other skin or hair products, it also works well in that way. Some people use it as an addition to their overnight skin moisturizer, pre-poo treatment on wash days, and/or as an additional ingredient in their leave-in conditioner or their hair mask recipes.
Also, if you’re on a mission to get some length retention, it absolutely cannot hurt to apply a bit of the oil to your ends before turning in at night (since your ends are the oldest parts of your hair).
BONUS: How to Know You’re Getting “Real” Batana Oil
Y’all know how it goes — when something magnificent makes its way onto the scene, there are going to be folks out here who try to scam you with a weak-ass imitation of it. Unfortunately, batana oil is no different. That’s why, I decided to close this out with a video from the YouTube channel Karen of Curl House (who has some pretty solid content, in general). If you watch it all the way to the end, you will get the intel that you know in order to feel confident about purchasing the kind of batana oil that will give you the best results of all. (Oh, and for the record, a Black-owned company that brands itself as selling 100 percent vegan batana oil is located here.)
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There is a lot of stuff to choose from in these beauty-enhancing streets, no doubt about that. However, I can vouch that batana oil will not disappoint. Give it a shot (unless you have a nut allergy; it's made from nuts, after all). Your skin and hair will thank you abundantly, chile.
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