CURLS founder Mahisha Dellinger believes in the saying “to whom much is given, much is required.” In Episode 8 of the SistersInc. podcast, “Paying It Forward,” she shares how she is living her beliefs by helping other Black women and girls be successful in their own entrepreneurial efforts.
“I didn’t have a ‘Mahisha’ in my life to impart that wisdom and that could show me the blazed trail and leave the map behind for me,” Dellinger says. “Anything I needed to know, I had to stumble upon it and figure it out.”
Now Dellinger is providing those keys for success that she didn’t have.
“It’s always been my mission, my journey, my purpose, and my passion to help other women of color get to and through success and give them the examples, the tools, the roadmap—everything they need,” she says. “If I have the knowledge, why not share it?”
Dellinger not only mentors a few fortunate Black women directly, but she has found ways to scale her impact. She reached an audience of millions on her TV show on the OWN network, Mind Your Business with Mahisha, where she turned around struggling businesses. And after the show, she received so many requests for help that she started the Black Girls Making Millions Academy.
“My purpose in creating the Academy was to really level the playing field. We need to have that equal footing so we can be equally or more successful,” she says.
Her latest effort is aimed at helping Black-owned beauty supply stores. She noticed that Black store owners were being treated unfairly in the industry and started a strategic alliance to give them access to top brands and distributors, lower purchasing minimums, extended payment terms, and one-on-one business coaching.
To hear how she’s continuing to make a difference in the lives of Black women entrepreneurs, check out Episode 8 of the SistersInc. podcast.
SistersInc. is Black Enterprise’s award-winning podcast for and about women business owners, hosted by Executive Managing Editor Alisa Gumbs. Black women are the fastest-growing group of entrepreneurs in America and on every episode, we’ll sit down with one successful CEO to share how she slays the challenges of being a black woman in business.