How Tracee Ellis Ross Expanded Her Impact & Income

Like many people with influence, Tracee Ellis Ross is serious about representing, empowering, and investing in her community. You may have seen her shifting the narrative about what it means to be African American in shows like Blackish, Mixedish, and Girlfriends. But in 2019, Tracee did something very unconventional… she stepped outside of entertainment and into eCommerce. 

Tracee launched (and quickly sold out of) Pattern: a juicy and joyful hair care line made with safe ingredients to empower women and people of color. This has unlocked a whole new world, allowing her to deepen her relationship with her community, add a controlled revenue stream, and own a brand she’s excited about.

“Today was the first day I brought my travel-sized Pattern bottles to the gym to wash my hair,” Tracee told Allure Magazine in a 2019 interview. “I sat them in the shower at the gym and was like, ‘Oh my God, this is crazy. Those are my products in the shower at the gym. This is bananas.’ And I left there with popping curls… That’s the stuff that dreams are made of.”

As a thought leader, it’s important for you to take notes on what Tracee has done over the past year. She has no formal background in selling products online, yet she sold out in two short hours. But how? She combined her influence with eCommerce (a low-barrier to entry, wildly popular business model). In fact, I’ll break it down for you step-by-step.

Tracee’s 3-Step Launch Process

Step 1: She recognized a need in her community

Being a woman of color, Tracee Ellis Ross is no stranger to beating her hair into submission. She chemically relaxed it, got a blow out every Saturday, and slept with rollers despite the discomfort. According to the media, this was the only way to be beautiful. 

But 20 years ago, she started on a journey of understanding and loving her natural hair. As she learned more about curly, coily, and tight textures, she could not find a brand that offered both great products and a community where women grow to love their hair.

It wasn’t until 2008 that a lightbulb went off. An attendant at a beauty supply store walked up to Tracee, held out a magazine photo, and said, “You have no idea the amount of women that come to me with pictures of you in magazines and say, ‘Can you give me her hair?’” At the time, he didn’t carry any deep conditioning products meant for natural hair. “Anything of the sort, especially something backed by Tracee” he concluded, “would make me a millionaire.”

At that moment, she started looking into her options. And in time, she formed a goal to launch a beauty products brand that would change the conversation from, “We need to change our hair for it to be beautiful” to “Your hair is beautiful, it just needs to be supported.”

Step 2: She built a brand around the solution

Shortly after that fateful encounter in the beauty store, Tracee wrote her first pitch for a hair care line. In response to her first presentation, the Marketing Executive questioned, “I don’t understand why anyone would want hair products from you. And there’s so many hair products in the world… why do you think these don’t exist?” 

This started a 10-year journey of developing a solution that kept her community at the core and allowed her to maintain creative control of the vision. She was often met with skepticism about her ability to succeed in the eCommerce space. “Why don’t you just create a TV show about hair? Or write a book about it? Or just partner with another company?” But she was determined to create her own products from scratch (while maintaining a majority of the equity, a scenario historically withheld from women and minorities). 

Though it was a long process, she learned more about her community’s hair, the manufacturing process, the best formulas to use, and the buying power of her community (which will hit $1.5 trillion by 2021). She spent time perfecting the why behind the brand and how to communicate the mission. And eventually, Tracee found partners that supported her operationally so that she could spearhead marketing and branding efforts. 

“I wanted a brand that actually felt like it was made by somebody who was in the community.” And in September of 2019, Pattern hit the digital shelves. 

Step 3: She leveraged her influence to scale

“When I heard that THE Tracee Ellis Ross was creating her own natural hair product line, I was already excited because I love Tracee,” shares Bianca of BiancaReneeToday, a beauty YouTube channel with around 500K subscribers. “She’s such a genuinely real person. She’s unapologetically her. And I love that.”

When Pattern launched, Tracee’s community showed up in droves. Sales far exceeded expectations as the nine main SKUs sold out on day one.. many of which sold out in just two hours. “We even tried to aim high!” Tracee gushed on The Real. Pattern gained over 130,000 followers on Instagram in one week, and it now lines the isles of 1,200 Ulta stores across the country. 

Not only are Tracee’s fans excited to purchase from her; they want to help her succeed. “We really need a styling creme or a gel,” adds beauty vlogger Bianca, “But I understand this is the first launch… just a little step one that we more than appreciate. I just want you guys to succeed because I love Tracee. And she put her heart and soul into this.” There is truly nothing more powerful than an army of people who believe in the same mission. 

By pulling out her Directorial skills, Tracee even personalized the brand with a film on the homepage called Every Curl Has a Story. This two-minute manifesta of black beauty perfectly conveys Tracee’s vision for a brand that empowers women to embrace their natural beauty. This very same poem made its entrance at Pattern’s launch party at Underground Museum, and those in attendance were moved to tears. 

For Tracee, Pattern has become another avenue to create content that fills a void in areas that she has always longed to be represented and served. “It is an extension of a story that I’ve always told through all the characters that I’ve played,” she confesses.

Thought Leadership is the Future of eCommerce

Maybe you don’t have millions of followers like Tracee does. But you’ve got a community of people who value your opinion and who depend on you for information about your expertise. Yes, a course is a great way to monetize. So is writing a book or a speaking gig. 

Your community already uses products, and they’re likely buying them from people who they don’t know or trust. If there’s an opportunity to support you while adding something of value to their lives, they often will. Maybe it’s a water jug or a journal or a yoga mat. The product is highly dependent on you and your community’s needs. 

When launching any product online, the toughest hurdle for brands is typically raising awareness and earning trust. But as a thought leader, you’ve already done much of that hard work. Your community already knows your intentions. So as long as you’re bringing products to market that you’re truly passionate about, you can use it as a value-add to your audience. And when done correctly, they will love it just as much as you do.

Check out my previous post “Thought Leaders: Why eCommerce is the Move in 2020” to learn:

• 5 ways that launching a product can benefit you
• The 8-step process to launching your own product

And if you’d like to explore what it looks like to launch a product to your specific community, shoot me a message. I’d love to brainstorm what kind of product would work best for you!