Regular athletic hairband
Hairstrong is a new company that is selling hairbands called the Strongband. It is a headband designed for people with long hair to be able to tie their hair down while playing sports or doing activities and not have it all over and getting in your way. The Strongband has proven to work much better than your regular elastic bands that many people have. This idea has been made into a product for people to use, Nicole Baranowski is the founder of Hairstrong. She came up with the idea from being an athlete herself and while she was in a business class Hairstrong turned from a project into a reality.
Nicole started selling products in July of 2019 so less than a year ago from now. She then won some awards for her product and was accepted into an entrepreneur program at Western University. Nicole tells XFM News that “Take advantage of the resources you have and use all of them to further your business if they are being offered to you.”
The brand has taken off since the product started selling as there have been over 700 Hairstrong bands sold and many more being made now. They are Canadian made and the companies that are being paid to make them are receiving a fair wage as that was something Nicole wanted to ensure. The hopes are for this to expand and in the future hopefully replace your everyday hair band now. Nicole is hoping to be moving into her own manufacturing facility in the near future. This wasn’t even her main career focus but has now turned into that since so many people are wanting this product and there will always be a need for it.
The Strongband has a few benefits to it that make it even more intriguing for the public to buy. Nicole explains some of the benefits. “The first one is that it reduces frustration with having to deal with your hair and continuously be moving it out of your eyes or face. Another one is that it’s more durable than other headbands so it has better fabric which then allows increased elasticity and increased longevity over repeated use. Another benefit is how sustainable it can be as your typical elastic will last 2-8 weeks as where this will last for months.”
It’s only a matter of time until this becomes the new headband that everyone is wearing. This is already being used and has received great amounts of support from national and university sports teams. The Strongband is made for athletes which is was Hairstrong sells as of now but they soon plan to expand the business to not only target athletes and be a use for anyone with long hair at any time of the day.
With the feedback this has received it’s only on a path of growing. Even if something isn’t your main focus it’s always worth a pitch as you never know what it can turn into. Nicole had recently won a $15,000 prize at the Ivey Business plan competition at Western in the graduate category. Which helped her launch more products but also solidified to herself that this is what she needs to do and try and expand on as it could turn into something very successful for a young female entrepreneur that came up with the idea while being a full time student and a varsity athlete.
