Chapter Three: From Simply 7 to Tikuri Collection

Some things are not meant to last forever. Some things are just meant to plant the seed.

Simply 7

After people started asking what I was doing to my hair, I started paying attention. I had spent years experimenting. Building routines. Making my own masks, butters, oils, and gels. Testing everything on myself. And somewhere in all of that I realized I had something worth sharing.

That realization became Simply 7.

The concept was straightforward. Seven products. Seven ingredients. Nothing more. At the time, so many of the hair products being marketed to us were loaded with heavy fragrances, dyes, and preservatives. The ingredient lists were long and full of things most people could not pronounce let alone understand. I wanted to go the opposite direction.

Strip everything back. Focus on what actually nourished the hair and leave out everything that did not.

Simple. Clean. Intentional.

Simply 7 started with heart but little information on how to actually build a business. It was not fully developed and the resources and knowledge needed to sustain it were not there yet. After a while it dissolved. Not because the passion was gone but because the foundation had not been built yet.

I walked away but I never let it go.

The Pandemic and a New Beginning

When the world stopped, something in me started again.

During the pandemic I came back to what I had always loved. Natural hair care. Clean ingredients. Community. And this time I came back with more clarity, more knowledge, and a name that meant something deeper.

Tikuri.

In Amharic, tikuri means black. And that word carried everything I wanted to say.

I am the daughter of Ethiopian immigrants who came to this country and built a life here. I also grew up embracing Black American culture, shaped by its music, its community, its resilience, and its beauty. Both of those cultures live in me equally. Neither one is more than the other. Tikuri Collection was my way of honoring both at the same time, merging the two worlds that made me who I am into something I could share with the world.

Tikuri Collection was born.

Taking It to the People

I was living in Los Angeles at the time and I did not wait for people to come to me. I went to them.

I started vendoring anywhere my community was. Leimert Park, a historic hub for Black business owners and culture in LA. Venice Beach. Slauson. If my people were there, I wanted to be there too. And the business picked up. People connected with the products and the story behind them. I met so many people on that journey and collected more stories than I can count.

That season taught me something important. The product was never just the product. The connection was everything.

Stepping Back to Step Forward

After a while I settled down and welcomed my daughter into the world. I stepped away from the business to be present for that chapter of my life. It was the right decision.

But my other baby was always waiting.

Coming Back More Intentional

When I returned to Tikuri Collection I came back differently. The time away gave me perspective I did not have before. I could see the bigger picture now. I understood that what I was building was not just a hair care line. It was a community. A movement. A space for people to feel seen in their hair journey the same way I had finally felt seen in mine.

This time we built an ecommerce store. We joined Amazon Black Business. And we started thinking beyond products toward storytelling and intentional hair care as a lifestyle.

That is what Tikuri Collection is today. A community focused business built on two things. Intentional hair care and the stories that live behind every strand.

We are not just selling oil. We are preserving journeys. Documenting culture. Building a space where your hair story matters as much as the health of your hair.

And we are just getting started.

Tikuri Collection. Where Every Strand Has A Story.