Keyshia Ka’oir Davis has a lot of tips for running a business. As a CEO of three companies, she could probably write a book — but for now she just lobs little pearls of wisdom into casual conversation for free.
On this particular afternoon, Ka’oir, 33, is sitting in pageant-queen posture, fuzzy white slipper dangling from her pedicured foot. She’s in the designated beauty room of the Fort Lauderdale home she and Gucci Mane share. Their house — well, second house; the other is in Atlanta —well, okay, second mansion — is in one of those gated communities where it looks like someone planted stacks of hundred-dollar bills and McMansions sprouted up from the swampland, Bentleys included.
Joy Mangano couldn’t find an alternative to wringing a mop by hand, so she created a self-wringing mop and made millions of dollars. Marion Donovan needed a waterproof diaper for her child, but they didn’t exist, so she made one out of a shower curtain and went on to found Pampers. And according to Aaron Sorkin, at least, Mark Zuckerberg didn’t have enough self-esteem, so he started Facebook to get some. Ka’oir’s business arose to meet a similarly simple need.
Ka’oir didn’t study business — she was studying to be a nurse, like her mother, until she decided scrubs really weren’t her thing and dropped out. She studied cosmetology for a bit after that. She’d never read a business book, and hadn’t started a business before. But her father had owned several businesses, including a cigarette company in Jamaica, where the family lived until she was 10.
Ka’oir supplements her beauty business with club appearances, but for the most part she’s a self-described homebody. She runs her business from home, too. On the afternoon when I visit, her Fort Lauderdale house has the quiet energy of the day after Christmas in the suburbs. A TV plays in another room; a smoke detector chirps somewhere; and Amina Diop, Ka’oir’s friend and manager, keeps offering me a fresh cherry slushy.
She dedicated the second business she launched in 2013 to her second love, fitness. At the time, Gucci wanted to lose weight; she did, too. In particular, she wanted the freedom to wear whatever brands she wanted — high-end designers, couture, whatever. “I wanted to wear all the designers,” she explains. “I don’t want to be classified as this black girl with this big ass. I just want to look good in whatever I put on and what makes me happy.
I’d take advice from her over Kylie any day ...bring it
She should absoulutley write that book!