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.
In 2018, you have your choice of bright, matte, famous-person-affiliated lipsticks: Pat McGrath Labs, Kylie lip kits, and Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty all help women make their lips look like Easter eggs. Meanwhile, Instagram is littered with B- to D-list celebrities shilling waist trainers and FitTea that promises to de-bloat . Vivica A. Fox and Raquel Welch have their own wig lines. What Ka’oir is selling doesn’t necessarily seem remarkable or unique — but it still sells.
There once was a Macy’s deal, Ka’oir recalls. “It sounded amazing but I realized I’d lose so much money. It looks great, but I’m not here for the look,” she says. “I’m here for the money.” She backed out of the deal. Ka’oir sells her cosmetics wholesale to select private boutiques. She doesn’t wholesale the Waist Erasers because she “can’t keep them on the shelves”; those are only available through her website.
I’d take advice from her over Kylie any day ...bring it
She should absoulutley write that book!