Meet Colour Me Chey. A brand here in Trinidad and Tobago that focuses on natural hair and all its intricacies. The owner behind the brand says she’s had natural hair all her life and is very passionate about natural hair care. “I started doing a lot of research to figure out the best products and styles for my hair and where I could find them in Trinidad. At that time, I found maybe three places in the entire country that sold products made specifically for natural hair with the least amount of damaging chemicals possible. I later realised that these places were far away from where I lived and neither one of them offered delivery (they still do not offer delivery). I realized that this was something I was not only interested in but very much passionate about because I always loved helping others figure out ways to take care of their natural hair.”

And soon the idea to start a business providing customers with a vast variety of natural hair products and hair accessories was born. And it didn’t stop at hair products. “I also became passionate about taking good care of my skin and finding natural, chemical-free products to do so. I started working towards finding brands that I thought best fit with my vision and so Colour Me Chey Ltd was born. https://colourmechey.com

When it comes to the name of the brand, it is a simple story. “I just wanted something that represented me. Colour Me Chey Ltd is a combination of my name, my love for colouring and colours in general as can be seen in the logo along with a fancy pronunciation because I’ve always had a love for the French language and it kind of sounds French when pronounced. Our name is pronounced as colour-me-shay.”

The owner of Colour Me Chey, juggles running her business while tending to her full-time job. “I have a day job and it definitely isn’t easy having to do my day job and run my business as well but I love what my business is about and I definitely intend to do it full time.”  And seeing that this brand is all about passion, the vision to be full-time is understandable. It is this passion that started the brand. “My love for natural hair and my passion for wanting to help others take good care of their natural hair and skin are what inspired me to start my business.”

When it comes to milestones, the Colour Me Chey team says everything so far has been a milestone. “If I’m being honest, everything I’ve accomplished with my business to date is seen as a major accomplishment in my eyes. From registering my business to making my first sale, to buying my first laptop and printer are all major accomplishments in my eyes. Every single sale, every upgrade to my website, every new product I add to my collection are all major accomplishments to me because they all improve my business to make it better than it was the day before and to me that is a really great, really major accomplishment that should be appreciated and celebrated.”

There have been many lessons on the way. “One very important lesson I’ve learned is that not everyone is meant to be your customer/client. Your product or service is not for everyone and that is okay. “ Great advice! And what about any advice for those wanting to become an entrepreneur? “My advice to anyone wanting to become an entrepreneur is to do it because you love it. Don’t do it just because you know you can make money from it. When you’re not passionate about what you’re doing that makes it a lot easier for you to find reasons to give up. Someone passionate about what they do might become discouraged at times but their love and passion for what they do won’t allow them to give up easily. Also, being an entrepreneur isn’t easy. There will be times where things become so hard that you think your only option is to give up but never give up. Keep pushing forward. The storm (hard times) will pass, the fog will clear and when it does you will be glad that you didn’t give up because brighter days are ahead.” A great mindset to have for sure. 

Colour me Chey is a brand that is definitely on its way. Building a brand surely isn’t easy. Colour Me Chey sees a brand as being “what you’re known for or known by. Your brand is what is used by customers to perceive your business in a certain way. A brand attaches an emotional connection to your business.” A brand is also different to a business.

 The Colour me Chey team sees a business as “what produces or provides products or services to your customers whereas a brand is what is used to create an emotional connection between your products or services and your customers and allows said customers to view your products or services in the way in which you would like them to see those products or services.” This is an excellent way of looking at it! 

As part of the local brand community here in Trinidad and Tobago, Colour Me Chey definitely sees the industry as a blossoming one. “When I first started my business, the local brand community was not really a thing. It was struggling to be noticed. Now, it has definitely been noticed and is becoming more popular because more people are starting their own local businesses and are coming together and supporting each other which I absolutely appreciate and would love to see more of.”

Colour Me Chey is definitely a brand backed by passion and the need to provide natural hair products here in T&T.