Dawn Myers' Richualist Builds Mint Tool for Textured Hair

Myers told TechCrunch she began thinking about the idea about eight years ago while watching 'Shark Tank' and seeing another curly-hair product pitch. She sketched out a business idea on a legal pad, then went to Ace Hardware and CVS to assemble what she described as a 'Frankenstein-looking prototype.' She said the existing hair-tool market mainly offered items such as blow dryers and curling irons that straighten or change the chemistry of naturally curly hair, but not tools that help with the wash-day process.

She described the historical context in an interview with TechCrunch, noting that do-rags came from enslaved people being required to cover their hair because it was considered ugly, unkempt and unacceptable. Later came hot combs, chemical relaxers and flat irons, all of which straighten textured hair. Myers said it has only been in the past 15 years or so that women of color, Black women in particular and white women as well, have felt comfortable exposing and embracing their naturally curly hair.

Mint includes refillable product pods and a warming feature that gently heats product before application. Myers said the tool brings styling time down to about seven to 10 minutes and is also available in a travel size. According to TechCrunch, she said it helps make hair healthier and reduces shedding and breakage by up to 70% because users no longer need to tug repeatedly on their strands during washing and styling.

Myers built the product with the materials science company Dow after an early prototype caught Dow's attention during a startup accelerator program, she told TechCrunch. She said Dow had recently identified the same white space and was starting a textured hair care unit. The company collaborated with Richualist, providing engineering help and manufacturing guidance, according to the report.

TechCrunch reported that Myers became one of the first 100 Black women to raise more than $1 million in venture funding, but she described the early days as difficult. She said it is very hard to get hardware funded, and even harder when the problem is seen as niche. In early meetings with beauty industry executives, she recalled that there were no people who looked like her in the research and development suites. She said those executives did not know what a wash day was or understand the process their customers went through. She also said the bonds in textured hair are different from other hair types, requiring bespoke technology.

To fund initial development, Myers sold her home and liquidated her 401(k) retirement account, she told TechCrunch. She said the bet paid off and allowed the company to bring in about $1.4 million to commercialize and validate the product. Development took about five years to reach a point where the product made sense to customers, she said. Her team also had to conduct its own research because needed data, such as how much product the average person with textured hair uses, did not exist.

In 2022, just as she was preparing to expand and go to market, Myers was diagnosed with stage three colorectal cancer, according to TechCrunch. She recalled closing the company's funding round while still undergoing treatment, sitting in a chemotherapy chair at Johns Hopkins with her laptop trying to close deals. She applied to 'Shark Tank' in 2023 and appeared on the show later that year, though the episode aired in 2024. She said she was still wearing a compression binder around her abdomen under the dress she wore for the experience.

She secured a deal from investor Mark Cuban and serial entrepreneur Emma Grede, TechCrunch reported, which helped her formally launch the product. Grede then helped Richualist expand onto Ulta's online website earlier this year, according to the report.

Editor's Summary Dawn Myers developed Mint, a refillable hair tool for textured and curly hair, after years of difficulty funding hardware for a niche beauty problem. The product, built with Dow and backed by a Shark Tank deal from Mark Cuban and Emma Grede, is designed to cut wash-day styling to minutes. Myers' path included selling her home, liquidating retirement funds and closing a funding round while being treated for stage three colorectal cancer.