This 15-year-old started a hair accessories business when she was just five and made history

Gabby Goodwin is the founder of GaBBY Bows, the first and patented double-faced double-snap barrette. She ventured into making bows because her bows kept slipping out of her hair. 

Goodwin hated losing bows and her mother increasingly grew tired of replacing them although it was a generational problem. This led Gabby to create her own barrettes/bows. 

“When I was little, I lost my barrettes. My mom lost barrettes. My grandma lost barrettes. So it was a generational problem,” Goodwin told People. She said her mother was very frustrated because she was losing lots of time and wasting lots of money on these barrettes that did not stay in her daughter’s hair.

GaBBY Bows are the only bows that stay in all day, all night, and all week through rough play and are sure to stay in place until you take them out, its website says.

15-year-old Goodwin started her business when she was only five years old although she knew nothing about entrepreneurship.

“I didn’t really know what entrepreneurship was at first, but I did know that if I could create something that could not only help me but help others, that I’ll be able to inspire people too,” she said.

Aside from making bows, her company has also created a range of natural hair products that are sold in Target locations around the country. And after recently pitching her products, she got investment support from Marcus Lemonis and Gayle King amounting to $200,000.

“It’s just great to have this type of support,” Goodwin said. “As a Black-owned business, it’s kind of hard to get capital and for me to get this $50,000, and just to meet both of you, this is a great experience.”

Goodwin and her mother in 2018 launched an entrepreneurship academy called Mommy and Me Entrepreneurship Academy to train young girls in business. Southern Living quoted Goodwin as telling the KidsPost that she wants to encourage more kids to pursue entrepreneurship. 

The young entrepreneur has also been traveling to roadshows to promote her brand as part of her business strategy. However, the pandemic disrupted her roadshows, resulting in multiple cancellations.

Like several resilient entrepreneurs, she found a way to remain in touch with customers. After realizing more people were no longer patronizing salons due to lockdown measures, she started a “Home Hair Care Bundle”. The idea behind it, she noted, was to support haircare at home as well as destress the hairstyling process.

Last December, she went further with a haircare line, Confidence by Gabby Goodwin. The brand opened its doors to the Midlands community, selling hair products and serving as a salon for young women.