Haircare business owner Charmaine James has travelled to Jamaica on a two-part mission: To deepen the level of business she does in her homeland as well as to forge strategic alliances with local farmers for the sourcing of raw materials.

Born in St Ann’s Bay before migrating to the United States at age six, James ventured into the haircare business seven years ago following a conversation with her daughter on caring for her natural hair.

With more than two decades of experience in corporate America, James initially embraced Eurocentric beauty standards but later reconsidered her views on natural hair. Her struggle to find suitable products for her own natural hair paved the pathway for the creation of the family-owned company.

Today, Locsanity ships more than 30 plant-based haircare and skincare products for women, men, and children over the globe through its e-commerce store on Amazon.

But James wants to scale the business. She is currently in talks with big box stores in the US such as Walmart and Target, but is also keen on deepening her footprint in Jamaica, a decision she says will add at least another five per cent on annual revenues of the multimillion-dollar company.

“Jamaica is on the top of my list. No matter how far you go in life, home always calls you back and so, first and foremost, I have more family here in Jamaica than I do overseas so I want to give them and other Jamaicans the option to choose quality products for their skin and hair.

“Then, on the list, I have other places like the UK, Germany and Australia… all of those other places where it’s hard to get products that are made specifically for our hair texture and also by us,” James told the Jamaica Observer.

The Locsanity line of products includes shampoos, conditioners, mousses, moisturisers, balms, pomades, and body washes. The haircare line of products is specifically targeted at individuals with kinky-curly hair and dreadlocks.

James has started to make connections with supermarket chains and large pharmacies in Jamaica such as Fontana to stock her products. She’s also in talks with local hairdressers and distributors to get the products in retail stores across the island.

“We’ve just been relying on our online presence and shipping directly or through courier services is how we’ve been getting the product here. But we want customers to be able to walk into a store here and to pick up the product off the shelf,” James said.

“Buying online is very different from purchasing the products in-store because you get to touch and smell the products,” she added.

In line with the expansion plans, James is also preparing for a surge in demand for Locsanity products. Accordingly, she wants to engage local farmers on contracts for the supply of locally grown plants and plant-based oils.

These include aloe vera, the hibiscus plant, jojoba oils, almond oil and black castor oil.

“The hibiscus is used as a raw material in some of our fastest-selling products, so I’m looking for those suppliers,” James said.

Back in the US, the IT professional-turned-entrepreneur last year secured a 3,500-square foot warehouse, doubling the size of its previous facility. However, James is already exploring options to further expand the space to accommodate the company’s expanding operations.

“We’re currently working on a contract to get another warehouse that’s gonna be three times the size, so that we can keep up with our forecasted growth. This year, we are forecasted to grow about 25 per cent over last year and this does not include the expansion into Jamaica or the big box retail stores,” she said.

Locsanity’s manufacturing plant is based in Coral Springs, Florida.

During the first five years of business, James said she and her husband Alister were focused on building a robust infrastructure to guarantee a steady supply of raw materials and preparing for unforeseen challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

The couple committed to 60-hour work weeks which involved forging new partnerships, expanding Locsanity’s network, and diversifying its supplier base.

“We did a lot of planning to ensure that as we grew we were able to keep up, making sure that we had enough staff, space and the foundation to support the additional growth. That all goes back to the business degree that I have and my 20-year experience in corporate, which I now view as training for my entrepreneurship journey,” James said.

In addition to the roll-out of new products, James said Locsanity has “several promising connections” in Jamaica that she plans to engage in further discussions. She plans on returning to Jamaica within a month with new product offerings to reach a broader audience.