From the New York City projects to building her own beauty empire with her ultra hydrating hair care products, this former financial analyst for a Fortune 500 company is proving that you can overcome a troubled childhood to create your own path for success. After extensive research, experiments and an immense desire to provide the best hair care for her own natural hair, Tracy created Fortifyd Naturals with a focus on hydration. CEOMOM talked to this entrepreneur and mother about her True Hydration Technology and how she balances motherhood and business.

Who is Tracy Golbourne?
I am a married mother of 2 children. I was born in Queens, NY but raised in Brooklyn. I am a person who is pretty introverted and I like to spend a lot of time alone. I’ll typically find myself reading a textbook or googling science blogs because I love learning new things. When I was a child I used to read the dictionary in an effort to learn new words daily. My dad was studying medicine at the time and was always in a text book so I guess that’s the one thing I got from him.

Tell us about Fortifyd Naturals. Describe some of your signature products.
Fortifyd Naturals is a brand that produces natural, vegan certified hair products with a concentration on hydration as opposed to moisture alone. Hydration means that the ingredients penetrate the strand whereas a moisturizing product rests on the outer layer of the strand. We produce 5 products. One of our signature products is our Sage Infused Black Soap Shampoo. This shampoo is powerful but still gentle enough for babies. The sage component regulates sebum production and reduces the occurrence of grey hair as well. The formula is antibacterial and antifungal. It also stimulates the follicle to encourage growth. This shampoo does not strip the hair strand but actually begins the softening process. Overall, it supplies the scalp with nutrients and cleanses the strand as well.

Your products have been featured on Essence.com, Sister Circle Live and many more media outlets. What makes your hair care company unique?
What makes my brand unique is the fact that my products are made using high quality, nutrient rich ingredients that can actually penetrate the hair strand, without heavy film forming properties. They address many of the issues naturals have from slow growth, scalp irritation, dryness and much more. Lastly, what makes my brand different is the fact that I try to educate my customers on the science of hair and ingredients so that they understand how product interacts with hair. This helps them to avoid making mistakes on their natural hair journeys.

You started your career as a financial analyst for a Fortune 500 company. What inspired you to start a natural hair care company?
I was inspired because when I went natural I discovered finding products that worked to be an impossible task. I was losing hair due to dryness and breakage and my scalp was irritated and peeling. It made me feel weak and broke my confidence to see myself look that way. I knew I had to do something about it because I couldn’t stand looking in the mirror and seeing myself like that. I had the knowledge to fix the problem and decided that I wanted to help other women avoid going through the stress that I did.

Tell us about the True Hydration Technology? How did you come up with this process?
True Hydration Technology is a term I’ve coined to describe the process and ability of our formulations. It’s basically using ingredients that have molecules small enough to penetrate the structure of the hair strand. Also, using the absolute lowest level of emulsifier so that there is no wax buildup to prevent penetration and also using an ingredient to combat hard water, which can leave calcium deposits on the strand and also prevent penetration. This technology makes the formulations successful. I came up with this process because when I was struggling with my own hair, I needed to understand what the problem was. I became obsessed with finding the root of the problem so I began studying the hair strand and the molecules of the ingredients and double chained and single chained ions and realized that the reason the products weren’t working was that they had no ability to penetrate the hair strand. Additionally, the products were so heavy that the residue left on the strand was actually suffocating the hair and scalp and would not allow the penetration of even the ingredients that did have penetrative properties. I was studying science at the time so I was able to figure out how to rectify the issue by using the knowledge I was learning in class.

As a wife, mother and entrepreneur, what is your must-have to maintain work/life
Finding balance between work and life is probably one of my biggest struggles. I have 2 small children that require a lot of my time and energy. If I had to say one thing that is a must have for someone in my position would be patience with oneself. When you’re stretched really thin, you may find yourself failing in certain areas from time to time. I’ve definitely missed trips, class parades, meetings with teachers, etc. My family has eaten out more times this year than ever as well. The key though, is not to beat yourself up because tomorrow is another day to get it right and each day is an opportunity to learn from your mistakes.

Learn more about Fortifyd Naturals at https://www.fortifydnaturals.com/.